atravelynn

I went to the Dept of Motor Vehicles to renew my drivers license which will expire on my birthday. They guy attending to me asked, "So what will you be doing on your birthday?" I'm sure he initiates a lot of conversations with that question.

"I'll be in Kenya," I responded, which is not quite true, since I will come home in time to celebrate my birthday with family, but it was the first thing that popped into my head.

He asked a few questions about what I'd be doing there and the wildlife, which I answered enthusiastically. Then he asked, "So will they give you a hat?"

"A hat? No, I'll have to bring my own hat, but you are right that it is important to wear one for protection from the sun."

He finished up my paperwork, took my $34, and sent me on my way with the comment, "Too bad you don't get a hat, but have a nice time anyway."

I'm hoping to have a very nice time, and with luck, some more nice times between now and when my license expires again 8 years from now. My hat is packed.

Lillipets

You should buy a hat for him when you're in Kenya and give it to him when you get back!

HariS

Have a great safari, Lynn. Remember to bring back all current cheetah info from the Mara....

Maybe the guy at ur local DMV has a good point - they should give you a cap as a momento while on safari. Different, ofcourse ... from the ones in their curio shops.

cw

Great story . . . but I'm thinking that given the time waiting in line at our DMV, they should give us hats.

Have a wonderful trip.

cary999

Hey, here's great idea -
Fodors should send a hat to every poster going on safari!!!!
I'd make it look goooood !!

regards - tom
ps - well, on second thought . . . .

atravelynn

Thanks for the comments. I found the preoccupation with the hat to be humorous.

TC

I wonder if he is referring to the hats that many of the tour operators give out? On our first safari to Africa with Big Five, everyone got a hat with the company name and logo on it. Unfortunately, it wasn't much for fit, so we wore our own hats. I think, however, this is a big promotional deal if you go with the pricey companies. We have friends who proudly wear their A&K hats and jackets to every gathering.

atravelynn

I think he just liked hats.

I have had a baseball type hat, a t-shirt, fleece sweatshirt, a field guide, a button down shirt, a nice travel document case, a pen, some salsa, a duffle, a totebag, a drawstring backpack, of course luggage tags, and a letter opener as part of the overall gift package.

live_aloha

That is too funny! You posted this while I was on safari, so just go around to reading it. Kinda reminds me of when people respond to the "I'm going to Africa" remark by saying "why"? Well, duh!!!!!!!!!

Happy Belated Birthday fellow Libra!!! Wow, what a great time to travel to Africa---to celebrate your birthday!! Gives me ideas about my next,next one (October 2011). Perhaps a great time to do that gorilla trek that I wish I had done with this recent trip.....

LAleslie

When we got back from our first trip to South Africa, the old lady next door asked me if a lot of black people lived there.

I said yes, and they were all wearing hats.