matnikstym

Nyamera-EXCELLENT!!! Love your style! Excellent telling of your many adventures. So many laughs, Thank You!

&quot;<i>The whole trip felt like a gigantic waste of money.</i>
you really don't mean this do you? You had such a good time, someday you'll make it happen!

Nyamera

CW, Julie, MyDogKyle, Patty, Nyama, Leely, Dennis *
Maybe I should start writing a novel. :-? But, I think I need more praise first. And I’d have to live in Kenya first to get enough “writing material”.
Constructive criticism is welcome as well, like ideas how to behave less stupidly in Kenya, write less about which roads I walk on or treat the English language better.

It’d be easy to find out what happened to the cheese. Just go to Karen Camp and if there’s an unpleasant smell emanating from room 8, it’s still there.

Dennis, I don’t know. I hope it was an important investment.

*The reason I’m using these silly kissing-smilies is that some weeks ago there was a new poster who ended her posts with “x” and I remembered being told that it means “kiss”, at least to British people. Then I looked for a smiley.

safarimama

Here comes more praise, topi girl. I've been gone for awhile and had to catch up on Fofors, but I couldn't stop reading your prose and poetry. Mycket bra gjort! You kept me up all night. You write very well in English (from one Swede to another); you should be published. Bytheway, my mother tells me that she no longer feels safe in Stockholm at night anymore. I wouldn't hang out in certain areas downtown Seattle at night either. Any big city is like that. Why should Nairobi be any different. I must however say, that you are extraordinary brave to travel alone like you do and on the fly. You must be more carefull when speaking to strangers, now hear!
I have enjoyed your trip report very much and your style rocks!

Leely

So, any idea when you'll be able to return to Kenya? And as a charter member of the Nyamera Fan Club, I'm a little offended the kisses are ironic.

&gt; &lt

Nyamera

Puss p&aring; dig, Safarimama. This trip I didn’t meet any bad people at all, but there was a con man on day 2 that I forgot to write about. He told me he was working at the hotel were I was staying and had run out of petrol when taking vegetables to the hotel, and he wasn’t carrying any money. I said that I was very bad at remembering names and faces, but if he worked at Hotel Embassy… “Yes, Hotel Embassy”, he said. I was staying at Terminal Hotel, so I was actually worse than he was. It was easy to be suspicious though; we were very close to the hotel, there is no restaurant at the Terminal and I would have remembered someone with only one tooth in his mouth. I really didn’t meet a single bad person. My main problem was being <b>too</b> careful with strangers, especially on day 22. Your mother should move to Nairobi!

Leely, the kisses are silly <b>not</b> ironic. I’ll be earning “a lot of money” from Monday until 20 December, so I think I’ll be able to return to Kenya in June next year. I’ll start a separate thread about this.

cybor

Nyamera,
I'm still half asleep hoping the tea will kick in and you've already managed to make me laugh and want to see what you've seen.

I must earmark this great report, as I've only read and seen just a few pics.
These bad people here are trying to make me leave to go kayaking - not much motivation, as I'd rather keep reading and looking at your Topi's.
Thanks for posting the link.

atravelynn

I've read up to the sexual dimorphism. What a hoot. I'm glad your return to the Mara is the best decision you ever made. With your plane being blessed, it had to turn out well. It was the bouncy bridge that really needed the blessing.

Good job on the serval spotting. Based on my own serval spottings and that of others I've known I have theory. Since most tourists in Africa are accustommed to domestic cats wandering around, our eyes and brain pick up the serval image more readily than other animals.

More vehicle problems! You've had more than your share. It seemed to have been taken care of without much down time.

Looking forward to the rest of the report with your new vehicle mates that don't need the rules explained.

atravelynn

I have finished this masterpiece which happens to be about travel.

I liked your stragegy of prolonging game drives by seeing leopards everywhere.

Felix was my Origins guide. Did you notice a beret? He looked very official with it on. When I first met him I stood at attention and was prepared to salute.

Your break from the topis on Day 16 was very successful. You may not be Richard D. Estes but your conclusions on animal behavior are amusing.

When I read about you taking up residence in the ladies' toilet I almost disrupted an important work meeting with an outburst.

Good question on what happened to the cheese. I was becoming as interested in this dairy product as the wildlife.

The stories of your acquaintances and encounters are fascinating and sometimes disturbing. You do such an excellent job of sharing them.

Your ending is brilliant. I actually felt a bit depressed. That's meant as the highest form of praise.

With your new decent paying job, you have more adventures in Africa to look forward to and we have more Nyamera tales to look forward to.

Favor

I think the kisses are iconic as opposed to ironic ;-)

Nyamera

Sherry, kayaking sounds awful!

Lynn, interesting serval theory. I’m spotting domestic cats all the time.

I didn’t notice a beret. Had I known about it, I’d asked Felix to put it on.

I’m glad you felt a bit depressed. Then I’ve made myself understood. It never happens in the “real” world.

Unless things turn out really disastrous after Christmas I’m definitely returning to Africa (probably Kenya again) next year.

Favor, you’ve understood the kisses. Very clever!

atravelynn

Then it shouldn't be long before we have another &quot;Nyamera's Planning&quot; thread. Looking forward to it.

Nyamera

I don’t dare to start a planning thread until after Christmas, but I could start a pre-planning thread. What I need right now is some teaching advice. To hide from easily disturbed parents, I’ll have to parasitise sneaking questions into the serious travel thread of some innocent Fodorite.

Where are the jaguars?

twoteachers

I finally read your report and looked at your pictures and they are both great! You sure did a great job with your new camera--made me feel like a klutz. I am so jealous of all the leopards you saw and I especially enjoyed those and the hippo and bird and mother/baby pics. Thanks for sharing.

atravelynn

Nyamera, now I understand why you want to be discreet. Sorry for the previous headline. The jaguars I saw were in the Pantanal of Brazil.

Nyamera

Thanks, Twoteachers. I really don’t feel any less klutzy than you, at least not as a photographer. Though I haven’t broken any toilets in Africa yet. Next time I’ll have to get more pictures of people’s faces.

Lynn, I was exaggerating the need of discretion. The parents of the kids I’m teaching wont find my posts and it’s not that much of a problem if Fodorites get upset telling me I shouldn’t be teaching. Basically, I agree with them and I quite enjoy having my name in a headline.
I did see your “jaguars” after writing that question, but I have my own theory about them.