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Published: January 28th 2010
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January 27: Mom
Today I walked the white sands of the Indian Ocean, which is as warm as a bath. I filled my pockets with what I think is coral and black and white shells to make earrings. It is 6:30 p.m. here. When I checked in the porter was showing me the switches and bar fridge in my room. When he opened the fridge he shut the door and said he needed a broom. As you can imagine, I was puzzled. He returned with another man and a stick and the proceeded to poke inside the fridge. The removed the fridge from the cabinet and poked some more. The porter left again to get a broom. When he returned I asked what was in the cabinet. The second man said it was like an alligator. I kneeled on the bed because when whatever was in the cabinet was going to scurry out sooner or later! It was an 8-10 inch lizard. That was the excitement for this afternoon.
This morning we drove from Nairobi, which was, as always, a beautiful drive across yet a different landscape. I saw monkeys and zebra by the roadway, and closer to Mombasa, camels
grazing (as do cows and goats -- no fences -- but amazingly I haven't seen any road kill. Paul is a skillful driver, but fast and aggressive; Esther is cautious and equally scary. Consequently my stomach muscles should be tight from frequent tension. I've learned not to fear their driving, but the others.... Anyway, we've traveled miles and all of them safely. On the drive, Paul told me about two teachers who had left classes to drive from Nairobi to Mombasa, but by the time they reach Tsavo park it was dark. For some reason they stopped, perhaps to rest. Out of the trees came a large bull elephant that picked their car up and carried it 2 km into the bush, and then set it down. The women were terrified (as you can imagine) and stayed away, crying through the night. In the morning, a park ranger doing his rounds discovered them and asked what they were doing. He had them towed out. Their car was fine and they continued on. True story. Another story, also true: a carload of Indians were traveling the same route and one of the men heard the call of "nature." He left the
car to go behind the bushes and was attacked by a lion. His companions, who were standing by the car for a break, climbed quickly inside and turned around to the village they'd recently passed to find help and the police. All they found of the man was bloody clothes. Lions usually eat animals with tougher bones. Not a bone was found. I didn't leave the car. The road isn't recommended for night travel.
I have also been to Amboseli National Park where I saw Mount Kilamanjaro. During the day it was lost in clouds and I don't know how well the photos will be. Amboseli is dry and the grass short. However, I did take photos of a family of elephants that were very near to the car. I also saw a lion through my binoculars (too far away for photos, but Eleonora with your camera you'd have got the shot). There were many water birds because there is a very large lake between the highway and the park (separated by miles and miles...or should that be kms?).
Before Amboseli, we went to Tanzania (wait til you see my passport), through Arusha (where our car was broken
into and Paul and Esther's bags stolen along with his briefcase; we must have come along as the robbery was in progress because, thankfully, my bags were still in the car) to Ngorongoro (pronouced gorogoro, which is a Maasai word that means large crater and small bell -- the crater and the cowbells). The geology of the crater is amazing. About 3.5 million years ago the volcano erupted, collapsed into itself and hence the crater which is a safe haven for the animals and I took lots of photos of zebra and wildebeast, which were close to the trails.
However, my favourite location was our first trip to Maasai Mara. The road was worse than a washboard for miles and miles but we had a heavy four-wheel drive and were fine. Paul's driving, as I noted though fast, is skillful. At Maasai Mara, we saw most everything except cheetah and leopards. We saw a lion family; likely two because their were nine kittens (yes, I have photos), but only one mother -- the other might have been hunting or sleeping after the night hunt which is more likely since they're nocturnal.
Judith, I visited the Kazuri collective in
Nairobi and took lots of photos and bought a few beads -- paid retail (an arm and a leg). Diane, Paul is sorry he didn't know about Kazuri because they also make pots and we saw the raw clay and the process from start to finish. He'll take you there on your next visit. And Tim, every time I've photographed a tree (many), he says I'm like you!
I'll upload some photos and will write more tomorrow with newer photos. These are from Nanyuki (equator), Nairobi, and Maasai Mara.
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Eleonora
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Pictures
Kathryn, the pictures are wonderful and you look very, very happy. So many stories! Thanks for sharing. We look forward to seeing you when you get back. Love, Eleonora