Into Africa: Day 1

Our African safari adventure started in the wee hours of the morning on March 24. We left Arlington at 4am for the airport. It was just the beginning of a long 24+ hour trip: Boston to DC to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to Nairobi (Kenya) to Mt Kenya. The flights were fine with good movies playing and good food; we were able to get at least a little sleep.

Arriving in Addis Ababa was, truthfully, a little disorienting for me. I can't exactly pinpoint why, but it probably had something to do with not speaking the language, not being able to recognize their alphabet and being on a different continent in a totally different part of the world. We were at the airport for a few hours of layover time before boarding another flight into Nairobi.

Arriving in Kenya was a little less shocking. We changed some dollars to Kenyan Schillings and then headed to customs. There was, apparently, a big soccer match going on that weekend because there were tons of Angola and Swaziland fans and players milling about. One of the Swaziland players came over and spoke to me because he noticed my UNC t-shirt (leave it to UNC to be recognized around the world!). He apparently had gone to college in the US at Delaware. Super-random.

A Lion World Tours group (partnered with Liberty Tours locally in Kenya) was amassing outside of customs which is where we first started to meet people on our trip. We said some hellos while waiting for everyone to make it outside. We jumped in a van with 4 other people which would become our group for the week: Lidia, Julianne, Roylee and Ruth. I think we really lucked out. We had no idea that that first choice would be binding, but it worked out well. Our driver, Muli, introduced himself and gave us some boxed lunches before we headed out of the airport, leading the caravan of 3 other Liberty vans.

On the way out of the airport, there's a small preserve. We were able to spot our first animals of the trip...really far-off giraffes, but you could see their silhouettes against the skyline. The trip up to Mt Kenya was probably one of the hardest for several reasons: we had no idea what to expect, we were all exhausted and we didn't know each other yet. I can't remember exactly how long it took, maybe about 4 or 5 hours in all. There was a lot of dozing (Lidia got some serious sunburn on her arm when she fell asleep in the passenger seat with her window down). There was some snacking and a little chit-chat.

(A) Nairobi to (B) Mt Kenya

We finally made a pit stop (thank goodness!) at a "Curio Shop" about half way there. This would become the norm, stopping at curio shops, to use the restroom and browse their souvenirs. Admittedly, the souvenirs were nice, usually wood carvings, jewelry etc "hand made" (I'm sure at least some are). The downside is the harassment that ensues and the bargaining that must be done. I think this first place was the worst, again, because we didn't know what to expect. I basically made a bee line for the toilets and then started to look around a little. Immediately there was a salesman beside me pushing his wares. I hightailed it out of there, but the sales schpeels continued in the parking area while all of us were just trying to stretch our legs and take in our surroundings. I get it. It's their living. It's how they survive. But it was off-putting. Add to that the fact that they start the pricing at about 6 times what they'd actually accept for the item and you've got some wheeling and dealing to do if you want to buy anything. Note: only bought a few little things from the hotel gift shops where there was no bargaining and there were much cheaper prices.

Curio shop interior

We continued on north. One thing that struck me was the sheer number of people out walking around. It was the middle of the workday. But, I guess that's what you do if you're a) unemployed, b) self-employed, c) a farmer, d) a rural Kenyan or e) if you just plain don't have a car (or bike or donkey). The closer we got to 3pm, the more kids were around. They were all dressed in their school uniforms and they were so cute; each school had different colors. The kids were all heading home for the day on foot and loved waving at our van as we passed by. Even the tiniest five-year-olds walked home along the busy roads. Some had shoes, some didn't. Some had backpacks, some carried their books. Speaking with Muli, we found out about the schools. Kids start in first grade and go through high school. If they pass high school and want to continue, then they can go to college. There are private, parochial and public schools. They vary, like ours do, in terms of good and bad. Some public schools are good, some private schools are bad, just depends on the staff.

kiddos walking home from school

As we turned off the main road and headed up to the Serena Mountain Lodge, we caught a glimpse of an elephant. Yes, an elephant. His behind was sticking out onto the road while his head was in the trees munching away. He turned around and backed back into the forest. The lodge itself is rustic, with a watering hole behind it. All of the rooms have balconies that overlook the watering hole and watch for animals.

elephant hiding

We were totally about to fall over from exhaustion, but decided to push through for an hour or so and make it to dinner. We showered and changed and got a drink at the bar and sat on the balcony waiting for the animals to show up. We saw a genet snacking on some meat that the hotel put out, and some water buffalo but not much else. Dinner was good, but we ate fast and then headed to sleep. We were exhausted.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

**Thanks to Julianne and our other travel-mates for letting us 'borrow' some photos from the first half of the trip.