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RHINOS,
RHINOS EVERYWHERE!
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Jambo
Travel Associate
Look
at the horn on that rhino, said to be the longest horn on any
rhino...1.7 metres. I surely wouldn't want to come in contact
with it. Let's just hope it stays SAFE, with Rhino
poaching still occuring. I'm back from Kenya where my group
and I had a fantastic time. This edition is dedicated to all
the wonderful people we met in the course of the trip,
at our accommodations and along the journey, that made our
stay so enjoyable. You
know who you are because you are receiving a copy of this newsletter and
your photo may appear in it as well.
There is no way to cover the entire trip photographically, so these are
a few highlights. Also I have to point out that Bob and Sharon (from
Rockland, NY) (see the one and only Bob in the photo below)
took some of the MOST incredible photos on this trip. From he and his
wife Sharon's online album, all phenomenal, there are so many
I wanted to share just a few with you in my
newsletter.
It
was a great travel group... funny with so much laughter, enjoyable,
exciting and adventurous moments. (And Destined To Travel promises
travel to exotic, exciting and adventurous destinations - this was ALL
of the above). I can't possibly recount all of the moments I
remember, or which was funnier than the other, and I will often be
reminded of something that happened on the trip, that either brings a
smile to my face or tears to my eyes.
Of all the many hilarious moments, two stand out as being both funny
and memorable. One was the moment Bob showed me the photos of
the little Capuchin monkey peeking into his tent as he was packing to
leave, and then deciding to step farther inside until both the monkey
realized there was a human inside, and Bob realized, the monkey might
be brazen enough to explore further if he didn't shoo him out - but of
course NOT BEFORE grabbing his closest cell phone camera to take a
photo. Funny to me because when Sharon told me to ask Bob to
see the picture of the monkey Bob had taken, I had no idea she meant IN
HIS TENT. Good job Bob both in documenting the moment in
photos and your reaction!
It's always fun to watch the excitement and amazement of first time
guests to Africa. Everyone who's traveled to Africa, we've
all have those moments, including me. Surely, Emmanuel, our
ranger at Amboseli will remember when, out on our first game drive of
the trip, we spotted a tower of giraffe, and Bob, in all his excitement
was about to jump out of the vehicle when I reminded him to make sure
Emmanuel says it's okay - and before Emmanuel could answer and I could
blink, Bob was out of the vehicle taking pictures. I was
laughing. I loved his excitement because I knew that this was only the
beginning of what would turn out to be, a trip filled with excitement
and amazement. Fortunately, his excitement when we drove in
obvious 'predator' areas was much more constrained. Good job
Bob!
And then there was Sharon who came alive the moment she saw the
leopard, so animated, so excited. It's her favorite animal,
and our first sighting of the leopard with the elephant herd at dusk
heightened her excitement, and the next sighting of the leopard under
the tree eating his kill, was even more thrilling. It was
difficult to get the best shots, but she was in one vehicle and I in
another. I can't believe the shots they got...and although I
wasn't with her when she took photos of the leopard sprawled in a tree,
I can just imagine her excitement, because I can imagine
mine. Love those leopards, me too Sharon.
Pat and Cynthia, who absolutely adore giraffes, went wild at Giraffe
Manor where we stayed at the end of the trip, having breakfast with the
giraffe, and being able to feed them, and wake up to them at their
window. I think they were in 'seventh heaven' and I
particularly enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves.
To say that Vicki enjoyed the 'shopping' experience is an
understatement. On each stop, she made a bee-line to
determine if the vendor had any beaded dog collars to
purchase. If they did, look out, because she bought them
all. It was fun watching her on a mission and zeroing in on
that - her bargaining skills got better and better with each
experience. You Go Girl! I hope everyone enjoyed
the dog collars.
Millie, also her first time, was amazed and excited at her visit to
David Sheldrick Elephant Trust. I was watching her as she was
so attentive to the baby elephants and then the teenage elephants - as
they were brought out - as the elephant handlers were feeding them and
explaining how each of them came to end up at there. Millie's
eyes were darting from one elephant to another, excited to share in
this opportunity to be in their presence. I love being able
to provide this opportunity to my guests and see their excitement. I
loved that Millie was enjoying it as much as I was - and I can't even
count how many times I've been there. That's how it's done Millie.
So for all the exciting moments, your amazement, wonder and
enjoyment.....since I can't bottle it, I can, however, now share that
with my other friends, guests and relatives.
Enjoy!
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The
group at Utamaduni: Front: Pat, Cynthia, Vicki, Kay
(all
previous Kenya travelers) Back:
Bob, Sharon, and Millie (all
new Kenya and Africa travelers)
Trip Report - Kenya
Whenever
I think my trips can't get any better, they do, in part because the
group, itinerary and the experiences are always different. On this
trip, fortunately, due to recent political events, no one was deterred
by the additional security throughout Kenya and, in fact, felt more
comfortable and secure. We had a great surprise Thanksgiving
dinner at Amboseli Porini, and three of us celebrated our
birthdays as well, in traditional Maasai style. Pictured
below, Millie and I try our hand at jumping as high as the Maasai,
needless to say who won THAT contest, certainly not us.
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| Just like home! |
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Our
trip began at House of Waine,
 a lovely
home in the Karen area of Kenya, outside of Nairobi. (My
grass doesn't look like that....). It is wholly African-owned and bears
the initials of the family combined in order of age, to make the word
WAINE. I first stayed here in 2004 and have since stayed several
times. Two nights here allowed us time to visit David
Sheldrick Elephant Trust where founder Dame Daphne Sheldrick and her
family are making wonderful strides in the rescue of elephants and even
some baby rhino, as you see in these photos. It is a
unique and one of a kind program.
  
Kay/Sharon/Bob
Protecting the
Youngest
Can't have enough milk
While
here, all of my group adopted one or more elephants. You can
adopt one too, pick yours and follow its status.
Adopting an elephant for $50.00 a year does more than you think. Where
else can you spend $50.00 to help to keep a shelter going,
handlers with jobs, and provide for every elephant found injured or
orphaned out in the wild to be rescued. It's an inexpensive yet great
gift for the holidays or any time, for the person who has everything,
or not. Following our visit to Sheldrick, a shopping and
lunch excursion followed to Utamaduni, which has a very nice outdoor
verandah restaurant for lunch with exquisite shopping. Of
course no visit is complete without a trip to Kazuri beads where my guests promptly
completed their shopping for the day.
The
trip was arranged by me, (itinerary, planning and organized) and
coordinated through Gamewatchers Safaris based in Nairobi (http://www.porini.com/about-us.html?sub=meet-the-team),
a knowledgeable and involved company with whom I've had the pleasure of
working for several years. ....... Gamewatchers Safaris only
works with the best Kenya safari camps in Africa, but also own and
directly operate the award winning Porini Safari Camps, which are
visited regularly by the company's managing director Jake Grieves-Cook,
with Mohanjeet Brar at the helm. Jake is fluent in Swahili
and has spent the better part of his long career in Africa, working
with the local population and supporting the drive to maintain Kenya's
eco system that in turn enables its wildlife to flourish - there are
few who know more about Kenyan safaris than Jake.....
Gamewatchers has won significant awards (http://www.porini.com/about-us.html?sub=awards-and-news-articles)
for their work with the conservancies, eco-tourism and the local
communities and as such, are entirely deserving of each of
them. A stay here will immediately recognize why they have
received so many awards. Thank you Mohanjeet for sharing your
latest awards with us. We are thrilled that you continue to
do such good work in Kenya.
Here are some highlights of our trip......
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DONATING TO THE COMMUNITY
A safari is more than just the game
drives and the animal sightings. It is about the people, it
is about the experience and it is about ones wilingness to see, to
accept the country and everything it is and using that experience as an
opportunity. GIVING reaps huge rewards of the
heart and we felt it through the face, the eyes and the words of these
kids. Even the smallest item could change the life of a
child immensely, maybe forever. A smile on the face of a
child who receives something so small as a pen can display a smile that
will light up one's life. When planning my safaris, my Operation
Backpack is at the forefront. It allows travelers (at their
discretion and most do participate) to take a backpack of supplies for
distribution to local communities. On this trip and through
Gamewatchers we visited St.Lazurus school run by the head mistress
Rachel Lomosi. Rachel is, what I would term a heroine, a
saint. She is doing wonderful and incredible things in the
Kibiera slums, maybe the largest slum in Africa, an area that many
would shun. She has started St. Lazarus school, in an effort to educate
those children in the community whose parents /family cannot afford to
send them to regular school. These are children who
are anxious for the opportunity to attend school because they know that
an education is the way forward. We spent an incredible time with
Rachel and the kids, who sang and read poetry for us, and gave each of
us pictures they had drawn before we left. Moved by what
Rachel has been able to accomplish and seeing the 'unfinished' area of
the school, it didn't take much for Bob and the other guests to reach
deep into their pockets to help. From Gamewatchers and
Destined To Travel, we both thank you immensely for your participation
in this program. (That's Bob with Rachel holding up money as
she was obviously overwhelmed).
 
Below
are photos of each of the group offering their backpack of supplies to
Rachel and the children. You can read more about her work and
support here: at this address.
If you'd like to contribute towards the completion of her school,
please feel free to email
me.
   
 
Rachel
started with 40 children and now has classrooms of over 140 students,
students who would not otherwise be able to afford to go to school,
except for her efforts. In addition to all the backpacks,
Dental Care of Corona, my dentist, who is Tanzania born, donated 100
toothbrushes, and dental floss for which Rachel and the other teachers
were incredibly grateful.
We gave but we received
so much more than we could have ever imagined. We
spent time with the children who filled four small classrooms, six to a
table. There was hardly room enough
for the teacher, but these kids were anxious to show us what they had
been learning and sharing it with us. We
danced with the kids, we sang with the kids and we talked to the kids,
who were anxious to talk to us, as they rubbed their hands through our
hair and hugged us tightly. As
Rachel took us through the school classrooms, the kids followed.
Kibera
is on no map, its 550,000+ people - one out of every five Nairobians -
cartographically invisible. There is no running water, and no
waste program. No one knows for sure how many people live in Kibera;
population density is estimated at 3,000
people per hectare - 750,000 people in one square
mile - or no more than 37 square feet per person. It is one
of the most crowded places on earth. This
is the location of St. Lazarus School. And, as this turned
out, just adding this small package to our luggage turned out to be the
biggest joy of all and brought hugs from the kids and
gratitude from the teachers. It was an emotional
time, but one of the most heartfelt visits I think I have taken.
Everyone left with tears in their
eyes. Thank you Mohanjeet, thank you Henrietta,
and thank you Rachel for this incredible opportunity.
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Taking much needed supplies to
this clinic/hospital, Dr. Patel is the saint here, working miracles for
the community
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The second
visit to Limuru Nursing Home comprises a hospital as well as a
clinic. People come from miles around. for treatment or to
have their baby. Dr. Patel is the Director here and it is he who
ensures that these patients are taken care of, no matter whether they
can afford it or not. It is a maternity hospital, an
emergency hospital, a general hospital and everything in
between. The operating room and the facilities may leave a
lot to be desired compared to what is available stateside, but it is
the best they've got and people bang down the doors to receive
treatment here, so anything received or donated is greatly
appreciated. Two doctors on the trip, Sharon an
audiologist and Vicki a neuropsychologist, were able to bring much
needed medical supplies which were distributed to Dr. Patel, as he
showed us his newest piece of equipment, the 21st century blood
screening machine, for which they just got a bank 'loan'. My
friend Laura donated two bags of items such as aspirin, first aid
ointments, tape, and general first aid supplies for which Dr. Patel was
extremely grateful. Laura, thank you so much for your
generosity. This is a great way for my guests to help the
local community and as we departed, we tear up, and applaud the
incredible services these individuals perform, with little or no pay,
to assist the community. We applaud them and the
work they do and we applaud Gamewatchers for their incredible support
of these programs. I look forward to working with them more
in these areas.
The journey continued with an
overland trip to Amboseli Porini Camp where we spent a fun and
enjoyable time with all our camp friends, we'd met on previous
trips. In Kenya, this is one of my favorite experiences
.....and I always long to return. We are their sisters and
they are our brothers, and together we share so much. Thank you Tony
(Mgr.), Emmanuel, Jonah, Wilson, Daniel, Julius and everyone else at
the camp. Special shout-out to Harry, former Manager, at
Amboseli Porini who made it a point to visit with me before I left
Kenya.
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Daniel, Sharon, Emmanuel,
Julius, Jonah, Bob
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Naturally Kay and Sharon join
the fun at Kichwa
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From
Amboseli, we flew to the Mara where we stayed at Kichwa Tembo, Mara
Explorer, and finally Mara Bushtops, each offering their own uniquely
different style. It's full of adventure, humor and
excitement, and we meet with old friends and make new
friends, and our family of brothers continues to grow. Thank
you Dickson, Steve, Vincent, shown below at our breakfast in the bush
and thanks too to all the staff, chef, security, who just made an
already fantastic time, more awesome.
 
Kay/Pat/Cynthia having sundowners(Explorer)
Breakfast in the bush (with group and Explorer friends)
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Lunch at Mara Bushtops
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Never know who you might see
on safari! Here one K meets up with the other 2 K's (Kristina and
Kathy), traveling also in Kenya.
We meet at the airstrip along with our tribal warriors, who have been
our protectors along the way.
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In the Mara Explorer Vehicle,
as it's pouring down rain, we're happy campers for this adventure
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Nelson, Daniel, Peter, Sena,
Our Rangers and Trackers - Mara Bushtops
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My guests had a unique opportunity to see all of the Big Five
at the beginning of the trip and it just got better as we moved
along. In the Mara, while at Kichwa Tembo, their first
leopard sighting in the midst of a large herd of elephants late in the
day was a perfect way to end the evening.
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Elephants do not take a liking
to leopards in their territory and leopards want to get out of their way
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Our last stop, Solio had been a last minute replacement for LAMU, so
only five of us traveled. What a perfect choice, a perfect
retreat, with night drives and best seat in the house. Thank you Ava,
our hostess, James and Agnes, our chefs, Sakayo, Ruth, JJ, Blackie
(yes, that's his name and proud of it), and Amos, for who we nicknamed
'Famous' Amos after the Cookie mogul in the states, and Fred and all
the others that made our stay so memorable at Solio.
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See No Evil, Speak No Evil,
Hear No Evil.......in the bush - What happens in the bush, stays in the
bush!
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Blackie, our Samburu
warrior, Kay, 'Famous' Amos, our new name for Amos
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Night Drive - Cheetahs
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Best Seat in the House, uh, I
mean vehicle!
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THE
SEASON OF YOUNG
There
is a season, generally January through March where baby wildebeest,
zebra and even impala are seen on the plains of the Mara and the
Serengeti. You would have thought
that this was that time. There were
young babies everywhere you turned, babies nursing, babies playing,
impala pronking, warthogs feeding; every species had babies.
We found it a lot of fun watching
the babies play. There wasn't much
difference between seeing human babies playing and these animals
playing, running back and forth, 'practicing' what they saw their
mother do, entranced by these 'humans' watching them in amazement.
LEOPARDS
There
are safaris where guests never see the elusive leopard.
Maybe they see the tail going
through the bush, or the leopard jump from a tree, then suddenly
disappear, but not often do they get a chance to move with the leopard,
or just sit and watch a leopard. Consider
yourself lucky if you see a leopard on safari. Fortunately,
I have been lucky, I have seen leopards on most of my safaris and they
are absolutely beautiful, stunning and majestic creatures, probably my
favorite animal, well then there's the giraffe, and the beautiful
cheetah - they're all favorites. I'm
quite happy that my guests had several similar experiences.
THE
UNUSUAL OR NOT SO COMMON SPECIES
Some
safaris see the typical animals throughout the safari and I've been on
a number of those safaris, usually when I am on safari without a group.
On this one, however, I have to
say that this safari presented every opportunity to see both the
regular and usual suspects, but a number of other animals that are not
typically seen on safari, including horses, and one little lone white
sheep with a completely black head, large herds of Eland, an animal not
often seen or seen in the numbers we saw them, a Gerenuk that stands up
and feeds off the tree leaves, and a reticulated giraffe, a pattern
seen on giraffe located only in Northern Kenya.
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| Gerenuk, feeds by standing on
hind legs |
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| Notice the square like
pattern, unlike others |
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Cute as a button
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This is KALI (of African Cats
fame) and AKA Notch in Big Cat Diary - in all his regalness
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Baa Baa Black Headed Sheep -
Ebony and Ivory
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Beauties of Solio
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More of Kay's Photos
here:
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| Sharing the grounds with
giraffe |
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| Dining in Style |
Before heading off to Solio, our last stay of all of us together occurs
at Giraffe Manor, where we lunch and dine with all the Rothchild
giraffe, which are endangered, that reside on the property.
They are wild, but habituated to the humans that feed them, but still
not safe to walk amongst them.
PHOTOS
BELOW were taken by BOB
and SHARON (captions
by Kay)
I took 3500 photos on this trip, and Bob and Sharon took about 6000
together, Pat and Cynthia, I'm sure also took several thousand, and
Millie took quite a number as well. Bob and Sharon, who took
the most together culled it down to about 1200 that they posted, and of
those I selected just a few of my favorite, not their best, because
that's almost ALL of them, and unless you were there, you might get
bored, so here are just a very few. There is a story behind
every photo, but I'll leave that to your imagination. Enjoy!
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| Wonder what or who I can find
in here.... |
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Umm, let me just step in
farther and get a better look - YIKES, didn't know a HUMAN was home,
but now that I'm here, What 'cha' doin' in there?
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There were so many hilarious moments, but this little Capuchin monkey
picture just cracked me up, as did the moment when Bob got so excited,
he was over and out of the vehicle, before you could blink, at the
first game sighting of a tower of giraffe. I love it when
guests get that excited, fortunately, his excitement was a bit more
constained when we were in the vicinity of predators. :)
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Split Horn
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| I think I can... |
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| At Giraffe Manor - Give me some.. |
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| Just perfect |
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| Too cute for words |
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| Where's my mommy? |
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| Stay behind, don't stray. |
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| Your first of many river
crossings....stay with me. |
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| Look honey, we're on camera |
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| Not a small cheetah, but a
full grown serval....not often seen - luck was with us. |
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I was not with Bob and Sharon
when they saw this - I wish I had been because I too would have taken
100 photos
Just look at him - A Lazy Day
- My PERSONAL favorite of Bob's Photos - Picture Postcard
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Just can't leave you alone by
yourself, Come with me!
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| You Looking at Somethin' |
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| Two headed and wounded too |
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| Talk about close up |
Bob and Sharon, thank you for sharing allowing me to profile some of
your fantastic photos.
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I asked everyone to send me their
favorite photo from the trip and here they are:
Submitted
by Millie: Millie and Daisy
Submitted by Vicki: Lioness carrying cub across the river
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Submitted by Sharon:
looks like we all LOVE that leopard
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Submitted by Bob:
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Egypt
is temporarily cancelled * if you are interested, however, let me know
as I will reschedule this trip in the future if enough travelers are
interested.
Ireland
anyone....October 9, 2012
Anyone
want to join me in KENYA again in November 2012 or Tanzania in
2013?
2012
TRAVEL SPECIALS WHILE I WAS AWAY
Unfortunately,
there just isn't enough time for me to escort every group to every
destination, but I also don't want you to miss it.
So, as I get specials, I will be sending them to you either via email
or snail mail. As a reminder, I can book any travel package for you, it
doesn't have to be a group I am escorting. There are some specials that
are extremely affordable and clearly trips you may want to consider.
Anyone think of Cuba as a destination...only exclusive legal rights are
given to limited companies by the government to sell this destination,
so if you've ever thought of it, check back with me....also the
Florinade in Amsterdam which only occurs once every ten years is
another and China, another special. If a significant number of people
were interested in any one destination, then I might arrange a group,
but just in case...I definitely want you to be aware of these
specials. You'll be hearing more about these after the new
year.
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Thank
you!
We appreciate your business.
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Guests like
all of you who have traveled with me, make doing business a
real pleasure.
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