Knackered in Nakuru

7/4
It was a bit of a disappointing day, but I guess you can’t hit home runs every time at bat.
Woke up really early. Someone’s alarm went off at four and it woke me. I thought it was Ilana’s alarm so I woke her.

Breakfast and then into the van for a game drive. But, our reluctant driver first told us the park was closed due to poachers, then when we saw other cars go in, he started to drive away. My theory is he didn’t want to pay the park entrance fee – he’d rather pocket the money. He had offered us to do a longer drive on the previous day because he wanted to skip this morning’s drive. So when we chose to do the morning drive, he was not very happy.
He took us into the park after we insisted, then went on a route that guaranteed we wouldn’t see any animals. I took two pictures only. Very disappointing.

The drive to Lake Nakuru was long. We stopped for lunch. When we finally arrived at 3:30, having woken up at five, breakfast at 5:30, we were told that there is nothing to do today. We were also told that we forfeited the boat ride because we went on that lame game drive. So with 3.5 hours before dinner, we went for a walk. I had my torn pants made into short shorts. While waiting for the seamstress to finish, Marian and I taught a Masai woman how to make guacamole. We may have permanently altered Masai culture in Kenya today.

Amazing Masai Mara

7/3
What a day! I don’t think there are enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe what we saw. After a breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and sweet beans, our adventure began.
The game drive started out with some gorgeous giraffes at sunrise. Then buffaloes, zebras, then ... this was too cool… cheetahs! First they were on a knoll, but then the pair came down from the knoll and walked straight toward our van. I was excited and more than a little scared. The cheetahs walked right around us and went to sit on another knoll. So amazing! Such a beautiful animal.
Gazelles, hordes of wildebeasts, warthogs, hyenas, mongooses, towering elephants, then… A leopard in a tree. It was a bit difficult to photograph, but there it was! Crazy! More elephants, more ostriches, an army of zebras running and prancing in endless green fields.


We took a step into the Serengeti in Tanzania, then stopped stepped back into Kenya. The animals were on their migration from the grasses of Tanzania to the more fertile grasses of Kenya.

Lunch was on the Masai Mara River. During a bag lunch on a blanket under the trees a masturbating baboon came to visit. For further entertainment we went with the armed ranger for a walk along the river. What was in the river? Hippos! They bellowed, showed their teeth and splashed around for us. They were also giant African crocodiles lounging on the shore. From one vantage point along the river, you could see giraffes and zebras at the same time. This park is so beautiful!

Heading back, we passed more zebras and more zebras, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, wildebeests, and then… We stopped at a tree which had two lions in it, hiding from the heat of the day.
What a magnificent day! Perhaps the best travel day I’ve ever had. We saw so much. So incredible!

Kings of the Jungle

7/2
Safari day! Benji woke up with a fever to add to his stomach discomfort. We gave him antibiotic.
After a breakfast of granola at our hotel, we jumped in the tour company’s van. I sat in the front seat and napped and watercolor painted. Our new family was Abed, a French nomadic mathematician, Diego and Elisa, an attractive Spanish police officer couple, and our charming family.

The lunch on the way to Masai Mara was ridiculously good – an all you can eat buffet with rice, rice with meat, noodles, veggies, chicken stew, fruit, etc. We arrived at our camp and were surprised to see how luxurious it was. The fancy tents had beds with beautiful mosquito nets, comforters with pillows, really hot showers, and clean bathrooms attached.

Before dinner we departed for our first game drive. Holy cow! We couldn’t believe our eyes. We saw zebras and giraffes and… lions! We couldn’t believe it, lions on the first drive. And they weren’t far away, so it was particularly spectacular. Adding to that first drive list, we saw ostriches, hyenas buffaloes, and of course wildebeests.

Dinner was another remarkably delicious meal of fish and noodles and potato joe-joes, complemented with lively fun conversation with our van group. A hot shower and then bed. I slept the minute my head hit the pillow. A very successful day as we begin our safari adventure.

Baby Elephants

7/1
Nairobi is a little scary. In order to exchange money I had to become Jason Bourne. First I had to arrange with a third-party for the money lender to come to our hotel. Then I had to confirm who he was with a phone call to the first person. Then once the money exchange details were arranged he would pull up his pant leg to break out the Kenyan Shillings.

That first night our hotel told us it is not safe to go out for dinner and not safe to walk to the park. Our hotel, which happens to be right in the heart of the central business district, is in the heart of crime and poverty as well.

The next day we started out our Kenya experience with a bang. We traveled to a baby orphan elephant rescue. They had two groups of baby elephants come into the pen. First the babies would drink an amazing amount of formula, one jug after another. Then it was playtime. They ate leaves, drank muddy water, then wrestled and pushed each other. When they came near the edge of the cordoned off area, we were able to touch and pet the baby elephants. At the end of the session, I was even able to touch one baby elephants trunk – it felt like a big tongue. What a great experience for everyone. We left with huge smiles on our faces.

Afterword we negotiated a ride to the giraffe center, but opted to not pay the hefty admission price. Instead we took a bunch of pictures from from the entrance.

Back in the central business district, we ate an amazing Tilapia feast, two huge fish, one in coconut sauce, rice, fruit, veggies and corn bread. It added up to be a little pricey but was our first delicious African food.

We came home, changed rooms because of the clanging security door and the non-flushing toilet, exchanged money again, and then went to our sister hotel for a refreshing swim in their pool. Dinner was not so good but we are all very excited about our Safari tomorrow!

An eye-full from the Eiffel

6/28
It was June 28, our Eiffel tower day. We woke up early and made a bee-line straight to the tower. The lines weren’t too long and we got tickets to the top after a short wait. Not cheap but what is one to do?

We elevatored to the second level and walked around for too long. The view was mesmerizing, but so was the wait for the elevator to go to the very top. Up there you could see incredibly far from that dizzying height, but the beauty of Paris was also quite far away. While up at the top, nature took its course and first Steve used the bathroom. Clean, tidy, nice bathroom. Benji couldn’t resist. When Benji came out, he had pictures to share.

Back down on the ground, we had a few hours before our 48 hour museum pass expired. So we zipped through the metro system to the Pantheon, making a quick stop for lunch. Cajun chicken sandwich for me, wrap for Marina, smoked salmon bagel for Benji, salmon sandwich for Ilana.

The pantheon was awesome! Huge, ornate, awe-inspiring – a venue used by France to honor some of its dead heroes. In the crypt below, we visited the graves of Victor Hugo (hunchback), Marie Curie (radiation), Dumas’s (Count of Monte Christo) and someone I loved in college, Zola  (Germinal).

After the Pantheon, gelatos got us all back into motion again. So we walked and walked, first just heading into the Luxembourg Gardens, then down the Seine, then across the bridge with all the locks on it, and where did we end up? The Louvre. So we went back in just to use the air conditioning and the bathrooms.

Marina had dinner at home. Benji and I sought dinner in Bezons, and Ilana treated herself to a fancy dinner in Paris. Let them eat cake.

It’s Good to be King

6/27
It’s good to be king, that is, until they chop your head off. June 27. Happy anniversary, Ilana! 20 years. Where’d they go?
It was Versailles day. We shopped  for breakfast and lunch food and then we got on the train headed to Versailles.

Versailles was crowded as expected and crazy hot. Even though we had our tickets, we queued for about an hour under the blazing sun. Finally we got in and we explored the palace, room to room, with our audio guides explaining every detail. The hall of mirrors was glorious and the ceiling paintings were pretty awesome. The gilded everything was pretty darn rococo for me. I liked the king’s bedroom; Marina liked the Queen’s bedroom; Benji like the war room; and Ilana liked taking pictures of everything.
After touring the palace, we strolled in the gardens. Actually we raced from shade to shade, eventually trying to watercolor paint. Lunch was the amazing smoked salmon sandwiches that we bought in the morning at our local bakery – delicious!
From Versailles we took the train to the Musee D’Orsey, the impressionist museum. We were all quite impressed with the layout of the museum, much simpler than the Louvre, and the gorgeous collection of paintings by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas, Seraut, etc. Monet, of course, stole the show. My favorite was the brooding London painting with his Lily Pond as a close second. Benji chooses van Goghs self-portrait; Ilana was the Dance at the Mulan by Renoir; And Marina refuses to answer.
We jumped a metro and zipped over to the Notre Dame neighborhood for our usual donor faire: meat, tzaziki, pita and fries. Benji and Marina are still confused about what is french food I told them that the fries are french.