Kenya: Part 6

March 27, 2019

We drove back toward Nairobi.  Enroute we passed Kibera, the 2nd largest slum in Africa, second only to Soweto in South Africa. Incidentally, this is the place our guide, Eric, the owner of the safari company, grew up.  He talked to us about what his life was like growing up there.  He and his wife are still quite involved in the community.  Their goal is to help as many girls as possible.

You can see the modern Nairobi skyline in the distance.

During our long drives I stitched. ...

One thing I was intrigued by were the Boda Boda.

Think of Uber on motorcycles.  We would see large groups of them

stationed along the roadsides.  I just barely caught the back of this one, transporting

a nicely dressed woman.  I linked about them if you are interested.

And then we have donkey carts...

We visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Orphans' Project

Chris is taking a photo of our group.  See our Safari vehicles?

The babies are taken out into the compound during the day with their caregivers.

When it is time to go to "the barn" there is quite a stampede....

It's dinner time!

These orphaned baby elephants are raised and gradually returned to the wild.

Those of us who "adopted" an orphan were allowed to go interact with the animals and stand near

the track they use to return to the compound.

It was amazing!

There were a group of warthogs running around in the compound.

baby warthog.

March 28th, 2019

Nairobi

This morning we went to the AFEW giraffe centre (rescue organization) in Nairobi.

each of us was given a bag of "treats" for the giraffes.

and we had fun!

Some of us put the treat in our mouth in order to receive a "kiss".

You get what you pay for!

What funny tongues they have!  I guess they have to be long and tough

so they can grab leaves off those acacia trees.

warthogs are frequently found near giraffes.

We noticed this out in the wild.

Next up:

Karen Blixen's home!

Anne and I have been excitedly awaiting this part of our tour!

Karen was from Denmark and Anne is also Danish.

Karen is best known for her books, "Out of Africa", and "Babette's Feast".

Here is Karen Blixen's photograph...

and here are Robert Redford, who played Denys Finch Hatten,

and Meryl Streep, who played Karen Blixen, in the movie,

"Out Of Africa".

By sheer coincidence, Karen Blixen had the same Royal Copenhagen china pattern that

Anne does!

What an interesting tour!  I am such a fan of Karen's books and I was thrilled to have this opportunity!

Here is a piece of equipment from Karen's doomed venture as a coffee grower.

One of our last stops on our tour in Nairobi was to Kazuri Beads.

Started in 1975 as a women's cooperative the clay used for their products is sourced from near the base of Mt Kenya.

Their products are found in places like Ten Thousand Villages in the US.

some of the dried clay

the clay sheet press behind our guide

beads drying in the sun

forming, then painting, the beads

firing in the kilns

beautiful!

Anne and I left Africa the next day and headed to Mallorca, Spain, for a few days before heading home.

Kenya left a mark on me.  I fell in love with this place.

I will return.

Thanks for coming along with me to Africa!

Sorry the posts were so long but there was so much to show you.

Kenya! My First Trip to Africa!

My friend Anne invited me to join her on a photo-safari to Kenya.  And since my motto is to never pass up a unique travel opportunity, I agreed to join her!

In addition to Kenya we opted to spend time on Mallorca, an island off the coast of Spain.  So this trip took me to places I hadn't been before.

I flew to Paris where I met Anne, and we flew directly from there to Nairobi. We arrived a day earlier than the tour was going to commence, giving us time to make sure we arrived without any delays and also a chance to rest.

Here we are enroute to Nairobi

With our extra day we opted to take a tour of a tea plantation just outside the city of Nairobi.  The woman pictured above is a third generation tea farmer.  It was fascinating to learn more about this and she showed us what the ideal picking of the pekoe tea leaves looks like (below).  We finished with a lovely tea and luncheon on her estate.

Her home was populated nearby with many tamarind monkeys.

Above are a couple of the bird species I saw while we were at the tea plantation....

The following morning we met up with other members of our small (18 total) group for breakfast at our beautiful hotel before departing for the first game park.  Our tour was organized by ESA-Safaris with organizational assistance by Amy Leader of Follow The Leader LLC.

This is a view I saw a great deal of during our 10 days in Kenya:  

the inside of a safari vehicle.  I opted almost every time 

to be in the third row, left side, in order to stretch out my 

still-healing right knee!

Note the roof.  When we were out driving on game drives either pre-dawn or early evening, this

roof was popped up in order for us to stand and see the animals safely.

While transitioning from one area to another we certainly witnessed a different way of life.

After a long drive from Nairobi we arrived at Amboseli Park.

Some of the local Masai tribe were there to greet us and offer their beautiful

beaded objects for sale.  Naturally, I bought some!

These guys were everywhere around us at the lodge. 

We were warned not to feed them, and how to deflect an aggressive one.

It was awe-inspiring to be this close to these magical creatures. 

SO many elephants!

This is Chris, one of our guides and also one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

Each of our three drivers were just great:  really nice and so knowledgable about the wildlife.

We enjoyed each of them and they all became friends.

Soon after arriving at Amboseli we got back into our safari vehicles and went on our first 

game drive.  Magical!  Look at this place!  It was very close to spring solstice so the sun was 

brilliant as it lowered in the sky.

There was something about the dust being kicked up by this large herd of zebras

that captivated me.

And our first views of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  

forgive me for all these photos.  I just couldn't believe 

how beautiful it was!

Below is a map showing Kili, in Tanzania, and Amboseli (our location) just north of it in Kenya.

First Morning Game Drive, March 21st 2019:

Lions!