It Means No Worries, For the Rest of Your Days

"It's our problem free philosophy... Hakuna Matata" ~Timon and Puumba, The Lion King

Cindy:

Tuesday:

Not much to report today but travel back to Johannesburg.  We had a very relaxed morning with a leisurely breakfast with Mel (we've decided to adopt her as part of the family - our African roots).  She was so much fun - she gave both of us gifts and asked us to come back and visit her.  I'm game!!!!!

Mel and Charles took us to the airport and we departed to Johnannesburg.  When we arrived, Alex and Nelson were there to pick us up.  Nelson took us to the Saxon Hotel for the night OMG.......The Saxon Hotel is where Nelson Mandela stayed when he was released from prison. It use to be a private home (OMG).  Presidents have stayed here......this is just wild.  I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel this beautiful or luxurious.  We had a fabulous dinner and we're settling in for the night.  Sorry that we don't have a lot of pictures - but today and tomorrow are mostly travel days.  After that we are "in the bush".  Hopefully, we will be able to post to the blog.  Stay tuned..........

Wednesday:

Today we traveled from Johannesburg to Nairobi.  It was a four hour flight and took us 2 hours to get from the airport to our hotel for the night.  Worse traffic than LA in rush hour!!!!  Seriously, I didn't think it could get much worse.......BUT, it was.  I think that I would do this trip differently next time - we have three days in a row of travel which isn't vey much fun!  However, Wilbard and Edwin took great care of us.

Anyway - we did meet the ugliest bird in the world - I'm sure that it's a cousin to the vulture just much bigger - it's called the Marabou Stork - Nicki got some great shots of it.  

We had another great dinner and tomorrow we are going to the home of Karen von Blixen, the author of the book Out of Africa.  We will be meeting the famous Rothschild giraffes.......then we journey to Lake Manyara in Tanzania.


Thursday:

We got ready to leave the hotel in Nairobi and Wilbard told us that we should probably have breakfast.  At breakfast, Mrs. Pinto (one of the owners of the tour group that we are with) introduced herself - she was so sweet and genuinely wanted us to have a great safari - as that is what we are embarking on. And so we are off - first to see the Rothschild's giraffes.  I have a new boyfriend - his name is Eddie.  We've gotten so close in such a short period of time - he was overwhelming!!!!!!  He  is so tall, has such beautiful eyes and walks like he owns the world...........ladies, he is magnificent!!!!  Nicki loves him too!!!

Then off to the Estate of Karen von Blixen - author of Out of Africa.  We kind of sped through this as we were running late - but, the house was great, her story was extremely interesting and we really enjoyed our time here.

Then we were off the Wilson Airport - ok, it starts to get dicey at this point.  We took a VERY small plane to Tanzania (18 people).  Then we had to depart the airport in Tanzania only to walk down the terminal and enter again for our flight to Lake Manyara.  Again - a VERY small plane.... So funny!!!  

Once we arrived, we took a game drive down to Lake Manyara and saw a ton of animals. Finally we are to the safari part of our journey - both of us are tired of the travel days, so look forward to tons of pictures coming your way for the next couple of days. (Hopefully, we have Wifi - if not, you'll be receiving another huge post!)

We are staying at the Lake Manyara Escarpment Lodge and, again, it's just beautiful.  Nicki's doing her best to fight off a cold......hopefully, she will feel better tomorrow.  We are off in the morning for a game run, lunch here at the lodge and then off to the Ngorongoro Crater for more game runs........

We miss you all...... more to follow......

Nicki:

We're alive! Sorry we've disappeared for a few days, but we haven't had much exciting news to post about. The past two days have been pure travel, and we haven't taken many pictures, either. When we left Mel and Charles in Livingstone on Tuesday morning, we headed back to Johannesburg for an overnight stay at the Saxon. That place was incredible. Our driver told us that it might be the nicest hotel on the planet. Even Oprah has stayed there! We were not expecting such luxury. I'm bummed that we only stayed there for one night. I feel like we didn't get to really enjoy the resort and all it had to offer (like the spa).

The next day, we flew to Nairobi from Johannesburg, and met our new guide, Wilburd. We now refer to him as Willy. We landed right in the middle of rush hour, which wasn't fun, because then it took us two hours to get from the airport to the hotel. We stayed at Fairmont the Norfolk Hotel, and it was lovely. 

Also, on our flig to Nairobi, we were shown a safety video and I couldn't help but crack up at one bit of the marinated feature...

Oink oink.

This morning, we checked out of the hotel and finally did something that wasn't travel. We went to the giraffe sanctuary, where we got to feed and snuggle with some very friendly giraffes. My boyfriend may not like hearing this, but I think I found a new lover in Eddie, a young male giraffe who literally ate right out of the palm of my hand. Except I think Eddie loves my mom more than he loves me.

Eddie is kind of a ham. He liked to pose and I showed him all the pretty pictures I took of him.

He thoroughly enjoyed his photo shoot.

From the giraffe sanctuary, we went to visit the home of Karen Von Blixen, author of Out of Africa, among other things. She and he first husband owned a coffee plantation in the Nairobi area, and we got to see some of the property and hear her story. She had a lot of lovers, none of them being giraffes.

After our tourist activities, we were back in traveling mode. We checked into Wilson Airport, which is smaller than Nairobi International, and took at 18-seat plane to Kilomanjaro International. Sadly, there was too much cloud cover to see the tallest mountain in the African continent, but Willy reassured us that we would be able to see it on the way back to Nairobi. From Kilomanjaro, we boarded another 18-seater and flew to Lake Manyara, with one stop to drop people off in Arusha. The first flight was one hour, the second was 15 minutes, and the last was 20 minutes. And we landed on a dirt runway. That was a first for both my mom and I. 

Willy and our driver, Frederick, took us on an hour long safari drive in Lake Manyara National Park. We saw blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, olive baboons, warthogs (PUUMBA!!!!!), hippos, zebras, wildebeest, cape buffalo, impala, and so many birds that I think I almost fainted. They were overwhelming.

Also, I think that Willy gets me. He keeps putting everything in Lion King terms so I can understand it better. Birds are Zazu, warthogs are Puumba, and we discussed what species Rafiki is. And also, he keeps saying, "Hakuna Matata." I love it.

After our afternoon game drive, we checked into our hotel for the evening, which is the Sanctuary Escarpment Lodge. This place is beautiful. We have our own little cabin, which is very beautifully decorated, and the bed is huge, so mom and I can easily share it. I'm definitely looking forward to going to sleep tonight. I'm bummed, again, that we are only staying here one night. 

I'm feeling a little under the weather presently. It started with a scratchy throat yesterday, and today it is a full-fledged cold. Hopefully with a hot shower, a hot towel to my face, a Tylenol, two Ibuprofen, and a good night's sleep, I will feel brand new tomorrow. Right now, I'm drinking ginger tea with honey and limes, since they don't seem to have lemons here.

Hopefully we will get to post again tomorrow!