Here and There Blog

I could have grossed you out with the carcass photo but decided against it. This hippo was killed during the night and will provide 3 days worth of eating for this lion pride. The lions take turns guarding the kill. Full and content, the pride rests on the termite hill, slightly away from the kill. Anything this large is going to bring in others. The vulture and jackel wait for the lion to leave her post.

This was our trusty and not so trusty Land Rover. Day 1 it was great but Day 2 the alternator went out and we had to get pushed to start the engine when ever the engine was turned off. Animals don't like the sound of the engine so we have quite a few butt shots that day. Above, our guide Big John. Me and our spotter, also John with the elephant skull. John is explaining something to Jean about the elephant skull. Zipping along! Below - the river crossing video

I knew I'd see lions, giraffes, elephants but I had given zero thought to other animals. Above, Silver Jackels head out at dusk in search of food. Below, a group of gazelles seek camoflauge in the bush. The Thompson's Gazelle were graceful and showed off their high jumps. Because of this, they were the most dificult to photograph. But what really tripped me out were the hyenas. These are not small cat sized hyenas but big, bulky, take you down easily hyenas. But everyone loves a good watering hole!

The tent - during the day the windows are unzipped so you can watch the animals. The only day animals we saw were baboons which really are not that fun except for the baby. They ran away every time we moved so no pictures. Jean inside tent Even had a shower (camp style with draw bucket water), sink & toilet During the day, the common area tent was used for hanging out and dining Jackson, the camp manager during our stay.

These guys are looking a bit hungry. This is before the rain and before the big kill of the next day. Cubs will be cubs! Time to do what lions do best - sleep and ignore the people!

One morning we had the early wake up call to go ballooning. The balloon glided up so gently in the air that we didn't notice we were moving. Everyone was looking anxiously to sight animals. First, we sighted ants. No wait, these are larger than ants. A herd of Cape Buffalo was grazing in the far distance. We moved in closer. The herd must have not liked the large hovering object above and they turned away (as per standard wild animal procedure anytime humans are near). Our balloon driver manuevered us around anyway so we could see the Cape Buffalo grazing away.

We had stopped to watch the elephants and instead of retreating, the group decided to continue on to where ever it is that elephants go.

No more elephants in zoos. Now I know why they always look so sad and ge mad. This is where they belong, in the grass, roaming free, with their herd. The babies were hard to photograph. As soon as the jeep pulled up, the mom made sure the baby was sheltered behind the rest of the gang. Thi group headed into the trees after a few minutes of lucky photo ops. The family decides we are not worthy.

The Plan (and it was brilliant had it gone as planned): Two people, going to Kenya for a freaking awesome trip that was supposed to go like this- Me fly to Atlanta, spend the night, meet Jean at the aiport for the Friday flight to Washington, then on the Dubai. Overnight Dubai, fly to Nairobi and stay at Giraffe Manor. Next day to Porini Lion Camp in the Masai Mara for 2 nights, then back to Giraffe Manor for another 2, then return home via Dubai. Where the plan failed: Who knew that on this one day of the year Atlanta would have their biggest snowstorm in years? Who knew that 3 inches would cripple a city? That Friday, Delta cancelled almost all of their flights in/out of Atlanta. The good news is we were on United and those 9 flights were all running. That was, until 6 pm when everything took a turn for the worse and the flights from 8/9 pm on were cancelled. Ours was at 7:25 pm and only the good luck that the crew and plane had to do a turn-around did we even leave albiet after si...

14 Days - 12 in the air. I think it is a personal record!

How many safari trucks can surround a mother cheetah and her cub? I counted 7 as this was one of the big sightings of the day. Luckily, all the drivers took turns and we only had a short time to watch the sleeping cub and watchful mother. It was a good afternoon for a snooze. Ever watchful mom, making sure no jeeps or lions get close.

I'm home from a fantastic trip to Kenya that was a combination of safari and giraffe sanctuary. I went with Jean, my friend since forever and we had the best and probably the fastest Africa trip ever! But since I'm really out of it right now, you get zebra photos. This herd had a couple of babies (we were lucky and all the animals had babies) and luckily, these guys decided to stay put. As it turns out, zebras were the hardest animals to photograph as the herd kept running away from us. Turns out that zebra butts by themselves are not all that exciting. Looking at the camera before turning away.

Back in the land of computers and connections! After the midnight flight from Nairobi, I'm in Dubai waiting for a hotel room to be made up so I can crash and sleep for a few hours. And I'd love to change into the clean pants that are free of safari mud as well. Pictures starting late Sunday. The Masai Mara plain with the wildlife was awesome!

Started on Thursday in San Diego and finally on Tuesday I'm in the landscape of African trees. And not to mention a place where a possibly stuffed elephant was on the side of the road. Couldn't figure that one out and decided not to ask the cab driver. After 2 days of snow the heat of Nairobi is welcome. Or it was for a minute until the taxi turned into an oven, traffic was stopped, and exhaust from the vehicles was going up my nose. We've settled into the Intercontinental, didn't get robbed, kidnapped, or even questioned at customs. All was easy! I think that in the last 9 days, I have spent 7 on airplanes and have another plane to go in the morning to get to Lion Camp. Turns out that anti-malarial meds don't repel fleas. Bummer. I was expecting to get bit in Kenya but the hotel in Washington had the bugs. Not bed bugs. Just bugs wanting to get away from the snow. Will spend the next few days in the Lion Camp and post when I can.

So Jean and I arrived in amazingly late fashion to the IAD Marriott at 2:45 am. We had sat on our small plane in ATL for 4.5 hours before finally getting to de -icing and taking off 5 hours late. About 2 hours into the wait, the pilot announced that we could leave but the next flight out would be on Sunday. Not one person got off the plane. For a miserable experience, the Captain and flight crew of our United Express /Mesa Air flight did their best to make it less horrid and even had the ground crew bring the jetway to us so people could stand up straight. (Above mentioned, the plane was small) This meant the flight to Dubai was missed and the connection to Nairobi gone as well. Somewhere around 4:00 am I was done with all phone calls/reroutes/ rebookings and so on. Good-bye Hyatt Regency and Hello Courtyard Garden City. I hope I don't regret you. It's cold but semi not quite sunny but not quite cloudy in DC. Please wish us a flight crew, no mechanical and great weather...

Today begins a 4 day process to get from California to Kenya and even in the best days, the outing I have would be scary. Add the snow in DC jand it's going to be a hold my breath trip and hope for the best. Day 1 (this morning): Get myself from San Diego to Atlanta via Denver. Looks good. I'm sure I'll end up in Atlanta tonight. Day 2: Meet Jean in Atlanta and hope that we will get to DC. If this flight was today, we'd be out of luck since it cancelled. Then connect to a flight going to Dubai. Again, if this was today, it would be a no-go. Day 3/4: In transit, brief overnight in Dubai and on to Emirates to Nairobi. Did this one on award miles and the flight is only a few times a week. Gotta make it. If all goes well, I'll be sleeping next to lions and giraffes this week. If not, this may be a ski trip in DC.

Sunday morning around 10:00 am. The kite surfers were out taking advantage of the strong winds and somewhat sunny day. A perfect opportunity to practice taking action photos!