Katavi National Park

We departed Selous with great memories and flew 3 hours west to Katavi National Park.  This is one of the smallest national parks at about 2000 sq. miles, and it is probably the most remote and least visited.  We were met by the camp’s owner Tom Lithgow, a 2^nd generation Tanzanian whose grandparents hailed from Austria.  At 6’5 and a lean 250lbs or so he is pretty much a cross between Arnold Swarzennegger and Harrison Ford except he doesn’t pretend to be an adventurer, he is.  Tom’s father is a retired big game hunter.  Tom got his license to hunt as a young man but didn’t have the heart or desire.  Instead he spent a few years in the US training to be an Olympic discus thrower.  He was 4^th for the UK.  He is a super cool guy with some incredible life experiences.  Tom is 52 and he could unquestionably toy with me in a fight.  Do you sense a fighting theme?  He owns this camp and the next (our final) and a 3^rd in the Serengeti and is personally guiding us which is a really unexpected treat.  We came to the camp and they have fixed tents on wooden platforms overlooking a small river.  Enjoyed a great bonfire and meal and it was a great day.  We knew we would all enjoy Katavi.

Day 2 we headed out for a relatively early game drive. We were awakened by African Fish eagles (very similar to bald eagles in appearance and mannerisms but slightly smaller). Katavi is famous for crocodiles and hippos and it sure delivered. The local rivers are said to have the largest concentrations of crocs and hippos in Africa and I’d be shocked to see more. It is the middle of the dry season and the main river is mostly dry and so the hippos are all huddled in the remaining water. Tom thought that a lot of them wouldn’t make it through another 6-8 weeks of heat but that is natural selection at work. This area is absolutely parched but when it rains it pours. He pointed out that in the wet or mid seasons all you see of crocs and hippos are their eyes. Now they are going into survival mode and are out and about. The crocs apparently go into tunnels or stay in dry areas and get their heart rates down to 2 beats per minute. You can go right up and sit next to them and if they see you aren’t a threat they don’t get agitated and let you be as they instinctively are giving themselves the best chance at survival. Didn’t try that but opted to believe he was telling the truth. We saw 2 female and one male lion along with their hour or so old buffalo kill. They were absolutely gorged and completely lethargic. Buffalo wasn’t doing so well. Tom noticed it had some growths around its knees and was obviously the slowest of the herd. Again natural selection at work. We also saw a wealth of other animals (waterbuck, bushbuck, reedbuck, zebra, giraffe, elephants, monkeys, baboons and birds of every feather) and it was really interesting to see them in such a different ecosystem. Katavi is really dry ad grassy with loads of palm trees, an incredible variety of hardwoods, and grasses that reach over 10 feet in height.

Day 3 was spent on another safari drive and hike. The animals here see so few people and vehicles that they get really easily spooked by our presence. We saw a herd of about 1000 buffalo running through the woods and they completely split up and dashed in different directions when they saw us. We enjoyed breakfast out in the bush and then hiked part of the way back to camp with an Uzi carrying guard and Tom carrying his trusty .375 rifle. Felt pretty safe. Didn’t see much except birds and a few warthog and it was getting hot. Sydney wasn’t feeling well and so we stopped so she could rest. She was really white and faint. After her color returned Hayden was next in feeling bad. I was thinking what the heck we’ve only hiked a mile and our kids are usually total troopers. It was about 95 and we quickly realized that they were pretty dehydrated so we rode the rest of the way back to camp. Think the odds are good for survival for all. Today was our last day of safari.



Tom, Nella and Traci at "sundowners" after a day one game walk



Typical sunset enhanced by the smoke



14 foot croc.  Big feller



Herd of about 400 buffalo.  They are much more wild here than in other areas.  They flee any sound of vehicles and are in stark contrast to those in the Mara who stare you down at close range.



Guarding a fresh buffalo kill (a few hours old).  The 2 lionesses below were equally gorged but smart enough to find some shade.  First african male lion that appeared to be working.



Check out that swollen belly



Shaking seed pods from a tree



Crocs and hippos everywhere



Good view of the lower incisors...I took this from about 8' away (or have a good zoom on my camera)



Mom teaching her baby to dig for more purified water rather than the hippo slop



Mostly dried lake bed with hippos in what pools remain



Hot and dehydrated after a warm walk



Halle has a fake frown.  Hayden is not happy

 

Selous Game Reserve

After the beach time at Lamu we spent one day and two nights in Nairobi.  It was quite an enjoyable break, doing a bit of needed shopping and getting back on line.  No monkey attacks either.  We then hit the roads and drove from the Muthaiga Club across town to the main airport (Jomo Kenyatta) for a quick flight to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.  The sense of time and travel in East Africa is so different.  In a former life I would move if I had to commute more than 30 minutes each way.  It took us 90 minutes to drive about 10 miles on the comical roads and detours, but I’ve already bored you with those descriptions.  Suffice it to say that traffic has gotten worse in the month since we’ve been in Africa.  So after a brief delay we caught the 90 minute flight on a 737 to Tanzania. It was super interesting.  The plane was full and with the 5 of us there were a total of 7 caucasians on board.  Most folks were dressed to the nines in their business attire but it was such a different experience being such a minority but then again it was no big deal and I doubt anyone thought about it except us.  Also cool to think that the plane was made in Renton, Washington.  We next took a quick taxi ride to the “private” air terminal and boarded a small plane for a 45 minute flight to the Selous National Park.  The Selous is the largest game reserve in Africa.  At 100,000 acres it is similar in size to Yellowstone.   It also famously allows hunting in most of it although we have heard that is on the way out.  At $50,000 per elephant, plus the economic downside of people choosing countries that don’t allow hunting for their safaris, hunting is likely on its last legs.  After a short flight we arrived at our camp, called Sand Rivers, and had a great few days.  There is a huge river here called the Rifigi and it is chock full of crocs and hippos.  We traveled upstream by flat bottomed boat with our guide Musa (Moosa) and were awed by the birds, crocs and hippos.  Your humble author was pretty sick from Malaria meds and didn’t enjoy the trip as much as the others.  At breakfast at the side of the river, Halle hauled in about a 5 lb catfish, much to the chagrin of Hayden who pulled in a measly two pounder.  Hayden had a huge tigerfish on his line before it jumped in the air, gave him the fin, laughed, shook his head and bit the line.  He was shocked it happened so quickly. 

Day 2 we enjoyed a cool game drive to a distant lake. We were treated to great views of most of the plains animals, about twenty elephants, and a troop of yellow baboons. We “fly camped” at the lake the locals call Tatallooloo. Full of crocs, hippos, and every kind of bird imaginable. It was so quiet and peaceful. We sat by a campfire and watched the sunset. The kids were peppering us with questions focused on fighting between crocodiles and hippos (author’s note…they are the best of friends and never fight….very symbiotic). It was determined by Musa and Nella that a croc wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight with a hippo. One crunch with the powerful jaws and canine teeth and it would be easily cut in half. Unwavered, Halle then asked in complete seriousness, “well what about a fight between a baby croc and a baby hippo?” Seriously? Talk then turned to a meaningful discussion of how crocodiles kill their prey. They mostly eat fish but when they rarely get something from our aerified world they grab it (ouch that would hurt) then drown it (hurts worse for a minute or so). Sydney promptly inquired about “do the crocodiles also drown the fish that they catch?” There was an awkward silence, followed by a few chuckles from the adults, and then realizing what she said she quickly added “do they drown them by lifting them up out of the water into the air?” Good fun and another lesson learned/reinforced. 
 
We enjoyed an amazing clear night and a spectacular view of the stars. Interesting to look up and see the Southern Cross, Scorpio and Orion and when you look to the north you can only see the handle of the Big Dipper. It reminded us all of the amazing nights at Priest Lake, but with the exception being that the kids didn’t have to stay up until 11 for it to be dark enough. Plenty dark at 8. Big world but the billions of stars once again put the time we enjoy in this life in perspective. After a loud night of bellowing hippos we awakened at dawn’s first light and enjoyed a very tranquil morning. I sat with Hayden watching the wildlife. There were dozens of birds and he pointed out the Pied Kingfisher, the Yellow -Billed Stork and the Grey Heron. I could barely see the things and he was so cocky that I had to call over our guide who just as quickly confirmed Hayden’s sightings. Darn kid. He has an absolutely amazing recall of animals. I don’t exaggerate when I say he can name hundreds of birds, reptiles and mammals and where he saw them. Every child has his or her strengths and Hayden is really gifted here. Oh and he also caught a 6 lb. catfish to re-establish with Halle who was the fishing boss. I would like to say that I was busy baiting and detangling lines per usual but I had a line in the water most of the time and was definitely out-fished.

Our next adventure was to swim with the hippos and crocs, but fortunately we were instead diverted to some really cool remote natural hot springs. Our abused kids hadn’t been to hot springs, so we made them guess what they were called. Hot Tub? Hot Bath? Hot Stream? Finally Hot Springs. Super cool experience.   Sydney stepped on an acacia thorn in the stream and unfortunately was pretty hobbled by the effort it took to get it out, lots of soaking, tears, local anesthetic and deep digging. She has absorbed most of Africa’s soft punches so far, falling off a horse and now the deep thorn splinter. I tried to give her my best advice to be tough ("Think of those Samburu boys who get circumcised at 15 w/o any painkillers and if they flinch they are beaten, banished or disowned!). Strong parenting…probably a grade D for the day but she did finally let her mom give her the needle in the ball of her foot and we think we got most of the thorn out.

Our final morning I asked Hayden to awaken me when he wanted to go fishing. It gets light around 6:30 and there he was at my bedside at 6am ready to fish. Foolish father. About 90 long minutes later we were joined by our guide Musa and the camp manager Claus and we slayed the catfish for about an hour.  

We loved the Selous.  Really fantastic mix with all the big game animals plus having the river and all the options it offers. 

 

Monitor lizard in the rocks below the lodge...about 36" long



Beautiful evening "fly camping" on a local lake filled with crocs and hippos



Giant baobab tree.  This one was approximately 2000 years old

 



Hayden enjoying his first shower of the trip

 

Yellow baboon



View from the deck of the lodge up the Rifugi river



Big yawn by the most dangerous animal in Africa.  They have the visible molars and two other lower front teeth that stick out and are used for digging.  Really would make for a bad day if you were chomped by those. 



African fish eagle.  Slightly smaller than a bald eagle and with a bit more white on the breast

Those eyes...



Hayden in heaven with his 15lb catfish

Lamu

Beach time.  Lamu is a small (about 6 x 1 miles) barrier island on the coast of Kenya, about 100 miles from the border to the north with Somalia.  Despite wanting to load up the kids on a sailboat and sail the coast of Somalia to meet the friendly locals, I refrained and decided to keep the family here in the confines of this amazing place.  We’re staying at a place called Kizingoni Beach.  There are about a dozen houses here owned mostly by Brits that are rented for most of the year.  Super nice, huge, breezy house that could easily hold several families.  There is a really deep pool here.  Have I mentioned that kid’s enjoy swimming pools?  Without a doubt the #1 essential, must have on any extensive trip.  Our first day we enjoyed swimming in the warm ocean and the pool.  It is winter here and there have been a few storms lately and the water is a little murky but it is super warm.  It is about 90 and humid during the days and this is the cold season.  Nothing like swimming in a warm ocean with the smells and the taste of the sea.  I forgot about how much more buoyant the water is and the kids thought this was super cool (they smartly don’t swim in Puget Sound) and the poor little abused buggers haven’t experienced warm ocean water in recent memory so they are having a ball in the ocean.



Our second day we had the chance to go waterskiing.  I like to think that I’m a great water skier.  For some reason (probably new equipment and gradual memory loss) I think I'm getting better each year.  So when the opportunity to waterski in Africa arose, we headed out to a local, mangrove lined channel at high tide and gave it a go. I was determined to show my skiing prowess to our boat driver and his cohort. Sydney asked to go first so she chose a 1975 era 68” O’Brien “tradition” with a plastic tail, no rear heel boot, and no cheater fin. Not your father’s water ski, and not even your father’s father’s ski but better than the other alternative, a 48” version from an even earlier era. Sydney slipped her feet into the XXL binding and popped right up on the first try. She skied great, mostly oblivious to the equipment and the boat driving. Ah the boat driving. Being spoiled with great equipment and skilled drivers, I nearly created my first international incident with a strong urge to chuck our driver overboard and make like a Somali and commandeer our boat. The driver is used to taking guests that like to go “donuting.” This is African for tubing. Having decent experience with driving for donuting (the primary skill set of the pasty chunky Brits that vacation here), the driver thought that the same driving technique must apply to skiing. So Sydney had a great run, with a little encouragement from her parents to the driver to beg him to try and go a little straighter. First to ski in Africa! Hayden was up next and he decided to go with the smaller ski instead of the surfboard we were using. Again comical driving. How is a 10 year old kid in a channel with a strong current supposed to grab a rope when it is towed about 15’ away from him? After several re-circling attempts (the rope was 75’ long for crying out loud….I’m not going to get mad at you mister “driver” for coming too close to my kid with the boat while he’s in the water when I can barely see him bobbing on the horizon) and my suppressing my urge to offer the basic driving instructions, Hayden snagged it and was up and away for a great ride. Halle in her wonderful world of Halle refused to ski for no good reason so I was up next. Did I mention the boat? It is about a 28’ multipurpose shell that probably weighs a ton and is used for fishing, water-taxiing, etc. It is powered by an 80hp Yamaha that does surprisingly well. Oh and there were seven people on board. No big deal. Being delighted to try starting with my foot out of the back pocket instead of the double boots that never come off that I am used to, I was confident I’d get up on the first try…or not. Gallon of salt water up the nose, family and hell-driver laughing at me as he keeps the boat 75’ away from me and makes me swim for the rope. Driver was I’m sure thinking “it’s OK big boy your little kids can get up but maybe you need two skis ha ha ha?” Not my finest moment. Up on try #2 I enjoyed a lovely pull whose track from space would have most closely resembled one of those “paintings” where the artist splashes different colors in completely random directions. I really want to do that someday by the way, and call myself an artist. Maybe even get government funding? I digress. There was no way the ski would hold a hard cut so I asked Traci to snap a picture of my fall on the last cut. Traci then skied, ignoring my advice that the ski was slippery and to take it easy. After a few lovely screams and some seriously unanticipated patented Traci facial expressions she made some great turns. Perhaps it wasn’t the ski. The kids were next pulled “donuting” in a pattern that was remarkably similar to that of my ski ride. I wish my dad would have been here to have a ski. He would have loved it.

Back to Lamu.  We’re on the south end of the island, and on the north end is Lamu town.  This is a mostly Muslim town of about 20,000.It is the oldest town in Kenya, established around 1350 and is really different from the rest of Kenya due to its Persian/Arabic/Portuguese influenced past.I was thinking about how old 661 years is.  If the average child bearing age over that time was about 20 years, then it would have been founded by someone’s great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents (or something like that).Still a lot of doors and original buildings that made me feel insignificant…426 years older than American Independence, 142 years prior to Columbus.  We toured Lamu town for about 90 minutes yesterday which was about 90 minutes too many.  There is only one car that the mayor can drive, an ambulance, and the rest of the transportation is via donkey.  Most streets were narrow alleys about 5’ wide at best with an open sewage/runoff culvert running down the middle of each and out to sea.Flies everywhere, most women covered in their burkhas, donkeys and carts and general mayhem.  Outside of our family most everyone seemed happy.  Same as everywhere in Kenya, people here are amazingly friendly.  Our kids were hot. So we applied an emergency soda fix (Fanta…thank goodness for the global reach of the coca cola company) which helped.  Enjoyed lunch at a nice restaurant (world famous we were told) called Peponi’s in the nearby town of Shella which actually was quite nice.  Kids were delighted to get back to our house and the pool and spent 4 hours in the pool erasing the memories of hot flies and donkey dung.  Cultural experience of the week…check.

The downtime has been great. Traci and I have been able to run on the beach in the mornings as the sun rises. Today we did about a ½ mile swim across the local channel at slack tide.  Despite wearing fins and being more buoyant than expected due to the salinity and my progressive BMI I thought that I had a 50/50 chance of drowning with 2’ waves and Halle riding me like daddy dolphin and my giving the occasional pull to Hayden. Traci accompanied Sydney both sans fins and we’re all here to live another day (OK we had a boat following us).Nothing wrong with a nice swimming pool! Hayden and I have been fishing 3 times for snapper. We only caught a couple the first two days but today we nailed a school (unfortunately I think it was an elementary school) and caught about 40 small white snapper.  The kids are working hard at their swimming pool skills, becoming much more adept at their diving and flips. Halle is still the belly flop queen. I hold her rigid above my head and toss her over the edge and she nails the 8 footer to the cheers of all.  After fully belly giggles from the onlookers and resurfacing to the yells of “Did that hurt?” she replies smiling with her usual “Nope!” and asks to do it again.  My arms are limited to about 21 kid reps of this game. Good core work.

We went waterskiing and wakeboarding a second time yesterday.  Halle was not the least bit hesitant and jumped right in, popped right up, tore across the wake with no fear, and was smiling non-stop.  Super proud of her and I’m sure she was too.  Sydney, Hayden and Traci all had another run on a very modern ski with cheater fin and a very nice concave.  They ripped.  I couldn’t fit in to the size 8 boot so I refrained from another go with my old friend the 1975 O’Brien tradition.  Today we hiked to the top of a local sand dune and enjoyed a fire, a spectacular sunset, and panoramic views of the island.  Africa has not cured me of my pyromania.  Whenever I see a slow burning fire I have to add more wood.  The kid’s enjoyed an impromptu long jumping contest from the top of the dune.

On our way out we stopped briefly in Lamu Town and the kids enjoyed their first donkey ride.  Even though there was a donkey hospital nearby I decided that the last thing I needed was to break a donkey’s back so I refrained.  Kids have now ridden horses, ponies (a different species from a horse so I am told), camels and donkeys.

Traci and I were discussing how great the kids have been together.  While there are the expected minor tussles, they have been great together, naturally finding a balance of activities to share.  They have been remarkably kind to each other and are having a great time together.  Also, I think a lot of people who take these types of trips do them so they can spend a ton of time as a family for the first time.  While this will undoubtedly be a record for family time, we already spend so much time together that this doesn’t feel that different.  Will let you know if that feels the same a few months from nowJ!  I can’t believe 5 weeks have happened so quickly and unfortunately believe that accurately foreshadows the remainder of the year.



Tough Living

 

Sydney...First in Africa and ripping it up.  Her balance on a ski and speed across the wake are amazing.



Hayden.  This is cool but can we wakeboard?



African Style.  Salt water hurts less when you fall

Happiest Place on Earth!



Wonder why the kids have good athletic DNA?

 


On a 1 hour sunset cruise aboard a local "dhow" sailboat



In Lamu Town.  Why are 2 of 3 pointing at the cameraman?



Halle displays her uncanny belly flop technique

Mandarin lessons or a sunset cruise?  It is all blending together.

 

Ride Kenya, Chyulu Hills

We officially survived our horseback safari.  What an incredible experience.  No broken bones but quite a few scratches, one bruised back, and many sore muscles for all.  Our first day we rode about 2 hours, about 4 on day two, 5 on day 3 and a lovely 2 hour ride back to the lodge on day 4.  We are in the Chyulu Hills, a remote area about 100 miles southeast of Nairobi.   This is a relatively young volcanic mountain range (about 10,000 years old) with terrain very similar to Bend in central Oregon. Lots of lava flows, small volcanic peaks, etc. 


There is an amazing lodge here called Ol Donyo Wuas and a horseback safari firm called Ride Kenya that has a partnership with the lodge.  Ride Kenya was started about 6 years ago by an American guy named Patrick Stanton.  In short, Patrick is one of the most confident and all around capable guys I’ve met. He grew up hunting and riding horses, went to UConn and played on their Polo team, has traveled all over the world doing various things that are horse related (rodeo, hunting, breaking wild horses, etc.).  He’s a horse whisperer if there ever was one.  He also knows wildlife, having done dangerous animal search and rescue and is the local warden in these parts.  He has chased or been chased by just about every dangerous animal here, knows their habits, how to track and how to respect.  As the picture can attest he also likes to see how close he can get to elephants (A horse is faster than an elephant, but just barely).  Here in Africa he has assembled, broke, trained and put together an amazing group of about 30 horses and does rides for advanced riders all over this cool landscape.  Did you catch the key word in the previous sentence?  Advanced.  He has had families before but never a family of rookies such is ours which he laughingly admitted.   Most clients are English polo players, fox hunters, etc. who spend any available time on or around horses and doing all sorts of things (shooting, jumping, crossing rivers) while galloping around at top speed.   Undeterred he agreed to a new challenge with the Janssens.   I think his biggest challenge was the number of questions the kids barraged him with.  A great friend Tom Demerit once told me that the average four year old asked 400 questions per day.  I think that each of our kids, specifically Halle and then Hayden, asked him about 900 questions each day.  

Let me briefly define the term safari.  It is an adventure in Africa with the primary intent these days to view animals.  Most safaris involve boarding a safari vehicle and driving varying distances to view game.  On the low end you stack like sardines in school bus, drive 6 hours in said bus to a game park, and drive around the game park animal viewing.  You stay in accommodations outside of the parks.  On the high end you skip the 6 hour hellish drive with a 30 minute flight, then drive around in really nice land cruisers or range rovers, standing or sitting on top of the vehicle, and you stay in super cool fixed tent camps within the parks. Even the school bus type safari is relatively expensive.  The wild animals, be they in a national park or a reserve, are very ambivalent about vehicles.  You can drive up to within a few feet of lions and they stare right through you or the vehicle.  If you happened to fall out, you’d likely be attacked but as long as you’re in the vehicle you’re safe as pie.  If you are on foot, you are in the animal’s world and you are likely going to be a good meal or likely to be pulverized by a hippo, elephant or buffalo.  On horseback you are somewhere in between vehicle and on foot.  It is incredibly peaceful riding up to some of the animals such as giraffes (maybe 40’ away) and having them check you out before running away.  Other animals such as the various zebra and antelope seem much more curious and accepting when you’re on horseback rather than in a car.  With the exception of the barrage of questions from 8 and 10 year olds, and the giggling of all kids at all things, it is incredibly peaceful and quiet. 
So off we went, led by Patrick and tailed by his cohort Kim, a cocksure 19 year old Kenyan with the most unruly crop of flaming red hair I’ve ever seen.  Patrick toured us through hills and valleys and open plains.  The first two nights we stayed at a fixed tent camp a few miles from the lodge.  The third night the tent was packed up and moved to a beautiful location high up in the hills where we rode 5 hours to reach.  The kids were once again troopers.  Sydney is a natural rider with perfect balance.  Hayden spent the first 2 days frustrated with a Somali pony, a feisty little bugger that wouldn’t respond well to his commands.  Thankfully and not surprisingly Traci switched horses with him and she did a great job showing the pony who was boss.  Halle oh Halle.  I nicknamed her Bullet.  She had a Somali pony that was amazing.  One of the keys for successful riding is having your heels down and toes up in your stirrups, and having much of your weight on your feet when needed.  I don’t think Halle’s heels were ever down but she has amazing balance and determination and courage.  Patrick would stop and say “let’s gallop 100 yards to the top of the ridge one at a time…give yourselves some space and follow me” and before he had gone 10 yards Halle and her pony were at his side and then taking the lead (not desired).  Patrick and all (especially Sydney) got a huge chuckle out of Halle and her speed riding.  Traci and I and most likely Halle are glad that she had such a great pony and that she didn’t fall.  Sydney had a pretty nasty fall on the last day of riding when her horse spooked on her but she jumped back on and was tough.  My horse was a Percheron.  For some strange reason Patrick decided that I needed to ride on the French equivalent of a Clydesdale.  My horse was named Tembo, which is Swahili for elephant which was appropriate.  Massive guy weighing in at about 1500 lbs.  Tembo was amazing except for when he decided to take off unexpectedly and choose a route under acacia bushes with incredibly long (3”), sharp thorns.  He had a penchant for routes with about 7’ of clearance (his head height) which left me somewhat bloodied and torn when unable to quickly pray and wrap myself around his neck or perform some feeble attempt at saddle limbo.

The horseback safari was an incredible, family bonding experience.  Each of us was challenged and improved each day.  We experienced hundreds of hilarious mishaps that fortunately had happy endings.  We also enjoyed several great adventures when not riding.  One afternoon we free-climbed a 400’ granite outcropping in the middle of the plains and watched Ostrich down below do their mating dance.  A second afternoon we climbed a relatively young volcano and hiked around its rim and explored its lava tubes.   I don’t think there is a better way to truly experience the game and terrain, and I am confident that no one could better lead such a venture than Patrick and crew.  I heard the stock market has been a little volatile.  Taking the long term view and not worried about it, thankful to be experiencing Africa first hand and focused on each day’s adventure and bounty.
 


On "Halle Peak" with Patrick (l) and Kim (r). This was a volcanic crater similar to St. Helens but smaller. Patrick was quite convinced that Halle was the youngest ever to climb.






Tembo and his burden to bear

Hayden helps care for his horse after our long ride on day 3



Patrick being charged by a large bull. Check out the elephant's ears and the calmness of his horse




Young giraffe from about 40'. Typical encounter



Traci with camp in background and before being saddled with a feisty pony



Graceful Sydney

 

"Halle Come Back!  Where are you going?"



Petting an orphaned zebra colt. Turns out the little fella got rabies near or shortly after our visit and had to be put down



 

Enjoying the sunset



Naivasha

Downtime.  Naivasha is the home of our guide Nella Nencini and after 3 fairly intensive weeks we have enjoyed some fabulous normalcy.  Naivasha is about 100 miles NW of Nairobi in the heart of the Great Rift Valley.  Lake Naivasha is roughly the size of Lake Washington but round.  It’s not great for swimming or boating given strong winds, hippos, invasive weeds, and sewage from numerous animals.  It is beautiful, however, from the hillside where we are staying.  We’re staying in the lovely home of the Ritchie family.  They live next to Nella on a 25 acre property with a pool and tennis court and just a really cool house.  He is a retired British Naval Captain, she a retired nurse and they have 6 grown kids.  They are away at their home on the Indian Ocean and have kindly rented their place to us.

After a few days of studying and swimming, we drove a couple of hours to Lake Nakuru National Park which is about 30 miles north of Naivasha.  In Seattle this would be like driving to Everett.  We decided to take the back roads and about two and a half hours later reached our destination.  Have I mentioned the roads in Africa?  The best roads are our equivalent of freeways except they have twice as much traffic, are one narrow lane each way, are filled with overloaded trucks (lorries) spewing diesel fumes driving at speeds varying by 30-40 mph, and are also shared by the occasional cattle herd, meandering goat, bicycles with wide loads of firewood sticks, and pedestrians.  The worst part is passing.  We were stuck behind a diesel spewing truck going about 30 in a 60.  Oncoming traffic was packed, and the next thing I know we’re being passed by a gas truck (big one for refilling gas stations) whose aggression forced oncoming traffic to stop and swerve off the road.  No room for meekness.  Evolution at work before our very eyes.  How I wanted to be safe in my airplane!  So those are the good roads.  Back roads consist mostly of jagged rocks, washouts, much larger herds of goats and cattle, more bikes and pedestrians, and the dust, oh the dust.  Any logging road in the US would be far superior.  So we made it to the park.  Despite feeling like we’d spent 2 ½ hours in a dusty clothes dryer, the park was amazing.  We were treated to lions, giraffe, white rhinos (about 20), thousands of monkeys, baboons, zebra, buffalo, antelope and hundreds of thousands of flamingos and pelicans.  I couldn’t believe how many birds we saw and apparently the flock grows into the tens of millions at different times of the year when the food supply increases.  Poa sana (Very cool).

A few days later we visited Naivasha town and walked through the local market.  Rather like Pike Place Market but dirt, 3’ wide passage lanes (fire lanes smire lanes) and shared by goats, dogs and chickens (for sale and running around).  If you want clothes then Kenya is the place for you.  They buy or receive containers full of lightly used clothing from good Samaritans in western countries then they sell these in packed stalls at extremely low prices.   We each have a 5 year supply of clothing packed for our journey so we refrained from purchasing but will likely add to our load when we visit the markets of Nairobi in a few weeks.  We then went to the sidewalk where copies of pirated dvds are sold.  Just slightly over $2 for a copy of all the latest releases.   The kids were really excited to buy some but I said no.  Despite spending thousands of dollars over the past 11 years on legitimate purchases at Costco and Itunes we must respect the laws of the United States and those poor Hollywood actors and directors and studios who are donating most of their proceeds to Nancy Pelosi.  I’d never incriminate myself, especially writing about it online.  Have you seen Kung Fu Panda 2?  Awesome!

We next visited the propagation farm of James Hutchings, Nella’s significant other (or half-husband as Halle wrote about in her journal).  Propagation sounds rather kinky but this is the breeding of plants, namely roses.  Kenya is the second largest rose exporter in the world (after Columbia) and Naivasha is rose central in Kenya.   James’ company is the largest supplier of rose “seedlings” in Kenya.  They take really healthy, sturdy rose stock and cut these into small 2” sections that contain at least one stem with at least 5 leaves.  These are then cut at a 45 degree angle and a new variety of rose is grafted to this stock.  After about 5 weeks of fertilizer, water and heat in a greenhouse, these are then fully healthy rose plants of the new species that was grafted to the root stock. 
 
The last few days have been dedicated to enjoying the wonderful home and grounds.  We’ve enjoyed a bit of tennis and the kids have spent about 10 hours in the pool.  Have I mentioned that kids enjoy swimming pools?  The owners of the house have about 6 dogs, a couple of cats, several tortoises and a parrot.  There is one little yippie/purse dog.  You can probably guess that I’m a fan of larger dogs.  Their one little dog loves to bark, and their parrot is constantly yacking.  I can now attest that the only thing worse than a constantly yipping dog is a constantly squawking parrot doing his yippie dog impersonation.  Damn parrot barks most of the day.  Hayden and Halle were calling for Sydney, then the parrot said “Hi Sydney!”  Then the kids asked "what did the parrot say?" and the parrot said “Not telling!”  Hilarious.

Yesterday we walked down to the airstrip to run and convinced the kids to join us.  This is fenced and thus safe from the few wild animals (mainly buffalo) that live around here.  The altitude is over 7,000 feet and I was proud of the kids for joining us.  Hayden jogged about 100 yards before being distracted by the rocks (lots of obsidian which has been used from the beginning of humankind for arrow and spear heads) and a herd of Impala.  Halle and Sydney jogged about 2.5 miles and were troopers.  Midlife crisis Bob Parr made it about 4.5 miles while marathon Traci ran 8.5.  Progress.

We’ve also managed to play a couple of 9 hole rounds of golf at the local course.  Unfortunately the benefits of the thin air at 7,000’ are outweighed by the lack of a golf glove, the use of 1970’s era rental clubs that are about 2” too short, and a single beat up golf ball that I’ve somehow managed to keep using.  Hayden played 9 with Traci, me and James and he was just beaming with his big old smile the whole time.  He is getting very good and can easily keep pace which is a very cool milestone for his father.

The kids are doing great and have adjusted really well.  We were told that they would massively learn new things via direct absorption and that certainly is happening.  They have seen and remembered hundreds of new animals and birds, have had their eyes filled with completely foreign sites and scenes, and have picked up and used a few tidbits of Swahili.  They are constantly meeting new people and we’re super proud to see them looking each person in the eye, shaking their hands, and using great manners.  They are also for the most part being kind to each other.  Sydney has really taken Halle under her wing and their friendship continues to blossom.  The African men love Hayden, calling him warrior and enjoying his love of spears, arrows and all things boy.  Each of our kids seems more mature and capable by the day.  Hard to say if they are enjoying this trip more than if they were at home, at the lake, with friends, etc.  I think it is safe that they are equally happy, laughing as much, and learning more.  We’ve tried to have them spend an hour or two studying each day, with the understanding that the amount of formal studying will increase significantly after Africa.

Tomorrow we depart for the Chyulu Hills national reserve (about 100 miles SE of Nairobi) for our long anticipated 4 day horseback safari.  We’ve all practiced quite a bit over the last few weeks, especially Sydney and she has completely regained her confidence since taking a few spills during her last training session in Seattle.  She has been super courageous and has spent more time riding here than any other.  The riding here is all done on English saddles which are different than those used in North America.  These saddles are slimmer, and most prominently they don’t have a saddle horn (aka anti-falling, life-saving, hand-hold). This area is supposed to be beautiful with lots of giraffe and zebra and other plains game which are very approachable by horse, along with the occasional elephant which should be avoided.  We’ll be really close to Mt. Kilimanjaro which should be interesting.  Giddy up!