This weekend I had the opportunity to get away from the family and surround myself with dozens of inspiring gals at a scrapbooking retreat in Mystic, Connecticut.  This one was hosted by Scrap-a-way Retreats.  I have attended several different retreats over the years including Croppers Delight and Crop Classix, and have enjoyed them all.  Retreats are usually 3 day CROPS.

Whether or not you're a scrapper, you might wonder whether or not someone could really work on scrapbooking pages for three days straight.  The answer is an easy one -- absolutely.  In fact, I barely sleep at these events.  There is always good food, a little shopping, games to be played, etc but, like most people, I attend crops to get work done.  There are no usual distractions -- no laundry, no errands, no one needing me to do anything for them.  The meals are prepared for me, drinks are always available and everyone is pretty friendly and ready to give a second opinion if I want one.

Scrappers all have different methods to their madness and everyone seems to be working on different projects so you can get lots of ideas.  There are typically two kinds of scrapbook albums -- the first ones are specific to an event (wedding, vacation, etc) and the others are the day-to-day LIFE albums (what most photos are!).  Most scrappers try to do their pages in chronological order but NOT ME.  I like to scrap pages as they inspire me so I divide my albums into themes:  People We Love, Places We Go, Things We Do, Celebrations, Sports, and Just Because.  

No matter how many scrapbooks pages I've done, I am no where close to being "caught up" and I'm really okay with that.  For this retreat I just opened a bunch of shoeboxes where I have thousands (honestly) of photos stashed and grabbed pictures from all different years.  The result was a weekend trip down memory lane.  Each page I did brought back some wonderful memories for me and, I hope, will evoke the same emotions for the people in them.

. . .and now I happily share with you my latest journey:  1995 - 2010

 LAKE NAKURU

We had an incredible afternoon drive in Lake Nakuru before we checked into our next lodge.  Evidence of Africa’s drought was everywhere from Nairobi to Amboseli; however, Lake Nakuru’s area seems to be unaffected.  The grass was tall and a vibrant green, the foliage full.  In many areas it seemed like we were more in a jungle than a savannah.  Immediately upon entering this national park we saw an abundance of wildlife.  

 

 

Of course no trip to Lake Nakuru would be complete without actually visiting the lake and, we were surprised to find out, was the one area where visitors are allowed OUT of the safari vans.  From a distance, the lake looks like it is tinged with pink -- upon closer inspection you realize that it is simply filled with flamingos.  There were so many that my camera lens could barely capture them all.  The pelicans seemed to enjoy the lake as well.  Of course getting a closer look at these creatures meant walking through some pretty muddy grasslands.  I was quite thankful to be wearing my boots that day!

 

A huge heard of buffalo were close by and didn’t seemed phased at all by the many visitors.  

We drove to a high point in the park and were able to look down at the lake -- what a view!  Right next to us was a large family of baboons who didn't seem to mind the company.  We even saw a few hyraxes scurrying along!

 

 

At the end of the day we started back toward the lodge when Lawrence (our driver) got a tip that a python was sighted.  He had only seen one ONCE and decided we were going back to the lake area to try to find it.  Of course it started to rain at that point and the dirt roads were getting harder to pass.  If I’m being honest, there were a couple of times that I thought we might get stuck in the water - not a great feeling when you realize there’s a python out there!  Sadly we didn’t find it but it did make for an interesting story!

Our accommodations for the evening for quite comfortable.  We stayed at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge for one night.  The food was pretty good compared to our other hotel and the room was a little more spacious!  

In the early morning we had one more safari drive -- alas the python eluded us again!  We did see some other pretty incredible creatures though.  I was THRILLED to finally see lions!  The fact that they were relaxing right next to the road made it even sweeter!!

 . . . OFF TO THE MASAI MARA

After the game drive, we strapped in for our next LONG drive -- this time to Masai Mara. The six hour drive had us pass many shacks and homes along the way.  We saw many adults and children walking along the road - many waving to us as we passed.  There were many goats and some thin cattle.  Every now and then we’d even see a gazelle waltzing by.  Although many of the children smiled at us as we passed by, we couldn’t help but feel terrible when we saw the extreme poverty conditions they were living in.  

 

We stopped along the way, once again, for a picnic lunch (although this one wasn’t as good as the last one!) At least there was some good shopping.  As we “neared” Masai Mara, Lawrence warned us that the road would be a little bumpy.  We thought we had already been on some very bumpy roads so we weren’t quite sure what to think of his first “warning.”  We learned quickly enough!  It is apparent that the road to this park has not been paved since the British left Kenya back in the 60s.  There were so many pot holes in the road that there was hardly any road to drive on!  I kid you not, we often drove off the main road and onto dirt roads so that we could bypass as much of the paved areas as possible.  It took us about an hour to finally reach the main entrance to the park and I , for one, was extremely grateful for sports bras at this point!

 

Masai Mara is the park that you usually hear about on those Animal Planet shows.  It has more wildlife than most, if not all, of the other parks in Kenya.  We arrived in time for an afternoon game drive and, once again, the animals did NOT disappoint!

Our accommodations for our first night in Masai Mara was at the Mara Sarova Game Camp.  Unlike the other places we stayed, this was not a traditional room, but rather a tent.  A large comfortable tent with electricity and a full bathroom, but, nevertheless, a tent.  In case we got forgot we were sleeping in a tent, the sound of a shrieking bird at 2am reminded us where we were. 

 

We had asked for an 4:45am wake-up call since we were leaving early in the morning for our hot air balloon safari. One problem -- there are NO PHONES in the tents.  Still, we got our wake-up call -- a gentleman stood outside our tent (on the porch) and shouted to us to make sure we were up!

So in the dark wee hours of the morning, we (and about 8 other tourists) boarded a van that took us on a 45 minute ride to another lodge where we filled out some papers and, yet again, boarded another van (with even more tourists!) which took us on a much shorter drive to the balloon landing area.

 OUR BALLOON SAFARI

We watched as they inflated the balloons.  

 

The Captain (Roy) then asked each of us to CLIMB over the basket wall to get inside.  We were packed in there pretty tightly, but once up in the air no one seemed to mind as much!  The view was amazing!  One of the coolest things was seeing the hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras making their annual migration to Tanzania.  

 

After the balloon landed we all enjoyed a champagne brunch in the bush!  It was the icing on the cake!

Once we returned to our hotel we had time for an early lunch and then a wonderful afternoon safari.  Once again we were treated to the sights of some incredible animals!

 

Our next hotel in Masai Mara (where we spent two nights) was at the Mara Serena Safari Lodge. OMG!  This lodge had spectacular views.  We opened the doors to our balcony and saw a bushbuck less than 8 feet away.  We saw warthogs wandering close by, and a family of baboons as well.  Off in the distance we could see herds of elephants and giraffes walking across the savannah. 

Everything about this lodge was wonderful . . . except for the many steps we had to walk up/down to get to our room.  The lodge was built in a “U” shape (similar to a Masai village). The reception and dining area was in the center which was on the top of his hill.  The rooms went down the hill in both directions and we were pretty far down!  Other than that, we really had no complaints!

 We were lucky enough to have an afternoon safari (the balloon safari wasn’t enough for one day!) and then we had another full day (2 more safari drives) the next day. 

We were able to unwind and relax a bit between the drives.  Sitting by the pool was an nice way to decompress.  

We enjoyed one last morning drive before heading back to Nairobi. 

We were all a little sad to say goodbye to the parks.  Also, none of us was looking forward to another bumpy ride.  This was, by far, the LONGEST drive we would have - it seemed endless.  At one point we were able to stop along the road to say hello to a little boy who had been waving to us.  He was standing by the side of the road tending goats.  He looked to be no older than 7 and was all alone.  We hadn’t seen anyone for a mile or two.  We offered him a piece of fruit and a juice box.  He seemed so excited that we decided to give him ALL of our fruit (we had another 5 pieces in the van!).  We watched as he ran up this dusty hill toward some cattle.  We guessed that the rest of his family was there and we hoped that his family would be thrilled with his “haul!”

 . . . BACK IN NAIROBI

Once back in Nairobi we said our goodbyes to Lawrence and settled in the our room at the Nairobi Serena Hotel.  (it was nice to finally see it during daylight hours!) We were all pretty exhausted that evening and opted for a quiet night in our room featuring beer, wine, and burgers!  

On our final day in Nairobi we met Charles, our driver/guide for the morning and afternoon.  He drove us to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust - an orphanage for elephants (most whom lost their mothers to poachers) and a couple of rhinos.  While hearing the stories of how these animals each became orphaned is heart-breaking, seeing how they interact with their “keepers” (who act as a substitute family) warmed my heart.  

 

Next we visited the Giraffe Center - a sanctuary that is trying to save the lives of the Rothschild giraffes.  They have a successful breeding program there and enjoyed “meeting” several of the residents!

 

Nearby was the home of Karen Blixen (who wrote “Out of Africa”) and we enjoyed a fascinating tour of her home.  In addition to many original artifacts, were pieces of movie memorabilia.  As we toured the home we watched as a lavish wedding reception was taking place on the grounds.

Afterwards we enjoyed a light bite to eat at the Coffee Garden and Restaurant (on the property.) I learned that some of this land was used as a coffee plantation during her life.

 

Our final stop of the day was at a Masai Market.  Once again we were impressed by the beautiful craftsmanship of some of these pieces.  Wood carvings, beaded boxes and bowls, and sculpted sandstone pieces seem to be the most popular items.  

At the airport we had a few hours to kill but, luckily, it was a lot nicer than Rome’s airport.  There was ample shopping (needed to get rid of every last shilling!) and enough food to eat and drink.  We met a few interesting people while we waited.  First an Angolan man tried to convince Meredith to sponsor him so he could come to America and get a job.  We also met a young Englishman (college-aged) who was returning home after a month in Tanzania and Zambia on his own. We traded some of our funnier stories and it certainly made the time waiting pass more quickly.

 

Luckily our evening flight on Kenya Airways from Nairobi to London was relatively uneventful.  Our flight home on Delta Airways from London to NYC was a little nuttier.  Once again we were on a full flight and the flight attendants were a bit nasty to some of the passengers.  It definitely makes you see why some foreigners say Americans can act “ugly.”  The attendants were rude and it made many of the passengers uncomfortable.  Once we landed we had to wait a VERY LONG TIME to get our luggage -- but once it did I headed straight home and tried desperately NOT to fall asleep so that I wouldn’t be too jet-lagged the next day.

 

So now I’ve been home a little less than two weeks.  I must admit . . . I do miss Africa.  Somehow seeing a deer grazing on the side of the road just doesn’t hold the same allure anymore!

 

 

 . . .AMBOSELI (continued)

Over the next two days we had three more safari drives.  Each animal was more captivating than the next.  We were all so amazed that the wildlife didn't fear the safari vans (even when several surounded them).  In fact many of them looked us right in the eyes, curiously checking us out as much as we looked at them. Below are a few more photos I snapped at this incredible spot:

 
During our visit to Amboseli, we were able to visit a Masai Village. We were greeted by "Henry" (the Kenyans all seem to have a Christian name that tourists can pronounce) who explained that he was the son of the Chief and would give us a tour of his village.  

We walked passed thorny branches which he explained was their fencing - used to protect the village during the night from predators.  The villagers were all lined up to greet us with a welcome song and dance!

Their homes, we learned, are made from dried grass and dried cow dung.  There are two small holes in each that are the windows and there is a small entrance.  We toured inside of one home-- it was sooo dark at first.  We sat on beds that had cow hide to sit on.  

We watched them as they made fire using a hard and soft wood.  

Later we met the son of the medicine man who explained the different plants they use to combat everything from maleria to erectile dysfunction!  

After our tour, we visited their market to shop, and finally visited their pre-school where we were allowed to give the children gifts we had brought from home.  

We had snacks, balloons, crayons and paper!  The children were friendly and happy to sing for us!  We were treated to another song by the tribe as we departed!

We loved our stay in Amboseli and were a little sad to leave the lodge (and all the adorable monkeys too!  

 

 
Still we were excited about heading to our next destination:  Lake Nakuru . . .only six hours away!

 

. . . ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

On the way to Lake Nakuru we stopped for a picnic lunch along the Great Rift Valley.  This is a valley that stretches over 6,000 from Israel to Mozambique.  It was truly breath-taking!

We weren't sure what to expect from a picnic lunch but we figured that after the EAT and SHOP, things could only get better!  Our lunch was more than enough - Barbequed chicken, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, yogurt, water, juice, and two small sandwiches.  

We did a little shopping here as well before heading to Lake Nakuru National Park - in time for an afternoon drive!

 

. . . tune in tomorrow as my adventure continues!

 . . . AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK

We were greeted at the gates of the park by women of the Masai tribe who live there.  "Jambo" is swahili for hello and they were all very friendly.  They were selling their wares (bracelets, necklaces, wood bowls, etc) and were looking for either cash (Kenyan shillings or US dollars) or "trade" -- preferably in the form of sweets.  Jen and Mer both bought some goodies right away and, since we didn't have any sweets handy, Meredith introduced the women to their first SLIM JIM.  We had to explain that it was food and we think they actually liked it!

As soon as we entered the park for our FIRST "afternoon drive" the wildlife was abundant.  Lawrence (our guide) has incredible vision -- he can spot wildlife out of the corner of his eye that we could barely see with binoculars!  He was amazing!  Wildebeests (almost known as Gnus since that is the sound they make) were everywhere!  Lawrence told us that locals believe the wildebeest was the last animal created by G-d, made up of the spare parts of the other animals: mane of lion, legs of hyena, antlers of antelope, mark of locust, etc.  I have to admit they are an unusual looking creature and they have a strange walk as well!

 

There were also many birds in Amboseli.  These are just a few that caught my attention that first safari drive:

(spoonbills)

(blacksmith plover)

(crowned cranes)

 (male ostrich)

Of course there were many other animals we came across during that first afternoon.  We ran quite a few zebra and buffalo too.

The coolest thing we saw that afternoon, however, was a herd of elephants who found a muddy, grassy area near the road and didn't seem to mind a little company from our safari van!

One of the funnier things we noticed is that EVERY elephant seems to have its own white bird.  Not sure why or what it means (if anything) but it was kind of odd!

As the sun began to set, we headed to our next hotel, admiring the views along the way . . .

. . . the Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge.  

What a beautiful place this was!  It was inside the park and was as exotic as you could imagine.  We only had about 45 minutes to get settled into our room (we would be staying here for two nights) before dinner.  We were warned to beware of the monkeys since they could steal from you.  As we walked to our room Meredith casually said to me "Dawn, there's an elephant behind you."  I assumed she was joking, but, sure enough, there on the hotel grounds stood a large elephant.  Pretty cool!

Our room here was comfortable -- plenty of mosquito netting to put me at ease anyway!

There was a large dining room where we would have all of our meals.  After dinner we sat outside, relaxed, and looked for the animals in the odd lighting.  

As we were winding down from our first day in "the bush" we met "Kenneth", a member of the Masai tribe who worked at the lodge giving lectures about his people and walking tours.  He told us all about his family:  his father had 3 wives and he was one of 17 children.  (Polygamy is common in the Masai tribe).  He told us that he wasn't married yet because he was saving up to buy enough cows (10) for the dowry and was curious how much it cost to take a wife in America.  He was surprised that a diamond ring was all it took and that the girl got to choose (as well as the man. The Masai marriages are all arranged!)  He had never left Kenya and had only left Amboseli once to go to Nairobi.  

We were all looking forward to getting a good night's sleep, waking up early for our morning drive, and later visiting the Masai Village.

tune in tomorrow for more of "My BIG Adventure" . . .

THE STORY BEGINS . . . 

 

Planning the “adventure of a lifetime” is not something that is done quickly.  It was almost a year ago (summer of 2010) when my best friend, Jen, asked me if I still had any interest in going on an African safari.  Her sister, Meredith, was interested in going and it was something Jen and I have talked about doing for years but neither of us had.  Knowing my kids would be away the following summer, it seemed like a now or never opportunity for me (my husband had ZERO interest in going!) - so I said YES!  And so began the planning stages of Girls Safari 2011.

 
 

Fast forward to July 29, 2011 where I met my friends at JFK airport in New York to board the first of our two flights that would take us to Kenya.  To be honest, I was feeling a bit “under the weather” when I got to the airport but refused to let a little bug get the best of me.  I wasn’t very hungry but airline food wasn’t something I thought I’d necessarily miss.  We all got to the airport pretty early -- I think we were just too excited for this trip and figured it was no big deal to kill an extra hour or so at the airport!

 

(Jen, Meredith and Me at JFK)

 

Our first flight was on Alitalia to Rome, Italy.  We had hoped for a rather empty red-eye to Rome but sadly we wound up with a COMPLETELY FULL flight!  Joining us on our trip to Rome were 50-60 Italian students returning from a high school trip to NYC.  They were typically loud teenagers for the most part.  Our assigned seats on the wide-body plane gave us two aisle seats and one middle seat and, what we hoped would be another empty middle seat.  Instead it was filled by a young girl who reminded us of the neurotic poet Sylvia Plath.  The leg room left a lot to be desired -- well if you have long legs like me anyway.  It didn’t help that the girl in front of me wanted to recline all the way back so my knees were crushed! 

Also, I had one of the aisle seats and kept getting slammed in the elbow by the food and beverage carts (think Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer). 

I can’t say the flight attendants even noticed.  They looked more like fashion models and were quite fixated on flirting with the young Italian boys on the plane!  To make matters worse, someone near us clearly had a “stomach ailment” and let’s just say that the air quality wasn’t the best!  I got a little bit of sleep (sometimes not feeling well can be a blessing since all you want to do is sleep!) but Jen and Mer didn’t sleep much at all.  

 

Thankfully our flight landed on time at 8:20am in Rome.  All we had to do now was get boarding passes and catch our 11:10am flight to Nairobi, Kenya.  A quick little lay-over.  Well, not so fast.  First of all, it was almost impossible to get our boarding passes in Rome.  It seems that while Kenya Airways does operate in Rome’s airport, they don’t actually have any representative there.  The reps at Alitalia were not the friendliest or the most helpful.   We were told to go from gate to gate in an attempt to get our boarding pass.  You see the problem was that although our flight to Nairobi was on the Departures Board, there was no gate listed at first.  Then the gate was listed  - #14 --BUT the information at the actual gate was for a different flight than ours.  We killed about an hour loitering by the gate and repeatedly checking the Board to see if the gate information had changed.  At around 9:30am the information did indeed change although not as we expected.  The Gate was still #14 but the departure time had changed to 19:00.  That’s 7pm!

So here we are in the Rome Airport trying to figure out what was going on with our flight.  It seems the pilot (yes, THE pilot - apparently there is only one) from Kenya Airways was feeling ill so the plane had not left Nairobi yet.  They were HOPING our flight would be able to depart around 7pm.  When we inquired when the next flight was leaving for Nairobi, we were told in FOUR DAYS.  Without knowing whether plans would change again we were STUCK at the airport.  

 

They were kind enough to give us boarding passes so we could walk around a little but the terminal left a lot to be desired.  We were all exhausted.  At first we did a little shopping.  Jen found an espresso drink in the gift shop that she tried.

Jen and Mer tried to buy coffee but the Italians don’t really embrace the concept of coffee-to-go and their portion sizes are tiny compared to USA servings.  They both bought two coffees at a time - in an attempt to stay awake as long as possible. 

Sadly it was next to impossible to stay busy in that airport for all those hours.  We were just too tired and eventually found 3 benches that had just enough cushion to allow us to take cat naps throughout the day and early evening.  It certainly wasn’t how I envisioned my day but, at least my “bug” eventually went away.  I was spent but a “healthy” spent! 

Thankfully the pilot felt better and we finally boarded our flight to Kenya.  Jen had sent several e-mails to our tour company in Nairobi so they would know that our flight was delayed 8 hrs and now would be arriving at 3:30 am.  The flight itself was an easy one.  A full plane but an older jet with a lot more leg room.  We all tried to get a little bit of sleep on this 8-hr flight.  Once we landed, it took another hour to clear customs.  We got our bags and looked for our driver.  NOT THERE.  We were annoyed, frustrated, and over-tired.  With the help of an airport security officer we were able contact our tour company and get a taxi to our hotel.  We checked in at 5am and began our SAFARI ADVENTURE at 10am - 5 hrs later! 

 

ON THE ROAD . . .

 

We “squared” things up with the tour company Sunday morning (July 31st) and met our driver/tour guide Lawrence.  We got comfortable in our safari van - our transportation for the next week!

 

Since we were getting a late start to the day we agreed to have our lunch somewhere in route to Amboseli National Park.

 

We stopped for lunch at the “Eat and Shop” - a place best described as a gas station with an small area to grab a bite. 

Jen was so tired she literally fell out of the van!  There were a few people eating there so we figured “how bad could it be?”  Someone at the table next to us was eating chicken which didn’t look too bad!  As soon as we were seated by a woman we were told “No chicken.  Only beef or fish.”  We looked at each other and all ordered the beef.  A minute later a gentleman came out and said “No beef.  No fish. No chicken.”  Then came that awkward silence.  “What do you have?” one of us asked.  “Let me check.”  He came back and gave us our new options :  “Chips or sausage?”  We all said chips in unison and then ordered Fanta orange (for Mer) and coke light (for Jen and me).  A HUGE platter of greasy french fries was served along with two condiments - one was either ketchup or hot sauce and the other was sort of like a duck sauce.  We couldn’t imagine sharing all these fries when the OTHER TWO PLATTERS arrived!  We had just flown for two days and were on 4 hours of sleep and, quite honestly, weren’t very hungry. 

We didn’t eat many of the CHIPS which may have offended our tour guide.  When we told him that we thought we were going to share that first platter of fries he promptly told us “Kenyans don’t share food.”  In fairness - that’s a lot of fries for any single person and they didn’t have chicken, beef, OR fish!

 

A quick stop to the ladies room outside (there was a guard there who unlocked the door for us) was an eye-opener for me.  There was a stall but inside was a simple hole in the ground.  I KNEW what to expect but experiencing it is another thing.  Thankfully Mer had some Charmin on hand! 

We were led next door to the mens room where were were able to wash our hands under some running water.  

 

Back on the road again and we really saw how so many Kenyans live.  These communities are set up with small shacks along the sides of the road.  After a while you can't tell one community from another.  The scene is always the same.  I imagine many Kenyans trade what they have for what they need. 

There were also many people just sitting along the sides of the roads with nothing to do.  Kids and Adults alike would sometimes be seen herding goats and skinny cattle -- true evidence of the drought - to the few greenish patches of land. 

 

Roughly six hours after leaving Nairobi (navigating on some long and bumpy roads with little regard for the rules of the road) we FINALLY arrived at Amboseli National Park.  We were more than ready to see some of the fabulous African Wildlife!!

 

 . . .tune in tomorrow for the next chapter of this adventure!