Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

"All I wanted to do now was get back to Africa. We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already." ~Ernest Hemingway

Nicki:

Thursday:

I can't believe we are leaving Africa today... I feel like I've grown so much as a person and learned so much in the last few weeks. It has truly been an incredible experience. I hope I get the chance to come back some day.

We woke up this morning at 4am. We were packed and ready to go at 5am, when a driver named Leonard picked us up and took us on an early morning drive. More like Mr. toad's Wild Ride. It was pitch black outside. Why on earth would we subject ourselves to this random torture, you ask? Well, simply because I convinced my mom to go on a hot air balloon ride! It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was so nervous, but I tried not to let it show, because I knew my mom needed me to be there for her. I'm so proud of her for doing it. And she actually enjoyed herself!

When we finished our drive with Crazy Leonard, we had to sign a few documents, and then we had a safety debriefing by our pilot. We had to enter the balloon's basket while it was on its side. It kind of freaked me out. We slid in and were sitting, laying on our backs, facing the sky, and the pilot told us to hang on, he started shooting fire into the balloon, and it got so warm! When the balloon was finally full, the basket was pulled up, so we were sitting normally, and the basket started skidding across the ground. Every time we thought we were up in the air, we ended up sliding across the gravel again.

Before we knew it, the pilot told us we could stand up, and it was so exciting to see the ground moving beneath us. I was amazed at how smooth the hot air balloon felt. It's now my preferred method of travel. 

On our hour-long ride, we saw zebras, elephants, wildebeest, gazelle, antelopes, a hyena, and a beautiful sunrise. I was a little disappointed that we hadn't seen more animals out and about, but beggars can't be choosers.

The balloon itself was incredible. The torches that the pilot uses to keep us afloat, and the pulleys and levers it takes to move us in different directions were just captivating. I think I was channeling my dad a little. Except, he probably would have been climbing in to be copilot and ask the pilot how everything worked. I didn't go that far.

When we landed an hour later, we were driven to a location that had a beautiful breakfast spread laid out for us. We were greeted with champagne, and enjoyed sharing our safari experiences with our fellow ballooners. Then Crazy Leonard took us to meet up with Edwin and Paul, and they took us on one last miniature game drive on the way to the airstrip.

We saw a lone male lion, some hyenas, a jackal, some bat-eared foxes, a owl, an eagle, and a bird eating a grasshopper. I'd say it was quite successful.

We made it to Nairobi a little early, so we checked into the hotel, where we had a day room waiting for us. We relaxed for about an hour, then went and had lunch with the owner of our safari company, Mrs. Pinto. She is basically the nicest lady I've ever met. She might or might not have offered me a job. I couldn't tell if she was just being nice or not. I'll have to look into that.

We returned to the hotel, where we repacked our bags and freshened up before having an early dinner and heading to the airport. You'd be amazed at how tight security is at Nairobi's International Airport. It was crazy. We had to have our bags inspected three times. It was kind of annoying, but at least we knew we were safe. My mom lost a corkscrew in the process. What a bummer. At least they didn't take her curling iron like I thought they were going to.

Our flight to London was at 11:30pm, and I passed out as soon as the plane was in the air. I basically slept the whole flight. I guess that 4am wake up call caught up with me. 

Africa has been incredible. I'm sad to leave, but I'm excited for the next leg of our journey. We are off to Paris!

Cindy:

Thursday:

Last day in Africa.......this went by so fast, I'm so grateful to have shared this with Nicki.  Well, she talked me into this balloon ride and we were up at 4:00am to be ready, packed, etc.and picked up at 5:00 am.  Edwin and Paul will meet us later with the bags and take us to the airstrip.  

So, off we go with Leonard, from the balloon company.  I think he is a frustrated race driver- we almost hit a sleeping cape buffalo on the way and I told Nicki, if we survived this the balloon ride would be easy.

We made it just in time for the pilot's instructions and to load up- of course, I'm nervous now.......but, had no time to let it settle in.....got in the basket while it was on it's side and assumed the proper position.  Then the waiting....Nicki was so cute, she kept asking me if I was ok....the gal next to me had been on a balloon ride before, so she assured us that all the heat and noise were normal.  Then we started to move....OMG and we were up.......

Ok, it was beautiful, we both enjoyed it.....although, I preferred it when we were closer to the ground than higher.

We watched the sun rise and looked for animals on the plains.  We didn't see a lot, but it was really a beautiful experience - and, yes, I would do it again.

We had breakfasts after the ride and visited with our fellow passengers- very nice.  Then we were off to meet Edwin and Paul.

We had one last game drive on our way to the airstrip.  We were looking for the last of the big five- the rhino.....we didn't see him!  So we have to come back!    

We did see the most majestic lion laying on the top of a small mound looking out over the valley.....a most fitting way to end our time in Africa.  

We flew into Nairobi and went back to the hotel to clean up before lunch at the Pinto's residence.  The Pinto's are the owners of Micato- the safari company that we picked.  Mrs. Pinto was very impressed that we had waited almost 5 hours to see the crossing.  She was very excited for us as this experience isn't something that happens in a predictable time frame.....obviously!

We had a great time at lunch then went back to the hotel to shower and change for our flight to London and then on to Paris.  We leave at 11:30 pm.  We were VERY happy that Edwin got us to the airport almost 4 hour early.  Nairobi's security is horrendous - we went through three different security clearances and, as you can imagine, we were tired and a little cranky by the time we entered the British Airway Lounge.  

We both slept pretty well on the plane and now we are in London waiting for our connection to Paris.  Will update you all again soon.........Hugs.

The Waiting Game

"The longer you wait for something, the more you appreciate it when you get it, because anything worth having is definitely worth waiting for" ~Unknown

Nicki:

Wednesday:

Today was our very last game drive. We met up with Edwin at 6:30 this morning and headed out for the day. It was nice and cold when we got out there. 

The early morning was very eventful! First, we saw two momma lions with 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 month old cubs. There were five cubs, and they were absolutely adorable! They really wanted to play, too. They reminded me of Winnie and Zoey... I miss my puppies so much!

We also got the rare opportunity to see a serval, not too far from where the lions were. They usually only come out at night, and having the sighting that we had is pretty much once in a lifetime.

We stopped to eat a picnic breakfast by a hippo pool. That was really fun. It was interesting to watch the hippos interact with each other and to hear the different sounds they made depending on what they were feeling. To be perfectly honest with you though, most of their sounds resembled the sounds of passing gas. It made me giggle. This is another reason for me to believe that I really am a five year old boy at heart.

After breakfast, we headed even further into the park, passing a lone male hippo who had found a nice muddy area to sleep in last night. When we came across him, he was standing up next to the mud hole, absolutely lathered with mud from the waist down and all over his face.

He decided to get back into the mud, so we moved on.

Down the road, we saw a group of three hyena that reminded me of the group of hyena from The Lion King. They were kind of goofy. They used the sides of the termite mounds as scratching posts, and kept pushing each other aside to find the ideal scratching spot.

From there, we moved on toward the Mara River, where we are supposed to see the migration of the wildebeest. This is the ultimate sight on a visit to Africa. The Great Migration is such a phenomenon because the animals follow approximately the same path every year, and simply go in one big circle in order to get food. This happens nowhere else in the world. 

We got to the river at about 9:00am, and we could barely see the wildebeest peaking up over the edge of the hill. Edwin told us to be patient, that sometimes it could take the herd the better half of a day to decide to finally cross the river. They started coming closer to the crossing area about twenty minutes later, and we started getting really excited. They lined up in a single file line and everything. But alas, they turned around and started moseying the other way. It was very frustrating.

It was a good thing we didn't each our whole breakfast, because it gave us something to snack on while we waited. We noticed many many crocodiles on the banks of the river, basking in the sun. They were huge!

We also saw vultures circling over the river, and we thought that was a sign that something might happen soon. But it wasn't. We kept waiting. 

We ended up waiting there for about five hours. The wildebeest and zebras kept going back and forth, teasing us the whole morning and early afternoon. Thank god we had that extra food from our breakfast! It was amazing to see the amount of safari vehicles that gathered around for the show. We could tell that everyone was getting impatient. Some cars actually had to leave because they had to be back to camp at a certain time, and it took them 2 1/2 hours to get there in the first place.

When my mom finally mentioned having to "check the tires," or use the ladies room, we went it a remote area and my mom and I went and found what seemed to be a good place to relieve ourselves. When we finished, we were hurried back to our vehicles, because Edwin and Paul were being radioed that the wildebeest were on the move, and that it we didn't hurry, we were going to miss it. So we ran back to the car, and practically cut off the herd of wildebeest trying to get into a proper position. We parked just in time to see the first wildebeest enter the water, and everything happened so quickly from there!

It was amazing to see how hard they pushed each other to get across the river. I mean, I guess it's understandable...it is, in fact, crocodile-infested waters. My mom and I were so nervous, worried that a croc was going to snatch a baby, but we were so relieved in the end that everyone made it across unscathed. We actually both started crying tears of joy. No joke.

Look how close this croc was to snatching one of the zebras!

Once the crossing was over, we headed back to the camp, sighting a few more animals along the way.

We spent our afternoon and evening updating our blog and reading our respective books, rel axing out on the main deck area of the camp. We both enjoyed some glasses of white wine and reflected on how amazing our time in Africa has been. I can't believe tomorrow is our last day!

Cindy:

Wednesday:

We are off for a full day of game drive, mostly to watch the river crossing..  This is an event that happens yearly during the migration.  Herds of wildebeest, topi and zebra cross the rivers in the plains of Kenya for different grazing lands.  The predators, mostly crocodile are waiting for the crossing and we have a sense of doom for some these animals. 

Also, it feels scarier here than in the Serengeti for the animals.  I can't put my finger on why.  I guess seeing what they are facing.  We've counted at least 10 huge crocodile .......maybe 12.  They are fat and happy sleeping the sun, maybe they won't notice the crossing too much.

This crossing is going to be bad for some of these animals. Hope we can handle this.  The crocodile are ready.

Here come the wildebeest - this is going to end badly. Here come the jeeps......and the wildebeest stop........I'm sure they know what they are facing......

And the birds have moved in. Fish eagle and vultures. The wildebeest have moved off to the right and stopped again. This is really scary but it's all working the way it's supposed to......

They keep circling. Back and forth, back and forth.. All of a sudden another huge group of wildebeest heads for the water. They join with the first group. I think this is finally going to happen.  We have been waiting for over 4 hours....and, they turn away yet again, so I take this opportunity for a potty break, thinking we have time, based on earlier experience.  Paul and Edwin agree that we have time, so off we go............yes, as soon as Nicki and I start heading back to the jeep, Paul gets a flash of the headlights and a call on the radio- IT'S HAPPENING!!!!   We rush back to the viewing area, almost cutting off the herd, get in place and .........

Ok.      Here we go. 

This was like being a mom on the underdog team and having your child's team win the grand championship!!!!!   We had a clean crossing- no beast or zebra left behind.......so, so scary and emotional.....we almost lost a young zebra to a crocodile ......everyone was rooting for the little guy and he made it!!!!!  We were so drained, so emotional, we had tears in our eyes.  WOW is all I can say.  This was an experience of a lifetime!  

We head back to the lodge as we are drained and need some down time.  Tomorrow is an early day- our last day in Africa and we are capping off our trip with an early morning balloon ride - yep, I'm going to do it!!!!!   More tomorrow- miss you all.

Pitch a Tent

"A zebra takes its stripes wherever it goes" ~Maasai proverb

Nicki:

Tuesday:

Yesterday was a long day. We left the Four Seasons Safari Lodge in the Serengeti at about 7:30am, and took our time getting to the airport, spotting many different animals, kind of like a farewell committee.

Even though our next destination, the Maasai Mara, is only directly north of the Serengeti, we had to take a very roundabout way of getting there since we had to clear customs and go through the entire security process. So, from the Seronera airport, we were taken to Lake Victoria, where we connected to Edmonet(???), where we had to stop to clear the Kenyan customs. From there, we were flown to the Maasai Mara. It was a lot of flying. I'm officially not a huge fan of small planes.

It took us five minutes to get to the camp where we are staying, and we had a late lunch. We were given about an hour of downtime before our afternoon game drive, during which time I took a small nap. I really wasn't feeling well after those three small planes. 

We met up with our new guide, Edwin, for our afternoon game drive, which was much quieter than we were expecting it to be. After talking to many different people about what the Maasai Mara would be like, we were expecting to see animals everywhere, filling the plains. But on our afternoon game drive, we saw very little. We did get a chance to see some lions sleeping, along with a few small herds of zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, and antelopes. 

This is the first sights that we had... It didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy. It's a hippo skeleton. The crazy part is that the hippo had only been dead for a week. 

We moved on to happier thoughts...

Then Edwin and our driver took us out into the boonies because there had been a cat sighting. When we got there, we finally saw our first wild cheetah. We had seen a cheetah in Livingstone, but it was in an enclosure for a cheetah-walking experience. It was exciting to see an actual cheetah in it's natural habitat.

When we were done with the cheetah, it was time to head back to the camp, since they are pretty strict about being back to camp by sundown. We witnessed another beautiful African sunset on the way home. 

Tomorrow is our last day out on a game drive. Hopefully, we get so see some really interesting and beautiful things. We are trying to set up a hot air balloon ride before we leave, but we don't know if it is going to work out. We didn't realize that we should have booked that sort of thing way in advance, but I'm optimistic that it will happen!

Cindy:

Tuesday:

We traveled this morning from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara.  Which means 3 more flights on small planes and immigration and customs crossing the boarder between Tanzania and Kenya.  We had to disembark when we landed in Kenya, have our passports checked.......they only screened 5 out of the 8 bags on board and then we got back on the same plane to complete our flight to the Maasai Mara.
Too funny, but not something to laugh at while going through the process.  Nicki's being a trouper as her stomach isn't doing so hot with all the ups, downs and all a rounds.

We've arrived!!!!!  This is really a neat place, we have our own tent equipped with a full bathroom, etc  right on the Talek river.  We will be heading out for a game drive in about 30 mins. Then back to get cleaned up for dinner and animal watching from the lodge area.  This camp only has 10 tents........pretty sweet.

Our game drive in the afternoon wasn't super successful - we saw a cheetah resting.  She was beautiful. 

We got back to the lodge about 7:00 pm and rushed to get cleaned up for dinner.  Then we (Nicki) tried to post yesterday's blog update and it took forever.......so, we gave up and will try it again today.  We might be a couple of days without updates because of our location- sorry.