bat

Rocco:
Even though you and Sharon have kissed and made up, I am going to throw in my two cents. Disclaimer before I do so--I LOVE your posts.

As I wrote earlier I was appalled at the nastiness of the Hawaii threads. At worst, this section has a brief moment bordering on nastiness and then someone says "hey, let's calm down."

With that said, as soon as I saw Sharon's post, and before you made your post, I searched for the initial thread and read it all so that I could put your quote in its context.

Having done so, I thought that you were too harsh--as did "faithie" on that thread. IMO what happened is that you misunderstood her initial question as "dissing" BA, and so took a somewhat defensive tone.

As I understand it, the worst thing to call someone is a "troll"--she was not that. Whether she could have posted her initial question in a more artful way--of course--given the hindsight knowledge of some of the responses that she received. But I think that you oeverreacted--as well intentioned as it was.

Now, here is the beauty of this section--having said that--I am pretty confident that Rocco is not going to trash me--THAT is the difference.

matnikstym

bat-if ever you need any help with Hawaii, please e-mail me. I'll help you anyway I can and without a bit of nastiness!
Dennis

bat

Dennis:
What a lovely offer and I will take you up on it.

This is defintely a diversion but I can't help it--I dropped in on the Hawaii threads because a long time ago we hiked the Na Pali trail and so I had a fondness for Kauia (Big Island also) and wanted to see what had changed. What turned nasty was that someone, who was a regular, chastised some of the other regulars for failing to answer OP's questions and reverting to insider jokes--most of which had to do with no one should visit Kauia because it always rains, there are too many chickens, etc. You have heard the phrase "eat their young"--well they turned on one of their own in a truly vicious way.

As I said--a diversion--but I will not forget your offer. A slight problem, and I am sure one that you will understand--how will I ever be able to have any money to go to Hawaii if I am always saving for (or more likely, paying the credit card bills on) trips to Africa?

bat

s**t--does any one know how to spell check on these posts? Dennis, of course, I meant kauai [maybe even spell check would not have saved me from that].

cybor

Thanksgiving is as good of a time as any to bury the hatchet,claws and such and be thankful for the beauty and soul in Africa. May everyone be fortunate enough to visit Africa in their lifetime and may this thread RIP.
Enjoy;
Sherry

bat

nice sentiment.

Leely

RIP to this post? But I just saw it.

This is--for the most part!--a very civilized board, and one full of posters who don't mind laughing at themselves.

I thought I loved Rome. I thought I loved Paris. And then, I met the *real* love of my life. So, I, for one, am very thankful to have visited East Africa. And I'm thankful to the people on this board who remind me so often of what I love about it.

Mama

Mean posters are everywhere but why to focus on negative experiences? On European, the US, Latin America and Africa boards there are endless number of extremely helpful people. We need to learn to dismiss those that are useless and mean.

I found Africa, Latin Americas and the U.S. great places one may visit. It makes more satisfying that we are helping in each of these places the wildlife not only by our presence but contributions. Did anyone of you, who loves african wildlife, ever got involved in learning about brown bears and muskoxens in Alaska, for instance? Did you ever see them, photograph them in their own environment? I need to add that we were on several safaris in Africa but also visited other continents were wildlife is very unique. Happy travels to all!

Femi

Mama,
Watching black bears in Canada somehow does not seem to have the same effect as elephant and wildebeest herds, or even just gazing out over the vastness of the Mara.

Mathieu

Aw, Femi, now you're making me all nostalgic, again.

I was born and raised in Nairobi and haven't been back in ages, but when we vacationed in the National parks and lodges, 'gazing out at the quietness and stillness of the Mara' or watching the herds of various animals grazing or ambling by was something I wish I could do now. But...I have to make do with a snowy Toronto right now, which, in itself has it's own special beauty.

However, thanks for the memory to close out my week.

atravelynn

Mama,

I love watching the bears too, as well as the wildebeest.

And the dolphins, the praire dogs, howler monkeys, whales, blue footed boobies, the deer, raccoons and coyotes from my window.

Mama

atravelynn, this is how I feel too. I love Africa and seeing wildlife, sceneray, beaches, but there are so many places in the world to appreciate beauty and nature. You reminded me that sometimes a view from our own window can deliver unforgtable experience. I watched once from my kitchen window a pilated woodpecker feeding his/her young and the baby was a size of a parent. Farther, there are nice and helpful people everywhere.