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Published: August 15th 2008
Zebras in the Masai Mara
my favorite of all of my 400+ safari picks!So if people don't know, Nairobi (aka Nairobbery) is known as 'Africa's biggest & baddest city'. Therefore when I arrived at 4am, I did not have anywhere to go for 5 hours, so I stayed in the airport, read, wasn't able to use my ATM card, called mom & had a minor melt down. Tears are good for the soul, right?
Have you ever felt semi paralyzed with fear? That is what I felt. S-c-a-r-e-d. I read somewhere once that courage means feeling the fear & doing it anyway. So I acknowledged that I was scared sh*tless & walked outside the airport to get on a city bus to head to downtown Nairobi. Once I got there I found teh tour office my friends Dan & Deb had told me about & waited until the woman arrived who worked there. Then all was taken care of--seriously--my fears melted. I had: a family to stay with in Nairobi, safari booked, a tour of Kibera slum booked & a flight to Lamu booked. Wham bam--thank you universe!
I feel so fortunate to be able to stay with a family for my 4 nights in Nairobi--what a treat! Plus they have the
Giraffes!
giraffes are so cool & beautiful! cutest little baby boy named Kyle who doesn't crawl yet, but he sure can sit there & look cute. Also staying with the family (they host lots of volunteers & travelers) was an Ethiopian student going to college in the US. A few of us went to this awesome Ethiopian restaurant down the street for dinner. Kenyan food is pretty blah, but Ethiopian food rocks!
The safari was SUPER cool! My a** hurt after 4 days of bumpy roads & it was totally worth it! I saw: lions, giraffes, elephants, wildebeasts, zebras, rhinos, hippos & even a leopard scoping out some gazelles! I also met some super nice fellow travelers from Poland, Italy, Canada & Austria.
After the safari it was back to Nairobi for a night and then off the next day to Lamu (a beautiful Swahili island off the coast of northern Kenya). Here I arrived with a name of a hotel to check out and a bunch (2-4 at any time) of men following me on and off for 2 hours! More tears. I kept telling myself that it is not the place/people that is frustrating me, it is how I am perceiving the situation.
Me with the lions! =)
We saw tons of lions -- most of them were sleeping though. Or at least looked pretty drowsy... So I needed to change & do something different. Once I finally had a hotel, they left me alone (but kept talking to me when they'd see me later on my trip--it's a tiny island). The next day, I changed my attitude & had a wonderful rest of my stay on Lamu! The seafood is incredible & the fresh juices--ahh! I even took a dhow boat trip around to some of the other islands, did some fishing & hung out with some travelers from Holland & the Czech Republic.
I had some real R&R on Lamu as well, finished another 2 books & finally cracked open my India Lonely Planet that I bought 6 months ago & haven't looked at yet. For all of you who think I'm an anal planner aheader--FACE! I'm flying by the seat of my (dirty) pants. Yeehaa. But seriously, I'm pretty dirty these days.
I leave for India in 2 short days & I am very excited! I am psyched especially beacuse my kind teacher friend Muriel has hooked me up with a childhood friend of her's in India. Get this--he's not only letting me stay with his family for 3 nights--he's PICKING
ME UP FROM THE AIRPORT! I am overwhelmed by the kindess of strangers! Thank you so much Muriel & Subodh!
Also -- thanks so much Dan & Deb for your Kenya suggestions/entire itinerary....do I owe you commission? =)
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Deb
non-member comment
Kenya
Amy, I'm loving the blog and photos --- update more often!!! I know how bad the internet is in that part of the world, but we have fun living vicariously! Your safari pics look amazing. Did you stay with Dan and Edwina?!?!??! I can't wait to hear about it in more detail. So, here is my trick with the touts... you have to think that bothering/trailing you to sell you shit is their job. It's your job to pretend they are invisible. The minute you acknowledge their existence they get even more persistent. Dan likes to hit them with his backpack. And I hate to tell you, but there are just as many aggressive touts in India. But, you'll still have a blast!