The Accidental Safari

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Jambo All …with all this safaring and visiting chicas it has been a challenge to find time to sit at a computer. I apologize to those who are in Blog withdrawal. Let me catch you up on our adventures. And I am thrilled to report that I am writing this blog from the luxury of my Imperial hotel room on my very own laptop. Sheila brought it with her and I am marvelling at how I coped 4 months without it and my music!!!!

I am now chicaless. The Safari Chicas departed yesterday (Nov 6th) from Kisumu and should be making their way across the Atlantic as I type. We have had an amazing jam packed safari (Swahili term for journey) - and as you would expect we have had both planned and unplanned adventures. I suspect it is the unplanned that will prove to be most memorable and comical as time passes. Hence the title - the Accidental Safari - wink!

My last blog, almost a couple of weeks ago now, found us on the gorgeous spice island called Zanzibar. We enjoyed 4 days of beaching, shopping, as well as exploring historic Stone Town (buildings made of coral stone) and a spice plantation. We stood on the very site of the Slave Market - ended with the help of David Livingstone in 1873. An Anglican Church has been built on the Slave Market site. The church alter is where the whipping post was. We sat in the holding chambers and were horrified by the horrendous treatment these human beings suffered to supposedly prove how strong they were….all to garner a higher price for those that survived. This chamber held 45 men (a separate chamber for women and children). The gully was where the prisoners relieved them selves -only to be washed away by the rising and falling of the tide. I couldn’t help but think what a sad race we are - that we can treat our own kind in such degrading inhuman ways. And to think such atrocities and worse continue today.

On a lighter note, Kim and Sheila will be heading back to Canada in search of an endorsement contract for the amazing Heys Travel Satchel - flashlight included. The latter came in very handy for power outages particularly when shopping for tanzanite and copper plates! Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar are suffering extensive power outages - we are talking 6 to 8 hours a day. Growing air conditioning loads and low water levels are the cause. It is amazing how the people adapt….at home we would be rioting!

We left Zanzibar on Friday, October 27th , catching a 7:40 am flight to Nairobi (meaning we left the resort at 4:30 am - early mornings on this Safari seemed to be the rule as opposed to the exception). We hung out at the Nairobi Serena and connected with Nairobi based friends Tereneh for dinner on the Friday and Ebba for a trip to the Masai Market on Sunday. I managed to sneak in a pedicure -- $16 Cdn for the best pedicure I have ever had! The gals at the Serena salon would also not let me leave until they had washed and blow dried my hair -- I guess it looked bad!!!! Saturday was spent prowling downtown Nairobi - a 10 minute walk with no purses and no jewellery from the hotel! One needs to be careful in Nairobi! The Jacarandah trees are beautiful and in full bloom in Nairobi as it is spring. We spent a couple of hours in the Watatu Gallery (suggested by Tereneh). Janet, Kim and Sheila are all proud owners of art from up and coming Kenyan artists. There was some too and froing about price. Kim and Sheila even walked away on Saturday - only to return on Sunday - cash in hand - to collect their treasures. We headed out on the town on Saturday night…first out to dinner at Haandi’s - a chic Indian restaurant and then on to Casablanca - a club Tereneh had suggested. What a cool place -- fire pits outside, couches, pillows and banquettes inside, plus a dance floor - the pillows and banquettes were the perfect setting for smoking Shisha - which of course we partook in. We chose mango flavored tobacco and enjoyed the scenery - one of the most ethnically diverse and cosmopolitan crowds I have seen!

Sunday was shopping day. My friend Ebba and her girls Maria and Ella joined us. Ebba was our strategic weapon at the Masai Market. She ensured we were getting close to Kenyan prices. We laughed at many of the lines we got. One fella told Kim and I that if we were Japanese we would pay 3000 bob (slang for shilling)…but because we were Canadian our price was 1500 bob - we of insisted on African prices! Which Ebba helped us with - challenging the purveyors to give us good prices because we were volunteering in Kisumu helping to save the orphans!!!! Seemed to work. Also had one of those “this is a small world” moments. A women came up to me after over hearing that we were from Calgary, Canada. She too comes from Calgary -- was there in August visiting. Is in Nairobi now setting up a guest house with a friend. What a small world!

Loaded with bags full of kangas, bowls, beads and dolls, we caught our flight to Kisumu - arriving at the Imperial Hotel - my home away from home - just in time for dinner. It was an early night as we were driving to the Mara first thing in the morning.

We had a last minute switch in our drivers—Abdul had come down with Malaria and did not look at all well. The locals don’t take anti malaria pills - too hard on the system! Instead they build their immunity by getting malaria often two to three times a year. It presents itself as a bad flu - high fever, chills, nausea - and if not treated - can kill you. So we sent Abdul home to bed and welcomed Simon to our Chica Safari.

The Safari Vehicle of choice is of course the Matatu. Not what I expected - but in hindsight it was the perfect vehicle to give the chicas an authentic Kenyan transport experience. Matatus are the main form of public transport in these areas. So off we set in search of the Mara Safari Club. This is the Tented Camp I spent a few days in August at -- only that time I had flown in. We had expected the trip to take 5 hours! Now factor in bad roads, lack of roads in some places, wrong directions, no map and no presenting signs for the Mara Safari Club (unlike all the other game lodges) - our journey took us some 9 hours! While I had faith in Simon to get us where we were going - blood pressures started to escalate as the afternoon wore on.

Let me paint a picture…we are racing across the Savannah in an old beat up Matatu - passing Masai Villages, dodging wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. As the afternoon wears on and nightfall becomes a factor - the tensions rise in the Matatu. Road turns into gravel into tire tracks into no path at all. I try to call the travel agent on my phone - no service! We see a young Masai walking in the distance - we drive towards him. Simon, in Swahili of course, learns that this young man thinks he can help us - thinks he knows where our lodge is. So he jumps in the matatu with us and we head the other direction -comforted by seeing another Safari Lodge sign - Kiecheche - 5 km that way - remember there are only tire tracks - no road! This is the Mara after all! So we head that way - knowing at the very least they will be able to direct us to where we need to go. Then we see safari jeeps - yellow safari jeeps that look very familiar to me. So we plead with Simon to honk his horn to get their attention. The horn doesn’t work…so we start waving hands and race towards the jeeps. And wouldn’t you know it - the jeeps are Mara Safari Club (MSC) Jeeps. We are saved! We learn that we are 30 minutes away from the lodge. We are to take the tire tracks on the left, pass through three rifts - always keeping to the left of the trees. The MSC driver radios the lodge to tell them we are lost and are making our way towards the lodge. He is not able to take us as he is on a game drive with lodge guests. But he assures us he will look for us on his way back to the lodge. We agree to swap phone numbers. The driver has a pen, I have paper…I start to get out of the jeep…and the MSC driver shakes his head firmly and looks over my shoulder. We follow his gaze and see that there is a lion resting a few feet from the jeep. Can you believe this???!!!! It was like a scene out of a movie!!!!! Needless to say we all stayed in our vehicles. So I recorded his number in my phone that was not working - and off we set in search of the lodge - comforted that others knew we were out there and would come in search of us if we didn’t arrive within the hour.

The lodge proved tricky to find -- but the directions seemed so clear -- lol! We came across a sign that said Mara Safari Club 4 kms this way…so we followed what we thought was “this way”…came to a fork in the tire tracks - went right - proceeded a bit and decided to back track and stop at the dwelling we passed along the way just to be sure. A women carrying a very large knife approached the Matatu and chatted with Simon. She sent us left towards the trees - remember always stay left! We followed the trees, came upon a gravel road and voila found ourselves staring at the Mara Safari Club Gates. We had made it with an hour to spare before nightfall and were warmly welcomed with cool eucalyptus towels and refreshing juice! Our accidental safari had come to an end! And what an adventure -- we will be laughing about this for years to come!

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Photos

Masai Market in Nairobi
-- with our secret weapon Ebba and her daughter Marie