On the way to Mt. Kenya

We left  Buffalo Springs Preserve early this morning and made our way southward toward Nanyuki and  The Women's Center Project and a stop at the supermarket and the bank. Both stops were amazing.

The Women's Center is a project we visited 8 years ago and we could hardly believe our eyes at all the changes they have made in the past 8 years.  They now have a boarding school for girls and all the buildings to support the school. We toured the center where they provide work and an enterprise to support 107 women. They produce knitted projects and woven shawls as well as rugs and wall hangings.

 All the yarns are died using natural dyes.  A gorgeous shade of maroon comes from the sticky white substance on this prickly pear cactus.  This is also a favorite food of the elephants.

 Kathy and Joyce have a great time shopping in the store with all the handmad items for sale.  Lucy is posing with Kathy and Ruth is with Joyce.  They were both our guides for our tour.

Our trip to the store in Nanyuki was fun.  It was much like a Super Walmart.  We wanted Kenyan Coffee, chocolate bars and Bob needed a converter because our was left at Sweetwaters. 

Just driving from town to town is a journey and a story itself as everyone walks or uses a motorbike and they all share the road with a host of animals including goats, cattle and burros.

Arriving at Buffalo Springs in Samburu

Samburu actually consists of three preserve areas, Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba.  The high water a few years ago washing out a bridge and an entire lodge makes navigating the three parks a little tricky, but we are not disappointed as we are greeted just inside the gate by a handsome giraffe.  We loved to watch him work the leaves from the thorny acacia tree. Seems impossible.

 Later in the game drive, we are treated to two "necking" giraffes.  These were  two males deciding on territorial boundaries.

We found more lions and this guy worked the camera for sure.  We were about 20 feet from him and he never batted an eye.  Three females were found later in the day.  Since lions are rather elusive, it is always a treat when we find them.  This time we were the only van in sight and we made sure to have all our photos done before Aaron alerted other van drivers where our guy was.

The acacia trees are all over Africa in all the parks we visited, but they never fail to strike us all as pieces of art work crafted by Mother Nature.  We say we are not going to take any more photos of trees, but that never works.

Moving Northward Toward Sweetwaters Tented Camp

We left Amboseli on the same dusty, washboard road that we entered.  It was Sunday and we thought the traffic would be lighter and fewer trucks, but that didn't seem to be the case.  It became a long day as we worked our way through Nairobi and on northward.  It isn't long before we can tell a change in the scenery as the roadside becomes more green and lush and the temperature drops, too.

We have ordered a box lunch from Amboseli Serena Lodge, so we have our lunch with us whenever Aaron finds a place acceptable for us to stop.  Usually, the criteria is " how clean are the bathrooms ".

We have to laugh at all the toilet facilities we have had so far.  It is amazing how our standards change when the cause is so urgent. When port-o- lets start to look good, you can imagine the conditions of some of the others.

As we approach Sweetwaters, once again the road is unbelievably horrendous.  Best description would be imagine your worst mountain road and multiply times 10.  We had to laugh as my pedometer which registers steps was jumping as much as 200 on some of the worst potholes and washboards.  I would easily end up with over 10,000 steps and we had ridden in the van for 6 hours.

We check into our tent for the night and are pleasantly surprised at a well- planned space of at least 400 sq. ft. Including our own ensuite bath. 

 We see a huge white rhino on our game drive.  This isn't the rarest one....this is the black rhino.  We see a tame one of those who is blind and we are able to feed him, which is neat.

  Seeing a lion is always a treat and this one was scouting out a couple of gazelles who came way too close we thought.  They escaped.

  We are on the equator and it is chilly as you can see, mostly because the altitude is over 6,000 ft.  We love finding a hot water bottle in our beds after freezing at our 2 hour night game drive.  We see more lions and a favorite was a tiny baby zebra who our naturalist said had just been born and the mother was still cleaning him up.

Devastating News About Elephants

Before we left for Africa, we had seen a 2013 PBS Documentary on the seriousness of elephant poaching in Africa, even in Kenya.  Kenya had made great strides in stopping the flow of illegal ivory out of the country in the late 90s and even when we were here in 2005 they felt confident that poaching was under control.

The statistics are staggering. Conservationist, Lisa. Rolls Hagelberg, CEO of Wildlife Direct, says that at the current rate of decline, African elephants will be extinct in the wild within 10-15 years.   The entire African elephant population is estimated to have been decreased by 53, 000 since 2007. An October 2012 article in National Geographic also had staggering statistics. As recent as July 9,2013, Guardian.com posted an article by Paula Kanumbu entitled " Guns will not win the war against elephant poaching".  Despite massive efforts, Kenya is not winning the war against poachers.  In the first 6 months of 2013, 7.5 tons of ivory were confiscated-- more than all of 2012. 

When we were here in Kenya in 2005 on safari, we had heard that the poaching was under control.  How totally sad to hear that the war is not over.  On July 16, the Washington Post reported that Hillary Rodham Clinton had agreed to take up the public fight of saving African elephants.  This same article said that the elephant population has gone from 1.2 million in 1980 to 420,000 in 2012.

While we were in Amboseli, Leslie Stahl of CBS 60 Minutes was also a guest there. She had fled Tanzania where she was threatened jail time if she didn't stop filming of a documentary on elephants. That should tell you she was onto something hot!

Can you possibly imagine what the driving force is that commands the massive killing of these wonderful creatures?  The primary markets are the Chinese, along with others in Thailand and the Philippines.  The demand for ivory trinkets and religious icons is huge and the middle class people in these countries are now able to afford them.  One tusk will bring nearly $6,000 on the illegal market.  This much money would support an unskilled Kenyan for 10 years.  You can see how a local might be enticed to make the kill for a middleman who will sell it.  The problem, outside of the fact that the killing is totally illegal, is the poor Kenyan will only receive a tiny portion of this.

Maybe all of these articles and TV documentaries will actually make a difference in these terrible statistics.

Amboseli Game Preserve

We arrived in Amboseli in time for late lunch and check in and then the first game drive.  Lots of animals as expected.  Also a lot of dust.  Amboseli means " dust devil" and we had it all.  We are long past the wet season, so there is nothing to settle the dust.  Animals have overgrazed the savannah and all that is left is dust in many places.

We find several families of elephants and they patiently wait for our van to settle in a spot and then they cross the road in front of us.  They have moved from the woodland savannah area to the grassy swamp area with each area providing a different necessary set of nutrients.  The swampy area comes from melting snow from Kilamanjaro.  In the photo below you can see the mountain.  We saw Kilamanjaro--just not quite as clear as this photo.

Next morning, we are treated to more elephants, a pride of lions and a pack of hyenas numbering 10.  We had so much fun, it was tempting to stay out on the game drive and skip breakfast.  It was indeed an ELEPHANT MORNING and we totally loved it.

And we thought it couldn't get worse!!

We were delayed 3 hours in Atlanta, so missed connections in Amsterdam. We really thought they would hold the Nairobi flight as there were at least 30 on our flight going to Nairobi, but no luck.  We were already booked on the next flight out that doesn't leave until 9:00 tonight arriving in Nairobi at 6:25 AM on Friday---barely in time to leave on our safari.  No sleep, no decent food-- it is becoming more and more difficult to see the positive in this.

Things look up when we find a Mc Donald's for a burger and then discover this Yotel at the airport. This is  the neatest concept. It consists of a series of cabins 12 square meters (the size of my closet) each with a shower, toilet and the cutest bed that folds out at the press of a button.  We revel in a shower and about 4 hours of sleep.  We have a wake up call just in  time to make our flight at 9:00 to Nairobi.

If you are confused by now as to what day it is or what time zone we are in or when we should take our meds, so were we!  All we want to do is get there.  

We arrive in Nairobi early and after 90 minutes to clear immigration and get luggage, we call Aaron for our pick up.  The airport is struggling to provide services for International travelers after the devastating fire nearly a month ago.  We have our luggage, so that is all we really care about.

Another International Trip From Hell

The Miles arrived on schedule last evening near Dulles Airport for our flight out to Amsterdam today ( Wednesday).  We had a great evening at Sweetwater Tavern in Sterling, VA last night and a very nice hotel room at the Hyatt House near the airport.  We have a small suite with sitting area and small kitchen.  Anna, who checked us in said these are used more for long term stays.  She said some people have even stayed for 2 years....yes, that is correct.  Well, no electric bill, no cable, no phone, free breakfast, free Internet.... maybe it is less expensive than an apartment.  Oh, I forgot, housekeeping, too!  We can leave our car free for 2 weeks and have a free shuttle to Dulles.

We are planning a leisure morning here at the hotel when my phone rings and it is Kathy and Gene, our travel partners.  They have arrived at the Minneapolis airport only to find out that our flight from Dulles to Amsterdam this evening has been cancelled!!!!  Oh, boy, here we go again.  They are now booked straight to Paris and then on to Nairobi.  We will not see them here in Dulles.  So we decide we better find out what is happening with our flights.  No word from KLM whatsoever until we call and they confirm that we have no flight to Amsterdam.  After much wrangling with an agent, Bob manages to get us to Amsterdam via Atlanta.  Once in Amsterdam, we are back on original flight plans.  Of course, now our wonderful exit row seats we have paid extra for are long gone and we are not only separated, but are in center seats!!!!   Joyce is now chanting, " We will not let this ruin our vacation" over and over.  This is instead of hitting something and doing some serious damage.

We will all end up in Nairobi pretty much on time and now will pray that our luggage makes it, too.

international flying is not for the faint of heart nor the impatient.  This is testing all of us sorely.