We are finally here! After 2 planes, 16 hours of flying, 3 hours hanging in Amsterdam and a short ride from the airport Mom and I are settling into our hotel room at Stanley in downtown Nairobia. Since we arrived at 9 p.m. we didnt get to see much of the city but the people we have been just wonderful.
We meet Sammy, our driver tomorrow at 6:15 a.m so it will be an early morning but cant wait!
Hope you all are doing great!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
And we are off!! August 26-27, 2011
Jambo!
It has been a busy few days getting ready for this adventure! After a very quick two weeks in St. Louis, Dillon and I jumped in the car and headed to Atlanta on Tuesday. Dillon will be staying with his “cousins.” Andy, Molly, Taylor, Dalton and Sam have a small zoo of animals which Dillon LOVES!! Unfortunately the cats, Daisy and Twinkie, don’t really have the same love for him. Perhaps 5 weeks together will bring love and happiness amongst them all.
Mom flew in yesterday (Thursday) and after a morning of last minute errands, Andy took us to the airport today to catch our 5:30 p.m. flight to Amsterdam. For those of you who have traveled with me (SusanJ) you know how much I love to arrive hours early to the airport, I think I am improving! We made it to the airport 2.5 hours before our flight and it was all ok! For those of you who haven’t traveled with me, my preference even for USA travel is to arrive AT LEAST 2 hours in advance. International travel – I tried for 4 hours but the laughter that suggestion received made me reconsider and at least drop it to 3 hours.
Mom and I got checked in and headed to our gate. After a light snack we boarded and were met with the nicest flight attendants. We were shown to our seats by a young gentleman who said I was sitting in the “Shakespeare seat” -2B. He departed with a few witty remarks and then we settled in, played with all the gadgets attached to the seats, opened our complimentary travel kit which includes some nice travel accessories including socks, a toothbrush and can you believe it, a shoe shine kit! Since this is literally the trip I have dreamed of since I was 18 I decided to go all out and we are in business class. I feel a bit like the Clampets on vacation, in awe of all the newfangled fancy accessories and such. On our next flight, my mom and I are sitting on the 2nd story of a 747!! I remember as a child hearing about these double decker planes and thought how cool is that! Well, I will let you know! Hopefully they haven’t changed equipment on us.
We arrive in Amsterdam at 8:15 a.m. Amsterdam time (that’s 2:15 a.m. eastern time) and catch our next flight at 11:00 am to Nairobi. We land at 8:15 p.m. (or 12:15 eastern I think). At Jomo International Airport we will be met by our travel agent’s representative and taken to our hotel in downtown Nairobi. It will be a short night after a long day of traveling as we are to meet our transportation guide at 6:15 a.m. the next morning and our Safari begins!
We will start our safari adventure at Amboseli which is just a short flight from Nairobi. We arrive at 8:10 a.m. at the Amboseli Airstrip. I guess that means we are roughing it! No gates or concourses. From there we will go and check into the Serena Lodge. After checking in we will spend Sunday and Monday game viewing.
Tuesday, August 30th, we return to the Amboseli airstrip and take an 8 a.m. flight back to Nairobi where we will be met by a guide who will drive us to the Rift Valley. We check into Sunbird Lodge at Lake Elemntaita. From there we will spend the rest of the day at Nakuru National Park for another game drive. From what Raza, our Africa Mecca reservations officer, says this will be a long day. The drive to the park alone is 3 hours. We will return to Sunbird Lodge and spend the night.
It sounds like we will have our first “leisurely” morning on the 31st. We drive back to Nairobi and catch a 3 p.m. flight to Masai Mara. This is a pretty short flight. We arrive at 4 p.m. and are met by the Governors’ Camp guides who take us to Masai Mara and we check into our tents. We then have a late afternoon/evening game drive . The next morning we have the option to take a 5:30 a.m. balloon safari. Mom and I are still discussing this option. Of course Raza “mentioned” it but didn’t mention the price. Whether we choose to do the balloon ride or not we will spend September 1st driving through Masai Mara.
The next morning, September 2nd we will do some exploring in the morning and then return to the Masai Mara airstrip to fly back to Nairobi. We will be met at the Wilson airport by a representative from Swara Plains who will escort us to Swara Plains were we will stay until the 4th. Now for you in the audience who have an NLC/AYF connection you may remember hearing about Swara Plains three years ago when the founder. David Hopcraft, at Miniwanca was a forum speaker during the NLC. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Conference in time to meet David however I had spent the year prior communicating with him via email. When he was first mentioned as a possible forum speaker I went to the Swara Plains website and thought to myself, “someday I want to go there!” Someday is here!! I can’t believe it.
From the sounds of it, Swara Plains will be our opportunity to relax and enjoy our surroundings without the use of a vehicle for the first time during this adventure. And so this is how we conclude the safari portion of the adventure! On the 4th we return to Nairobi and spend the night. Mom flies home at 6 p.m. on the 5th and at noon I head to the Mukuru Slums Development Project where I will be doing case management follow up with the beneficiaries as well as a little group therapy with the women’s groups. I am very excited for this portion of the trip. I am looking forward to seeing how NGO/non profits work in Kenya and to have the opportunity to learn firsthand what the biggest challenges they face every day. The project manager has helped me find housing in a guest house on the edge of the slums for the two weeks I will be volunteering. From what I understand I may be spending a lot evenings inside until I am comfortable and understand my environment. Thank goodness for the Kindle! I have 10 books with me in a tiny tiny little tablet. I know this makes me sound old and out dated but Wow! I cant believe where technology has taken us.
If all goes well I wrap up my volunteer work on the 16th and then catch a flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg , South Africa on the 17th. Andy, my brother, should be arriving in Johannesburg on the 16th though he did mention today that he had a very very tight connection in Ethiopia. Keep your fingers crossed that it is a smooth and uneventful trip for him. We are renting a car and then spending the next 9 days making our way to Cape Town. We haven’t really planned much for this section of the trip but that is how Andy and I travel best together. The only thing we know for sure is there are some amazing scenery, some pretty nice wineries and a very interesting artist hub in Cape Town. We will probably spend at least 3 days in Cape Town before we depart on the 27th of September. Our flight goes from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then Johannesburg to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Atlanta arriving home on the 28th.
Dillon and I plan to return to St. Louis by the 1st of October just in time for my favorite time of year in St. Louis- Fall!
I am typing this on the flight the flight to Amsterdam. All the other passengers are asleep so I suppose I should try and do the same. Hopefully during our 3 hour layover we will find an internet connection so I can post this. I hope you all are doing well and for those of you in the northeast, that Irene is not wreaking too much trouble in your area!
Much love!
E
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
8 days and counting!
Eight days and counting! A week from Friday Mom and I depart from Atlanta bound for Nairobi and what looks like an amazing 6 days of sightseeing in 3 different parks and animal perserves. It is unclear how much internet access we will have during our expedition, however if possible I will post a bit about the trip.
In addition to the traditional safari, we will be spending two nights at Swara Plains. For those of you AYF'rs you may remember David Hopcraft was a forum speaker 3 years ago at NLC. Swara Plains is animal perserve he and his family founded. While preparing for his forum (prior to my little cancer sabatical) I learned a bit about Swara Plains and thought how someday I would love to visit! And now I get to visit and see this amazing place.
We will return from Swara Plains to Nairobi and Mom will head back to the states and I will head into the next portion of this adventure. If all goes as planned, I will be volunteering for two weeks at the Mukuru Slums Development Project. Not quite sure yet what I might be doing or even where I might be staying but I am sure it will all fall into place. This portion of the trip is incredibly exciting and a wee bit frightening as I dont have any idea what to really expect. I have a feeling the dicotome of experiences may take a bit to wrap my head and heart around; wealth, priviledge versus extreme poverty and all that goes with it.
Once those two weeks are up, I will fly from Nairobi to Johannesburg and meet up with Andy. We will rent a car and will spend the next 9 days finding our way from Johannesburg to Cape Town. This is section of the trip that has absolutely nothing planned yet, and perhaps wont. It's fun to wander and see what comes your way.
So, eight days and counting!
In addition to the traditional safari, we will be spending two nights at Swara Plains. For those of you AYF'rs you may remember David Hopcraft was a forum speaker 3 years ago at NLC. Swara Plains is animal perserve he and his family founded. While preparing for his forum (prior to my little cancer sabatical) I learned a bit about Swara Plains and thought how someday I would love to visit! And now I get to visit and see this amazing place.
We will return from Swara Plains to Nairobi and Mom will head back to the states and I will head into the next portion of this adventure. If all goes as planned, I will be volunteering for two weeks at the Mukuru Slums Development Project. Not quite sure yet what I might be doing or even where I might be staying but I am sure it will all fall into place. This portion of the trip is incredibly exciting and a wee bit frightening as I dont have any idea what to really expect. I have a feeling the dicotome of experiences may take a bit to wrap my head and heart around; wealth, priviledge versus extreme poverty and all that goes with it.
Once those two weeks are up, I will fly from Nairobi to Johannesburg and meet up with Andy. We will rent a car and will spend the next 9 days finding our way from Johannesburg to Cape Town. This is section of the trip that has absolutely nothing planned yet, and perhaps wont. It's fun to wander and see what comes your way.
So, eight days and counting!
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