Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

We woke up bright and early to meet our guide for the next few days. I think we all fell for him quickly. Peter (always pronounced with a British accent) is a kind, soft spoken person like most of the people we encountered throughout the trip. He made us all smile and we totally hit the jackpot! Not to mention he has the best driving skills I've even seen. More on that later!

We all "meditated" (aka slept like babies) at some point in the car, but there were beautiful views all around us for a majority of the drive to Lake Nakuru. We stopped in an area that looked over the land below that was just stunning. There were little shops along the cliffs that had very high pressure sales people and Tan got a 'Kenyan GPS" that was a map of the surrounding areas at the base of the mountain. The view was worth the haggling though! It was awesome!!

Peter asked us a little while into the trip if we wanted to see hippos…umm, of course! So we made a midday stop to stretch our legs and take a little boat out to explore the lake. We were surrounded by gorgeous scenery with hills and tress. We saw hippos and families sunning on the same beaches…not sure I'd want to be that close! Then our guide stopped to buy 2 fish from a couple of guys on shore. He whistled for an eagle above and it swooped down and snagged the fish only yards from our boat! It was fantastic! We also saw the home of Karen, famous from 'Out of Africa'. It was a gorgeous place with one of the prettiest views I can imagine.

We then took a small break and pulled into a cove. Another guide walked us through a field of zebra, wildebeest and deer. The animals on the land had been brought over from the Masai Mara for the filming of 'Out of Africa'. There were lions for the filming as well, but those returned home. All of these herbivores have remained here since.

We then took our motor boat back to shore and continued on to Lake Nakuru. Jackson enlightened us on the many uses for Twizlers along the way! Peter went to check us in to the park and told us, "beware, the monkeys may be naughty". There was no might about it! These monkeys were a hoot! They climbed into a neighboring car's front seat and taunted the people in the back seat as they took pics. The moneys were ready to grab and run off with any snack they could find too!

We dropped our bags at our hotel, the Lion Hill Lodge, and headed out for our first official safari! We popped the roof open and clustered together to catch of glimpse of some incredible animals! There were baboons in clusters everywhere and even with little babies on their backs. Our first drive was to the lake itself. There were thousands of flamingos throughout the lake. And we got to see the first of the BIG 5…water buffalo (the others are the elephant, lion, leopard and rhino). They were massive and lazy on the shore, but it was a beautiful contrast to the bright, pink flamingos. We walked a while there and took some jump pics. Along the way, Jackson developed a little crush on one of the girls in a passing safari van and Tan hooted to her as we passed…haha!

It was now time to explore the rest of the reserve and see what else we'd be able to check off our list. We spotted white rhinos with a baby by their side, lots of antelope, hyenas that appeared to have cornered a single water buffalo and plenty of zebra and little deer that I can't remember what they were called. Fun fact about the white rhino…they are actually grey just like the others, but were called "wide rhinos" for their wide mouths and that erroneously became white rhinos over time.

We made our way back to the lodge with a stunning, colorful sunset as our backdrop. Seth climbed on top of the roof for the bumpy ride back to our home base. We were 2 down on the BIG 5 and had a great day so far. A couple of people back at the hotel showed us video of elephant and lion encounters they had that day…we were a little jealous, but it just made us more excited for what we'd get to see in the coming days!

The lodge was gorgeous! Each room was in a little duplex cabin. There were no phones or tv, which were a nice break, but made us coordinate our plans a little earlier in advance. Nita and I scored room #1, the honeymoon suite. We had our own fire pit, balcony and a nice, big room!

On the way to dinner, we heard drumming and made our way to see the native dancers. Nita and I went on stage and danced with them. It was fun and tiring, the only downside is deodorant isn't quite as popular as in the US…and wow, it was stinky with all the sweating! J But it was a great time nonetheless. We then had our first buffet which was pretty good then headed down to the firepit after dinner. We were joined by a family from The Netherlands…and it was the same girls from the ride!!! Turns out the family was visiting for their grandpa's birthday and it was him, his daughter and husband, their 3 kids + a boyfriend. I think there was other family on the trip too…but these were the ones at the fire pit. Turns out the girls were 16 and 18…and I thought I was bad about young'uns!! J They were all super sweet and we sang happy birthday. Then it was their turn to teach us a Dutch campfire song. We all sang, Fur, fur, fur (fire, fire fire) and toasted to new friends. One by one people started to go to bed. Around midnight it was just Tan, Seth and me. We stayed up talking forever. We chatted with the guards and with each other. It was so relaxing. At some point, we had the bright idea to stay up and watch the sunrise. Seth napped on a couple of chairs and bailed to his room at about 5:00 am. Tan and I kept each other awake telling stories and made it to dawn. We walked back to Nita and my room and she was up. Well, we made it to sunrise, but the sun wasn't coming up over the lake…it was over the hill behind us…not quite so dramatic!! But it was worth it anyway! I guess this day blends into the next…so I will wrap up and move on to the trip to Masai Mara in the next post! J

Tan’s Birthday in Nairobi

Baby elephants are quite possibly the cutest animals I've ever seen. And I have the pics to prove it! We went to the David Sheldrick Elephant and Rhino Orphanage just outside Nairobi. In line we met several people from Houston. Tan met a couple from Spring and I met a guy that used to work at Compaq until 1999. Crazy, small world! We got to the front of the pack and ran to get a great spot. The trainers stood around for a while then it was time to see the cuteness run toward us! OMG…they came galloping up and drank from baby bottles, then they played soccer and ran around. They were absolutely amazing and precious. If I could put an elephant in my bag, it would have been running around Memorial Club on a leash! I settled for the next best thing and adopted an elephant named Tumaren that was abandoned when her mother was killed by poachers. She stayed by her mom's body until she was rescued and brought to the reserve. You can tell there is a strong bond with the orphans and their foster parents as they nuzzle and touch them with their trunks. The trainers even sleep in the shelter with the baby elephants each night. We did get to pat a rhino on the nose too. J

Next stop was Giraffe Manor. They were all sizes and had all different kinds of patterns. We got to hand feed them from the ground and from a little fort with a bird's eye view too. We did a little shopping at the gift store then it was off to lunch.

The Talisman was delicious. I had artichoke hearts and crab pasta. Both were so yummy!! The service and surroundings were both incredible. There were plants, flowers and little huts with colorfully decorated pillows everywhere. My favorite area was the garden though. There was a tree I could sit and read under all day. And a sweet little herb garden was tucked away on the side, as well.

We continued our day on a city tour of Nairobi. We caught beautiful views over the city and looked down on a park that hosted a rally for the election that was coming up on Wednesday. This rally was all green, so it was the side that was voting YES to the new constitution for Kenya. We saw lots of state buildings and statues around town. The highlight for me was then driving through the poorer area of the city. It was interesting. The surroundings and living conditions were sad. They didn't appear to have electricity or water, but people looked happy in general. Some yelled at us angrily (Tan swears someone told him "I will kill you!") while most smiled, waved and even blew kisses. It looked like their primary industry was taking scraps from other businesses and converting them to something else. There were oil drums that became wheelbarrows and other metal goods and they were converting tires to shoes too. They also had many of the homes painted with sponsored ads from safaricom and other companies.

Later that evening we went to Carnivore, famous for its exotic meats. Bill also arrived that night and got to join us at the restaurant! The guys tried crocodile and ox balls. Back in the day they had things like zebra and giraffe…but those were no longer on the menu. The staff came out and sang a big 'Happy Birthday' and 'Jumbo, Jumbo' to Tan on his big day.

Then, after a huge meal and a 'few' dawas (the drink of Kenya, made with vodka, honey, lime and brown sugar) we hung out a little then discovered a playground in the back of the restaurant. We zoomed down the slides, climbed thru tubes and bounced on the suspension bridges. It was a great night and hope it was a spectacular day for our Birthday boy, Tan! J

Dubai to Nairobi

After a long, fun night it was time to take care of Nita's favorite pastime…shopping! We took a taxi to the Gold Souk and where you could find any sort of goods, most of them probably from China! There you could find gold, toys, spices and clothing. Seth was pumped when he found his Sheik hat. I'm sure it will be appearing again later in the week. We also took a little detour to see the old town and walk along the water. As we were heading out we noticed, our favorite shopper hadn't purchased anything! How could it be?

We took a taxi to the hotel then took the metro back to the airport…helping Ali to learn to blend with the locals! At the airport, we snacked on Irish food and the boys stocked up on "the guys" to take on our trip…Jack, Jim and Johnnie. I slept like a baby on the flight to Africa! We arrived in immigration and pretty much ran to the line. Nita and I blazed through quickly with our visas in hand and headed to baggage claim. It took a while for the luggage to arrive, but we eventually collected all the bags. It had been about 2 hours and no friends in sight. 2.5 hours passed and we finally spotted Ali. Then about 30 minutes later Tan, Mary and Jackson showed up. And we all spent the last 45 minutes running around in baggage claim taking pics and getting excited to leave the airport! Jackson and I stayed entertained watching a little boy that looked like he was there traveling alone. He spun in circles, rode the baggage claim conveyer belt and bopped himself in the head. We gave him a British accent and laughed as we came up with what he was saying to himself. Finally, about 30 minutes later we all cheered as Seth made it through!

Our plan was to go to Carnivore that night, but it was pretty late so we just relaxed at the hotel. We had a nice waitress and the guys discovered the Kenyan beer, Tusker. The food was pretty delicious too. The Stanley hotel was built in the early 1900s and has been renovated. It's beautiful!! There is also a tree that used to hold notes so the guests could communicate with each other. Midnight passed and it was officially Tan's birthday! He left a note for us all on the tree and we signed the back of the note to wish him a happy, wonderful birthday in Africa!!!

Full day in Dubai

The alarm went off too early, but it was time to get up and take advantage of the nice, sunny day! We had a great breakfast buffet and taxied over to the Burj Khalifa. I highly recommend the prepaid tour times if you're going for a visit. We picked up our will call tickets and set off for the elevators. There are pics of the building's construction and fun facts about the height and scale of the building. We took the elevator to the 124^th floor and took in the view. Mary was a little intimidated by the height at first, but adjusted quickly. All the buildings looked like ants below. And we weren't even close to the top. The building is an astonishing 160 stories. http://skyscraperpage.com/ is a great site to see how this building sizes up the other structures around the world. I can now say I've been in the top 3 tallest in the world!

We walked back through the attached mall…it's nice that the entire area is connected by indoor walkways to avoid the heat. We knocked out some shopping. I got my Christmas ornament, a camel, and children's books in Arabic for my mom's class…my 2 must have souvenirs. I also picked up a pretty, hand painted plate and a cookbook to try my hand at making Middle Eastern cuisine! We then took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates to check out Ski Dubai, a huge indoor ski slope. We decided to get a pass to the 'snow park' that included the luge and tubing. We all giggled and played like kids having snowball fights and racing down the hills. We, of course, took lots of photos and were taking a group shot when this guy photo bombed us!!! We were all laughing and he totally left his wife on a sled to watch. Tan held the guy in the gondola with us so he would stay in the pic!!

Lunch was next on the plan. We represented lots of nations with our lunches, America, the Middle East and Chinese. Tan, Nita and I scored with a great meal from a place called Pasha that was fast food, but delicious!

We went back to the hotel to relax for about 15 minutes then we met our Knight Safari guide, Mohammad, in the lobby. He had us laughing from the time we got in the car. He heckled girls on the side of the road near the sheik's home and talked on the phone, passing it to Seth to talk to his friend. About 15 minutes into the drive, we seemed to be heading back to the city. We all whispered to each other and he finally confirmed we were going to back to the hotel to pick up the photographer. So, we set out for our safari site again! We even had our picture taken by another car that was checking out our group of tourists on the way.

Once we arrived in the desert, we zoomed along a fence and raced the other Land Rovers. It was our turn to heckle and we teased our driver and told him he'd get a better tip if our truck won the race! We then stopped at the beginning of the desert adventure and took some photos and check out the pretty views of unending sand. There was also a hiss that was the guides letting air out of the tires. Then it was go time…and we had the best soundtrack for the ride!! Ch-ch-check it out! Our guide and I were both dancing and we told him to put his hands back on the wheel!!! I was sitting shotgun and it was CRAZY!! We zoomed and darted thru the dunes. We would head straight uphill, the windows pointed to the sky then all of sudden we'd be skidding across the top of the sand and sliding back downhill. A few times we missed the crest and would take a sharp angle downhill then catch up to the rest of the land cruisers. We stopped for pics over one of the top points in the desert with really nice views. We were all a little tipsy when we finally made it to camp. First order of business was to ride a camel. They snorted and "growled" as we got on and took a short walk. Then we settled into camp. We got to try all kinds of snacks, were painted with henna, held a hawk, met a local dog and drank wine coolers…umm, which of these things don't go with the others? Later in the evening we watched a slide show, where we were the first pic and were entertained by a belly dancer that shook and shimmied like nothing I've ever seen!

It had already been a long day, but we couldn't resist meeting Tan and Ali, that had gone to dinner with one of his friends living there. We met at the Fountain Café and the boys were smoking shisha. I tried the mint from Tan's pipe. Not sure if I did it right, but it was pretty smooth and good. We still wanted to get the full nightlife experience, so we headed over to Kasbar on the beach. This place was PIMP! Nita and I bounced to the music and Tan and Ali joined us shortly after. Seth held down the fort at the bar. After lots of fun, we took a night tour of the Jumeriah area. We drove to the gate of the Burj Al Arab (the big sailboat hotel) then drove onto the palm and took some other fun pics of the Atlantis Hotel.

Dubai, we have arrived!!!

We all arrived at IAH and Tan casually asks, "Hey, would you mind carrying my Zune?" But, of course…then I offered to carry his nice, fancy DSLR in my backpack. Somehow his new neck pillow ends up strapped to my backpack too. I think I'm starting to understand why I was invited…to be Tan's Sherpa! He eventually stole all the good back and carried my backpack, but it made for some laughs. The time flew by and it was suddenly time to board and we even heard "passenger: Moore" over the loud speaker and raced to get on board.

The flight was SO NICE! Emirates is an amazing airline! Some of the fun touches were (1) The video system had 1200 movies, I think and all kinds of other entertainment. (2) The front and bottom of the plane have cameras and you get to watch takeoff and landing and anything in between…even though most of our flight was clouds or the dark of night. (3) We fell asleep under the "stars" on the ceiling of the plane and woke to the lights slowly coming up and birds chirping. The food was pretty good along the way and the staff was great.

Once we landed in Dubai, we were all ready to hit the ground running...as much as you can be after a 14 hour flight. We took the metro to the hotel Novatel in the World Trade Center and found it easily. We met Ali in the lobby and rallied to get out and hit the town. The weather was hot and pretty humid, but about what most of us expected and not too unbearable…especially after the sun went down. Our first stop was to see the amazing dancing fountains at the Dubai Mall. It's like the Bellagio water show x10. That was a recurring theme in Dubai. They have taken lots of the cool things from around the world and do them bigger and better…the benefit of being a relatively young city. We also had a great view to snap the first pics of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world. We then went on a search for food. The mall is huge big and opulent. Every shop you can think of was there and there were beautiful art displays and cool touches like interactive maps that let you search your destination and then it shows you the route to that location. After about 4 tries on the interactive board and 100 stops at the information booth we finally found our restaurant. They had a prime space on the patio where we caught the final fountain show of the night to Ave Maria. Dinner consisted of hummus, fatoush salad, kebabs, and more. And every bite was delicious.

After dinner, we headed to the Library Hotel nearby. This place was swank! We took the elevator to the 63^rd floor to Bar Neos that has stunning views of the city and the illuminated Burj Khalifa. The lights on the building seemed to pulse to the music in the bar. I have to say, the people watching and outfits were quote entertaining too. We grabbed our drinks and snagged a prime table. We toasted to a great adventure over the next week! I can't wait to share this time with friends old and new!

Dubai and Africa – it starts

It was a snowy night in December, Tan mentioned in passing, "my friend and I are planning to go to Africa, you in?" It took me about 30 seconds to say, "where do I sign?"

So here we are, there are 8 of us now that have been to lots of planning meetings at Ranosh and Ali's place and exchanged countless emails, and we leave in the morning!!

One of the essential items for any trip is the itinerary…so here's the plan!