Ann's Adventures in Africa
Nov 9th, 2006, 07:21 PM
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Ann's Adventures in Africa
Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) �The Best of Kenya and Tanzania�: Sweetwaters � Amboseli � Tarangire � Ngorongoro Crater � Serengeti � Lake Manyara 19 days (16 plus travel). http://www.oattravel.com/gcc/general...spx?oid=149668
A little bit about me: I�m a woman in my 40s from Long Island, NY. This was my first trip to Africa. I have to throw in a �Thank you� to Jenn�I�m sure I enjoyed my whole trip more because of her, indirectly. I was so intent on trying to NOT be like Arielle, that I established a personal �no whining� policy, which made it more fun for me, not to mention everyone else. I�m timid, especially about new experiences, so it was pretty unexpected to find myself in Africa, and loving it.
Rather than starting with a classic narrative, I thought I�d start with a list of what did and did not work for me, since that�s most likely to be helpful to other safari beginners.
WHAT WORKED FOR ME (your mileage may vary, of course)
Dove disposable face cloths. I don�t use them at home, but it was great after a game drive.
Buff kerchief. These are overpriced, but worth it. They are stretchy tubular kerchiefs that you can wear like a scarf, or a hat, or a kerchief. They are great to keep the dust off your hair.
Binoculars. I�ve always had trouble using them in the past, but I finally found a kind that worked for me. One problem is that I wear glasses, and I learned that �long eye relief� helps accommodate to the glasses. I used Bushnell Hemisphere binoculars. Obviously there are better (and more expensive) binoculars around, but I was looking for something that was compact, easy to focus, and under $100.
Silk long johns. Usually I slept in a long T shirt, but the nights at the sweetwaters tented camp were chilly. Most people would probably have been fine without the long johns, but I appreciated having them.
Sawyer controlled release bug repellent. Supposedly the formulation gives better results with a lower concentration, and less skin absorption. It seemed to work pretty well.
Room-mate. I was a little nervous about being matched up with a stranger, but my roommate was terrific.
Fanny Pack. I know these look really dorky, but it was so helpful to have key things handy.
Bio Freeze. This is a lotion recommended by my chiropractor. It was very helpful when I was achy after some of the bumpy roads.
Swahili. I make it a practice to try to learn 10 words in the local language whenever I travel. It�s not intimidating like trying to actually learn the language itself, but it�s amazing how far you can get with 10 words! I used the �in flight swahili� CD, and really enjoyed being able to exchange a few little courtesies with the local people.
Animal Book: Wildlife of East Africa by martin Withers and David Hosking. This was great � it is relatively compact, and was handy and useful. While the guide had a huge bird book with more birds, my book was smaller, lighter and easier to use. It is half birds, half animals, and has just a couple of pages of trees too.
Tea2go. I hate water. I know it sounds stupid, but I really hate drinking water. So I just poured a little iced tea or lemonade mix into my water bottles, and did better at remembering to drink some.
OAT itinerary. We spent 2 nights in each camp, which worked fine.
Inflatable cushion. Sometimes I sat on it, sometimes I leaned on it to cushion my back, and on the way home I used it to wrap my bottle of amarulo.
Extra ziplock bags in various sizes.
Eucalyptus bath gel. I wanted to avoid florals so as to not attract insects, but I love a nice scent, so I compromised on eucalyptus.
Oil of Olay moisturizer with spf 30. I don�t normally use anything on my face, not even moisturizer, so I really hate sunscreen. I put the moisturizer on every morning, and then didn�t bother re-applying any sunscreen. It worked great, and didn�t feel greasy.
WHAT DIDN�T WORK:
Daypack. Sometimes I never had the right size bag with me. Too big. Too small.
Safari Companion book. It was simply too big and too heavy and too complicated to take on a game drive. Maybe it will be interesting to see now that I�m home.
Socks and underwear. Mine didn�t dry overnight, so I still need to find better travel options.
Camera Bag. I used a bigger bag than I�m used to, to allow room for the zoom with the UV filter adaptor, along with extra batteries, etc, but it was more cumbersome than I�d like.
Snacks. I packed too many, yet didn�t have them available on the occasions when I wanted them.
Books. I have to admit, I packed too many. Even on a normal ay at home, I never go out with fewer than 2 books (what if I finished one and didn�t have another handy?). But I overdid it. I forgot that some of the time I would norally read was spent writing in my journal or organizing my photos.
A little bit about me: I�m a woman in my 40s from Long Island, NY. This was my first trip to Africa. I have to throw in a �Thank you� to Jenn�I�m sure I enjoyed my whole trip more because of her, indirectly. I was so intent on trying to NOT be like Arielle, that I established a personal �no whining� policy, which made it more fun for me, not to mention everyone else. I�m timid, especially about new experiences, so it was pretty unexpected to find myself in Africa, and loving it.
Rather than starting with a classic narrative, I thought I�d start with a list of what did and did not work for me, since that�s most likely to be helpful to other safari beginners.
WHAT WORKED FOR ME (your mileage may vary, of course)
Dove disposable face cloths. I don�t use them at home, but it was great after a game drive.
Buff kerchief. These are overpriced, but worth it. They are stretchy tubular kerchiefs that you can wear like a scarf, or a hat, or a kerchief. They are great to keep the dust off your hair.
Binoculars. I�ve always had trouble using them in the past, but I finally found a kind that worked for me. One problem is that I wear glasses, and I learned that �long eye relief� helps accommodate to the glasses. I used Bushnell Hemisphere binoculars. Obviously there are better (and more expensive) binoculars around, but I was looking for something that was compact, easy to focus, and under $100.
Silk long johns. Usually I slept in a long T shirt, but the nights at the sweetwaters tented camp were chilly. Most people would probably have been fine without the long johns, but I appreciated having them.
Sawyer controlled release bug repellent. Supposedly the formulation gives better results with a lower concentration, and less skin absorption. It seemed to work pretty well.
Room-mate. I was a little nervous about being matched up with a stranger, but my roommate was terrific.
Fanny Pack. I know these look really dorky, but it was so helpful to have key things handy.
Bio Freeze. This is a lotion recommended by my chiropractor. It was very helpful when I was achy after some of the bumpy roads.
Swahili. I make it a practice to try to learn 10 words in the local language whenever I travel. It�s not intimidating like trying to actually learn the language itself, but it�s amazing how far you can get with 10 words! I used the �in flight swahili� CD, and really enjoyed being able to exchange a few little courtesies with the local people.
Animal Book: Wildlife of East Africa by martin Withers and David Hosking. This was great � it is relatively compact, and was handy and useful. While the guide had a huge bird book with more birds, my book was smaller, lighter and easier to use. It is half birds, half animals, and has just a couple of pages of trees too.
Tea2go. I hate water. I know it sounds stupid, but I really hate drinking water. So I just poured a little iced tea or lemonade mix into my water bottles, and did better at remembering to drink some.
OAT itinerary. We spent 2 nights in each camp, which worked fine.
Inflatable cushion. Sometimes I sat on it, sometimes I leaned on it to cushion my back, and on the way home I used it to wrap my bottle of amarulo.
Extra ziplock bags in various sizes.
Eucalyptus bath gel. I wanted to avoid florals so as to not attract insects, but I love a nice scent, so I compromised on eucalyptus.
Oil of Olay moisturizer with spf 30. I don�t normally use anything on my face, not even moisturizer, so I really hate sunscreen. I put the moisturizer on every morning, and then didn�t bother re-applying any sunscreen. It worked great, and didn�t feel greasy.
WHAT DIDN�T WORK:
Daypack. Sometimes I never had the right size bag with me. Too big. Too small.
Safari Companion book. It was simply too big and too heavy and too complicated to take on a game drive. Maybe it will be interesting to see now that I�m home.
Socks and underwear. Mine didn�t dry overnight, so I still need to find better travel options.
Camera Bag. I used a bigger bag than I�m used to, to allow room for the zoom with the UV filter adaptor, along with extra batteries, etc, but it was more cumbersome than I�d like.
Snacks. I packed too many, yet didn�t have them available on the occasions when I wanted them.
Books. I have to admit, I packed too many. Even on a normal ay at home, I never go out with fewer than 2 books (what if I finished one and didn�t have another handy?). But I overdid it. I forgot that some of the time I would norally read was spent writing in my journal or organizing my photos.
Nov 9th, 2006, 08:44 PM
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What an interesting and helpful beginning of your trip report. We will be hearing more, won't we?! So glad that you had a trip that you loved. Im addition to all the things you saw and experienced, I'm looking forward to hearing all about that terrific room-mate. Thank goodness you didn't have a Jenn situation. I'm also interested in learning how you liked what OAT provided. I know that some of the more experienced travelers here on the boards prefer to design their own itineraries, feeling that groups such as OAT can't offer the more intimate Africa experiences, but while I do a lot of independent travel, I did have 2Afrika put together our Kenya/Tanzania trip a year and a half ago, and it was marvelous. There was the possiblity that this might have amounted to a group since they guarantee no more than six people to a vehicle. We were fortunate, though. We had our own driver/guide in Tanzania (amounted to a private safari), and we were with only two others in Kenya--great gals from Arizona. Getting back to OAT, though, I've had some really good trips with them--Peru, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Eastern Europe with their sister, Grand Circle--and this next September we've booked OAT's Ultimate Africa trip (Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia). Once again, I know that there are those who have reservations about signing on with a group, even though the group is under 16 people, and maybe we'll regret it down the line.... That's why I'll be interested to hear about your OAT Africa experience. Most especially, though, I'm looking forward to hearing about all those Africa things which just blew you away. There were many, I'm sure. Thanks for posting, and looking forward to more.
Nov 10th, 2006, 05:30 AM
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About OAT -- I've travelled with them 3 times before, and obviously I've been happy with them. [I'm not affiliated with them, and am simply answering the post's questions, so please don't 'flame' me for tyring to answer].
I think that a lot of the travelers on this board are quite experienced, and have very specific preferences, and thus choose to put together their own trips. For people with less experience, or with less time to plan, the package tour solution can work very well.
We had 13 guests and one trip leader. We had two vehicles, each with a driver/guide. Let me say up front that on this one trip our trip leader was not as stellar as those I've had in the past. Some of the people in our group had actually travelled with OAT 9 times, and all unanimously felt that he wasn't as good as our other leaders, but we had enough accumulated experience among us to feel rather confident that we got a particular individual who didn't really measure up, (rather than being an indication of a systemic flaw with the firm).
That being said, all the local arrangements in Africa worked flawlessly. I probably wouldn't even have appreciated this as much if I hadn't read other people's trip reports! Out of 17 days actually in Africa, every vehicle was ready on time, every reservation was ready for us, and everything seemed to work together seamlessly, as if by magic.
When we arrived in Nairobi, the leader and vans were waiting. When we crossed the boarder into Tanzania, the new vans and drivers were waiting. When we took our charter flight back to Arusha, the plane showed up on time. The entire trip, we had one occasion when people came back late from a shopping expedition and we were delayed 1/2 hour, and we had a time when one of the vans was 5 minutes late. So in terms of the tour arrangements, the biggest delay was 5 minutes!!! I suspect that is an Africa record.
We complained about little details, such as not liking a particular room selection, but the actual arrangements were rock solid.
By the way, a couple of people on our trip had already done the OAT ultimate Africa trip, and all had extraordinary glowing tales to tell about it. They said it was even better than the Kenya/Tanzania trip I was on.
I think that a lot of the travelers on this board are quite experienced, and have very specific preferences, and thus choose to put together their own trips. For people with less experience, or with less time to plan, the package tour solution can work very well.
We had 13 guests and one trip leader. We had two vehicles, each with a driver/guide. Let me say up front that on this one trip our trip leader was not as stellar as those I've had in the past. Some of the people in our group had actually travelled with OAT 9 times, and all unanimously felt that he wasn't as good as our other leaders, but we had enough accumulated experience among us to feel rather confident that we got a particular individual who didn't really measure up, (rather than being an indication of a systemic flaw with the firm).
That being said, all the local arrangements in Africa worked flawlessly. I probably wouldn't even have appreciated this as much if I hadn't read other people's trip reports! Out of 17 days actually in Africa, every vehicle was ready on time, every reservation was ready for us, and everything seemed to work together seamlessly, as if by magic.
When we arrived in Nairobi, the leader and vans were waiting. When we crossed the boarder into Tanzania, the new vans and drivers were waiting. When we took our charter flight back to Arusha, the plane showed up on time. The entire trip, we had one occasion when people came back late from a shopping expedition and we were delayed 1/2 hour, and we had a time when one of the vans was 5 minutes late. So in terms of the tour arrangements, the biggest delay was 5 minutes!!! I suspect that is an Africa record.
We complained about little details, such as not liking a particular room selection, but the actual arrangements were rock solid.
By the way, a couple of people on our trip had already done the OAT ultimate Africa trip, and all had extraordinary glowing tales to tell about it. They said it was even better than the Kenya/Tanzania trip I was on.
Nov 10th, 2006, 06:35 AM
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Nice change from the "classic narrative" start to your trip report, Ann. Bo2642 will be pleased to hear the positive feedback from your group about the OAT Ultimate Africa Trip.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report....keep it coming.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report....keep it coming.
Nov 10th, 2006, 07:16 AM
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Thanks Ann,
You're absolutely right about us newbies. The list of what did and did not work for you is like gold for me. Especially the Bio freeze. Reminded me to out some Bengay or equivalent on my packing list for those sore days. Keep it coming.
Geatly appreciated,
Juliet
You're absolutely right about us newbies. The list of what did and did not work for you is like gold for me. Especially the Bio freeze. Reminded me to out some Bengay or equivalent on my packing list for those sore days. Keep it coming.
Geatly appreciated,
Juliet
Nov 10th, 2006, 09:24 AM
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Such helpful and insightful tips. Bio Freeze is something I never heard of but can see its value. Along those lines, when I first read your recomendation for Buff Kerchief, I took the pair of f's for 2 t's, quickly did a double take, and laughed outloud at myself. Never heard of the buff kerchief either but with recent requests about Magellan special seat cushions for bumpy rides, I thought you were on to something.
How do you do those big and little squares? They are nice formatting.
I think Arielle may become the standard that we all endeavor to avoid.
Welcome home!
How do you do those big and little squares? They are nice formatting.
I think Arielle may become the standard that we all endeavor to avoid.
Welcome home!
Nov 10th, 2006, 09:26 AM
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Great, thanks. A tip re. undies that didn't dry. LOSE the cotton and get the wicking kind. Polyester, thin but warm, and and they dry in a couple of hours. The camps we stayed at do laundry but many will not do underwear. But tell the ones that do, to avoid ironing.
Nov 10th, 2006, 01:32 PM
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I am looking forward to hearing about an OAT trip. I thought of sending my parents on this one years ago.
By the way, the 'sleep by the door of the tent so the lion can eat you first' story just popped into my head and I laughed otu loud!
By the way, the 'sleep by the door of the tent so the lion can eat you first' story just popped into my head and I laughed otu loud!
Nov 10th, 2006, 06:49 PM
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Hi Ann...Gary (my partner) and I are going on the OAT trip on Nov. 29th-Dec. 12th. (Not doing the pre or post trips). It is great to be reading your posts and all of the other folks' responses. I think we've been in touch in other "threads"...We're both so excited and at the same time, so happy for all of the travel hints. We did order sawyer's permethrin to spray out clothes with, and have deet. I still need to find a good pair of walking shoes,since I don't love sneakers...and I'll be ordering that buff scarf and probably the inflatable cushion. Not sure we want to invest in two of them...they list at about $50 each. Will look forward to any more of your reports...Elaine
Nov 11th, 2006, 10:43 AM
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Hi Elaine,
I'm sure I didn't pay $50 for my cushion. I can't remember for sure, but I think it was around 25. I'm not sure what exact version it was (and I'm so disorganized right now I think I lost it!) but it might be one of the thermarest trail seat models.
In general, I shopped most at Camp-mor and sierra trading post, and only used full-priced stores like Magellan's if I couldn't find my stuff elsewhere.
p.s. I'll try to start my real trip report soon -- I'm still trying to upload all my pictures.
I'm sure I didn't pay $50 for my cushion. I can't remember for sure, but I think it was around 25. I'm not sure what exact version it was (and I'm so disorganized right now I think I lost it!) but it might be one of the thermarest trail seat models.
In general, I shopped most at Camp-mor and sierra trading post, and only used full-priced stores like Magellan's if I couldn't find my stuff elsewhere.
p.s. I'll try to start my real trip report soon -- I'm still trying to upload all my pictures.
Nov 11th, 2006, 02:47 PM
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A note about my photos. I'm loading all my pictures up to winkflash.
http://www.winkflash.com/photo/publi...?u=ajennerjahn
Unfortunately it is not quite as easy to use as some of the other online sites, but it is worth trying because the quality of the prints is very good, the price is low, and it lets you do high resolution downloads.
For those who just want to see the highlights rather than wade through all the shots, you might prefer to look at the following highlights folders:
„X Africa best Highlights (Top 43 pictures) or
„X African Highlights -- some of everything (225 shots).
Except for my mother, most of you will probably not be interested in looking at every single picture from the full set, but if you have a particular thing you are curious about looking up, the full set of pictures is organized by location: Nairobi, Sweetwaters, etc.
http://www.winkflash.com/photo/publi...?u=ajennerjahn
Unfortunately it is not quite as easy to use as some of the other online sites, but it is worth trying because the quality of the prints is very good, the price is low, and it lets you do high resolution downloads.
For those who just want to see the highlights rather than wade through all the shots, you might prefer to look at the following highlights folders:
„X Africa best Highlights (Top 43 pictures) or
„X African Highlights -- some of everything (225 shots).
Except for my mother, most of you will probably not be interested in looking at every single picture from the full set, but if you have a particular thing you are curious about looking up, the full set of pictures is organized by location: Nairobi, Sweetwaters, etc.
Nov 11th, 2006, 02:52 PM
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FLIGHT, NAIROBI, KIZURI BEAD FACTORY, KAREN BLIXEN HOUSE (skip this entry if you’re only interested in the game drives!)
Photos in ‘Nairobi’ folder at: http://www.winkflash.com/photo/publi...?u=ajennerjahn
Day 1 NY en route to Amsterdam – Oct 10.
They just turned off the seat belt sign, so now I really feel underway, even though the flight attendants are speaking Dutch, not Swahili. The flight was moved up 10 minutes without explanation, and they started boarding an hour ahead (which I’m not used to), but then we sat at the gate waiting for 2 no-show passengers whose baggage had to be offloaded, by which time we had lost our turn for take-off and hate to wait – an hour late after all. For some reason, they serve dinner late, and breakfast early, so there is less than 3 hours to try to sleep in between. The coach seats are a little better than I expected, and my inflatable ‘first class sleeper’ cushion does seem to help – marginally. I manage around 2 hours of sleep.
I’m so glad I checked out seatguru online. I’m in seat 23F – it turns out that most of the aisle seats on a lot of KLM flights have restricted leg room due to the video equipment, so ‘F’ is the only good aisle seat. But I’m already wishing that my chiropractor were here. I’m a little worried about how I’ll manage a second flight, and then the bumpy roads.
Day 2 Amsterdam to Nairobi. Oct 11
I took advantage of the layover in Amsterdam to walk through the airport. I went from end to end, and up and down each terminal wing, for about 3-4 miles. It felt good to stretch my legs.
On the second flight, I find myself sitting in the same row as Faye, another OAT traveler. I recognized her luggage tag and introduced myself. But just then a large gentleman sat in the middle seat between us. He was so large that he sort of spilled over into my seat. I kept cringing away, but that put me in a really uncomfortable scrunched-up position. At one point I had to wake him up and ask him to sit up, because I felt as if I were sitting under a tree that was falling…falling…falling.
At the end of the flight, I met up with Faye and her sister Maxine, and we made our way through getting visas, baggage and customs, all very easy and smooth. Even before my luggage showed up, I saw our guide outside, holding the OAT sign. I felt like a little kid who was reassured they were going to be picked up after all! And right next to him was someone holding a World Vision sign. That interested me because I’ve been a World vision donor for years, and one always likes actual confirmation that there is more going on than a glossy brochure with pictures of starving children. As it turns out, I saw World Vision all over the place, so at least now I’m confident that they are really on the scene. This isn’t as off-topic as it may sound. My interest in visiting Africa had been casual, of the ‘some day I’d like to go’ sort, until I sponsored a child in Uganda. Suddenly I developed a passion to learn about Africa, and to understand what was going on. I found myself thinking, ‘I NEED to go to Africa’. And so here I am.
We are driven to the New Stanley Hotel – a grand hotel complete with mini-bar in the bedroom, and a phone in the bathroom. I have a sneaking suspicion that will not be typical on this trip. At first the security guards are a bit disconcerting (not just in the lobby, but also on every floor), but they are friendly and charming and professional. Each time we get off the elevator they show us to our room, making it seem like an extra amenity that they recognize us and know where we belong, rather than letting on that its actually a security measure.
Oct 12 Nairobi
I wake up and realize that I’m here! I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m ready for new experiences. After a lovely breakfast at the Stanley (omelettes and fruit), we went for a walk. Along with Hoti, our leader, we also had Francis, his friend from the Hotel, resplendent in a red uniform. They explain to us that we shouldn’t take any pictures of police in uniform, or of official buildings, but we can freely take shots of anything else. I’m sighting along Kenyatta Ave, at the beautiful purple Jacaranda trees, when suddenly my arm is shoved down, and 2 guys in uniforms tell me to stop. I say ok, and they move on. My guide is appalled – apparently no one in his care has ever been treated like this before. I think he is more upset than I am. He says that they should not have done that, since I was not actually doing anything wrong. I explain that it is better to not argue with men with guns. I never found out what it was about. It wasn’t really a big deal, but it did make me a bit scared about taking pictures after that.
We then visited the memorial to the victims of the U.S. embassy blast in 1998. The memorial is in a lovely small park, with a peaceful atmosphere. There are pictures of the carnage of the day, and that hit really close to home, since it brought back memories of 9/11. (I was in midtown at the time, and not in personal danger, but the sight of thousands of people escaping on the sidewalk, and the images from TV, and the continuing smoky smell for weeks are indelible).
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to pick up water. Suddenly it seemed a complex purchase. We’re still trying to figure out the exchange rate. I buy an extra bottle, figuring that I’ll need it for teeth-brushing. I don’t realize at that point that all the lodges provide bottled water in the rooms daily.
At lunch we meet the rest of our group. They took a pre-trip extension to the Masi Mara, and join us now for the main part of the trip.
After lunch we get on the bus. After we leave the city proper we drive past the Kibera slums. This is heartbreaking and inconceivable. 700,000 people living in shacks side by side, with almost no electricity or plumbing. We’re told that many of the people are refugees from Sudan. I can’t help thinking of something I heard a World Vision representative say. When a community has no functional infrastructure, sometimes it takes outside resources to provide enough hope for the village to then help itself. The shacks lining the street are actually shops, selling clothes, bananas, soccer balls, corn, hardware, eggs, shoes. Raw sewage seeps in a ditch by the road. Interspersed with the shops are medical clinics, a Montessori nursery school, and numerous hair salons. We see ads selling everything under the sun, and a bravely hopeful school motto: “hard work pays”.
After the slums we enter the district of Karen (named after Karen Blixen), an expensive area just 5 minutes from the slums, but an entire world away. Suddenly everything is named Karen. Karen plumbing. Karen electrician. Karen Country club.
We arrive at the Kizuri Bead factory. Kizuri means small and beautiful. The factory was started to provide work for single mothers. We see women forming the clay, glazing it, and placing it in kilns. Then (of course!) they are for sale. It’s not really a style I normally wear, but I buy one just to support the factory. As the clerk is processing my order, another woman behind the counter asks her something in Swahili. ‘Mojo tu’ she replies. I think I can figure out what she said – ‘only one’. Oh well.
Then on to the Giraffe Center, where we feed the giraffes. Just for my friend April, I feed one from my mouth to get a picture of me ‘kissing’ the giraffe. The ranger keeps insisting that the saliva is ‘very antiseptic’, but I’m glad that ‘my’ giraffe is so delicate I don’t even feel him take the pellet. Some of the guys get totally slimed, with elastic saliva shooting out with eager abandon.
Finally we reach the Karen Blixen house. Ironically, the house was considered to small and dark for the film ‘Out of Africa’, so the exteriors were filmed here, but the interiors were filmed a ways down the road. The combination of art and life is kind of peculiar. As the guide shows us around, half the time he explains what it was really like in Karen’s day, and the other half of the time he is pointing out a garment that Robert Redford wore in the movie. You can see the ngong hills out the window, familiar from the first line of the book: “I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the ngong hills”. Ngong is from the Maasai word for knuckles, because the hills look as if god punched them with his knuckles.
For dinner, we feasted at Carnivore restaurant. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it all that much, since it’s such a tourist spot, but it was actually a lot of fun, and the food was much better than I expected. Chicken, chicken liver, ostrich meatballs, roast ostrich, crocodile, camel, lamb roast, lamb chops, roast port, spare ribs, turkey. Surprisingly enough, even the camel, and ostrich and crocodile were relatively tender, and nothing was excessively gamy tasting.
Photos in ‘Nairobi’ folder at: http://www.winkflash.com/photo/publi...?u=ajennerjahn
Day 1 NY en route to Amsterdam – Oct 10.
They just turned off the seat belt sign, so now I really feel underway, even though the flight attendants are speaking Dutch, not Swahili. The flight was moved up 10 minutes without explanation, and they started boarding an hour ahead (which I’m not used to), but then we sat at the gate waiting for 2 no-show passengers whose baggage had to be offloaded, by which time we had lost our turn for take-off and hate to wait – an hour late after all. For some reason, they serve dinner late, and breakfast early, so there is less than 3 hours to try to sleep in between. The coach seats are a little better than I expected, and my inflatable ‘first class sleeper’ cushion does seem to help – marginally. I manage around 2 hours of sleep.
I’m so glad I checked out seatguru online. I’m in seat 23F – it turns out that most of the aisle seats on a lot of KLM flights have restricted leg room due to the video equipment, so ‘F’ is the only good aisle seat. But I’m already wishing that my chiropractor were here. I’m a little worried about how I’ll manage a second flight, and then the bumpy roads.
Day 2 Amsterdam to Nairobi. Oct 11
I took advantage of the layover in Amsterdam to walk through the airport. I went from end to end, and up and down each terminal wing, for about 3-4 miles. It felt good to stretch my legs.
On the second flight, I find myself sitting in the same row as Faye, another OAT traveler. I recognized her luggage tag and introduced myself. But just then a large gentleman sat in the middle seat between us. He was so large that he sort of spilled over into my seat. I kept cringing away, but that put me in a really uncomfortable scrunched-up position. At one point I had to wake him up and ask him to sit up, because I felt as if I were sitting under a tree that was falling…falling…falling.
At the end of the flight, I met up with Faye and her sister Maxine, and we made our way through getting visas, baggage and customs, all very easy and smooth. Even before my luggage showed up, I saw our guide outside, holding the OAT sign. I felt like a little kid who was reassured they were going to be picked up after all! And right next to him was someone holding a World Vision sign. That interested me because I’ve been a World vision donor for years, and one always likes actual confirmation that there is more going on than a glossy brochure with pictures of starving children. As it turns out, I saw World Vision all over the place, so at least now I’m confident that they are really on the scene. This isn’t as off-topic as it may sound. My interest in visiting Africa had been casual, of the ‘some day I’d like to go’ sort, until I sponsored a child in Uganda. Suddenly I developed a passion to learn about Africa, and to understand what was going on. I found myself thinking, ‘I NEED to go to Africa’. And so here I am.
We are driven to the New Stanley Hotel – a grand hotel complete with mini-bar in the bedroom, and a phone in the bathroom. I have a sneaking suspicion that will not be typical on this trip. At first the security guards are a bit disconcerting (not just in the lobby, but also on every floor), but they are friendly and charming and professional. Each time we get off the elevator they show us to our room, making it seem like an extra amenity that they recognize us and know where we belong, rather than letting on that its actually a security measure.
Oct 12 Nairobi
I wake up and realize that I’m here! I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m ready for new experiences. After a lovely breakfast at the Stanley (omelettes and fruit), we went for a walk. Along with Hoti, our leader, we also had Francis, his friend from the Hotel, resplendent in a red uniform. They explain to us that we shouldn’t take any pictures of police in uniform, or of official buildings, but we can freely take shots of anything else. I’m sighting along Kenyatta Ave, at the beautiful purple Jacaranda trees, when suddenly my arm is shoved down, and 2 guys in uniforms tell me to stop. I say ok, and they move on. My guide is appalled – apparently no one in his care has ever been treated like this before. I think he is more upset than I am. He says that they should not have done that, since I was not actually doing anything wrong. I explain that it is better to not argue with men with guns. I never found out what it was about. It wasn’t really a big deal, but it did make me a bit scared about taking pictures after that.
We then visited the memorial to the victims of the U.S. embassy blast in 1998. The memorial is in a lovely small park, with a peaceful atmosphere. There are pictures of the carnage of the day, and that hit really close to home, since it brought back memories of 9/11. (I was in midtown at the time, and not in personal danger, but the sight of thousands of people escaping on the sidewalk, and the images from TV, and the continuing smoky smell for weeks are indelible).
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to pick up water. Suddenly it seemed a complex purchase. We’re still trying to figure out the exchange rate. I buy an extra bottle, figuring that I’ll need it for teeth-brushing. I don’t realize at that point that all the lodges provide bottled water in the rooms daily.
At lunch we meet the rest of our group. They took a pre-trip extension to the Masi Mara, and join us now for the main part of the trip.
After lunch we get on the bus. After we leave the city proper we drive past the Kibera slums. This is heartbreaking and inconceivable. 700,000 people living in shacks side by side, with almost no electricity or plumbing. We’re told that many of the people are refugees from Sudan. I can’t help thinking of something I heard a World Vision representative say. When a community has no functional infrastructure, sometimes it takes outside resources to provide enough hope for the village to then help itself. The shacks lining the street are actually shops, selling clothes, bananas, soccer balls, corn, hardware, eggs, shoes. Raw sewage seeps in a ditch by the road. Interspersed with the shops are medical clinics, a Montessori nursery school, and numerous hair salons. We see ads selling everything under the sun, and a bravely hopeful school motto: “hard work pays”.
After the slums we enter the district of Karen (named after Karen Blixen), an expensive area just 5 minutes from the slums, but an entire world away. Suddenly everything is named Karen. Karen plumbing. Karen electrician. Karen Country club.
We arrive at the Kizuri Bead factory. Kizuri means small and beautiful. The factory was started to provide work for single mothers. We see women forming the clay, glazing it, and placing it in kilns. Then (of course!) they are for sale. It’s not really a style I normally wear, but I buy one just to support the factory. As the clerk is processing my order, another woman behind the counter asks her something in Swahili. ‘Mojo tu’ she replies. I think I can figure out what she said – ‘only one’. Oh well.
Then on to the Giraffe Center, where we feed the giraffes. Just for my friend April, I feed one from my mouth to get a picture of me ‘kissing’ the giraffe. The ranger keeps insisting that the saliva is ‘very antiseptic’, but I’m glad that ‘my’ giraffe is so delicate I don’t even feel him take the pellet. Some of the guys get totally slimed, with elastic saliva shooting out with eager abandon.
Finally we reach the Karen Blixen house. Ironically, the house was considered to small and dark for the film ‘Out of Africa’, so the exteriors were filmed here, but the interiors were filmed a ways down the road. The combination of art and life is kind of peculiar. As the guide shows us around, half the time he explains what it was really like in Karen’s day, and the other half of the time he is pointing out a garment that Robert Redford wore in the movie. You can see the ngong hills out the window, familiar from the first line of the book: “I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the ngong hills”. Ngong is from the Maasai word for knuckles, because the hills look as if god punched them with his knuckles.
For dinner, we feasted at Carnivore restaurant. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it all that much, since it’s such a tourist spot, but it was actually a lot of fun, and the food was much better than I expected. Chicken, chicken liver, ostrich meatballs, roast ostrich, crocodile, camel, lamb roast, lamb chops, roast port, spare ribs, turkey. Surprisingly enough, even the camel, and ostrich and crocodile were relatively tender, and nothing was excessively gamy tasting.
Nov 11th, 2006, 03:12 PM
#17
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Keep it coming, Ann! Do you know who the OAT ground operator is in Kenya?
When I was in Nairobi last year, I saw a sign for the World Vision headquarters and thought I'd drop by for a visit. It was much more complicated than I had thought. As with most places in Nairobi, it was fenced with a guard at the gate. Because I didn't have anyone's name to visit, it took a while, but they were kind enough to see me. I had sponsored a girl in Kenya, but the sponsorship of that area had ended and I wanted to chat with them about that.
When I was in Nairobi last year, I saw a sign for the World Vision headquarters and thought I'd drop by for a visit. It was much more complicated than I had thought. As with most places in Nairobi, it was fenced with a guard at the gate. Because I didn't have anyone's name to visit, it took a while, but they were kind enough to see me. I had sponsored a girl in Kenya, but the sponsorship of that area had ended and I wanted to chat with them about that.
Nov 11th, 2006, 04:45 PM
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Great report Ann. Regarding the undies question, has anyone tried using disposable undies? They are made out of paper/cotton and are surprisingly comfortable. I'm thinking of taking them for our trip to Africa, but I'm wondering about disposal. Do most camps/lodges have good disposal systems? I just want to be ecological and not add to garbage problems, if there are any.
Sorry, strange question I know.
Sorry, strange question I know.
