KENYAN MEMORIES

                                                      Nairobi

      Kenya is about the size of Texas with a population of 25 million, with two million living in Nairobi. English is the official language but everyone also speaks Swahili as that is how the tribes communicate with each other. Nairobi is a large metropolitan city. Forty-five ethnic tribes live in Kenya. The smallest numbers 250 people. The largest tribe is Kukuyu

      In 1899 the Uganda--Mobassa Railroad was being built by coolies from India. The English spent a lot of money to have the railroad built so in the early 1900s they encouraged white people to migrate to Kenya. In 1909 Nairobi was the capitol of British South Africa which consisted of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. Now Nairobi is the largest city between Johannesburg and Cairo The automobile arrived here in 1913.

        The city is large. The tourist part of the city is safe to walk as there are askari (police) everywhere keeping the pesky hawkers at bay. The hotels have askari on each floor patrolling the corridors. We were accompanied as we walked to a nearby restaurant one evening. Yet, I never felt threatened nor afraid.

      The place I felt most uncomfortable was the native market that everyone told us we absolutely needed to visit. It was crowded, hot, smelly and stuffy. Hundreds of small vendor niches were separated by narrow pathways. Smoking was a popular pastime, which I saw as a real fire hazard in the crowded areas. The entire complex which covered a large city block was fenced and with only one or two entrances/exits I could foresee a terrible scene in the case of fire and a stampede. Neither of us bought anything nor saw anything that really intrigued us. Although my son kept constantly moving someone did manage to slice his backpack, but fortunately did not get a hold of any of his camera equipment.

      The merchandise seemed to be all the same, so our visit was very short. We came, we saw, we left.

SOME GREAT KENYAN MEMORIES

The Carnivore Restaurant is a popular and famous tourist restaurant. In the center of the restaurant a large cooking is pit is in where all kinds of meats are cooked. Waiters came to the table and told us what meat he carried and served us anything we wanted to try. The food was good.

Although not much for exotic dining, it was a fun experience.

While in Kenya we traveled nearly 1600 miles in Nissan vans equipped with special pop top roofs. These vans also had special guards to protect their undersides on the sometimes rough terrain.

After riding over the arid areas it was a surprise to find our hotels in an oasis in the middle of the desert. We always had a quaint cottage with comfortable accommodations.

Part of the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro are in Kenya but all of the mountain is in Tanzania

The first day we saw the wildebeest migration was simply awesome, especially since we thought we would miss the annual event. It was spellbinding every time we saw the thousands of animals followed by thousands of zebras.

Waking to barking zebras in the marsh at Amboseli.

Falling to sleep to the sound of rippling water and a crackling fire in out fireplace!

On safari game runs are done early in the morning (6:30 AM) before breakfast and late afternoon/early evening---the times of day animals are most active as they rest in the heat of the day

The day a beautiful spotted leopard crossed right in front of our van.

Watching the sleeping cheetahs awaken and take off with the lion in pursuit—it ended in a draw as the lion is a sprinter.

The mating leopards in the hillsides—what a lucky find!

The tented facilities in the Masai Mara in the northern Serengeti and all its animals. The big five of Africa are the buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. We were lucky to see them all!

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SUBMARINE RIDE AND MORE

                                         A Good Experience 

        I am admittedly claustrophobic. I don’t like elevators and take them only when necessary to travel several stories up. I have had to do a lot of self-talk to remain calm when in tunnels or mines and am always glad to see daylight!

        So in Grand Cayman I hesitated to take a submarine ride. The submarine in Grand Cayman was the first of several tourist submarines that are now located in many places around the world. Although I snorkel, I do not scuba dive. But the people I was traveling with encouraged me to ride the sub. I did, and afterward was so glad.

      During my younger days I had gone aboard various submarines---the real ones--- and toured them, but had never sailed on one, and I was always more comfortable up on deck!

      On entering the Atlantis sub I learned that each seat had its own large porthole. As the sub quietly submerged, the voice of a naturalist came over the microphone to explain everything that was happening and to describe what we were seeing.

      The lower the sub sank the more fantastic the scenery became. The oohs and ahs were loud and constant, reminding me of kids in a candy store.

      We descended over a reef deeper and deeper into the ocean. Seeing things I had never seen before, I remember lots and lots of barrel coral. Each time interesting things came into view, the sub turned around so that all the scenery, sea creatures and fish could be seen by everyone on both sides of the sub.

     Suddenly, the sub started its ascent. I couldn’t believe how quickly the time had passed, and I hadn’t once thought about being enclosed in a small space under the water. Afterward I was so glad that I had taken that ride!

     However several years later I sent my grandchildren and their mother on the Atlantis sub on Maui, Hawaii while I opted to wander Lahaina town and it’s waterfront noting the changes that had taken place over the past few decades. You really can never go back!

SEASICK

       I had done a fair amount of traveling on a boat of one kind or another. Some were large luxury cruise ships, others were small. I’d sailed the rough channel waters between the Hawaiian Islands, where the seas were never calm, many times in a 28-foot sloop.

I never had been seasick----until the final leg of a trip through the Cook Islands on the 285-feet long World Discoverer ----when I was 65 years old.

      The last evening on the boat was horrible. I felt much too queasy to think about dinner. Feeling so bad, packing was a real chore. Blindly I managed to get everything into my suitcase in whatever manner. I went to bed at 8:00 PM for a really miserable uncomfortable night. The bunk ran athwart ships instead of bow to stern. I even had a hard time staying in my bunk, and I guess the ship, surfing the rolling seas, was the cause of my problem.

     I was one happy camper when the ship docked at 7:00 AM in Roratonga, even if the world did rock and spin all day! I was shocked at having been sea sick, and glad I’d had so many sick-free good times in years past!

      Three years later in Australia on a cold windy day I boarded the catamaran, Matilda, for a 50-minute ferry ride to Kangaroo Island. Forty-five of the 50 minutes were rough, rough, rough! People on my left and people on my right were using the barf bags.

     Confident that I would be fine on the short jaunt, I purchased a cup of hot tea. But I have to admit that I got very queasy and drank no more than a sip of it. On solid ground again I was fine to enjoy a delightful day. Being seasick is a terrible feeling and I hope to never experience it again!