Wawa

Arriving in Perth was anti climatic. I did not know what to expect. Leaving the airport, of course, was a deal and a half. This was because of construction like in Montreal. Not nearly the pot holes or the inconvenience, but still unexpected delays.Trusty GPS, and the day was merry as usual. The next morning we set out on our traverse to the Pinnacles. See Below: Published description: A set of unique circumstances produced the pinnacles. Firstly the huge sand dunes stabilised. The rains which fell on the dunes leached down through the sand carrying the calcium. This resulted in the lower levels of the dune solidifying into a soft limestone. As this stabilisation occurred a layer of soil formed on top of the dune which allowed plants to grow and further cemented the limestone below. ... read more

Our flight left Tahiti at 9 AM and we arrived in Auckland NZ after 6 hours of flight, but because we were close to the International Date Line, it was the next day 1 PM which was 22 hours later. Do you follow? The afternoon of arrival was occupied by going to the botanical Gardens which was walking distance. The Tui's were in full force with their unique voice pitches and eerie screeches. These birds feed on nectar and yell out what sounds like obscenities. Actually they were birding in delight! Since the weather was suspect, we stayed only a couple of hours, and then meandered lost, back to our lodgings before dark. Yes lost!. As we were lost, we hit an Indian Depanneur, and managed to pickup some stuff and ask for walking directions. Made ... read more

Did a quick last game drive before heading out to the Porini Lion camp, which is our last stop before heading back to Nairobi. As usual we awoke at 5;30 to get the most time we could out of the day, so it was a 2 hr. game drive which we asked to be added onto our itinerary because the wife was sick the second day of the third leg. We had to find the sunrise fast. It was coming up and a backdrop was necessary, so off we went searching.... We came upon a lonely tree, a fitting beginning to another spectacular day. Lots of Hyenas around this time of the morning searching for half eaton carcusses so that they can steal a leg or two. They love to eat limbs. Usually they follow the ... read more

The day started off unpredictable. We were supposed to have a picnic breakfast out in the wilderness. These breakfasts are always a smorgasbord of a dozen or more items that have been carefully prepared by the kitchen staff. Boo Hoo. The wife was sick or had a reaction to the malaria pills. It turned out she was not drinking enough water. I can understand the need for R &R but I did not come all this way to spend in a camp, but out side the camp. I liked being the prey. I decided to do a bird watching tour with a senior Maasai named Wilson, who jumped at the chance to go out with me. As knowledge goes, Wilson has an abundance of this. He was able to do bird calling, and point out to ... read more

Day 3: We had to leave early from the camp as we were to catch a flight. Before that however, I woke up to bees buzzing in the back ground. At first I thought it was noise from a radio, so I unzipped the tent to see where the ruckus was and then realized the buzzing of the bees.I looked around expecting to see a swarm but to no avail. I rezipped the tent to have my amazing filtered coffee that the Maasai brought to me earlier , and got dressed quickly to go on the bee hunt. Walking around, as I drew nearer to some trees the buzzing got louder. I was , as I said, expecting a swarm so I tiptoed ever so carefully up to the tree. As I was getting closer the ... read more