18 August -- Tsavo (by Roger)

Today was just the way I wanted to spend my last safari day in Kenya.

After the adventures of the night, we got up fairly bright and early and had a small, fast breakfast here at the Italian Camp. We weren’t sure what we were supposed to eat (if anything), and practically everyone was gone, so we chowed down on the toast and coffee that was offered and set out for a combo of a game drive/get-to-the-other-side-of-Tsavo-where-we-were-supposed-to-have-stayed-at-Patterson's-last-night. The coffee was excellent, incidently – fortissimo espresso made in one of the little stovetop steam pressure makers I used to use in France.

Though we seem to say this wherever we go, I do think Tsavo is one of the most beautiful parks in Kenya. It’s all semi-arid bush – mostly 5’-7’ leafless acacia trees with mega-thorns and scrub underneath that. The colors are arresting. This day, the sky was a deep bluish grey, the soil a Georgia red clay, the bush a range of light greys with some greens mixed in. There was also a peppering of yellow blooms from one species of acacia that flowers in the dry season when there are no leaves. When the ground isn’t flat, there are outcroppings of cracked, red boulders. The landscape is broken, tough and ancient.

Running though this landscape is the Tsavo River, and it is a wonder to see. We followed this river for a lot of our drive to the next camp. The Tsavo is wide, shallow and meandering, and as it turns through the arid landscape, it’s a wide band of blue with small borders of light green on both sides, the trees that line the banks. Whenever you get a clear view of the river, you see sandbars in it, and there are often animals there, too. We mostly saw hippos and crocodiles, though there was ample evidence of elephants and Cape Buffalos, too. It was hard to resist getting out of the car, running down to the sandy banks and jumping in the flowing water. Not too hard, though. We could see the crocs, and we knew there were lions we couldn’t see. It was on a hill just above the Tsavo that I scattered some of Mark’s and Greg’s ashes that Caroline had left with us.

The animals here are really unique. One big surprise was that there are many, many of David’s totemic animal, the Dik-dik. These are beautiful little antelopes that are slightly bigger than a Chihuahua, and they are normally very shy because practically every animal in the bush preys on them, including birds. Perhaps because it was sort of overcast, we saw lots of them. They mate for life, so you usually see them in pairs, but we also saw some in trios, the third one being a baby. With their huge, almond-shaped eyes and graceful little bodies, they look more like a Walt-Disney creation for an early animated film than a real animal shaped through natural selection to thrive in this environment.

We saw other unusual animals, too, all sharing the characteristic of elusiveness. One I simply called a giraffe-alope (Justus called it a gara-something); it’s an antelope with a long neck! I guess its neck lets it see over distances a bit bigger than the normal antelopes can, but it’s still one unusual-looking beast. Another shy animal was the Lesser Kudu. This is a bigger, stockier antelope, and its outstanding characteristic is having vertical white strips on its sides and an uneven overall color scheme that includes blueish grey and brown. We could only catch glimpses of both of these because they vanished into the bush as soon as they caught sight of our car.

The arid, scrubland birds were pretty amazing, too. There were brightly-colored bee-eaters and rollers, loud hornbills, and many other smaller birds with wild colors and patterns. We also saw excellent scavengers and birds of prey (like the common but striking and huge Bataleur Eagle), and we got a look at the outrageous bird on the cover of our book, the Red-and-yellow Barbet. Even the starlings are bold and beautiful here.

As the road mostly followed the river, we stopped a couple of times for views. At the first stop, Crocodile Point, we walked down to an overlook and watched a crocodile patiently trying to trap a bird by lying in the sun with his mouth wide open. Birds wisely avoided walking into the croc’s mouth during the half hour we were there, but David pointed out that the strategy must sometimes work or the croc wouldn’t be doing it. The next stop was at Luggards Falls. There was no falls visible here when we got out of the car; we only saw a huge flat surface of granite. We could also see the wide river come into the granite field and vanish. When we walked up to the point where it vanished, we realized that the whole river was funneling into a very narrow crevice in the granite and raging though the field before becoming a calm, wide river again below us. This was a great sight.

We eventually left the park following the underground aqueduct that carries water all the way down to Mombassa. There were big herds of zebra, antelope and giraffes in this area, and Justus explained to us that the authorities let the underground water pipeline leak some water at this point to provide for the herds. We also saw a couple of herds of the famous Tsavo red elephants in this area. The elephants wallow in the water here and cover themselves with the red dust of Tsavo, hence earning their name. In fact, we even saw some elephants in a dust fight, doing exactly this same thing.

After a snack and some gas on the Mombassa/Nairobi road, we headed on into another section of the park, this part being where our camp was. The road was rocky here, but there was the same beautiful landscape. Then we finally came to our place, Patterson’s Safari Camp.

David and I loved this place the minute we saw it. It reminded me of Siana Springs camp because of the canopy over the tent, the tent toilet facilities and the rustic ambience. But the resemblance ended there. This camp consisted of a bamboo reception area and restaurant in the trees on the bank of the Tsavo with a half dozen tents spread single file to the right and left. Each tent overlooked the river with its sandbars and wildlife. The camp had a gourmet lunch already prepared for us when we arrived, and we ate it on the veranda of the dining room, watching a hippo sleeping on the opposite bank of the river and a Grey Kingfisher squabbling with a Buffalo Weaver to our right. We’ve had some outstanding soups here in East Africa, but the vegetable-and-ginger soup we had here was among the best. This was a great end to a long morning game drive.

We next had a short nap, after which the staff brought us some coffee that we drank on the little veranda of our tent. While we stared out at the Tsavo, we talked about how wonderful this area was and how much we didn’t want to leave. We finally roused ourselves though, and we went for our afternoon game drive.

Wildlife is not as abundant in Tsavo as in Masai Mara, and it’s not as easy to see it in the scrub as it is in the plains, but there was still a lot of kudu, dik-dik and birds to attract our attention. For both of us, too, there was a lot to be said for just standing and looking out the roof of our van at the landscape and the river. I also finally got a photo of a termite hill as we were driving along, the achievement of a goal I’d set in Uganda. We’ve learned a fair amount about the importance of termites and their mounds to the ecology of areas like this. For one thing, we noticed that the big majority of mounds have a tree growing out of them. We found out that animals like aardvarks dig into the mounds looking for termites. After the mounds have been opened, birds pile in looking for a meal, too, and both birds and animals drop seeds in the mounds while feeding. Though termites remove most of the seeds, the cool, moist interior of the mounds promote germination of seeds that are left, and a tree sprouts. As the tree grows and the roots take over the mound, the termites have to move and start another mound. While many trees have mounds at their base, nearly every mound has tree coming out of it. I chuckle at the irony of termites being such an important component in the growth of trees in this area.

The mounds serve other purposes, too. As dusk came on, we saw several Dwarf Mongooses scampering into a big termite mound that looked like a castle. Justus pulled our car up to the mound, parked and told us to watch. Pretty soon, little mongoose heads started popping up out of the top of the cylinders of the termite hill and from around the sides, looking at us. We’d seen these cute little creatures in Siana Springs (where they lived under our tent’s porch), and they were even cuter here.

Back at the tent, I was taking a shower and shaving when David yelled at me to turn off the water and listen. I did but didn’t hear anything, and David asked if I was deaf. I learned why a few minutes later when some loud, hoarse cry came out of the bushes just down from our tent by the river. For reasons we didn’t understand, our tent was on the far edge of the campground, and I think we were the only party in that entire wing of the camp. We felt vaguely like animal bait for the camp.

After David showered, I heard the same noise again, only this time accompanied by very loud crashing noises right outside. At this point, I decided to skip dinner and stay in the tent until sunrise, but David always has to eat, so we tried to creep out of the tent and make it to the walkway to the reception. More loud noises, more loud crashing in front of our tent by the river. We ran to the reception.

The staff was quite calm about the elephants going around (and through) the camp, but I can only speculate that I’d have been calmer, too, if our tent had been closer to the center of the camp. In any case, dinner was magnificent, and we celebrated our last night in the bush with a half carafe of wine. I added a gin-and-tonic.

We decided to skip the bar’s showing of The Ghost in the Night, the Val Kilmer film about the hunter Patterson and his struggle with some killer lions in Tsavo. These events transpired near our present camp site, and we didn’t want to dwell on the theme. Fortunately, the crashing around our tent had subsided enough by this time for us to get back in, and once safely there, we immediately opened the window flaps so we could see from which direction the immanent attack would be coming. We both slept fairly lightly, awaking to the occasional cry and crash. David saw a herd of antelope go by his window in the light of the full moon, but they apparently didn’t make the volume of noise necessary to wake me up after a day such as this.

17 August -- Lamu to Tsavo (by David)

Stay tuned. Details to follow.

16 August -- Lamu (by Roger)

Neither of us wanted to leave Malindi yesterday, but we have to admit that Lamu is great. This little place is much more than we expected, and we really enjoyed today.

Our little hotel, Jannat House, is a rabbit warren of rooms and high-ceilinged lounge areas that come together to create a cozy environment with a lot of personality. After being in so many places that have an almost corporate feeling, this hotel is a real breath of fresh air. We shouldn’t be surprised at finding a place like this Lamu, though, because this little town is all personality. I think the population here is something like 18,000 people, and despite the fact that tourism has been a big industry here for some 30 years, it still feels undiscovered and unexploited. Lonely Planet says that, and it’s true. Kids still seem unused to seeing tourists around and say hello or stare as we walk by; one little kid being dragged along through a restaurant by his father smacked David on elbow as he went by, and I think he just wanted to touch a white person. It’s a truly nice atmosphere here, and our hotel just participates in the general feel.

We had a good breakfast in the hotel dining room this morning and headed off on a foot tour we’d set up before. The dining room in this place is great – it’s a big, open room on the second floor with old-looking, Swahili furniture. In addition to tables and chairs, there are things like you’d find in a regular dining room like a sideboard (elaborately-carved in Swahili style) and old wall clock. At our table, we are on eye-level with the fruit part of the coconut tree in the courtyard, and we can look over the rail to see the rest of the hotel.

Our walking tour was interesting. Omar, our guide, spoke good English and seemed to know what we were interested in. Lamu only has two “streets,” and these are far too small for a car. Donkeys go up and down them, and narrow alleys run from them up the hill through the rest of the town. Lamu is a safe version of the casbah in Riffi – narrow alleys that are often covered over at the top by balconies built out of the third story of the enclosed homes on both sides, people lingering and talking in elaborately-carved doorways of sometimes-decaying houses, women modestly walking by in burkas or traditional Swahili dress, darkness overtaking the areas that lack lights at night. Lamu was just declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and I’m sure that the alleys are one reason. The atmosphere is great.

Omar knew how to navigate all this flawlessly. We first visited a house under construction so he could show us the design of a traditional house. This home was being built by a European who was using local craftsmen and traditional house design. Like the hotel and the city, this home had a warrenlike feel to it, and much of the walls and ceiling were covered in elaborate stucco work. Typified by the detailed carving on the doors, Swahili style has adapted a love of detail from Indian and Arabic influence; this home was covered in detail work, from the bathroom shower to the living room walls.

From there, we went by a large Friday mosque (one of the five big mosques that people make an effort to go to on Friday afternoon; they pray in smaller mosques the rest of the week) and watched kids from the madrassa turning flips during their school break. I took some photos of them and became the center of attention when I showed them the pictures. We also went to the meat, fish and vegetable markets and down to the waterfront, where dhows were coming in with sand, bricks and tourists.

We took a break after that for one of our favorite things here, a coffee shake, and walked over to the museum. Great little museum. It’s set up like an old house, and we looked at the exhibits on Swahili culture and history as well as the ones about the other local cultures – more tribal African. There were a couple of very interesting big, hornlike things, symbols of the city-states of Lamu and Pate, I think. These both date from the 16th century. They are elaborately carved of wood and ivory. As we were leaving, David noticed a really surprising piece of furniture -- a chest there that was an exact copy of the one I bought from Lou, stored the TV in, and just sold back to him. Every detail was exactly the same – elaborate doors, carved trim on top, stubby legs. Exactly the same. Who knew that we’d lived with a piece of antique Swahili furniture for years? And how did it ever get to Georgia?

I wanted a nap after all this, so we went back to the hotel, and I took one. Then we had lunch at the hotel and went down to a boat we’d hired to take us out to the ruins of another Swahili city-state, Takwa. Takwa is on an island just across from Lamu and had been a trade rival of Lamu and nearby Shela. And nearby Pate. These little towns apparently didn’t like each other much, and the people of Takwa had build a wall around their city to protect themselves from their trade rivals. However, like we heard at Gede, a wall doesn’t protect its inhabitants from a declining water table, and the wells at Takwa eventually became saline as the freshwater was removed and salt water replaced it. Takwa had a short history of only about a hundred years, but it was fairly elaborate. We were alone there with a guide, walking among the huge, old baobobs and looking at the ruined homes, mosques, walls, and tombs of 16th century imams.

When we walked back to the mangrove inlet we’d come up, the tide had gone way out, and we had to wade out our boat, looking at the ornate, spiral shells on the bottom as we went. We then motored back to Lamu, had a coffee, and hired a dhow for a sunset sail. This little trip was really nice, too – mostly. After the experience we’d had on the Nile, I was still a little leery of water craft whose edge got too close to the water line, but these guys handled the boat fine. We sailed along Lamu and to Manda, tacking against the wind, then we turned to sail back to Lamu. At this point, the guys pulled out some refreshments for us for the trip. We had Arabic coffee (coffee with cinnamon and ginger), some cookies, and some kind of gelatinous sweet with a very perfume-y smell. With the sunset and dhow sail, it was a great experience. After the sunset, we raced all the other boats back to shore (listing a bit too much to starboard for my comfort).

The rest of the evening was restful. I had some great shrimp curry for dinner, mild and very tasty in the Swahili style, and we went back to the hotel to read. I’m almost finished with Out of Africa, and I think it’s a funny coincidence that, as we’re approaching the end of our trip, I’m reading about Dinesen’s departure from Africa.

15 August -- Malindi to Lamu (by David)

Today, Roj and I woke up about 7:00 a.m. It was already very light out but I was still anxious to try to see what was left of the sun rising on the Indian Ocean. We dashed out pretty quickly and made the short walk to the beach. It was very nice out, especially since there were very few people on the beach and the Driftwood Club was deserted. At the beach, we noticed only one elderly couple going for a very early morning dip…no other guests were in sight.

We decided to have a cup of coffee then go for an early morning jog. The restaurant staff were up and about and we got our coffee pretty quickly. We dropped by the cabin to change and started jogging while the morning was still cool and the beach mostly empty. We ran all the way to the end of one side of the beach where it ended in a coral wall and back to the entrance to the hotel. Roger decided that was enough for him (a good 25 minute jog) while I decided to continue to the other end of the beach, completing the run in about 40 minutes. Towards the opposite end of the beach, I ran passed a group of five acrobats practicing their routine in the sand. They were creating a human tower with two guys while a fourth young man stood on his hands above them and then sprang down to the ground.

After cooling down and showering we decided to have leisurely breakfast and make do with one trip into town to pickup the Kenya Airline tickets, post our latest entries into the blog and head to the airport. I went shopping for souvenirs for Brock Anne and Sommer while Roger posted our latest journal entries to our online website.

About an hour after shopping, the driver (Ali) and I went back by the Cybercafé to pickup up Roj and head to the airport. Our luggage JUST weighed in at the maximum amount….actually, a couple of kilos over but they let us continue just the same. The flight to Lamu only took about 30 minutes. After touching down, we took a small ferry to the port in Lamu. This was all pretty hectic, especially since there was a crowd at the port and we were certain where to go. Miraculously, someone from our Bed and Breakfast (Janat) was at the pier and they quickly grabbed our too heavy luggage, through them over their shoulders and escorted us to the B & B.

The Janat B & B was just a short hike from the main harbor road through several twisting and turning passages that were no wider than one’s arms out-stretched. We both felt we’d be lucky to find out way back to the harbor….but we managed pretty well without getting too lost when we ventured out. After checking in, we headed back to the main harbor street and had lunch. It was pretty warm out, so we decided to return to the room for showers and a nap.

Afterwards, we walked around the city until it starting getting dark and then headed back to the hotel to find out how safe it would be to venture out at night in Lamu. (We found out there is actually very little crime and that people all know each other.) We had Swahili tea (me) and beer (Roj) beside the small pool and watched the bats diving for insects around the pool area. The tea was an aromatic blend of cardamom, ginger and perhaps some cinnamon.

About an hour later, we went out of a dinner of grilled crab and seafood pasta.

14 August -- Malindi (by Roger)

After the sterile, family-fun-for-all, corporate atmosphere of the Voyager hotel in Mombassa, we’re really loving things here at the Driftwood Beach Club. This place is more relaxed and has more personality than that other, and people actually use the beach. We’ve found out that a lot of Kenyans join this “hotel” with a membership that lets them come here on weekends, and we see a lot of locally-registered cars in the parking area. The atmosphere is casual, there are fewer kids, and everything feels much less like it’s part of a package tour deal that things did at the other hotel.

We were trying to throw off the feeling of repose that has overcome us here, and as part of that, we arranged to get a car to the Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve at 6 am. The idea was to get there early when birds were real active. The Arabuko Preserve is famous on the coast as the best place to do birding – it has many completely unique species – so we wanted to be sure to get there.

Six in the morning was awful early for this part of the trip, but we managed to get up and get out by then. The Driftwood even got us a pitcher of coffee and some toast to send us off! Ali, our driver from yesterday, was right there and ready to go, so off we went right on time. There was some uncertainty at the ranger office as to who had reserved whom as a guide, and I’m sure we ended up with the best part of the deal. Our guide, Alex Mwalimu, was such a bird expert that he recognized everything by call, calls I couldn’t even hear. Even more, he’s mentioned in our bird field guide with an acknowledgement. Alex was way out of our field in birding.

So this is what real birding is like. Alex assumed we weren’t particularly interested the general coastal birds because, despite our saying we weren’t really “listers” who want to come out and see as many birds as they can write down, we did resort to keeping a list of what we’d seen. In very short order, Alex was ripping off the rare birds of Arabuko while I was interested in trying to see the big, colorful, common-as-a-blue-jay birds like the Narina Trogon. That said, we did see the very rare (and beautiful) Amani Sunbird, and we also saw the Clarke’s Weaver, a nondescript bird found only in Arabuko. Although I didn’t see it, David also got a look at the Sokoko Pipit, another bird only found in Arabuko; David told me it was pretty much a bland little grey thing, and I’m inclined to believe him as consolation. It was educational to see how a real birder goes after his birds: Alex would hear something and launch straightaway into the woods after it. Nothing discrete or indirect about his manner at all. And if the bird flew away, he’d head across the forest after it, too, regardless of vines, thorns or snakes. And I should mention that the Arabuko Sokoke forest is much, much more impenetrable than Bwindi’s Impenetrable Forest was.

In addition to dozens of new birds, we also saw other natural history curiosities. Firstly, I was impressed by how handsome many of the smaller shrubs of the forest were; somebody is going to wake up some day and introduce some of these into the horticultural trade. There were many small trees with gorgeous, unusual, colorful bark and foliage. We also got a couple of glimpses of the Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, but I couldn’t make out any details. Another thing I liked was the ant colonies in the forest. I’d seen many snake holes while I was trailing Alex through the thorns and vines, and since everything in the forest looked like a snake to me, I was trying to be careful and, at the same time, not get left behind and lost. I finally asked Alex about all the snake holes, and he told me they were made by ants. That sounded like a lie a Kenyan would tell a paranoid tourist to calm him down, and I didn’t believe it for a second. A broom handle would have fit down these holes with a lot of room to spare.

Then we saw a group of ants coming out of one of the holes. At Entebbe, we’d seen a line of army ants that stretched as far as we could trace it, but the ants here at Arabuko use a different food-gathering strategy. They send out hunting parties of hundreds of ants, and the parties find food (like termites) and bring it back to the nest. Alex disrupted one of the hunting parties by blowing on it, and the whole group of ants began an aggressive, eerie, loud humming sound. Creepy.

David and I were wilting in the rising heat and lack of food since 5:30 am, but Alex was on a crusade for us and would not be dissuaded. A true zealot, he hustled us back to the car and told Ali to take us to a marsh in the park so we could identify some water birds. We sighed, drank some more water and, unable to offer resistance, acquiesced.

We were saved by the tide, though. Fortunately for us, the tide was high, so the birds weren’t there. Alex apologized profusely to us and told us to come back in the evening, when the tide would be out and when we could also see the rare Sokoke Scops Owl. We dropped him back off at the ranger station before making a beeline for something to eat at the Driftwood back in Malindi.

I let most of the rest of the day get completely away from me. I took a huge nap and spend the rest of the time reading a big chunk of Out of Africa while David frolicked in the surf and sun. I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that Out of Africa is just not a very good book. It’s interesting in a way, but I started it when I was here last year, and I’m still reading it. And I’m a fast reader. I’ve been patient through the lack of a story, but when Part 4 started citing snippets from Dinesen’s diary, that was the end. I’m sure this part was just added because Dinesen’s editor told her the book was too short to publish. I will persevere, but I want to read Middlesex, which both David and Linda said was a good read.

After I finally ventured out of our cabin into the light – about 5 pm – David and I took a walk down the beach to see what was happening. I really like the ocean on this coast. The water is very shallow for a quarter mile out to a reef, and it changes color with the time of day. As the huge sun was getting low over the reef breakers, the shallow water near us was turning from turquoise to a deeper purple while the sky was pink and bright purple. Great. We then noticed clouds of swallows over the beach which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be bats! Hundreds and hundreds of bats. This looked so unusual that we went up the beach further to see where they were coming from. It looked like they were coming from under the shingles of the roof of a single big house on the beach. Malindi has a lot of vacation homes built by Italians (it’s a sort of Italian Puerto Vallarta), and this house looked well-maintained but empty. For that reason, a veritable city of bats was taking flight from there and across the shallow water toward the reef.

The rest of the night was equally restful. Walking to dinner, we saw an unusual creature in the flower bed, so we chased it into a hole that was too small for it. When it couldn’t get in, David pulled it out by its tail, and it hissed at him and rolled itself into a ball. I then poked it with my finger and got royally stabbed. It was the sharpest little hedgehog I’ve ever gotten stuck by. We left it in its ball state, growling a high-pitched, cute little growl.

We then had a fine dinner sitting outside and watching big bats sweep regularly into the hotel lights, occasionally stopping and hanging upside down on a palm tree.

13 August -- Mombassa to Malindi (by David)

OK…I’m keeping this one short, I promise!

After breakfast, we checked out and met our driver for the trip to Malindi. Before heading out of town, we stopped at a shopping center to change money and to check email and post our blog notes. We found a very reasonable cybercafé. I was very happy to hear from my nephew, Riley. (My ONLY family member who has taken the time to email and or respond to our postings in the blog….thank you very much! Thanks Riley!!)

The drive to Malindi took about an hour and a half. Passed an enormous sisal farm with the pointy leaved plants stretching out in all directions.

We checked into the Driftwood Club, which we absolutely loved. A very charming place, right on the beach, consisting of maybe 20 cabins connected by a series of sidewalks. Great bar overlooking the Indian Ocean and a single swimming pool. Boatloads of Italians here, a few Germans and quite a few Brits.

Just after lunch, we toured the Gede ruins….fascinating place from the 12 – 16th centuries. Lots of Asian, European and Arabic influence and trade. Lots of cool carved arches, columns and amazing deep and wide wells. Everyone was constructed of coral and a kind of mortar. Archeological digs found skeletons buried facing East (Mecca) which indicates they were Moslem. They also found beads, pottery, ivory carved knife handles, oil lamps, scissors, etc. The ruins consisted mostly of the foundations and walls of wealthy merchants and mosques. There were also several very unusual tombs with pillars and some that looked like gigantic, above ground tombs with monster-sized tombstones.

After our guided tour, we visited the two small museums and watched while our driver and guide hand-fed the colorful monkeys.

I went jogging barefoot on the beach after we got back while Roger snoozed. Dinner was a “to-order” stir fry, where diners could choose among prawns, fish, beef or chicken, along with dozens of veggies and an equal number of colorful spices. Delish! Very nice, cool ocean breeze while we dined.

Told you this one would be short!

12 August -- Mombassa (by Roger)

Already getting a little stir crazy in our family resort here, so David and I had Martin pick us up sort of early in the morning, and we headed into Mombassa to see the Fort Jesus and the old city. Changed money just outside the fort and ended up with a guide who seemed a little on the dicey side but knew the fort well enough.

It was a so-so visit to the fort. The history of the place is interesting – built in 1593 by the Portuguese and taken over by various armies until now. It reminded me a lot of the old fort in Cartagena and, to some extent, the fort in Savanah. The base of it was carved out of the coral of the coast right from the ground, like the churches in Lalibela, and the rest of the fort was built on top of that base with coral. I wonder who organized this work effort, who did the labor, and under what conditions it was built. I have visions of the Portuguese beating Africans into doing the work, but that’s just speculation. There was such an advanced culture here that they might have actually paid for the labor. In any case, I was also interested in learning that the Portuguese had been here as well as further up the coast in Africa; I think they had designs on the whole of the coast – all of East Africa for that matter. I’ll have to look up some info on Vasco de Gama and Portuguese trade and imperialism in the Indian Ocean when I get back home. The Portuguese had their work cut out for them here because they had to fight the Arabs from just up the coast in Oman as well as well as the locals, Swahilis whose culture and trade had been developing for some 400 years before the Portuguese intrusion. Mombassa, Malindi, Zanzibar and Lamu were all centers of Swahili culture when the Portuguese began their efforts here. We were really surprised to learn that the Swahilis had such a developed culture here. They traded regularly with the Arabian Peninsula, India and China. Virtually all the Swahili historical sites are full of artifacts from these places as well as from Europe. We saw an interesting exhibition, sponsored by the Chinese mission here, on the pre-European trade with China; the display had a lot of information on one particular Chinese explorer who was Moslem, and the show made me realize how much today’s China is trying to develop links with this part of the world by building on anti-western sentiment and its own history.

After we visited the fort, we went a short way into the Old City of Mombassa. Although it’s not as authentic as places like Cairo or Marakech, it reminded me of both. There were some very elaborately-carved doors along the narrow streets, and many houses had old, wooden balconies for, I seem to remember, women to sit in and look over what was happening in the street without being out in the street themselves. David bought a cool little hat here, and I took pictures of an old mosque. In contrast to the Chinese show in the fort, we learned that the European Union had spent millions to pave the streets of the Old City of Mombassa. As for us, the US is sponsoring a triathelon tomorrow that includes a swim from Mombassa Island to the mainland, a long bike ride, and a long run. We saw people practicing the swimming part from the fort.

Since we didn’t particularly want to get hassled all the way through the Old City and because we didn’t want to get lost, we just had Martin drive us the rest of the way through. I think it’s interesting that Mombassa’s Old City isn’t just a historical site but also a living environment. The market was in full swing as we went by, and everyone was out buying and selling everything. I liked seeing all the little muslim caps the men were wearing, and there were women dressed in colorful, traditional Swahili garb, modest black attire, and even full burkas. Some men wore the white dishdash you see on the Arabian Peninsula. There was a huge range of color and style.

After we got out of the Old City, we stopped by to pick up our repaired reading glasses and then went to Nakkurmat. This warehouse-size department store chain is the Target of Kenya, and you can get most anything there at a reasonable price. I got a suitcase to stow all of David’s souvenirs in, and we picked up things like gin, tonic water, and regular bottled water, which was outrageously over $2/bottle at our resort. While we were there, we also ate at a small, nearby restaurant. We invited Martin to join us, and I almost immediately regretted it. Coming from Nakkurmat, we’d come upon him praying with someone in the taxi, and over lunch, he offered to pray with David about work. I listened politely to his explanation about god’s role in the world for a while, and then, in my ever-discrete way, I told him to change the subject

As we’re getting into the habit of doing here, we had a big ole nap during the afternoon. Then I called Henry in Nairobi to confirm some travel plans, and it was time for coffee by the pool with the coconut trees swaying in the sunset. Our hotel here, the Voyager, is Cozumel-in-Kenya, and if we’d had margaritas, it would have felt perfectly appropriate.

We walked some along the Indian Ocean after that and changed for dinner. Tonight’s entertainment was a small band playing a cruise ship hit list. I was happy to hear “Pata Pata” on the list, though, as well as the classic I’d sent Caroline and Linda before we left the States, “In the jungle…the lion sleeps tonight.” Oh, there was a (non)stirring rendition of “Hakuna Mata,” too.

11 August -- Mombassa (by David)

Before we left, we agreed to adopt a strategy employed by some friends of Caroline and Linda who had traveled to Africa a year or two before. That strategy involved an agreement to limit oneself to one “whine” per day (or per week, I forget which). This approach, which we all felt pretty positive about, is designed to keep fellow travelers from having to listen to unnecessary belly-aching and to keep the trip pleasant for everyone. Before we left, we discussed alternatives, such as caging a whine within a non-whine should one become really desperate for a whine. For example: “I feel the dust and bumps on the road to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest were much less significant than the dust and bumps on our trip today.” Or, “Interesting meal, what? I don’t recall a more ‘unusual’ preparation of chicken, do you?!”

So with that said, this is my unadulterated whine from the day before. (This may be a departure from Roger’s blog about the train….I don’t know. We rarely have time to read each other’s entries before posting them.) I did not fancy the overnight first class train ride from Nairobi to Mombassa. In fact, I am tempted to write Lonely Planet to tell them they might want to temper their recommendation of this particular mode of transport. In short, I just did not feel clean the entire time. The seats were ripped open, there was little to no water for washing your hands, forget about paper towels to dry your hands, the toilets either had no seats, no locks or no lights. I finally found one about 5 cars up that met all three of these minimum requirements. (But of course, no way to properly wash or dry your hands!) Service in the dining car was absolutely surly. And the food took forever to come out. We were lucky to sit with a very interesting couple. (Roger probably covers this so I won’t go into detail.) I’ll cap off my whine by mentioning that our car had no electricity so we were given a battery powered light….which promptly when out after about 40 minutes. So we were completely in the dark from about 8:00 PM until we went to bed. How fun was it to brush my teeth in the dark since I could not find the sink and could not properly rinse. So there is my whine. I feel better already. Thanks for your indulgence, dear reader.

When we arrived, having slept very little and having been rushed out of the dining car to make way for other travelers, I for one was thrilled to be off of the train. We took a taxi via a nice guy named “Martin” to the Voyager Resort in Mombassa. The Voyager is a massive, labyrinthine place, consisting of three pools on different levels, a water slide, a hot tub, a game area (video games, pool, ping pong, etc, etc), gift shops and, to the delight of our shaggy heads, a hair salon).

Soon after checking in, we got semi-successful haircuts and slept a few hours to help recover from our train ride. We stuck our toes in the Indian Ocean and visited the Maasai “market” set up on the grounds of the resort. Later, this same evening, the Maasai vendors also provided a lively traditional dance, which we both enjoyed a lot. There were several Maasai women that also sang their high pitched and very melodic song against the deep-throated chanting and signing of the Maasia men. Roger and I both agreed, the effect was pretty amazing. There was also another dance group that performed traditional dance as well….they were actually pretty good and provided singing as well. Very high energy.

Tons of Brits and French people at this resort….very much a family place. We enjoyed it but were glad to move on after a couple of days. Good food, as usual. The theme of the Voyager is kind of a nautical “cruise ship” sort of thing, so all of the workers wear sailor suits, etc. Lots of big groups of people….very removed from the local community and fairly touristy.

Tea at 3:00 PM sharp every day…..enjoyed watching the Brits knock each other over to get to their tea and cakes.

10 August -- Nairobi-Amsterdam-Atlanta (by Caroline and Linda)

We had our final poolside dinner at the Fairview last night complete with curry-tomato tilapia, samosas, gin and tonic, and a fire pot to warm us. Caroline cannot stand the thought of not having the tilapia again so she is going to email the chef for the recipe. We left bright and early for the airport, boarded our flight on Kenya Airways and were off to Amsterdam. We had an uneventful eight hour flight and arrived early evening and checked into an airport hotel within walking distance. We were really impressed with Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. It actually functions like a mini city. Way cool. We were much too tired to hit the town and decided that we would have to come back. The airport was enough to whet our appetite. We had a wonderful Indonesian meal and gazpacho with avocado and crayfish at the hotel and then hit the hay. It is hard to believe this, but all of us have gained weight on this Africa trip.

The next morning we boarded a Delta flight for a nine hour flight to Atlanta. Again, we entertained ourselves with movies, reading and of course, eating the business class faire. This is truly the way to fly long distances - we are spoiled. Thank goodness for Delta Skymiles. We arrived late afternoon on August 11 and were taxied home by an Ethiopian driver -- we bent his ear off talking about Africa!! Great to be back home but we miss Roger and David and Africa already and hope to return soon. Off to the Farmers' Market in search of passion fruit juice. Kenya Caroline and Linda Lion signing off.

9 August -- Masai Mara (by David)

This was my favorite day so far….and the one I had been anticipating for about a year! Although getting up at 4:30 in the morning was tough, the thrill of riding in a hot air balloon at day break over the Masai Mara is impossible to adequately describe.

Briefly, here are some of the highlights:

-The massive balloon filled with air in less than 10 minutes.
-The lift off was so gentle, we hardly realized we were airborn.
-We were in one of the largest balloons manufactured in the world! The basket had room for 16 passengers and one pilot.
-We floated along with about 5 other balloons that morning, and coasted and a variety of heights. The pilot (Steve) was a very witty Brit who kept us laughing every time he opened his mouth! He was also great about turning the balloon around so that everyone had a chance to be in the “forward” position.
-The flight was amazingly quiet! The passengers all spoke in hushed tones. I think we were all in awe of the beauty of the early morning sun hitting the Masai Mara. The grasses and even the animals were cast in a beautiful rosey-gold glow.
-Most of the wild life included zebra, wildebeest, and tobis.
-The ride lasted about an hour, but it seemed to have gone by much more quickly. We all absolutely loved the ride.

Landing was quite an experience. Our pilot warned us in advance that landing would involve the basket tipping over and dragging on the ground until the balloon stopped moving. He warned us that it could be very bumpy but that he would try to avoid hitting any termite hills or trees! The basket is designed like a ride at an amusement park, sans the seat belts or harnesses. It was designed so that the passengers have padding behind their heads and back so that when the basket lands, tips over and drags, there isn’t too much physical damage. We were responsible for bracing ourselves and holding on to these rope handles so that no one falls out of the basket.

As communicated, the basket did land right side up, tipped over and dragged. Then, it briefly became airborne again before dragging a while longer. All in all, this probably lasted 5 or 6 minutes and was more fun than frightening….but still pretty thrilling as we did not quite know what to expect. We did feel sorry for the passengers on the bottom of the basket (we were up, above them) since their heads were just inches above the ground and seemed to be collecting no small amount of grass throughout the drag. We have some great photos of our position after the basket finally came to rest.

The champagne breakfast surpassed everyone’s expectations: We were greeted with large glasses of champagne, yummy mini quiches, sausages, cold cuts, boiled eggs, plates of cheese and fruit, yogurt, more champagne, and orange juice then plenty of tea and coffee. After breakfast, we were presented with our certificates or “diplomas” from our trip while one of the older British pilots cut up and danced with everyone. He was great fun and was joking about everyone having a 9 to 5 job while his was a 5 to 9 job.

We slept a good bit after we got back to the lodge.

So sad to see Caroline and Linda head back to the states this day! Really hated to see them go. Roger and I both enjoyed their outstanding company completely.

We did a little bird watching as we waited for their plane to arrive. It was about an hour late, so we managed to see quite a few birds and critters as we drove around the landing strip. We picked up a passenger (Naomi, a principal from Toronto) who joined us for a little bird watching after she quickly dropped her bags off at the lodge. Saw our best sunset this evening and watched as a couple of hyena crept out in their creepy way that only a hyena can creep around. We hated the C and L weren’t able to see the sunset but we did get lots of good photos….even on my little “birthday party” camera.

OK….signing off for now. I did not get to the other days yet….still have lots of catching up to do.

10 August -- Masai Mara to Mombassa (by Roger)

Good day, especially for a travel day today.

Got up at a leisurely time (for us on this trip) and had our first breakfast without Caroline and Linda here. We talked about them being on a plane for Amsterdam as we were sitting there with our fruit juice and omelets. What a great time we had; we were both missing them.

Since we had to pack to get out of our room before we headed into the park, we ran a bit late and were sitting at breakfast when Naomi came up. Poor thing – first thing she said was that she hadn’t slept all night because of all the animal sounds. She was right…I’d waked up in the middle of the night, too, to the sound of an animal screaming for its life, each scream cut off with a cluck. Strange. Rollex later told us that two leopards had been in the compound during the night and that they’d had to turn off the electric fence for them to get out; they were seen leaving this morning. What we’d heard was the baboons sounding a leopard warning, like we’d heard in Nakuru with a Vervet Monkey. Oooh Kayyy. I told him not to tell Naomi and to tell her driver not to tell her either. She seemed like she was worrying enough as it was.

After we got started, we had a really nice game drive during the rest of the morning. Of course, there was the usual insane number of wildebeest and zebra in the migrating herds, but this time with numbers of topi mixed in. I really like those animals – their patches of blue, their smooth hides. They have weird faces, though: like wildebeests with their eyes in the wrong places. We also saw a couple of herds of elephants and a couple of kills that were being cleaned up by the nasty-dispositioned vultures. There was also a somewhat large pride of lions that was quite active. We stopped to watch one drinking from a pool while the others walked along behind. Not far away, we saw one lone female sitting beside a fresh kill, probably the kill that the pride had eaten on before heading for the shade by the water. This female was reluctant to leave the kill to the scavengers, but she was getting hot in the sun and panting a lot. We watched here for a little while and headed off ourselves. Two lion sightings in the space of thirty minutes – pretty good!

We continued to drive though herds of animals, identifying various new birds and loving the open, tan landscape. It was amazing to see the difference in the grasslands where the animals had already passed. In the areas just being reached by the migration, the grass was somewhat dry and knee-high; in the areas already grazed by the herds, the grass was mowed short, as if by a tractor mower. In one of those mowed areas, we spotted a Sand Grouse and laughed at its odd call.

Our last big sighting of the day was of a Secretary Bird. These are mostly terrestrial, mostly white birds that are about 3’ – 4’ tall. They have a few loose feathers flopping around on their heads (like secretaries with quills), and they have long, thin legs that make the birds look like they’re wearing knickers. They hunt by taking long strides around the grasslands, and when they think they’ve found something, they strike at it with one long leg at a time while pecking at it with strong beaks. They primarily eat snakes, an animal I’m more and more wary of here in the Mara. We’ve seen more than one dead animal here that wasn’t killed by a predator, and Rollex says most of them have been killed by snakes. Anyway, the Secretary Bird was striding around the area with its mate in the distance, oblivious to our vehicle following it. We didn’t see it catch any snakes, but that was OK with me. I really like these birds, and I was happy just to see one so well.

We headed back to Siana Springs camp after this sighting to have lunch, shower and wait for the plane. I also had a pretty good nap. A huge group of American tourists had arrived, too, and we could see the camp gearing up for this new group.

About 4 pm, the plane landed for us. We tossed our bags in the back, and the plane took off for Nairobi. I like these little planes a lot. Instead of six or seven hours on a bumpy (you can’t imagine how bumpy), dusty (you can’t imagine how dusty) road, we had a nice, 45-minute flight to Nairobi. Joseph, the Let’s Go Travel driver who always meets us, was there to meet us again and, to my surprise, we still had time to make the train to Mombassa! This was good news as we didn’t want to waste a day here when we could be seeing something different. It was nice to get a short note from Linda and Caroline, too.

We got to the station with time to spare, got our bed assignments, and got on the train. I then found the kitchen steward and got passes for the first sitting for dinner. Let’s Go advised us to do that as we might be eating quite late otherwise.

The train departed promptly at 7 pm, much to my surprise. Unfortunately, our car had no electrical power, and the wagon steward gave us a battery-operated emergency light to put in a holder over our compartment. The light was pretty inadequate (you couldn’t read by it), but it was better than what we had a couple of hours later when it went out completely. No light for the entire car for the entire trip. I guess we were lucky, though, that we didn’t have a couple of infants (like the people up from us) and that our light lasted more than the 30 minutes that most people’s lights lasted.

When we went to the dining car for dinner, we shared a dinner table with a couple living in France. The woman was a former Kenyan who’d married the French guy, and the two had moved to France about three years ago after several years of living in Mombassa. They live in Versailles now. They were great company, and we spent our time talking about France, Mombassa, and the Kenyan Coast. We also got some great advice from them about what to visit while we were on the coast, advice we followed when planned out the rest of our trip. Eventually, the kitchen crew sounded the dinner-ended bell, actually a short theme on a three-gonged instrument, and we headed back into the darkness of our car. Our light had about twenty minutes of power left at that point; the French couple’s had already gone out.

It was somewhat hard to get around the car in the dark with the train moving. You couldn’t find the bathroom, and when you did find it, you couldn’t see anything in it. Then you couldn’t find your way back to the cabin. One very different thing, though, was to be going through a countryside totally devoid of artificial light. As we rolled through the night, you could see only stars and darkness with a very occasional fire. It was beautiful.

I slept pretty well, rocked by the motion of the train and occasionally wakened by a jerk as we stopped and then restarted our trip to Mombassa.

8 August -- Masai Mara (by Caroline for Linda)

A full safari day in the Maasai Mara. Vast plains of tall, golden grass. Big sky. A single acacia tree on the plain. We feel like we are standing on top of the world at this huge game park. It is beautiful. Off road game viewing in a Land Rover with our driver, Rollex. Three lion sightings and a cheetah, too. Hippos and crocodiles in the Mara River and of course, the wildebeest migration from the Serengenti in Tanzania. Thousands of wildebeest and zebras seen migrating in single file, sometimes led by the brighter zebras, looking for grass in the greener Mara. Vultures and Maribou storks feeding on a zebra kill. Elephants, giraffes, Thompson gazelles, antelopes, bucks and tree hyrax. Boxed lunch by the river. Roger’s Lady Carol Boo Boo bird. Our last full day with the boys. South African pinot meritage, Tusker beer and gin and tonics to celebrate. What an immensely wonderful and easy trip this has been with them. Memories to last us a lifetime. Thanks, guys. Thanks for all the shopping, David.

7 August -- Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara (by Roger)

Grrrr....technical problems!

6 August -- Lake Nakuru (by Caroline)

Our first full day at Lake Nakuru National Park. We had game drives nine and ten. No two drives are ever the same even in the same park. Our wonderful guide, Justus, is very in tune to what we are interested in. With all five pairs of eyes and ears we located a distressed vervet monkey and found a leopard lounging below it in the base of two trees. Our second leopard sighting in two days! These beautiful cats are very elusive and I did not think we would even see one.

Lake Nakuru is famous for it’s Greater and Lesser Flamingoes. I am amazed at the sheer number of birds in the lake and the sound that emanates from a million birds. The cacophony sounds like distant waves crashing. We went to view the flamingoes this morning—our third time and a different experience because of the time of day and the light. Also on today’s radar was a rare black rhino sighting. We have seen many white rhinos here—so prehistoric looking! Lake Nakuru was designated as Kenya’s first rhino sanctuary. There are now over a hundred rhinos in this park.

I am enjoying watching Linda become quite the birder. She spotted an African Scops-Owl this evening and pointed out a gorgeous Lilac-Breasted Roller earlier. The Roller was not more than 15 feet from the car. Roger and I got some nice photos. I am enjoying shooting with Roger. As David put it, he and Linda are equipped with point and shoot birthday and baby cameras, so Roger and I have been photographing most of the game and birds. Our guide mentioned that most tourists who like to bird watch are usually older. I guess that makes us old! He meant not under about 35 years old, so maybe we are young to him? David also spotted a Long-Crested Eagle. It is hard to pick a favorite bird of the day with so many beautiful and unusual sightings every day. The White-Fronted Bee-Eater, Pin-Tailed Whydah and the Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu were highlights.

I have enjoyed our lodges immensely and the hospitality. I love the little things like having our beds turned down nightly and being greeted with a big “Jambo!” after a dusty safari and handed damp towels and a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice. I love the big things like the variety of the all you can eat buffets, massage and evening entertainment. This lodge, Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, is located inside the park and has especially wonderful, spicy Indian food. There is a large Indian presence in East Africa and we have had Indian food available to us daily. Yum. We complimented the chef here.

We got a surprise at dinner tonight when the lights were dimmed and a dozen singers and dancers came out of the kitchen with torch and birthday cake in hand. They weaved their way through the dining room. What a festive celebration for someone we all thought. Well the performers landed at our table and the cake in front of me! I was totally confused and we were all laughing hard from the embarrassment. The cake said “Karibu Tena” which is Swahili for “Welcome Again”. I did a little dance with the knife, made a universal wish and blew out the candles. I think the staff picked our table because they genuinely liked us and we were at the lodge for a second night. Big fun.

Americans are not the most common tourists in East Africa, but as a group, are well- liked because we complain the least. The English and French are the worst we have been told. A smile, genuine interest in a new culture, thank you and common courtesy go a long way.

5 August -- Lake Naivasha to Lake Nakuru (by David)

Last night, we ended our evening dinner by having coffee outside on the lawn of the Navasha Country Club. The hotel had dozens of tables and chairs set up out side under a few garden lights. It was very cool out, so the hot drinks were very welcomed! After about 20 minutes, the ghostly, silent silhouette of a herd of Water Bucks came creeping up to nibble on the manicured lawns. We enjoyed watching them walking around the grounds until a group of loud Spaniards starting stalking them, scaring the Water Bucks away.

After breakfast Friday morning, we hit the road about 8:00 a.m. for Lake Nakuru National Park, our driver (Justus) answering our questions about various plants and birds as we drove along.

Along the way, we saw a monitor lizard, and from a distance, Lake Nakuru. From a distance, it looks like the shores of the lake are covered with pink foam. These were the famous flamingos of Lake Nakuru. There must have been over a million of them! As far as the eye could all around the entire lake.

We did some bird-watching this day too in a beautiful grove of yellow barked acacia trees….absolutely enchanting.

We checked into the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge which overlooks Lake Nakuru. The lodge is built into a hillside. (After the hike up to our cabins, we were quite winded!)

During the game drive this afternoon, we were very happy to see 7 or 8 rhinos (White Rhinos) grazing on the grass just off of the side of the road. They were truly amazing to watch. Later on, we were very lucky to also see a leopard on a rock bluff. Several Land Rovers were already lined up so we knew something was catching their attention. As we approached, we spotted the leopard, but only got a decent view of its head from where we were. After only a few minutes, the leopard all but posed for us. It stood up, the walked from one side of the ledge to the other, spraying its territory. We could not have been in a better location...an absolutely perfect view of this magnificent cat.

Driving back to the lodge, we had one final treat for the day. Just off the road, we glimpsed two dik-diks making their way through the brush. These are the tiny antelopes of Kenya that are about the size of small dogs. (So small, in fact, that our guide said that they are often carried off by some of the larger birds of prey!) They looked like miniature deer with incredibly large, dark eyes…and tiny horns.

This evening, we enjoyed the entertainment provided by the lodge: dancers performing various traditional dances to a drum trio. Caroline and Linda got up and joined the dance at one part when they asked for volunteers. Very funny!

For dinner, we had a huge buffet. The theme was one of “bar-b-que” which consisted of grilling a variety of meats, including chicken, pork and lamb, if I remember correctly. They had lots of good Indian food as well, soups and salads…and one of our favorites dessert snacks to date: a very yummy peanut brittle.

4 August -- Amboseli -- Nairobi -- Lake Naivasha (by Linda)

We boarded our small plane in the Amboseli Park headed to Nairobi which is a short flight. We landed, were met by a driver, and after a few stops, were off to Lake Naivasha a two hour drive through the beautiful Rift Valley. Caroline and I slept for a lot of the trip.

We arrived at the Lake Naivasha Country Club on the southern shores of Lake Naivasha (a national park) surrounded by 55 acres of lake side gardens. Over 300 species of birds inhabit the lake shore and hotel grounds. I can’t wait to find out the history of this place – it is older and Roger and I were fantasizing that this was once a British club – I bet we are not far off. We ate lunch and made some plans for the afternoon as we are leaving here in the morning: birding and a sunset boat ride around the lake. This place is not nearly so remote as Amboseli so there are many more people around. More later.

Later: We had a very nice afternoon – the bird walk was fun and we ID’d some new birds with the assistance of our guide. There are a lot of very old yellow bark acacia trees on the grounds which remind me of the old live oaks in Florida. The trees have multiple branches that are gnarled and the bark is yellow-gray – beautiful. Following the walk, our guide took us around the shore of the lake looking at birds. The lake is large and again, we ID’d some more great African birds – giant kingfisher, malachite kingfisher, fish eagle. The sun began going down, we got cold in the wind and headed back to the dock for some tea/coffee on the giant lawn with the acacia trees.

I also got the scoop on the hotel – originally this area of the lake was used for landing water planes and there are some older looking stone buildings in that area. The original hotel was built here in the 1930’s. The original building houses reception, dining area, living room with large fireplace in the style of an old lodge. The hotel has been expanded to include many individual cottages but you get the feeling of a smaller, rustic place. We like it!

3 August -- Amboseli (by Roger)

Started today with another effort at early-morning wildlife observation. We’d set things up with yesterday’s driver, Lomomo, to go out early to catch the nocturnal animals wrapping up their evening. Lomomo told us that lots of people start at 6:30 am, so we opted for the uncivilized hour of 6:15 to beat them and their dust.

Linda and Caroline (of course) were ready and by the car at 6:15 as I came running up, still zipping my camera bag and getting my bird book and binocs squared away. In our ongoing merry-go-round of digestive infelicitation, it was David’s turn to stay in. We have here what I think is the best Landrover I’ve ever been in. With its wood paneling, plush seats, wide body, heavy metal plate construction, high tires and extra-wide chassis, it’s more like a stretch Hummer than a Landrover. This is flat-out luxury.

Lomomo told us that most drivers were heading to last night’s sighting of a lion, so we skipped the crowds and went to see something much more interesting to us – a hyena den. When we got there, it was an amazing sight. There were 12 or 15 hyenas lounging around five or six large holes in the ground, and there were half a dozen pups out playing among the adults. When we drove up, some of the hyenas shied away, and the pups quickly ducked into the dens. After very few minutes though, the pups reemerged as the adults came back to the homestead. All the animals were curious about the car, and several came up to it. Lomomo surprised me by blowing the horn to scare one hyena off; he told us that the animals were commonly known to bite through thick tires if there was an unusual smell on them. In fact, they’d had to spray the airplane tires with something noxious in order to prevent the hyenas from chewing them up.

Even in their family setting, hyenas are ghoulishly ugly…and their little pups aren’t much better. It’s hard to describe a hyena pup. They are cute and playful, like any little puppy, but they have that ugly, clownish build that makes them vaguely threatening. When one came up to our car, my first impulse was to put my hand out to try to pat it, but common sense snapped my hand back real quickly before it was half out. I imagine that one of those little freaks could have nipped off a finger or two with no effort.

We watched the family interactions a long time. A young, spotted male got a bone and played with three of the pups most of that time. He’d tug on the bone with a pup and let the other pups climb over him and nip him in the ear and face; he’d respond in kind. When the thinly-haired mother came over, she joined the fun, too. They’d chase each other and wrestle around like the puppies we see at home every day. It was odd to see such ugly, menacing creatures playing and having so much fun.

Lomomo told us that hyenas form territorial clans and that they recognize members of their clan by smell. They fight viscously if they encounter members of another clan in their territory, as sometimes happens when they meet at a big kill. Looking at them in their family setting, I didn’t have much trouble imagining that.

The rest of our drive went quickly. We saw a fair number of water birds near the swamp and watched lines of elephants doing their daily walk into the swamp; that was impressive in the dawn. We then drove to the swamp’s edge to watch some hippos grazing on the Water Hyacinth and Parrot’s Feather, the same plants we have in our ponds at home. The hippos were covered with mats of these plants when they came up out of the water, suggesting to me the blanket of roses that is put on the winner of the Derby!

Not having had breakfast, I was at least partly happy to get back to the Ol Tukai for some coffee and bread, but I wasn’t there long before Linda and I headed out on a guided bird walk around the grounds. Nice walk. We saw many, many birds we hadn’t noticed before, including our first woodpecker IDs. I think our guide was enjoying himself, too, because he stayed with us a half-hour longer than scheduled. After seeing it here, we notice the Grey Woodpecker everywhere. We also saw a Black-headed Oriole, which made a beautiful call, and revisited the coucal we’d seen so well in Ngorogoro.

The 5:30 am wake-up had about taken its toll on me by then, and I sacked out for a brief nap after the bird walk. I got up shortly and had lunch. We all loved the food and service at this place. And after lunch, I sacked out again for another nap.

David felt well enough to join us for the evening game drive at 4 pm, and we were all looking forward to again seeing Jan, the fun woman from Pennsylvania who knew so much about elephants. However, Jan was out with an elephant research group, and we went out with an American couple. These two were nice enough – the guy had worked in embassies in Africa for a long time, and the woman was interested in taking photos. We didn’t talk a whole lot with them, but they were pleasant enough company.

On this safari, we skirted more of the swamp, stopping to watch a lion walking along the edge of some high grasses. At a point where the road approached the marsh, there were a lot of elephants standing up their necks in the plant-covered water. The elephants would just open their mouths and shovel in the floating plants and grasses with their trunks – they looked like they were standing in a big salad bowl and chowing down. All you could hear were plover calls and these big animals chewing, with an occasional rustle as an elephant shifted its position.

Lomomo then took us to a big hill that you could walk up, so we got out and walked up. What a great view over the plain from there. You could see the swamp lands below running off to the horizon. It was clear that the swamp was associated with a river because a certain distance from the river, the plain turned a light, dry tan. The marsh was much, much larger than I’d imagined; Caroline and I now knew why there was no danger of the elephants overgrazing in it.

At the base of the hill, we were ecstatic to discover that Kilimanjaro had finally emerged from the mist! We’d seen only fog and clouds in that direction ever since we’d arrived, and everyone we spoke to said that the mountain would probably stay that way. However, there it was! We snapped some photos and got away from the hill fast in an effort to get a photo of an elephant with Kilimanjaro in the background, the quintessential Amboseli photo.

And we got one. Several, in fact.

We also got a chuckle out of the causeway we had to cross to get back to the other side of the marsh. While we were taking pics of elephants and Kilimanjaro, Lomomo suddenly started telling us we had to hurry up because a big bull elephant was coming. We finally relented on our photography, and Lomomo scooted our car across the causeway. Soon afterwards, a big bull elephant started walking across the narrow bridge, and no car could cross. The elephant flared out its ears and defied any car to enter. It walked slowly across the causeway, then it turned around and started slowly back the other way. In the middle of the bridge, it decided to browse a small acacia, and the cars on both sides of the bridge had to stay there and wait it out. They were still waiting as we headed back to Ol Tukai, leaving behind us a big elephant, some impatient drivers, and a really magnificent sunset.

Jan had gotten back late from her safari with the researchers, and meeting her in the lobby, we asked her to have dinner with us. Happily, she accepted, and we met shortly after in the dining room and had a great, fun dinner. Jan comes to Ol Tukai twice a year and stays a week to see the elephants and other animals. She also goes to Samburo for a week during each visit for the same reason. She gave us lots of advice about places and things to see, and she kept us interested in her stories about her trips. It was a very fun dinner.

After dinner, we went to a scheduled Maasai dance in the lobby. I was somewhat ambivalent about going, but it turned out to be much more interesting than I’d expected. Our hotel has a strong connection to the Maasai; in fact, “Ol Tukai” means “Maassai.” Many of the staff of the hotel, including even Lomomo, are Maasai, and the dance and chanting were very similar to what we’d heard at Ngorongoro. I have to find a recording of this music when I’m back home….

Well, after the dance, we had our usual gin-and-tonic and went quickly and deeply to sleep. Tomorrow, back to Nairobi, clean clothes, and the Rift Valley.

2 August -- Nairobi to Amboseli (by Caroline)

We left Nairobi early this morning and flew thirty-five minutes to Amboseli National Park. This is the beginning of our Kenya itinerary. I had no idea that the 18 seat plane would actually be flying into the park with zebras and wildebeest all around us. The small airstrip is cleared of animals every time that a plane arrives or departs. We are staying in the beautiful Ol Tukai Lodge smack in the middle of the game park with Mt. Kilimanjaro and wild life outside our door. It is kind of odd but very cool. Ol Tukai is a Maasai word that means “palm tree.”

We had morning and afternoon game drives lead by a knowledgeable and superb driver, Lamomo, a Maasai. Amboseli National Park is surrounded by endless plains. The landscape is very flat and dry. Dust devils, created when hot and cold air meet, dot the horizon and look like little tornadoes dancing among the wild life. The roads in the park are in good shape and the ride is not so bumpy, but we are perpetually covered in a layer of dust. We saw some beautiful birds including a spectacular Saddle-bill and pairs of Crested Cranes that mate for life. We are very close to animals here and got especially close to a herd of elephants entering a swamp. These majestic giants migrate every morning to feed and share the wetland with cape buffaloes and hippos. It is one happy, all you can eat, salad bowl.

The late afternoon drive brought a sighting of a lioness and images of mixed herds of wild life. This is the first time we have seen so many animals co-existing together. We saw the elephants leave the swamp followed by wildebeest. The elephants were headed back to the forest for sleep and protection. It was a wonderful sight – elephants leaving the muddy waters and wildebeest following – all in several single file lines. Fascinating! Elephants are fast becoming my favorite game animal. There are over 1,300 elephants in Amboseli and can often be seen in large herds.

Mt. Kilimanjaro, over 19,338 feet, is Africa's highest peak. It is often shrouded in fog during this cool, dry season, but we are hoping to catch a glimpse before we leave. Roger swears he can feel Mt. Kili's presence, but David and I can only feel it's absence. After this exchange with Roger, David said to me, "Let's go pee, Caroline" and I responded "Then let's go shopping". We are all bonding in our own special ways. All of us are taking turns not feeling well today except Roger. He has a steel stomach I suppose.

1 August -- Tanzania to Nairobi (by Linda)

Today was a travel day. Not much to report except David and Caroline had a big time shopping at various places including a souvenir shop and at the Tanzania – Kenya border.

Our guide took us to from the lovely NgoroNgoro Farmhouse to Arusha, Tanzania (a two hour trip) to have lunch and catch a shuttle to Nairobi. We had lunch in a hotel, got our seats on the bus/shuttle and were off for the 5 hour trip which was uneventful. I got into reading a book and the others found ways to entertain themselves. We were due in at 7pm and about 6pm a cell phone rang and Roger got a call from our travel agent (on the bus driver’s phone) informing us that our destination hotel in Nairobi had been changed. We could not believe that Henry could track us down on the bus! We arrived at the swanky and historic Norfolk, had dinner at our hotel and vowed to catch up on the blogging. We are off early tomorrow for a flight to Amboseli Park which is in Kenya but looks over Mount Kilimanjaro. A game drive awaits us when we arrive.

31 July -- Ngorongoro Crater (by Roger)

As we’ve come to expect from our hotel, we had a great breakfast – the usual warm service and excellent food. I think they could sell the pineapple here as candy.

We loaded into our car and headed for Ngorongoro Crater, a mile or so up the road. I’m catching on to the weather here; it’s cloudy and cold in the morning and sunny and cool after 1 or 2 pm. I had to wear shorts (everything else I had was dirty and being laundered) and, as a result, I froze. It was so cold that I was cuddling around the dirty t-shirt I’d kept to wrap around my camera. The drive up was wonderful, though. As we ascended the crater wall, the weather went from overcast to foggy and windy, and the image of acacia trees wrapped in this mist was remarkable. We drove along the top of the crater wall in fog for so long that I started to wonder whether the inside of the crater was going to be foggy too, but our driver assured us it would be clear. Speeding along, our driver couldn’t see 20’ ahead, and we didn’t look.

After a long while on the top of the crater, we started descending a little. About this point, a group of zebras emerged from the mist, and Caroline and I stared as that never-to-be repeated photo-op vanished back into the mist. We complained about that lost opportunity the rest of the day despite David and Linda making up rules to prevent us from whining about it.

Ngorongoro is one of the premier wildlife experiences in the world, if not the premier. It’s a huge volcanic caldera – about 20 miles in diameter. The inside of the crater is flat, and there is a variety of habitat that ranges from savannah-like plains to lush forest and fresh-water pools. Of course, there are animals that exploit each of the types of habitat, too. And the whole time you’re riding around and looking at the animals, you can see the high, steep, circular walls of the crater in the distance and even an occasional string of Maasai herdsmen with some cattle. With its incredible space, its saturated tan and green color palette, and its animals, Ngorongoro is just unique and unforgettable.

It would be hard to describe all the animals we saw while we were going along in our van. The car was perfect for this safari because the roof had been modified to lift up about 2’; we could stand in the middle of the car and see the whole horizon in the shade. Not that we needed shade. It was so cold that we all huddled down in the van to stay warm.

From our car, the game viewing was great. One of the best sightings was the lions we came to about midday. There were four of them stretched out in a row right beside the road. These lions looked unique because they had splotches; our guide told us that savannah lions have a mottled coat for camouflage instead of the solid one we think of. I’d never seen lions in the wild like these. They’d obviously had a good meal that night and we sleeping so soundly they were absolutely oblivious to the tens of Landrovers crowding around them for a view. They reminded me of the way our cats would stretch out together in front of the fireplace during winter at home. One would occasionally move a paw, but for all intents and purposes, they were dead to the world. When we stopped by later in the afternoon, one of the two males managed to wake up enough to move a little. It looked across the savannah smelling, and then it headed off, first in a walk, then in a trot and then in a run. We thought it was hunting something, but it was apparently running to chase the scavengers away from its previous night’s kill. What a thrill to see this lion running across the savannah.

Another highlight was a stop by the hippo pool. The hippos were funny with their huge bodies supported on their stubby little legs. The hippos stayed in the water, flipping occasional showers up on their backs with their little tails to avoid sunburn. One hippo seemed to like being on its back with its four little legs in the air, but its belly was as pink as it could be, and it looked to me like it had already gotten a sunburn. As interesting as the hippos, there was a colossal mixed herd around the pool. Hundreds of zebra, antelope and wildebeest mingled on the plain around the water, and they were beautiful indeed with the deep blue of the crater walls in the background.

The plain was also full of scavengers and birds. We saw two types of jackals ranging around, and hyenas were very active, perhaps because of the overcast weather. I’d never had such a good view of a hyena. Lopsided, scraggly-furred, heavily-muscled with a vaguely hunchbacked aspect and big, black, empty eyes, these are creatures of nightmare. We also saw a lot of different birds. One of the most fun was a coucal that seemed rather slowed down by the cold. It sat on a snag beside our van and let us get close enough to thump its beak. My best bird photo ever. We also saw ostriches courting near our car, chasing each other with their wings and feathers fluffed out.

Eventually, we had to leave the crater floor and head to visit a Maasai village. We passed a couple of elephants grazing on the edge of a small forest and started up the crater wall. There was a beautiful view over the entire caldera as we ascended because of the deep blues of the distant walls and the deep browns of the plains. It was cold again at that top as we bounced over to visit a village we had heard was open to the public.

It was an interesting visit. The biggest advantage to visiting a village like this is that you can pay an entry fee and photograph everyone you want to instead of the constant hassle of asking to photograph the Maasai in public. With their purple clothes and heavily ornate jewelry, the Maasai are very photogenic but don’t like having their picture taken. At Ngorongoro, they have organized themselves to open a couple of their villages for visits and to share the proceeds with all the regional Masai. Ours was partly a village visit – we saw several huts and went in one of them – and partly a cultural display. The young men (“warriors”) performed a dance as we arrived, and when we in, another group chanted and did their well-known jumping dance, flapping their beads and collars as they shot straight up in the air. There was also a chant by the women.

After the show, we went into a Maasai hut to see its construction. Made of dung, straw and mud, it had a simple, practical, economical architecture that both Linda and I sensed as the achievement of eons of drylands experience. It was comfortable and functional in this landscape.

Before we left, we (Caroline and David) did some shopping. Rather than a cattle corral in the center of the bomba, as a Maasai village is called, there was big, tall, circular straw wall with handicrafts on it. I had the impression that they’d brought work from a lot of different villages to display here as there simply weren’t enough people in this village to have made all the bead and metal work on display. I took pictures while our driver sounded the alarm that the park was going to close before we got out. The Maasai men were pushing spears and clubs, but David was shopping for beads. Just before we left, David offered a low price for beads, and the guys had to run to the women to get approval of the price. Apparently, they make the spears and clubs and can sell them for what they want, but the women do the bead work and have final say there.

When we left, we flew along the rim road and down to the gate, losing our rear bumper to a particularly vicious pothole. We got there half-an-hour late but pleaded that we’d had car trouble, so they let us pass with minimum fuss. Ten minutes later, we were comfortably in the womb of the Ngorongoro Farmhouse.

The wonders of the service of this place continued. When we arrived, there was a woman waiting for us with warm, moist towels to rub off the plentiful dust we’d accumulated. After our arrival, she carted away a basket of used towels; she’d clearly greeted all the other guests and had been waiting for us to return. Caroline and Linda then went for showers while David and I went to a circus-like performance that included African music, tumbling, juggling, contortion, fire-eating and dancing by a man on huge stilts. What fun!

We dined in the chilly outdoors that night after David and I had showers. More fantastic food. Then we had our usual evening gin-and-tonic and downloaded the day’s photos onto the laptop while David went to sleep.

30 July -- Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Farm House (by David)

After a buffet breakfast at the Lake Manyara Hotel, we headed out for our half-day safari via Land rover in the Lake Manyara National Park. Almost immediately upon entering the park, we drove past a troupe of baboons clamoring around on the ground. Shortly thereafter, we stopped for photos of a large elephant in a wooded area. Other animals this day included a huge variety of birds, a giraffe delicately eating leaves with its lips and mouth on tree branches covered with long white thorns, zebras, and hippos. In the hippo pond, we enjoyed watching a variety of birds, including saddle bills, sacred ibis and Egyptian ducks.

After the safari, we made our way to the Ngorongoro Farm House at about 3:00 p.m., where we were met with cool, moist, scented hand towels and sweet ice tea flavored with lemon grass. Just what we needed! (I wont describe what the hand towels looked like after we wiped our dusty hands and face on them!) The Farm House was actually a splendid resort with acres of coffee plants, bananas, sunflowers, potatoes, etc. The grounds also contained fruit trees and flowers that were planted to attract birds. Our itinerary described the farm as a 500 acre coffee farm located only 4kms from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Loldurate gate. The Farm House included bungalows "rustically decorated with local materials" as described by our itinerary. We found out that the Farm House was a mere two years old.

Lunch at Farm House was taken in a stunning dining room with an exposed wood ceiling that arched up like the interior of a barn with chandeliers suspended above the tables. (The exterior of the main building was covered with thatched roof.) We were treated to a bowl of organic salad greens with a honey balsamic dressing, spaghetti bolognaise, fish stew, snow peas and for dessert, caramelized orange slices with fresh mint ice cream. Our server let us know that almost everything we ate had been grown and/or processed on the farm.

After lunch, David and Roger napped for over an hour while Caroline and Linda took a two-hour farm tour. After our nap, we took coffee out by a beautiful swimming pool while our host, Johann told us to keep our eyes out for a nest of love birds and an owl that we had been hearing calling near our rooms. We did find the love birds just at sunset…there must have been a dozen of them, screeching and flying around a tree near the pool.

Just before dinner, we watched the evening critters that came out just as the sun was setting. Nightjars and yellow bats competed for flying insects. The bats zipped by us, only a couple of feet from our heads. We also saw some kind of deer walk right past our deck out on the Rift Valley, pausing to stare at us for a couple of seconds. That same evening, we were amazed by the brightness and multitude of stars, not to mention the constellations that we were totally unfamiliar with from the other side of the globe.

For dinner, we had short ribs with an orange sauce, some kind of fish stew, (perhaps some kind of beef?) snow peas, green peppers stuffed with veggies and risotto and salad with avocado. For dessert we had our choice of slices of passion fruit log (cake), chocolate cake and some kind of citrusy ice-cream. A tremendous dinner that we all enjoyed!

29 July -- Uganda to Tanzania (by Caroline)

We left Uganda this morning for Tanzania via Nairobi. I left with extremely fond memories. Uganda is amazingly lush and clean despite the immense poverty. Honestly, I did not know what to expect – images of post Idi Amin, hijackings, and machete-wielding guerillas. Of course, it was not any of that. Ugandans are incredibly warm and friendly people, not to mention physically beautiful! The people in the capital of Kampala are especially dark – a gorgeous ebony.

There are over 50 different tribes in this country. The clothing is a rainbow of color. Gasoline is about $12 a gallon ($10 in Kenya). Bill and Hillary are warmly remembered for their visit and aid to Africa. Many things are named after them (pizzas, pavilions, etc.). The African food has been mostly stews, matoke (steamed bananas), dodo (similar to spinach), cassava, sweet potatoes, eggplant or meat in a ground nut sauce, rice, and breads. I got to take photos of a kitchen in Bwindi.

Three airports later, we arrived in Arusha, Tanzania and met our driver Wakara. What I noticed immediately were power lines on the outskirts of Arusha. This country is much more developed than Uganda. The land is flat and dry. It looks like a high desert. I see wheat and sunflower fields all around and many people walking, often carrying amazing things on their heads – a common sight everywhere we have been.

Our drive to Lake Manyara Hotel is 2 hours. The sun is setting and the light is a golden amber. We pass many Maasai men wrapped in their traditional red cloth herding cattle. The sun is behind them and the dust billowing. It is a spectacular National Geographic moment.
We continue our drive through the eastern Rift Valley and I fell asleep. We arrived at our destination and I found myself staring at a large, impressive lodge with massage services. We were at the doorstep of Colonialism, I thought. I took advantage of a massage after dinner and dove into bed which had been turned down with mints and a mosquito net. Tomorrow brings our first safari!

28 July -- Road back to Nairobi (by Roger)

Sadly, this is the day we leave paradise.

Linda and I got up early so we could do a bird walk by the river before we spent the rest of the day traveling. We were willing to get up early so we could do our birdwatching from 6:30 to 7:30, when we would meet Caroline and David for breakfast. Already packed and ready to hit the road later, we met for coffee and looked through the dark at the fog. We were up, but the sun wasn’t. Darkness. Heavy fog. No birds. Undaunted, we went for a walk anyway and came back to the hotel, where we saw one of the omnipresent wagtails in the dawning light fighting itself in the Landrover mirror.

After breakfast, we spent some time taking pictures of most of the staff. Then we resigned ourselves to what we knew was going to be one long trip to Entebbe. As before, the road was ridiculously bumpy, and we were thrown continually up and down and side to side continuously. Now I know how a martini feels. There is a good side to all this, though, because the road wasn’t as dusty as before (thanks to the rain), it was lots cooler than on our previous trip, and there weren’t many vehicles at that time of the morning.

We made a few little stops as we did the three-hour dirt road part of the trip. We noticed that there were lines of people at different places, and our driver told us that there was an election. It was actually a referendum on whether Uganda would move from a one-party to a multi-party form of government. I had mixed feelings about the vote based on the little I knew of Uganda’s recent history. Historically, political parties in Uganda have grown along tribal lines, and whenever one party gets power, it starts making life hard or impossible for the other tribes (parties). That’s how Obote and Amin came to power, and tribalism was the underlying motivation for the atrocities they committed. Musavene, the current president, was able to defeat the dictator Obote with a multi-tribal army, and he converted his movement into a single, multi-ethnic party which has been governing Uganda very successfully for the last 20 years. Now there’s a question of whether Uganda is ready for multi-party democracy or not, and the lines of people we were seeing will decide whether to risk it or not. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest headlines.

We stopped just outside the forest at a tea plantation where we bought a kilo of the local tea. The tea from this area is aromatic, flavorful and mild, so we were happy to have that chance. A woman at the plantation also showed us a copy of the referendum ballot; it had symbols (a tree and a house) to represent the single-party/multi-party choices for those who are illiterate. Caroline and I thought that the origin of our own donkeys and elephants might be similar.

After another bumpy interlude, we stopped for a…er, refreshment break, and while he was out in the weeds, David spotted a chameleon. David and I wanted to see if it would turn blue, like our Landrover, but when I started toward the car with it, our driver panicked. Apparently, Africans here don’t like chameleons any more than they do in West Africa. David and I consoled ourselves by putting the little two-toed lizard on a tree and watching it turn red.

We got back in our martini shaker and continued, eventually reaching paved road. After an interminable period, we broke for lunch at the place we’d stopped on our outward trip. After lunch, we went on to the equator, where we stopped at the shop we’d stopped at before. We’d noticed that there three basins with “Did You Know?” on them, and David had heard that water would go down them in different directions (clockwise or counterclockwise) depending on whether we were on the north or south side of the equator. This was too much to go untested, so we tested it. Sure enough, water went down clockwise in the north basin, counterclockwise in the south and pretty much straight down the equator basin. I can hardly believe that 20 yards of distance would make such a difference, but I saw it myself.

As we continued on down the road, we could see that the day was starting to move into evening. Birds were getting more active, and I saw a few birds flying over that looked like big turacoes. Our driver finally pulled over at a place with a lot of the birds in a tree, and we got a really good look at a Great Blue Turaco. Fantastic.

After 10 hours of travel, we entered Kampala as the sun was setting. The part of town we went through was hugely active – people waiting for minibuses in the middle of a big, colorful market. The road went from paved to unpaved/potholed and back to paved, and the driver told us that the MP from the district with the unpaved section was a vocal critic of the government; the lack of pavement was punishment for his lack of cooperation. “There is a lot of politics in this road,” Josef said.

We drove in the dark to Entebbe, where we joined Bush I, Bill Clinton, and Bush II in staying at the Botanical Royal Hotel. Clinton had apparently been popular in Uganda because we had seen things like Hillary pizza on menus before; at this hotel, the penthouse was called the Clinton Suite. We didn’t stay in that suite, but I was happy that, after 10-1/2 hours on the road, I slept on the most comfortable mattress I’ve slept on in Africa.