Day Four -- Back to the Mara

I slept well last night except that it was somewhat hot.  I didn't take Ambien and managed to drift off anyway.  I heard rain at one point and woke up hot a few times but otherwise I slept well.  I had a nice breakfast (same as previous days) around 6:30 but was alone, both in terms of animal and people guest.  I'll miss that watering hole at breakfast and lunch!

As I got dressed this morning, my little lizard friend reappeared.  It stuck its head out from behind the window shade and didn't move (thankfully).  I hadn't seen it since that first night, so I thought maybe it had moved on.  I guess not.  I think it was mocking me as I departed.

Menno woke up early to settle my bill and wish me well.  I let him know he should visit Safaritalk and get more exposure there.  Tawi is a great getaway and was the perfect way for me to decompress between home and the Mara.  Julius is a wonderful guide and Amboseli is enchanting for her mountain and her elephants.  I really enjoyed my stay there.

The rain seemed to keep everyone inside this morning.  We hit the road for the airstrip at 7:00 and saw absolutely no one, not a vehicle or an animal for ages.  Julius says the rain keeps the animals from being as active, since the grass is wet and it's overcast and cooler (to them anyway, to me it was practically beach weather!)  So there were no significant sightings along the way to the airstrip.  It was a sedate, understated goodbye to Amboseli.

We got there at about 7:50 to little fanfare.  There's no checking in, showing of ticket, etc.  Julius checked and my SafariLink flight to Nairobi was to land at 8:08, but so was Air Kenya.  Only an Air Kenya flight landed.  It let people off and gathered up two, and I was left standing there at the edge of the airstrip with my two little bags and no where to go.  Finally the captain of the Air Kenya flight came over and asked my name, saying that I was on his manifest.  It appeared that SafariLink didn't have anyone to drop off and didn't want to pick up only one person, so they did a code share in essence.  In any event, it was an excellent flight, very professional and a nice plane.  

It dawned on me as we landed though that when I landed in Nairobi I'd have no idea where to go.  There are several small airlines operating out of there and I had no idea where SafariLink was in relation to where I let off.  No worries though, as I came down the stairs from the plane there was the nicest SafariLink rep who said he was here to pick up his "VIP" and take her to her plane to the Mara.  (That would be me!)  So he shuffled me and my carry-on to the SafariLink terminal where I waited about a half hour to take off.  

Naboisho, the conservancy in the Mara I'm staying at this time, was the second stop on this flight.  It was funny as hell to be landing and see zebra and wildebeest standing along the airstrip watching the plane.  Maybe not as funny if they attempted to cross the strip, but hey, I'm easily impressed.  I was met by an Asilia driver Nabala who took me on a nice 90 minute drive to get to the camp.  Along the way I saw some baby topi, baby warthogs, baby giraffes (all along with some adults).  The land is just as I have been remembering it these last couple years, all warm and yellows and blue sky and puffy white clouds.  It's just good to be back here again.

It turns out that I'll be having full day game drives with Porini guides while I'm here.  I'm not sure how that happened with Porini or how that works, but I guess I'll learn soon enough. I also found out that I'll be going out for full day game drives the next four days, which means the end to my 3 hour siestas every day!  Wah!  Although if I'm going to be out all day anywhere, it's the Mara!

One noticeable difference here is how high the grass is.  I guess everything has been effected by El Nino and the rains.  This makes game spotting somewhat of a challenge especially for the cats.  It is warmer here than Amboseli although it's also somewhat overcast.

Encounter Mara is a traditional tented camp.  While it is behind an electrified fence, that only keeps the elephants and hippos out.  Cats, zebras and wildebeest still scale it so I'll need to be escorted to and from my tent during dark hours.  I am in the tent that is almost the farthest from any of the common areas, which is good for the remote isolated experience, but not so good for the potential snake encounter climbing the path to this tent.  It is just like other tented camps I've stayed in, so no surprises there.  The other guests at lunch said that they heard lions and hyenas last night, so here's hoping!

Lunch was interesting.  There is an Indian family staying here and most of this lunch was Indian cuisine.  I'm not sure if that's the reason.  I enjoyed the tomatoes and the salad with the beets. I'm wishy washy on curried vegetables over rice, but it'll hold me over until dinner.

Along the path from the dining tent to here, there are two birds' nests at eye level, one recently vacated, but the chick is still nearby, and another on which the mother bird is still incubating. 

Going to read and snooze for a bit before my afternoon game drive....I'll miss my rest!

Well if any game ride had mixed emotions, it was tonight's.  I have been waiting for this and lions in particular for two years.  I made no bones about it, stressed to Nabala that I'm only here to see cats and there is no such thing as too many cats.  Apparently I wasn't clear.

So Gamewatchers did not send a guide over for me tonight so Nabala did the game ride for me.  I shared the vehicle with the Indian couple and their young (4 year old) son.  Bearing in mind how much I dislike kids, you can imagine that that set the tone.  They were only supposed to be with me for an hour until we could get them back to their vehicle, which had gone on a nature walk.

Nabala said we were headed to the river to look for lions and leopards, which we did.  It is almost discouraging how high the grass is, because we could be driving by bushes that have cats sleeping under them and never know it.  Good for the cats, I guess.

We then ended up at a hippo pool, which is interesting enough for a bit, and there were two wee babies floating on their mom's back which I'd not seen before.  But they weren't cats.

Finally we happened upon 8 lions, 5 males and 3 females, six of whom were sleeping off a meal while 2 others were still working on the carcass of an eland.  This was a substantial kill for these 8 sub-adults.  The males were just starting to get their manes in, so they were still young.  Nabala thought they are from the Enolari pride.  After about 10 minutes watching the action, Nabala suggested that we move on and give others a chance to see the kill.  We were the fourth car on the scene, and only 4 are allowed on a sighting at any one time in Naboisho.  This didn't go over well with me because I could see three of the sleeping lions yawning and making motions to get up.  Nabala kept insisting we leave while I thought since we were the last of four there, we should be the last to yield our spot.  Let the others who've been there longer leave.  I don't think the other woman in our vehicle wanted to go either, she kept suggesting other options for viewing while staying here.

Finally a fight broke out over the carcass (lions, not us in the vehicle) and the lions ran off to a clearing nearby.  We spun around quickly and got there in the aftermath.  I quickly spotted one lion who couldn't get up from where he was in the grass.  He was panting heavily and just not moving.  Three of the other lions were nearby watching him intently.  It turns out he was wounded in the fight, with a tear in his right hip.  He kept trying to stand but couldn't, and was still really struggling to breathe.  From the old scars and scratches all over his body, this wasn't his first rodeo, but it didn't make it any easier.  Nabala then decided these weren't all Enolari lions but perhaps also some renegade lions from the reserve who were trying to interlope.  Whatever, at this point I was sad for the lion and frustrated for me.  This wasn't really the game ride experience I'd hoped for.

I then found out that tomorrow I'd have a Porini guide, who just so happens to be Jasper, who I had in Porini Mara when I was last here.  Jasper of the "Broken Down in the Reserve" fame.  He was an excellent guide though, so I'll be good there.  So tomorrow is a day long drive to the reserve.

I asked Nabala how it was that I got Porini guides for this stay and he said everyone here is puzzled by that.  So I made sure to make it clear to Andrew, the manager, that I didn't ask for this and wasn't sure how it happened. It seems awkward to stay in one camp and use guides from another.

My first sundowner of the trip was nearby the lions,  It was a good gin and tonic and I needed it to take the edge off a fraught day.  We started to drive back to camp to be here in time for dinner, and with the roads so bumpy it was hard to drink my G&T. Every so often Nabala would stop the car and shout "Sip Stop" and make me sip my drink.  That cracked me up.

Took my first bucket shower of the trip just before dinner.  I miss my waterfall shower already!  Headed down to the fire pit and had my second Stoney Tangawizi of the trip, how good that is!  Andrew said the news of today out of Nairobi was that 8 lions had escaped from Nairobi National Park, where I'll be next week.  That filled me with dread, but then it was later reported that they were found and returned the park safe and sound.  Phew.  A happy ending at least.

Dinner was good, although I think Tawi did it much better.  We started with pumpkin soup with a bit of chili powder in it for a kick.  Then I had grilled fish over fingerling potatoes and spring peas.  Dessert was a fruit crumble.  I washed that down with a Gato Nero Sauvignon Blanc.

So I lay here in the tent, listening to crickets and the whine of hyena.  They said the lions were out here last night, let's hope I hear them tonight!!!  I've waited 2 years for this!

Day Three -- Last Day in the Land of the Eles

Thursday, February 18

Another very restful night.  Even though I took the Ambien, I still heard footfall outside my bana, of the human kind, around 4 a.m.  I managed to go back to sleep and slept until the alarm went off at 5:40 though.  Today is the first day I actually feel human.  I think the volume of sleep I've been getting and finally relaxing is helping, not to mention breaking the back on the jetlag.  It's getting harder to do so as I get older.  I have to admit the last two days I've had waves of feeling quite unwell but it turns out it's likely a combination of dehydration and jetlag.

Oddly, when I heard footsteps outside at 4:00, I went to turn a light on to check the time and the light above my bed didn't go on.  When I got out of bed to get ready for the day, none of my lights had power.  So I had to get dressed and ready by the light of one flashlight.  No worries, it's not a fashion show here and I'd laid my stuff out the night before anyway, so it was just a matter of wetting my hair flat and brushing my teeth. 

This morning I was alone for the game drive, which was fine by me.  We headed out at 6:10 and it was nearly pitch black.  But I could see that the mountain was clear which is always good news.  Just as we got into the park, the first visitors in for the day, we turned to look back and the sun was just peeping up over the horizon.  I'm still blown away by how fast it comes up.  

I think Julius really wanted to show me lions today, even though I've not made a fuss over it, and have told him multiple times that I came here for elephants and would get my cats in the Mara.  We drove for over an hour in another part of the park that is known as lion country only to find nothing.  He said they are good at hiding, and they must be, because I couldn't figure out where they'd hide.  Parts of this terrain looked like moonscape and others were just very low scrub.  No bother, we saw a couple of lone hyena, two Thomson gazelle mothers with their babies and a bunch of baboons that we've been passing out near the old shut down Amboseli Lodge, which the baboons seem to have taken over for themselves.  They're so funny and so expressive and some of them are quite stubborn when it comes to getting out of the way of vehicles.

Finally we came across that massive herd of elephants that we saw last night that we couldn't stay to watch because the park was closing.  We determined there were nearly 90 elephants, likely 4 different families, and they were all gathered right beneath the mountain and heading to cross the road right in front of us.  I'm aware it might sound incredibly boring, but it takes my breath away to have so many of these gorgeous giants pass right in front of me, and they're completely silent as they do so.  There were quite a few babies in this group, and it's sweet to watch the moms guide them up over the hump on either side of the road.  Julius pointed out to me how cute they are when they flap out their ears, and I have to admit he's right.  They are really sweet.  And how the herd looks after them and surrounds them if they think there is a problem is very endearing.  It was such a privilege to sit and watch them.

We returned to camp for breakfast around 9:30 and made plans to meet up again at 4. Breakfast was the same as yesterday except instead of juice they had a mango smoothie which was nice. Today I ate a little less since lunch is right around the corner.  We had three elephants at the watering hole on the other side of our garden, and I couldn't help myself but abandon my breakfast to scoot over there and take photos of them, including a selfie!  They are so close and seemingly uninterested in us.  It was so pretty to see the elephant and the mountain right here at the breakfast table.

After breakfast I came back to my banda and sat in the sun on my private patio for a bit.  Then I shaved my legs in the soaker tub, luxurious, I know.  I figure this is the last opportunity I'll get for a leisurely shave; once I get to the land of bucket showers all bets are off.  I washed up some things to hang out to dry and laid out my clothes for tomorrow.  I also left the staff a couple shirts and a pair of pants to wash, so hopefully I'll have those back to pack tonight.  Tomorrow I fly to Nairobi at 9 and then connect at 10 to the Mara.  That's a tight connection!

Going to read a bit and maybe snooze before lunch.  I've finished one book and read half of another already.  I could get used to this!!

Back out to lunch.  I spent a little time over by the watering hole again.  Three elephants, 5 giraffe and a whole bunch of zebras were there.  I also watched a bunch of eland come in and a handful of baboons.  Julius told me that the plains game have wisened up and know that they are safe near the lodge since it patrols for predators.  So they are here pretty much all the time.  The elephants at lunch were bathing and splashing like mad and really having a great time of it.  Then when they come up out of the bath, the zebras bolt like they're going to get crushed by these massive beasts.  During my meal, one zebra let out a panicked bark, as they do, and all the others just rolled their eyes as if "chill out buddy, nothing going on here".

I was thrilled to see the asparagus salad was back on the menu today.  I loved that the other day.  The main was a mushroom tart on puff pastry.  I'm not a huge mushroom fan but this was actually really good, with some arugula and shaved parmesan.  Dessert was a mango and watermelon salad.  It all really hit the spot as it's now a lot warmer mid-day than it has been.  It'll be nice to flop down and read in the coolness of my banda.  Heading back out at 4.

Finished my book and didn't nap after lunch, that's a first!  And when was the last time I read a book in three days?  Crazy.  Just as I got dressed to head back out, I heard raindrops but they never amounted to much more than a handful. 

Menno caught me in the reception area and said my flight back to Nairobi has been changed from 9:00 to 8:00 tomorrow, which is good in that now I have longer than 10 minutes between flights in Nairobi, unless my flight to Mara changed too!  I'll have to get there and see.  Menno also mentioned that other guests spotted four cheetahs today in Amboseli and Julius knows where they were spotted. Knowing how transient cheetahs can be, I assured Julius there was no pressure and I'd be happy for my last game ride to just find a whole lot of elephants.  And off we went.

The first hour or so was pretty slow, no sightings at all.  I could tell we were headed to the far side of the park again so I assumed we were heading for the cheetahs.  En route we saw a massive herd of elephants, and by massive I mean maybe 100-150 easily, but they had already mostly crossed the road we'd take to access them and by the time we got to them they'd be well past.  About an hour into the ride, another guide stopped Julius and there was some chatter in Swahili between them.  This happens pretty frequently and usually I never hear what comes of it.  But when the other driver moved on, Julius looked at me over his shoulder and said "we must go back, they have spotted lion."  At this time of year it is near impossible to spot either cheetah or lion and I reckon that Julius was opting for a sure thing with the current sighting rather than a shot in the dark with four cheetahs spotted hours before.  So back we went over the same land we just came over, doing it in half the time.  At 5:30 we arrived on the scene of the sighting, a lioness lying about 100 yards off road on a large sandy patch.  I could see her well with binocs but photos were mediocre to poor.  Still, I saw a lion in Amboseli.  Julius recognized her as a new mother who has two cubs.  I think he hoped the cubs would surface but they never did.  She changed locations twice, finally flopping down and throwing her paws in the air in tall grass, never to be seen again.  So we moved on.

Just near the entrance to the park there was another good sized herd crossing the road.  We made it in time to them to see the last 30 or so go by us. I've never felt so small and humbled as I did watching all these elephants so close to me.  I certainly got a sense of my place in the universe.  As they silently crept by us, one stopped and approached our vehicle, only taking a few steps to break from the path his family was cutting through the grass.  He paused a moment, then turned and rejoined the line.  I may be crazy, or perhaps wishful thinking, but he really looked a lot like the lost boy we saw running for his family last night.  It was in the same location and at the same time as last night, and he was roughly the same age and tusk size.  I hope it was him and maybe he was thanking us for worrying about him.  I'll choose to believe it was.

After we left the park, we came across a bachelor herd of four elephants right outside the conservancy.  The biggest of these was Greg, Julius said, and he's a very shy boy, meaning he moves pretty quickly when vehicles approach.

I was back early enough to shower before dinner and do most of my packing.  I finished my book and sat at the bar for a bit with Menno and his visiting Dutch friend over a gin & tonic.  Dinner tonight was pretty good.  I had a chef's salad, which was a pretty little stack of greens, cucumber, tomato, avocado and onion with a creamy vinegarette.  The soup was out of this world: a sun dried tomato soup using tomatoes both grown here and dried here.  Menno is a true Renaissance man!  The main course was a fish cake (I think) and french fries.  The dessert was heavenly, a chocolate fondant (similar to molten lava cake) that I was so tempted to lick clean.  I washed this all down with the South African Savignon Blanc.

Mid-meal we heard a big splash and the night light over the watering hole caught an elephant belly flopping in there by himself.  He carried on for a good few minutes and seemed to be enjoying himself.  That mini game park we have going on in the garden here is just spectacular.

In bed by 10, 5:50 wake up call!  Off to the Mara!

Day Two -- Friends in Bath Places

Small surprise last night as I got ready for bed.  I took a glorious waterfall shower with really nice hot water, even warmer than in the Eka, though that was a low bar to pass.  I'd opted for the waterfall shower not only because I love them but because a tiny little lizard had taken up residence on the wall near the soaker tub.  No worries, little guy, I'll just move over here.  Well, as I was at the double-sinks after that, a much larger lizard popped his head out from behind one of the two mirrors and made for the shade over the tiny window.  I jumped a mile and probably shrieked, but then just decided I'm in his home, although he's in my banda, and I need to live with him. I think the nature of the construction here is just such that this is going to happen.  I'll keep my distance from the wall behind the sinks and maybe the two of us can co-exist nicely.  Fingers crossed.

The overnight found me getting a solid 7 hours, thank you Ambien.  I don't get a solid block of sleep like that at home, so maybe this is the start of good things to come.  My wake up call and coffee and biscuits came at 5:55 and Alan, Kay, Julius and I were on the road by 6:20.  I was immediately hopeful for good sightings since Kilimanjaro was clear and unclouded as the sun came up.  I was somewhat less impressed by a puffadder that Julius stopped for that was, thankfully, on the other side of the vehicle.  I didn't move, didn't bear to look.  But now that I know it is there, I was humbled, and scared witless.  That's not that far from our camp at all!

As we turned on to the road that led to the national park, we bumped into a bank of very low clouds that burnt off as the sun rose higher.  Julius had hoped to find our big bull with bigger tusks Tim to photograph in front of the mountain, but instead we found three or four good sized herds that lined up for us poetically in front of Kilimanjaro.  I think somewhere in there I got some good shots.  It seems as if we are seeing the same few families each time, and always headed in the direction of the swamp, so their daily activities pretty much revolve around getting to and from the swamp each day.  

The biggest herd numbered about 30 I think and even had a tiny little baby, less than a month old, Julius said.  They are expected to walk and keep up with the herd pretty much from birth.  This cute little one didn't yet have control over its trunk and kept itself tucked in pretty close to its mother until it raced off ears flapping, then realized how far it had strayed and turned and ran back to its mom.  There is truly nothing cuter than a baby elephant.

At one point Julius stopped alongside a guide in another vehicle who seemed very excitable.  Apparently he'd just seen a cheetah far on the other side of the park.  Julius felt that by the time we got there and found the location, the cheetah certainly would have moved on.  Instead we drove around through the palm trees looking for lions, to no avail.

Amboseli has 56 unique elephant families and the census in 2013 counted 1600 individual elephants.  There has been only one poached elephant here in 2013 and none since.  They presume the numbers now likely reach 2000 as there have been a fair amount of births in the last couple years.  I've noticed since I've been here that there is a pervasive marketing campaign against elephant poaching called "hands off our ivory", with posters and placards and bumper stickers everywhere, in the airports and air strips, on planes and on the safari vehicles.  Awareness is critical and they have certainly stepped it up since I was last here.  None of that was around when I was here in 2014.

We returned to the lodge at about 9:30 where a huge breakfast spread awaited us.  I had yogurt with granola, scrambled eggs and grilled tomato (nicely herbed!), toast, coffee and mango juice.  I think that'll hold me over well until lunch!

Spent the couple of hours between breakfast and lunch in my bana.  I have a private sunporch and sat out there until it was too hot to take any more sun.  Came in and finished a book and snoozed a bit.  I think the fresh air is doing me in. It feels good but I'm also setting a world record for sleep on safari, I think.

Shared lunch with Alan and Kay again.  They're quite nice and fun to talk to.  They leave today after lunch, which is bittersweet for me, as I've enjoyed having them on game rides but will have a private game ride later on.

Lunch was quite good and we watched two bull elephants and a herd of zebra right in the trench outside the garden near the lunch area.  That's just incredible.  Our meal was a pizza caprese starter (small pizzas with a sweet tomato sauce, mozzarella and arugula), then a pasta with a carbonara sauce (minus the bacon) and grilled mushrooms.  Dessert was a small plate of banana fritters.  Delightful.    It just hit the spot.  The chef came out to say hi to us and I told him how much I appreciate what he does with vegetarian food.  I know it's likely a challenge for him and I appreciate it so much.

It's become quite cloudy since we came in this morning, so I cannot see the mountain at all.  It's still fairly hot though.  All morning I felt as though I needed the fleece but after breakfast it really warmed up nicely.  I hardly remember the -43 degree real feel at home on Sunday!

I've neglected to mention the dust here.  It is insane.  The earth here is just so incredibly dusty, more so than I've seen anywhere else.  Now whether this is just a special feature of Amboseli or the result of an El Nino season, I don't know.  But not long into the game drive today, I reached down to get something out of my day bag and a layer of dust poured off the bag on to the floor of the rover.  And me, my hands, my face, are just filthy dirty by the time I get back.  The elephants kick up the dust when trying to get stubborn clumps of grass up out of the ground and they will also give themselves a dust bath as sun and insect prevention.  Remember that, it'll play a part later in the day.

It was just me with Julius this morning on the game drive.  I got to learn a lot about him, how much he loves what he does and never gets bored after 7 years.  He said every day is different, but he has learned the patterns and habits of different elephant families so he can pretty much tell when and where he'll find them.

We saw nothing but elephants tonight really.  There were a few giraffes, a herd of wildebeest with some newly born calves (one of two herds in the park) and we stopped to see those funny orange weavers again, each male trying to outdo the other in nest building.  But the highlight was well and truly the elephants.  We saw three different families making their way either from swamp to where they'd spend the night or toward the swamp.  The smallest herd we saw was about 20, the largest we saw was nearly 75  (likely separate families all in the same area around a swamp).  

It is so heartening to see the number of very young babies. Just tonight I think we saw about 10 all under a month old.  This bodes very well for the future of Amboseli's elephants.  I love to see the wee ones, just barely tall enough to nurse from their mom, still unsure of how to use their trunk, so they just swing it wildly.  They do so well to keep up with the family, which can move 30 miles in a day!  One little guy was either asserting himself or complaining about the pace and he trumpeted boldly but it came out like a squeak.  I couldn't help but laugh.  Although it was "only" three sightings, they were majestic.  It is humbling to be sitting on the road and have the herd come directly toward me to cross to the other side.  That they move so silently but for their purrs and whispers amongst themselves in hard to fathom until you see it.  To have a massive bull elephant coming head on is simply breathtaking.  What incredible creatures they are.

The last sighting we saw was the biggest, but we were up against a time crunch to get out of the park by 6:30.  I took a few hasty shots and we ran for the exit.  As the sun was almost down, Julius said "that little elephant just ran across the road looking for his mamma".  Then the elephant passed again to the side he came from.  Then back and forth again.  He was lost.  There were no elephants in sight.  Julius tried to reassure me (and it turns out, himself) that it was a young elelphant but not that young, it appeared to be almost 10 years old.  Older, but not old enough to be independent.  Julius slowed the rover down and crept along looking for a family.  "Come on family" I heard him say.  The elephant seemed to be heading in a solid direction, and it was running now.  "He is focused, he knows where he is going", Julius said.  Finally from a stand of trees, Julius spotted huge clouds of dust rising up, right in the path of where this elephant was headed.  In the near darkness, we could see the shadows of at least two elephant families, both of which were kicking up a storm of dust.  Hopefully one of the two was the lost elle's family.  I said to Julius, "I would be heartbroken if we hadn't seen those elephant families".  "Even me too," Julius said.  It made me feel good that he was as worried as I was.

We returned in time for a gin and tonic and dinner.  I chatted with a Dutch friend of Menno's and then had dinner on my own.  The salad tonight was a yummy spicy cole slaw.  The soup was a ginger carrot leek soup.  The main course was a vegetarian curry (leeks, zucchini, snap peas) over jasmine rice.  Dessert was a slice of tiramisu.  I washed this all down with a bottle of water and a glass of South African Sauvignon Blanc.  It was delightful.  My worries about eating vegetarian here were definitely for naught.

Another wonderful waterfall shower tonight. It's so good to feel clean, even if only for the overnight.  No lizard in the bathroom tonight but a mouse did just run across the rafters in the same place.  Ugh.  I wish there was a way to seal the mosquito netting around my bed!!  In bed by 10, we're on the road at 6:15 tomorrow!

Day One -- The Getting There and Amboseli

As much as I dreaded the getting here part, it wasn't all that bad, or it seemed to go by faster than I expected.  I left Boston in unprecedented cold, highs not even in the teens and wind chills with a "real feel" of somewhere around 30 below.  Even the 40s in London during my layover would feel balmy at this point.

The flight London to Boston had me in the second to last row on the plane, on purpose, because that's where the seat configuration went from 3 to 2 and I had decent legroom without having to pay crazy ticket prices.  The flight London to Nairobi had me in the last row, with the same hope, only the legroom was on the aisle seat, which I did not have (but have switched to for the return flight) but the gentleman in that seat got moved since his tv didn't work and I ended up with both seats to myself.  Score.

I ate fairly well on British Airways, having requested vegetarian fare for all flights.  That meant pasta (of course) with the exception of the breakfast as we landed in London, which was applesauce and nothing more.  With my 4 hour layover I charged my iPod for more movie viewing and ate a breakfast of omelette and french fries (chips).

I'd gone ahead and bought the eVisa ahead of time, allegedly under the premise that I could avoid the madness of the visa queues on arrival.  No such luck.  I (along with other tourists) was directed to the "Visa" line, where we waited nearly an hour only to be chastised by the immigration official, who tried to get us to go stand in another line. He was meant only to collect money, not issue paperwork.  My money had already been collected.  I stood my ground and he stamped my passport, but did not glue in a visa and waved me on. I hope to hell that doesn't come back to bite me later.  I changed my US dollars into Kenyan shillings, and an hour and 40 minutes after we landed, I met my driver from Asilia.  Thank god I didn't still have to wait for my luggage!

I suppose it's a good thing when the driver saw my luggage and said "Oh you travel light, so little bag".  HAAA!

I settled into the Eka around 11 and asleep by midnight.  As excited as I was for the waterfall shower, the water was cold, both last night and this morning.  But I am clean and dressed for the adventure.  I guess that's all that counts.

Up at 5:20, I partook of the Eka breakfast with a made to order omelette, some wonderful little plain donuts, a yogurt and some pineapple and mango.  The first meal since home that wasn't cooped up in an airplane seat felt good.

It looked a bit dark and foggy this morning as we left the hotel, but it was 13 degrees Celsius which I think is somewhere in the 60s.  I didn't need my coat in any event.  This is practically beach weather already!

I was picked up at 6:30 by the same driver and we headed for Wilson Airport.  It only took 45 minutes or so.  Both my luggage pieces were weighed.  My carry-on duffle is only 10k and my day bag is 7k.  I'm a little over my 15k limit, but this is far better than last time!!  No angry "you're too heavy" arguments at the check in.

Before my driver left me, he said to be sure to sit close to the front of the plane, and even said I can sit next to the pilot if there are no professional photographers on the flight. We'll see if I have the stomach for that!  I don't recall being issued "boarding passes" or having my luggage tagged before, or having my passport checked for that matter, but they did.  It's a tiny airport and there are about a dozen planes sitting waiting to take people to paradise.  It's about 45 minutes until liftoff...Amboseli here I come!

The flight to Amboseli took about 40 minutes.  It's a bit disconcerting to climb into a 12 seater plane (four rows of 3) right behind the pilot and co-pilot and the pilot turns and hands you a tin of peppermint candies as part of the pre-flight service.  Anyway, after much discussion between them and programming of the dials, we were off.  Sitting right behind them, I could see that they were on auto-pilot for the whole time with the exception of when the "warning: traffic" voice came on, and they both craned their necks to identify and then point to a nearby plane.  Hopefully not too nearby.

I landed and was quickly picked up by Julius, who was my guide and driver for the rest of the day.  He was letting another couple off and one couple, Glaswegian retirees who now live in Wales, stuck with me for the rest of the day.  We were off on safari immediately, with elephants being the appetizer, main course and dessert.  Julius says you come to Amboseli to see the landscape, the mountain (Kilimanjaro) and the elephants.  I'm fine with that as I'd completely overlooked Amboseli on my last trip.  

It didn't take long before we spotted two lone cape buffalo, here a dustier grey than I've seen before where the sand is browner or even redder.  After that it was elephants everywhere I could look.  I mean, the ground wasn't bumper to bumper with them, but you could look in just about any direction and see an elephant or 10 or 20.  Julius knew that a few bunches of them were headed in the direction of a swamp, so we stopped for coffee on a scenic overlook with stunning views of Amboseli and Kilimanjaro (who has a shawl of clouds over her shoulders today).  It was easy to see from up there Julius was right, there were maybe 30-40 or so elephants all headed toward the swamp.  We had coffee and cookies and then headed in that direction too.

The elephants are so majestic, and so huge, but so silent.  They are like gentle giants.  They move silently and just sort of float past our vehicle.  Two or three times they crossed right in front of us, hardly a bother on them.  Julius explained how he can tell how old the elephants are by their tusks, whether they're just starting to grow in on a young one (they come in at about 4 years of age) or the medium length tusks on a 25-30 year old bull.  He says that there's one bull elephant in Amboseli named Tim who has tusks to the ground.  We'll try to find him.  

We saw a few hippos hanging out in the swamps and lots of bird life.  I've seen a few lilac breasted rollers already and have thought of my fellow Safaritalker @graceland, as I know that if she is with me now, it's as a lilac breasted roller.

Tawi Lodge here is not your average tented camp.   Menno the manager met me and gave me a walk of the grounds.  There are no tents.  Each accommodation is a "banda" or thatch roofed cottage with screened windows and doors.  My banda has a queen sized bed with a fireplace, then steps down into a double-sinked bathroom with soaker tub, separate waterfall shower and toilet.  Everything has a private view of Kilimanjaro, from a private porch with chaise lounges and tables and chairs, when it's not covered by clouds.   There appear to be 12 bandas, with a reception area, dining area, manager's office and reception and gift shop.  All the water running is reused somehow, whether it's to seed saplings or fill pools or whatnot.  The lodge won a couple stars for eco-tourism and being green, so whatever misgivings I had about staying here were alleviated quickly learning all they do to conserve while still presenting a more-comfortable-than-I'm-used-to safari experience.

The dining area overlooks the pool and watering hole just beyond.  There's a fire pit and bar nearby out that way.  Over lunch, 5 zebra, 6 or 7 giraffe and at least one elephant were within 100 yards of me while I ate.  They look this way inquisitively, I'm not sure if that's because they hear, see or smell us.  I had more than a few "what did I do to deserve this luxury" moments.

Lunch today was pretty good.  My safari planner had let them know I was vegetarian and they were ready to accommodate that.  First course was a wonderful asparagus salad, with diced asparagus over a bit of lettuce with chopped olives and balsamic vinegar.  The main course was pasta pomodoro, likely a spaghettini with tomato sauce.  Dessert was a watermelon, mango and pineapple fruit salad.  I had a glass of red with that, I think a cabernet and some still water.  I've not yet really begun to unwind, I can still feel my thoughts wandering back home, but I think I'm on the way.  

I'll spend my 2 hour siesta snoozing here on the chaise lounge where I can see giraffes just past the brush line.  I still cannot believe I'm here!

I managed to read for about 2 minutes before I passed out cold during the siesta.  Good thing I set my alarm to go off in time for the afternoon drive.  I woke up feeling good but definitely not over the jetlag yet.  Ambien tonight for sure.

This afternoon's game drive went back into Amboseli.  We were on the look out for a big bull elephant that the researchers have named Tim.  Tim is known as the oldest male in Amboseli (at the ripe age of 47) but also for enormous tusks that are well past his trunk.  In fact, one is practically dragging on the ground as he walks.  It took Julius a while to track him down but we finally did, on his own just chomping on grass.  The tusks were indeed impressive.  Either he never gets in fights, or he always wins them, because for them to be that long without getting broken is quite the feat.  Julius says Tim's in musth now, meaning he's ripe to mate.  This period can last up to 20 days or more.  So look out ladies, Tim and his tusks may be coming at you.

We see a lot of lone wildebeest out here, more so than I remember anywhere else I've been.  I thought they were herd animals but Julius says the weaker males get chased out of a herd and aren't allowed to mate, so they then will live the rest of their lives alone.  That's sort of sad.  Adolescent elephants are also forced out of their pride when they come of age, but they will eventually form a boys' club with other adolescent males and live as a bachelor herd for a while.  Funny how nature works.

The landscape here is also interesting.  Amboseli National Park is flat with almost no trees at all.  So inside the park, you'll see mainly plains game, but mostly elephants.  There are no giraffes since there aren't any trees really.  There are lions but they are hard to spot and I have to think the lack of available food might hinder them somewhat.  Julius says he hasn't seen a lion in about 5 days, so not that long, but long enough for me to think I won't see one.

Outside the Amboseli, the conservancies are really bushy and filled with trees.  There's a weird African palm that look almost like the palm trees we see in L.A.  But also acacia and baobab.  That draws the giraffes.  And we see them quite a lot more than I expected.  Tonight on the way in we also saw some jackals, another hippo lounging in a pool, two parent Grey Crowned Cranes with four chicks and some zebra.  So the selection is interesting but maybe not exciting.  I'd estimate today I saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 elephants.  They are EVERY where.  Even here in the back yard.

Julius our guide is an ornithologist.  He knows more about birds than I think any guide I've had before.   We stopped at a bush where hundreds of these yellow weavers (chestnut weavers, I think?) were building nests.  These were the males trying to impress one of two females hanging about.  Whichever male she picked, she'd mate with.  It was quite a cacophony of activity, with the males squeeking and preening and fluttering their wings as they maniacally went about building these orb-shaped nests.  That was really neat to see, and learn why they're doing it.  There are other weavers doing the same thing in the path on the way to the reception area.  I'll have to pay more attention tomorrow.

As the day went on, more and more of Kilimanjaro became covered in clouds.  As the sun set, the clouds seemed to lift and we saw more of it at dusk than we did all day. I'd love to get one good clear view of it just to get the photos.  It is truly beautiful.

We were back here for dinner.  I freshened up a bit and then had a gin and tonic at the bar with Alan and Kay, two Glaswegians living in Wales.  They then invited me to join them for dinner, which was really good fun.  Whomever the chef is really knows how to do a salad.  Tonight's was beet root salad which was just wonderful.  Then a potato leek soup.  My main course (vegetarian option) was a succotash with zucchini, cauliflower, mushroom and tomatos over a handful of french fries.  I'm not sure what the sauce and seasoning was, but it was very good.  Dessert was a slice of cheesecake.  All very very good.  Portions are just the right size given that we do nothing but sit around in the vehicle all day!

Between the jetlag, the sunshine and the fresh air, I should sleep well.  Already have some nice color from the sun.  I forget how strong it is.

Off to bed. 6:30 am departure tomorrow.

D-Day

Departure day.  Somehow I've managed to get here.  It feels good but I'm trying to ignore the 22+ hours of journey time ahead of me.  That's the necessary evil to this all.

The bags are packed and zipped up.  All that is left is to charge the phone and iPad again and go.  It's an utterly surreal thought that it's finally here.

Not much has happened since I last wrote.  Work was insanely busy this week, of course, so that made it go by fast but also made me feel guilty and uncertain about leaving.  Will my projects move ahead or just sit and wait for me to return?

Oh, yes, my safari-minded friend Beth visited the Sheldrick elephant orphanage last weekend and wrote me that I simply MUST do the private visit there.  So there was a bit of scurrying to get the payment sent and that set up for my last day, but it is a done deed, thank you to my wonderful safari planner Sangeeta.  She has put together a truly spectacular itinerary for me.  One that I can't wait to execute.  And I'm just about to now!

The cats are ready.  It's somewhat different leaving two cats who are younger and without health issues.  With Morley I was always riddled with guilt and worry leaving him.  I know with these two, they'll look after each other.  Or torment each other, one or the other.  Plus I'm leaving them with my sister, who I know will keep them entertained and well while I'm gone.

I will not miss short days and 34 below zero "real feel" that we've had this weekend.  I won't miss road salt, walking over snow banks or putting on a million layers just to go outside.  I want to feel the sun on my face and the warmth of the air.  I think even the daily lows in Kenya, somewhere in the 50s, will feel tropical.  But I welcome the 80s that are forecast there.

Mentally and physically I need a break.  I'm mentally tired and physically sore all over.  I need a break from the day to day and the chronic working out.  Everything just needs to be recharged.

There's always the question of what is about to happen.  I know where I'm going but you just never know what you'll see.  Dealing with Mother Nature is a crap shoot, I just hope the dice fall in my favor.  It's that anticipation that gets me there and gets me out of bed every morning at 5 a.m. for those early morning game rides.

I'll blog as I have connections along the way. I expect to be without a signal for a good chunk of the safari, which is a good thing.  Really.

HItting the wall

There comes a point before every big trip where I just hit the wall.  Emotionally, physically, mentally, I'm just tired.  It's not close enough to completely stop being productive and functional, but it's close enough that I can almost taste it.  I'm at that point now.  I'm writing this more to remind myself that it happened again, that I feel like hell, that I want to sleep until I leave, that I am crying for no reason, that I don't want to do a stitch of work, that I don't want to work out.  My battery is low on several counts.  And while we haven't had much to speak of yet, a snowstorm, which I live in constant fear of, might just push me over the edge.

In talking to other veteran travelers, I realize that this sort of pre-trip behavior, depression, lethargy is common, which makes me wonder: do we sabotage ourselves in the lead up only to make the finally getting there that much more satisfying?

Case in point: I was seething over the receipt left by the US Postal Service notifying me that I must show up in person and sign for a package.  Who has time for that?  I work during open hours?  Why are you doing this to me?  And who on earth sent me something I need to sign for.  So yesterday, I showed up, presented the receipt and, when I finally saw where the package was from, I struggled to hold back tears. My safari dossier was here, and it was tickets for my internal flights, camp vouchers and final itinerary that I was signing for.  Calgon take me away.

It's funny because I felt somewhat rejuvenated, yet physically rundown, after LA and Vegas, and really thought I could muddle through until I leave for Africa.  But, suspecting I couldn't, I started to get some of the heavy lifting done well ahead of time so I'd have less to worry about that last week before I leave.  That's why credit cards have been notified and my packing is mostly done.  Really all that's left is to get the cats ready for the sitter, get money and stop the newspaper.  In theory.

Re: wearing hiking boots on the plane, I caved in and bought trail runners from Brooks, the brand I buy  my running sneakers from.  They are sturdier than plain old sneakers but will stand up to the rougher terrain while being more comfortable to travel in.  They will look far better with my traveling garb too.  Which is important.  The things we do for fashion and comfort.

The Carry-On is a go!

The carry-on was delivered two nights ago.  I'd been over anxious to see just what I'd committed myself to.  I have to admit, there was a moment of panic when I lifted the box off the porch and it weighed next to nothing.  And even more panic when I opened the box and found that the bag itself was folded down and condensed into a large zip lock vinyl bag.  GULP!

However, I bravely unpacked the bag and left it on the floor for a moment, while Simon, my 14 pound boy cat, climbed inside with not much room to spare.  GULP again.

Then I took the bag upstairs and just casually dumped the pile of clothes I'd started for this safari (which is almost everything I'm taking) and my toiletry bag in it, and it fits.  And THERE'S STILL ROOM!  If I use those vacuum packing bags I might even be able to take a little more.

The only concession I'm making is to wear my hiking boots on the plane.  I just don't have the luxury of wearing sneakers in transit and carrying the boots.  But that's a small sacrifice.  So I'll look like a fashion disaster what with my yoga pants and top for flying and hiking boots.  No one will remember me once we're off the plane.  Or care, even.

So now the idea of going carry-on only for 2 weeks on safari is extremely likely.  I'm gobsmacked.  Wahoo!