Out of Africa Trip Report

Old Sep 16th, 2009, 09:49 AM
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Out of Africa Trip Report

"There is something about a Safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel the whole time you you had drunk a half bottle of Champagne.....bubbling with heartfelt gratitude for being alive ... Isak Dinesen( Karen Blixen) author of Out of Africa

Decribing the plains... Isak Dinesen wrote "The views were immensely wide . Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom and un equalled beauty"

Having just returned from a 3 and a half week Safari, I can understand the above comments by Karen Blixen.

I want to Thank Bill Hilton for the great pictures he posted over the past few years and also a thank you to sandi ,for many of her great comments which helped me plan this quick trip.

It is a long flight from North America to Amsterdam and thento Nairobi.

I had a short time to plan for this trip as it was not until the first week in June that my friend Randy and I decide to go.


We quickly contacted Predator Tours in Arusha ,which were terrific people to deal with, and when all the lodges were booked, we then booked the flights and by mid August we were on our way.!

We did the Serena Lodges all the way through except for Lake Nakuru and the Kenya Safari Club ( The William Holden place).

This was a private tour for just the two of us so it was nice to have the flexibility to change some things as we went along.

Arriving in Nairobi at 7PM and being met by our driver/guide was a welcome sight.

We stayed at the PanAfrica hotel on Kenyatta Avenue on the 6th (top) floor with views to Uhuru Park and downtown Nairobi. ( Uhuru means freedom)
It was a bit noisy at night but we enjoyed the room and the hotel (traffic is terrible !)

The Hilton is a bit run down and needs some renovations( so I am gald we changed our minds about staying at the Hilton).
Another nice hotel is the Intercontinental right on the corner of Uhuru highway and City Hall Way. ( Icannot see that it would have been anyquieter !),it did not matter we were never in the hotel except to sleep.

The next day we headed out along highway A2 to Nanyuki , the equator line passes through here.
You take the usual pictures by this sign and then give a fellow a tip and he shows you the water test , that water reverses direction on either side of the equator...... I saw this in Quito Ecuador.

We stayed 2 days at the Kenya Safari Club, I paid extra to stay at the William Holden Cottage !!,what a surprise,we had this whole house to ourselves with those terrific park like views of the grounds and Mount Kenya from our huge patio.

The bedroms ,bathrooms(all in marble) and the living room were just superb !

From here you go to Samburu Park ,as there are some unique animals here like
Bomgo Antelope ( seen), Grevy Zebra (seen), Oryx ( seen) , Kuder (a large Impala ) did not see this one.

We were going to go cross country to get to our next destination Lake Nakuru, and it would have been easier to reach Lake Nakuru from here but I wanted to go back to Nairobi as there were places I wanted to see there .

Here is a list of some places to see in Nairobi ( if you do not want to rush off to start the Safari.)
1. Nairobi National Park... at the southern edge of the city. There is a monument here marking the place where past President Moi burned 12 tons of Ivory as a lesson to ther poachers.

2. Giraffe Centre where you get to feed the giraffes.

3.Karen Blixen Museum...I spent about 45 minutes here enjoying this lovely place ( I was at her gravesite 2 years ago in Copenhagen)

4. Uhuru Gardens ( not the park) built in remembrance of Kenya's struggle for Freedom,this place is near Wilson's Airport and the Carnivore Restaurant ,you should go here once to eat just to see the place.

5.National Railway Museum...some of thr train cars used in the Out of Africa Movie are here on display.

6. Walk about Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi.... cross the streetand walk past the Parliament building and enter Kenyatta Square, which is the main square in Nairobi....from here it is just walking around and seeing these places that are all within a 4 block radius.

(1) Parliament and Kenyatta Convention Centre ( very tall round building)
(2) Jomo Kenyatta statue in the middle of the Square
(3) Law Courts building ..Jomo Kenyatta;s back is to the Law Courts and he is looking straight ahead at his Mausoleum which is right next to the Parliament buildings.

(4. ) August 7th Park ,where on August 7 1998 Al-Aqaida bombed the USA Embassy.
(5) Hilton Hotel ( round building)
(6) In front of the Hilton is a statue and monument fo Dedan Kamthi Wachuri,who was fighting for the freedom of kenya ,when in 1957, the British captured him and hung him.

(7) The tallest building in Kenya is the Times Tower,right across the street from the almost equally tall Convention Centre.

The Kenya President was there when I was walking across the Square , security was all over the place and yet I was able to just walk about and take pictures. I walked about 20 feet past him !

Here is what you can do and I did it twice.
You go into the round Convention Centre building,for $4.00 US you cango to the very top of the Convention Centre and have the most panoramic views of the city.

WhenI say to the top...I mean you get off on the 27th floor and then climb the stairs for two more floors...now you are totally outside...then you climb another set os stairs ( about 10 steps) and you are on a landing pad with the most 360 degree views you can imagine !!!

let me just add some points:
1. The Kenya Visa is $25.00 cash US$
2.The Tanzania Visa is $50.00 cash US$
3. I down loaded and filled out the Visa forms online before I left , even had pictures, but they did not want my online Visa form and had me fill out one of "theirs" !

4.Bring lots of $1.00 bills as you willbe tipping a lot. I had my bank order me $200.00 in one dollar bills.......nothing like having 2 bundles of crisp new one dollar bills , it was like two deck os playing cards !!

5. Bring a warm sweater and/or jacket... thje mornings are very cool...so do not fool yourself that because you are in Kenya you will be hot al the time.

6. I packed allmy clothes in 2-gallon zip lock bags and then got 6 of those large orange colored plastic bags ( at Wal-Mart) that people use to rake their leaves in the Fall.
I used the orange bags as a pull over on the luggage even though our luggage was also covered with blankets.

7. You will not believe the amount of dust you will have to endure.
This is not the convention dust we see back home ...it is powder dust ,so when is rises ,those fine particles get inoto every place you can think of.

8. I brought sandals and white sneakers . I was in sandals 90 % of the time.
9. Bring a hat, any kind will do, Iwore mine less than half the time.

10. I wore shorts almost all the time ,bought a pair of zip offs but never wore them
11. I never converted to the Kenya or Tanzania shilling, I used US$ all the way through.

12. bring saline eye drops,a vial is cheap and you can instil a few drops into your eyes after a dusty game drive.
13.There is no TV in the rooms in the lodges, but there is TV in some of the bars and Internet is available in all the places.

14.Oh yes, if you are going to Zanzibar atthe endof your Safari ( we did) then there is a $30.00 US$ cash ,tax for the departure from Zanzibar .
Okay off to Lake Nakuru

Stops were made along the way at various point along the Rift Valley
We were on a paved road but that luxury would end as the days progressed !

This place is just as you have read about...with Waterbucks,buffaloes, zebras,white rhinos , lions and we saw a black rhino cross the road right in front of us.

But of course the main feature was the myraids of fuchsia pink flamingoes.
Wait a minute !!!!
What is this fuchsia pink stuff !!

Well, fuchsia is the pink color named after a flower on the fuchsia plant that was discovered in1892.
Now aren't you glad you know that now !!

Masai Mara

It is a 5 1/2 hour drivew from Lake Nakuru to the Masai Mara Serena Lodge.
Passing by many villagesand Masai herding cattle . The cattle are very important to the Masai people.

They really do not like to sell their cattle but rather buy more. Cattle act as a dowry for the farmer when his daughter gets married ( hmmm I remember the John Wayne movie Quiet Man.....there was a dowry there too !!)

While driving you pass many people walking along the road carrying large loads of firewood and charcoal, taking them to market to sell for a few shillings.

When the Masai was created in 1974, the Masai people were evicted and still cannot use the reserve to graze their cattle.
They earn cash by allowing tourist to enter their village for a small fee,as I will explain later.

Along the way we saw the classic gathering of Wildebeestsover the plains getting ready for their migration (actually the migration is already in progress) and to cross the Mara River.
You have to be lucky to see the river crossing.

The word Mara means spotted and I learned that is is due to the spotted little tree covered hills and that is how the name was derived.

We crossed the Mara River bridge , the only bridge within the National Park that crosses the river and it was lined with lazy hippos.

We entered the Masai Mara park via the Oloololo Gate.
This is how you pronunce this gate name:
Oh- Low-Oh--Low-Low. But just say Low-Low, good enough !!

Finally arrived at the Serena Lodge nice place, lovely room with view to the Mara River and animals grazing all over.
Two game drives the nest day, there were several hundred thousand Wildebeest all over the area.

On our second day at the masai mara National Park game drive we got LUCKY!!!

We drove to a location on the Mara River.
Our tour guide Robert said:

"The front wildebeest look skittish ,they might be ready to go" ( cross)

Within 2-3 minutes the wildebessts started running down the embankment of the river and plunging into the water....... Oh my Goodness !!!!!
What I have seen so many times on TV ,is now happening right before my eyes!
What a sight !!

As far as the eye could see ,there was an endless stream of Wildebeest on the gallop coming in to cross the river.

We filmed for a while and then just watched in amazement! , this event which has been labelled as the 7th wonder of the world.!

I came hoping to see the river crossing and how lucky I was

Next segment will deal with the Serengeti
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 02:01 PM
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Serengeti

Next morning ( very satisfied that we saw the migration crossing we headed for the Serengeti.
I went through customs at Isebania ( border town) and paid $50.00 for the Visa to get into Tanzania.

Once again my pre-filled online form for the Visa was not accepted ! ( hmmm)
The Agent handed me his own version of the Visa form and I filled it out.

You are sort of in no man's land when you cross the border, because first you sign an exit form that you are leaving Kenya....then you go for about 2-4 blocks to the Tanzania border and sign an entry form for coming into Tanzania, plus the Visa form.

But in between your exit and entry...where are you ?!!!

I wanted to visit Lake Victoria and dip my hands and feet in the water .
So we made a circle loop via Speke's Bay to see Lake Victoria.

Speke Bay is named after the British Army Officer who in 1858 discovered that Lake was the source of the Nile River.
He named it Lake Victoria because Queen Victoria was the ruling monarchy at the time.

We finally arrived at the Serena Serengeti Lodge about 5 PM.. a long 10 hours after leaving the Masai Mara.

While here I completed seeing the Big 5, four times, which means I saw 4 leopards.
It is the leopards that are the limiting factor in seeing the big 5

You are suppose to always stay on the road during game drives , but when we saw a leopard our guide went off the road and drove right up under the tree...... we quickly took pictures and then back on the road again!

I saw four different kills and twice a lion failed in its attempt to bring down a Tompson gazelle.

Foolish lion !!
A lion can run 35 mph and a gazelle 50 mph,so the lion really needs the element of surprise on his side.

A cheetah killed a baby Tompson gazelle after an all too brief race for freedom by the gazelle.
You feel sorry for this poor baby gazelle but I bet those three cheetah cubs were happy when mom brought home lunch !

The cheetah is really built for speed and even though it can attain speeds of 70mph, it can maintain this for less than three football fields in length.
The cheetah does not pounce on its quarry but rather trips it and then grabs for the throat.

Leaving the Serengeti after 2 days , we stopped at Naabi Hill gate which is sort of the halfway point on your way in or out of the Serengeti.

Here you can have lunch, visit the museum ,go for a walk up the rocky hill and take those classic pictures you have seen of the long dusty road leading to and from Nabbi Hill.

The road is spotted with dust clouds in the distance, signifying a vehicle at each cloud of dust.

Ngorongoro Crater a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Okay three ways to say this name:
1. Gorongora Crater
2.Norongoro Crater
and the correct way ... "Ung- gorongoro crater. !
but everyone says Norongoro which is the easiest of the three.

I wish I could tell you that th road to the Crate was good ...but it was terrible
There are 206 bones in the human body and at one time or another, they will all have been jarred by the time you arrive.

We stopped off at Olduvia Gorge....where you can gaze out over the Gorge from a lookout point, then take in the museum there.

The Gorge is 30 miles long and it is here that in 1959 dr.mary Leakyfound a 2 million year old jawbone of a human species after she and her husband Louis had been excavation there for 28 years.

Dr. Louis Leaky died in 1972 and is buried in Westminister Abby in London. Mary died 24 years later.

We stopped at a pre-arranged ( by our tour guide) visit to a Masai village ( cost was $30.00 each ).
I thought we were just going to get a short tour of the place and be off again.

But man what a surprise...about 40 Masai men and women all dressed in their colorful outfits welcomed us with a chanting dance that lasted about 5 minutes.

They showed us inside their huts and then the school for the children , it was an eye opener to say the least.

Okay now off to the Ngorongoro Crater

It was cold here ,so this is where those sweater and jackets come in very handy,especially when you are up early in the morning for a 6:30 AM game drive.

The animals here do not migrate, they do not have to ,food and water is plenty.
You will not see giraffes here....too difficult for them to climb in and out of the crater, plus those tall Acacia trees they love to feed on are not plenty down here.!

The crater ( caldera ) is a huge place and you feel that if there were seats all around the sloping walls,you could seat half the world here.

The ultimate compliment to the Ngorongoro Crater is that it is like a zoo !
yes, but a zoo in reverse ,because here it is YOU who is captive and the animals are free.!!

Next , we are off to Lake Manyara.
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 02:05 PM
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Outstanding, thank you and welcome back.
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 04:12 PM
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Thanks Percy for the report. Looking forward to the rest and the photos.
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 04:48 PM
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Great report!

You drove from Mara Serena to Mara Serengeti all in one 10-hour day of driving?

Your extensive list on what to do in NBO will be very helpful for others.
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 04:49 PM
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What great luck with the crossing. You only waited a couple of minutes?
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 06:35 PM
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Hi atravelynn:

Yes we drove ( our excellent guide Robert drove) from the Masai Mara Serena Lodge via Speke Bay and arrived at the Serengeti Serena Lodge 10 hours later.

And yes , we waited only a couple of minutes at the Masai River and the Wildebeests started crossing !!!... amazing luck.

Other who waited earlier , got tired of waiting and left, I was told later at dinner.!
(Loved your pictures from your Gorilla treking trip !)

Thanks sallysaab and twaffle.
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 06:40 PM
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Percy,

Great report.

When were you in Samburu?

Was there any water in the river?

I'm curious if you enjoyed Samburu... or if it was just too dry and dusty to actually enjoy it?
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Old Sep 16th, 2009, 07:55 PM
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Hi my friend, welcome home! What a great read your report has been. Sounds like such a fab time. So glad you enjoyed it and have safely returned. Anxious to see photos!
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 04:18 AM
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Thanks for the report, Percy. Sounds like a great trip!
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 06:08 AM
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Percy -

>>2.The Tanzania Visa is $50.00 cash US$
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 06:13 AM
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... sorry, great report; some very useful info tossed. Can never be reminded enough about these things.
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 06:22 AM
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simbakubwa:

Yes it was very dry in Sambura because a lot of the drought is in the northern part of Kenya.
There was water in the river but not veryy much but then the Mara River was not its usualy deep rumbling self either...

maybe that is how the wildebeest caught the crocodiles "off guard" when theystarted crossing!

However, it was very much drier in Amboseli National Park and I will be mention that now, in this segement.

Yes,I enjoyed all the National Parks as each one had a little something different to offer.

Having it to do over again ,I would have liked to have gone to Tarangire National Park, instead of maybe Samburu or Amboseli....that is easy to say now.....but then I would have always wondered what the parks I missed were like.

Hi shillmac(my Costa Rica expert friend).

Nice that you found me on this Africa forum.
I hope you got all those e-mails I sent you along the way during the trip.
Thank you for posting some of them.
Hope the teaching grind is not to strenous.!!

Thanks Leslie_S, yes it was long gruelling but enjoyable trip.
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 07:39 AM
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Off to Lake Manyara

Yahoo!!!! guess what , a paved highway to Lake Manyara and a very nice one too. In many sections it was smooth as glass ...really !!

We had several game drives here and saw many animals but nothing new that I had not see before.

There was a large lion kill of two Cape Buffaloes,and as usual the male was eating first, jackals were circling the kill and teasing the lions... attempting to pester the lions out of their meal......no chance !

We saw and filmed two black rhinos mating and our driver/guide was rather excited about this , because he said it is not easy to see black rhinos and yet to catch them mating was special.

The mother black rhino had a baby rhino beside her that was anxious to suckle, ..but nope, Dad had other ideas first!!

After this escapade was over , it seemed like the male rhino wanted more ( hmmm, men !!!), but the female rhino turned around and gave him a couple of head butts as if to say .."enough already, I have a baby to feed."

We were here for 2 days , so one afternoon Robert took us to the near by village of Mto wa Mbu .

This village is not far from Lake Manyara and the highway passes right through the centre of this place,

On the way to Mto was Mbu , you WILL want to take a picture of that classic Baobab Tree right beside a curve on the highway.

The population here in Mto wa Mbu is 1800 and during the wet ( rainy) season they all use Malarone malaria medication , which they all get FREE from the government.

Mto means river and Mbu means mosquito ...so this is a malaria area for sure.

Our guide Robery knew quite a few people in the village and so we visited some of the locals homes and they gave us Banana Beer . ( well, hmmm, it tasted a bit like beer !)

Okay let us pronounce the name Mto was Mbu

1. Hum two m's like "mm", then say two
2.now say wa
3.Now hum two m's again ,"mm", now say bu (rhymes with blue)

Okay now all at one time Mto wa Mbu...that's it you got it !!

I have posted this before but now is good time to say it again , about malaria.

1. If you are in a Malaria area and even if you are taking Malarone ( or Larium)...and if you get a fever and feel sick,

2. Go to the nearest hospital or medical clinic.

3.In any malaria infested area the medical people know how to check for malaria.

4. high fever is the best time to have the test done.

5. They will prick your finger to get some blood....then they will make two slides.
Now if they are only making ONE slide , ask them to make TWO.

6. They then smear your blood on a slide and add a fixation agent to lyse the Red Blood Cells on the glass slide.

7. They then start looking at the slide under a microscope for about 10 to 15 minutes... to see if they can spot the parasite.

8. If they see the parasite ,then okay ,BUT if they don't,then ASK for one of the slides and do NOT take NO for an answer.
You are entitled to it ...it is your blood !

9. Take the slide home with you ( they will put the slide in a slim plastic case).... and have your local Pathologist at home look at the slide.

On to Arusha

We stopped off at a Masai school on the way to Arusha and gave them bags of supplies, toys, candies and postcards from back home.

In Arusha we stopped off at the office of Predator Tours to meet all the people I had been e-mail chatting with over the past few months.
This was a nice treat.

There is a lovely shopping centre here called Arusha Culture Heritage Centre.
Soif you are passing through here on your safari , you for sure will be take here.

Any gift item that you would want is here and for much less than all those gift shops at the lodges you will be visiting.

There is lots to see here, so make sure you stop here.
President Clinton was here ( pictures on the wall) and George and Laura Bush were year last year ( picture and letter on the wall).

From Arusha to Namanga the border town where we again exit out of Tanzania and enter into Kenya ( more blue cards to fill out).

It would have been nice to have been on the paved road to Namanga ..but construction was underway and we had to detour beside the highway ona very dusty road.!!

On the way to Namanga you will pass through a village called Longido, and the mountainby this village is of course Longido Mountain.

Lomgido means cliff , and on the side of the mountain is a lovely cliff..... you will see it when you pass by.

Okay now after leaving Namanga we are heading for Amboseli National Park.
You can see Mount Kilimanjaro form here ,although ,the clouds are not cooperating and are covering up the top half.

it was sad to drive here and do game drives because the place is so dry and desolate looking because of the drought condition.

It is one thing to see dead animal due to a kill, but another thing,when you see dead animals due to starvation.

A Grant's gazelle crossed the road and just lied down , with that " I give look in its eyes "....sad indeed.

There were dead Zebras and Wildebeests scattered over the plains.

We did see several Gerunuks (giraffe like antelope) and four Oryx,but the Oryx look starved !

Amboseli means Dust and boy is this place appropriately named. They were Dust Devils all over the places.

At the Serena Lodge we had a great view to the nightly lit waterhole and animal were coming all night to drink.
A lion roar at 2 AM made me think again if I locked the door.

From here we moved over to the Ol Tukai Lodge and stayed for one day. we did two more game drives here.
From our patio I could sit in the shade and look up at Mount Kilimanjaro....terrific!

The sunsets and sunrises are really spectacular here because of the mineral content in the air.
This give the sun the effect of a boiling red-orange ball slowly descending through a purple haze...pricelss!

You know you might think that the animals live in constant fear of the pedators...not so.
A Zebra can kick its way out of a single lion attack and can also chase away a leopard.

The gazelle can out run everything but the cheetah.!

After two days here it was time to head to Nairobi and directly to Jomo Kenyatta Airprot for out flight to Zanzibar.

Just some added comments:

Zebra's lock their hind legs and sleep standing up, I was watching then do this,as my guide was explaining it to me.

question : A human( in his neck) has 7 cervical vertebrae,( 8 if you count the Atlas).
How many vertebrae does a giraffe have in his neck??

All Kopjies have names ..I did not know this.

Flag of Tanzania :

1.Blue is for the rivers and oceans
2.Black is for the people
3.Yellow is for the Minerals
4.Green is for the forests

Flag of Kenya:

1.Black ... is for the people
2.Red ... is for the blood shed to btain freedom
3.Green ... is for Agriculture.

Next and final report is on Zanzibar
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 07:41 AM
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Percy, thanks for sharing the report. Enjoyed it particularly as we are headed to Kenya/Tanzania in Nov. Hope you will be posting pictures. Am particularly interested in seeing the bomgo antelope you saw in Samburu. What was your impression of Nairobi National Park or did you not visit it?
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 07:44 AM
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Hi sandi

Gee I did not know that the US passport fee is $100.00 ( Wow)

Thank you for your many excellent comments you made about Kenya and Tanzania, over the past year ... they were very helpful to me always!
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 09:52 AM
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All of this is interesting, interesting! I've directed Tully to your post as she is looking into Africa for a trip next year. Your descriptions are "almost" as good as being there. I said "almost"! I hope you got some fabulous photos to share! Get busy with the photo work, mister!
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 12:42 PM
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Percy -

Again, so refreshing to read a trip report from a first-timer. Us repeat visitors tend to forget things and you sure re-addressed them which is great.

Yeh, $100 for us Yanks! Sure wish they'd lower it back to the $50 as most others pay
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 01:36 PM
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Thanks sandi , like I said ,I did not realize that you "yanks" pay $100.00, that is a lot.

shillmac: Hi again and Hi to tully in Florida.
I got your e-mail when I was in the Masai Mara Serena lodge. Thank you for your explantion about the happening at Fodors !!

rsnyder:

Yes ,I did go to the National Park, we entered in on Langata Road ( I think) because we were coming from the Karen Blixen place.

If you want to see the Big 5 you can see 4 out of 5 of them.

I cannot tell you what the price was because our tour guide Robert handled everything....

There were about 3 school buses full of the local children coming to visit, si Iguess this is an educational event for the children to come .

We did not stay here that long ,but long enough to see the Masai giraffe, black rhino , (from a distance), several Hartebeest, ... did not see the leopard though.

You can spend a lot of time here and even visit the Wildlife Conservation Centre and listen to lectures and videos.

Though I have to add that we had a Naturalist give a slide show presentation at almost every lodge we stayed at.
The presentation is usually around 9 PM and lasts for an hour.

We took in the one at the Masai Mara and the Serengeti Serena Lodge.

In Amboseli Serena Lodge ,there was a good presentation on Elephant preservation , but I missed that one, I tried to see it the next day at noon, but there was a meeting in that room.

It is the Bongo Antelope you want to see, so if you do go to Samburu and you do not see one , then on your way back to Nanyuki, you can go to the William Holden Wildlife Education Centre and there is an animal conservation place that has the Bongo there....

This would only be a short distance for you ,when you are in Nanyuki.

When William Holden started his plans for the Mount Kenya Game Ranch in 1967, they choose the Bongo to be the Game Ranch symbol.

If you do get here, then pick up the free pamphlet entitled:

"Mountain Bongo
Repatriation to the Wilds of Mount Kenya"

The booklet is only 20 pages and has nice colorful pictures of the Bongo and William Holden. Stefani Powers in there also.
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Old Sep 17th, 2009, 02:16 PM
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For those going to Zanzibar

Going to Zanzibar is a nice refreshing break after the pace of the Safari.

We flew from Nairobi on the noon flight in a very lovely modern plane.
The flight took one hour.

It was nice flying here because you could see out the airplane window,when you left the East Africa shoreline and were starting to be over the Indian Ocean.

We were met by our guide there and taken to the 5 star Serenea Hotel, right on the curve of the Shangani Peninsula.

The main town in Zanzibar is StoneTown,which got its name from the Coral Stones that were used for many of its buildings.
This place is a UNESCO site.

The turquoise clear water and the amazing sunsets is a treat to sore muscle and dusty eyes !!

There are many places to see here just by walking about everyday.
They say it is impossible NOT to get lost in the narrow alley maze of Stonetown...is this true ...yes !!

Some of the places you should see and will see are:

1. House of Wonders... so called because it was the first
house to have an elevator and electricity in the 1890's

2. Arab Fort ...this is right next door to the House of Wonders.
The Arabs built this fort to protect themseleves from the Portuguese ( after kicking them out )!

3.Anglican Church:

Which was built on a previous Slave market site...go inside the church, there is a cross here dedicated to Dr. Livingstone.
Then go to the holding chambers tosee the dungeon type cells that held the slaves.
( Oh yes, the cost is $3.00 ) We had a Stonetown tour by our guide and this was included in our package trip.

4. The Market in Stonetown....visit here walk around and take in the sounds and the smells !!

5. Fordorhani Park .. along the seashore and right in front of the House on Wonders.

Walk here after dinner (or even have dinner here ! if you are brave ),it is a very nice clean and neat place filled with locals cooking their wares.
It is pleasant to just people watch here also.

6. Livingstome House:

You can walk here. We did.I wish it was better looked after, since it is such a historical place.
The tourist centre is here now.

Livingstone died in 1873 in a small village in Zambia.
When he died they removed his heart and lungs and buried them by a large tree in the village .

Then they brought his body to Zanzibar , from where it was sent to England.
He is buried in Westminister Abbey.

Now in # 3 above I mentioned visiting the Anglican Church.
When you go inside and see the wooden cross made from a branch of the tree in Zambia where Dr. Livingstone's heart and lungs were buried.

The cross was brought to the Anglican Church in 1903.

Oh yes, one more place...
The Africa House Hotel..... it is just almost next door from the Serena Hotel.

They have a lovely second floor balcony with super views of the Ocean.
This is where Livingstone and his buddies used to come for a drink.

Don't miss having a beer here ( beer is $3.00 US) and the view is free!
we went here four times.
You cannot enter the Africa House Hotel from the front that is facing the water,
You have togo down one of those narrow little streets and then you will see the British Flag flying over the entrance.

Just walk in ,like you own the place, climb the stairs to the second floor , take a seat right by the front railing ...order a beer and enjoy.... ahh isn't life great !!

Like I said we took the Stonetown tour ( part of our package) and then in the afternoon we took the Spice Tour...

take the Spice Tour , you will enjoy it.

Finally,you will be besieged by street hawkers but not as much as I had anticipated.

Just a polite from No, Thank You usually does the trick.

Just say Hapana( No) Asante santa (Thank you very much).

All too soon it was back to Nairobi...to Amsterdam.... to North America.

Oh yes on our flight back from Zanzibar we flew over Mount Kilimanjaro and got some nice pictures from the plane.

Thank you everyone
Percy is online now  

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