Tanzania

Here I am again!  We left our hotel at 7:30 and travelled over gravel roads for two hours to the border town. First, we went through Kenya Immigration and the we met our guides and transferred to our new jeeps. Our new guides took us across to the Tanzanian side where we purchased our visas and gained entrance to the country.
We drove for two hours to Arusha on smooth, paved roads. We already noticed quite a difference. We were in low mountains/ rolling hills and it was very green. It was a beautiful drive. We also noticed that the towns and cities along the way appeared to be somewhat cleaner than in Kenya.

We are currently having lunch at the Arusha Hotel, it is the oldest hotel in Arisha and very classy and beautiful. I am taking advantage of a few spare minutes and wifi to write this. This afternoon we will drive for another two hours on pavement and when we reach the Tarangire park we will do a game drive before checking into our hotel. Of we have wifi tonight I will try to add some pictures.

Amboseli National Park

hi,
I am sorry that I haven't written for a couple of days.  This sporadic wifi is making me crazy! Yesterday I actually had the time to get caught up and then the wifi was off! Grr! Have only a few minutes now before we hit the road so will have to be brief!

Last I wrote we were in Nairobi.  We spent that day on the road, driving to Amboseli National Park in the south of Kenya.  We were in the jeep most of the day but the time flies by as there is SO much to see along the way!  It is hard to describe it.  We pass through lots of villages with colourful markets set up along the road and people everywhere.  We often have to slow down for goats, sheep or cows on the road.

It was very hot when we arrived in Amboseli.  We are staying at another tented camp, which is really cool.  We got here in time to do an afternoon game drive.  This park is known for its huge herds of elephants and we saw elephants!!!  It was an amazing experience as large family groups moved across the park often crossing the road right in front of us.  We got to watch their natural behaviours close up.  Lots of little babies!!

Yesterday we did two game drives, one early in the morning and one in the afternoon.  We relaxed at the lodge through the heat of the day and many of us spent time cooling off in the pool.  Oops, sunburns today! 😞  We were so lucky to get a clear view of Kilimanjaro, as it is usually covered in clouds. It made for an amazing backdrop for our pictures.

Last night we had our farewell dinner and a little party with our guides.  The evenings don't go late as we are always bagged by the end of the day!!

This morning we are up early to head to Tanzania to try to reach the boarder before the busses get there! We will be sad to bid farewell to our Kenyan guides but I am sure our guides in Tanzania will also be great!

Gotta run, will try to add pictures later!

More from the Masaii Mara

we actually have a couple of hours of down time so I will do my best to get caught up with the details and pictures, as long as the wifi holds out!!  I want to explain that the pictures on this blog are just a sample of what we see.  The quality is poor because I am using my iPhone to take them to enable me to quickly upload them as I don't have the time to pull them off of my big camera.  So, keep in mind that we are getting some amazing close ups of most of the animals, even though these pictures don't reflect that!

 Our full day on the Masaii Mara was amazing!  We left on our morning game drive at 7:30.  From our camp, we have to drive about 30 minutes, over the worst roads ever, to the park entrance. I was an honorary (not ornery) lion today (my group is the Buffalo group).  Yesterday I was an honorary elephant. (I am making everyone put up with me for at least one day)

Ok, back to the game drive.  Since we had seen the majority of the animals that we wanted to see, the focus was to find the elusive "cats".  I have been to Africa twice previously and have never been lucky enough to see a leopard!

Right off the bat we came across 3 cheetahs in full view, a Mom and two older Cubs.  We got to watch them and take all of the pictures we wanted.  Once again, they paid no attention to us!!!  Then we came across a female cheetah hunting with her cub!  The other jeeps actually got to see her chase after a gazelle but the gazelle got away! They can both really move!!!  We got there too late to watch the chase but we still got to see them!

Mid morning we visited a local school and that is always an exciting and moving experience.  The kids are SO excited to see us and they LOVE having their picture taken so that they can see themselves!!  Of course, I always want to bring a few home with me!!  The kids have to walk to school, some as far as 14 km each way!!!  They are so eager to be there and to learn.  They were so anxious to show us their work as they are very proud of it.  We left them with a big pile of new supplies so it is nice to see that they will be put to good use!!

We returned to our lodge four lunch and we had a three hour "break".  I spend most of my free time writing this blog but it is fun to recount our adventures!!

We left on our second game drive at 3:30 (it is almost like work).  We were treated to getting really close to a big group of giraffes and also ostriches.  As the time was waning (we have to exit the park by 6:30 pm) the guides got more anxious to find us some cats!  We lucked out!!!  Jane (one of the travellers) spotted a cat running into a bush (an amazing feat). It turns out to be a young leopard and she was curled up in a bush, looking out at us!  We managed to get some great "face" shots. It was so exciting!  Our first leopard sighting!!!

I have figured out that the time of day is everything in terms of seeing animals.  Our cat sightings are always early in the morning and just before dark! We returned to camp feeling pretty grateful for the day.

We had a wonderful evening last night!  It was Terry Rath's (one of our group) birthday.  The kitchen staff made him a cake and about 20 of them came out of the kitchen in a Congo line and wove through the dining room with the cake and singing in Swahili (the Jumbo song).  It was awesome!  Then we were treated to some more dancing from the young Masaii men and a talk about Masaii life. Things have changed considerably in their culture since I was here 16 years ago.  I guess the "modern times" catch up with everyone, sooner or later!  The traditional Masaii culture is fascinating and well worth reading up on of you are at all interested.


We ended the evening with a little party and joke telling but it didn't go late, as we were all whipped!!

This morning we left at 6:15 am  for our last drive in the Mara.  We weren't disappointed! Our first sighting was two female lions with 5 small Cubs!!! Shortly after we came across a full green leopard and we got a quick full body view as he moved from the open into the bushes!  I have been to Africa on two previous trips and these are my first leopard sightings!! Wow!!

We came back to camp for breakfast and now have some free time(so I can write the blog 😄), before we travel to Nairobi for the night.  Back over the bumpy roads, hoping we hit pavement after a couple of hours.  We will be stopping to get a wonderful overview look of the Great Rift Valley!

Tomorrow we leave Nairobi and head south to the Amboseli area for two days.  I will try to upload more pictures as I have time.  I have to run and shower now so that they don't leave without me!!

The Masaii Mara

We have arrived in the Masaii Mara, the great plains of southern Kenya that extend to the Serengeti in Tanzania.  Yesterday we drove about 4.5 hours to get here. The first two hours were on pavement and the rest was on a very rough road, but well worth it!  It always amazes me that as we drive through these areas in the middle of nowhere, there are still people walking.  The great thing about this area is that many of them are wearing the beautiful Masaii clothes.

Our lodge is a beautiful tented camp.  The "tents" are first class with huge, tiled bathrooms.m at night we can hear all of the sounds of the Mara.

After we had lunch we departed for our visit to a Masaii Village.  This is such an amazing experience, as this is the real McCoy, these people actually live like this.  We were treated to a dance and some jumping by some young Masaii men and then we got to try out our dancing skills.  We had a tour of the village, which consists of about 10 mud huts in a circle with a bramble fence around it.  They had all of the cows corralled in the middle of the huts.  I got too busy looking at things, rather than looking down and before I knew it, I was "slip sliding away" in the cow sh*t!!!! Luckily, I didn't fall, so the group didn't get to laugh at my expense! (Their favorite pastime).

The houses are tiny shacks with a bed or two and tiny area where they cook, with fire!!!  The kids are adorable!! The ladies also did a dance for us and then we got to join in with them as well. They also did a fire starting demo for us.  Of course, we got to "shop" for some of their handmade goodies!!  It just wouldn't feel right without a few high pressure sales!!!

From the village we went on our game drive.  At first we didn't see many animals and then suddenly, there were animals everywhere!!!  The highlights were a small group of elephants And a pack of hyenas with fresh blood on their faces.  Our guides were focusing on finding us some"cats" and they
didn't disappoint!!  Three of the groups found a pride of lions with an adult male, three adult females and four Cubs.  Our group and the leopards were lucky enough to see a black maned lion on the hunt.  It was amazing to watch, even though he didn't make a kill while we were there.  It is unbelievable how these animals just go about their business while we watch, they totally ignore us!  We also got to hear him roaring and he was right beside our vans!!

Everyone was exhausted when we got back but the place was buzzing with everyone sharing stories and photos!!  This is an experience like no other!!!!

We all went to bed early as the days are full!!!

Our first game drive!

The wifi didn't allow me to send a post yesterday so now I am playing catch up!!  We went on our first game drive and it was wonderful!  We drove about 1.5 hrs from our camp to reach Lake Nakuru and The Nakuru National Park.  We started out by immediately seeing a huge heard of Cape buffalo and from then on in, it was "animals everywhere"!  We saw zebras, Rothschild giraffes, ostriches, Impalas, gazelles, storks, vultures, flamingoes, baboons, Elands, crested cranes, herons, and the highlight was seeing the white rhinos!!!  It is rough, bumpy, and dusty on safari and it is amazing!!!  We are in Toyota Land Cruisers and during safari the tops pop up to allow for great picture taking.  The guide/drivers are very knowledgeable and personable!
We stopped for lunch at a lovely lodge situated beside the lake and the food was amazing!
After lunch we continued on our safari for awhile before heading back to our lodge.
This lodge that we stayed at is incredible!  It is also beside a lake and the rooms are in 4-plex units and they were huge and beautiful!  We had to be escorted by security guys at night to walk around the grounds because the hippos come onto the property at night.
After dinner, we all went to the lounge for a sing a long.  We are so lucky to have an amazing pianist (Janet Symon) in our group.  She played piano while we sang along.  Half way through the sing a long we all ran out (with the guards) to see some giraffes, with a baby, as well as some hippos.  The guards were very nervous and were sure to keep us all close by their side!!

It was an amazing day and everyone was pumped and really "knowing"" that they are actually in Africa!!

Oh ya, supper was a little weird.... For meat we had a choice of liver, chicken gizzards or bbq goat!!! Mmmmm!  I got a plate of goat meat and everyone got to at least taste it.  My life is now complete, don't need to do that again!!

I am tired, gotta go to bed!  Still have today to write about (even more amazing) and pictures to post but that has to wait!!!

Good night!

Lake Naivasha

hi!

We all loved the Ark Lodge and really didn't want to leave!  It was so remote and peaceful that one could just sit on the deck all day, sipping wine and watching the animals!!!  They have a live webcam set up at the watering hole so you can check it out anytime at www.thearkkenya.com

We got up early enough to watch the sun rise over Mount Kenya before breakfast.  After breakfast we hit the road for our next destination.

As always, the drive is very interesting as we pass through rural areas and small towns.  Always, there are people walking alongside the road.  There is always something amazing to be seen, it is a feast for the eyes.  We stopped at the equator line and got a demonstration on the Coreolis Effect, but having seen it before, I am still sceptical about the direction of water turning within a few meters of the equator!

Our journey took us into the Rift Valley and we started to see zebras grazing all over the place!!  Our destination was Lake Nayvasha.  The resort here is out of this world!  Zebras and various species of deer are roaming freely throughout the property.  We HAVE to be escorted by security after dark as we move about the property.

Part of the group went on an optional boat ride on the lake in hopes of seeing hippos.  I haven't got a report back yet.  The rest of us chose to stay back and enjoy the pool and a cool drink!!

We are having fun, lots of laughs!  We officially begin our game drives tomorrow and I think everyone is ready!!!  Most people are staying healthy but a few of had some minor setbacks that are hopefully short lived!!!

Take care!