Sunday, Oct 30. An easy day. First day of base tour. Briefing was delayed a little because one couple had set the wrong time.

The day was to hit some spotlights of Arusha life. First we visited a small factory that produces ceramic water filters, shaped like flower vases. Low tech solution to the problem of unclean water. Very innovative and simple process. The demonstration of turning very dirty water into clean water was impressive. Company is well named: ”Wine To Water”. The group collectively bought 15 filters ($750), which we’ll give away tomorrow somewhere along the way to our next stop.

Lunch included a variety of options, with the chef describing the recipes. Two main additives were curry and coconut, both on my “do not eat” list. But I found several choices that were very good. Serengeti beer.

Next was a visit to an Albino center. Albinos have a very rough time in Africa, both because they are viewed as evil, while their body parts are popular among witches. Sad and informative. They all had a positive attitude.

Returned to the hotel, where I spent some time in the pool. Cold and wonderful. Then I and two others join Emanuel, our Trip Leader, on a walkabout. Very poor neighborhood. We spent time with several people, having their life explained. Emanuel gave each one some money in thanks. I took some photos and blew up some balloons. Brought some smiles.

Hot water in my shower stopped working. Maintenance fixed it.

Saturday, Oct 29. No photos This was a long day of travel. “African Massage” (rough road) drive to small airplane. Flight to another airfield. Transfer to a (relatively) large airplane. Flight to Nairobi. Van to hotel to pick up left bags. Drive to border, eating (or not, in my case) a box lunch. A smooth road! Heaven. Except for lots of speed bumps. Got through customs to leave Kenya and enter Tanzania, fortunately both in a single building. Transfer to another van required wading through a crowds of women selling stuff. Neither van had AC worth mentioning.

Minor sand storms. Rain is desperately needed. Stopped at a typical weekly market. Depressing. Small boys tagging along trying to sell us sewing needles. All five of us are well-traveled OAT people, so foreign markets are nothing new. We could have skipped it.

The hotel/resort is okay. Nice bar. Has a Bar Beagle(?). Kilimanjaro beer. South African Footprint Pilotage Rose. Nice outdoor dinning venue.

Friday, Oct 28. Early departure to get to the balloon launch site, across the Preserve. Along the way, spotted a herd of cattle and its herdsman. Our pilot later explained that it’s illegal to bring cattle onto the Preserve, reason being that lions follow them out of the park, then townsfolk kill the lions. Ben, who today became very native, gave a slightly different version, essentially that yes, it might be wrong, but the land is the tribe’s.

Balloon pilot is a senior British fellow who arrived at ballooning via a serious accident while pursuing his hobby in paragliding. Voice was totally Michael Caine. We got our briefing (12 passengers) and away we went. Beautiful sunrise. There weren’t many animals, but enough to be satisfying. The vistas were unforgettable. See photos. We landed in the less preferable sideways position, but it was actually a lot of fun to be seated facing up, like an astronaut. Drove to a prepared site for breakfast and sparking wine. Discovered that my two companions in our corner of the basket were from San Diego! Too strange. Terrific experience.

On the way to join up with my OAT companions we encountered cheetah. Beautiful. We also learned that cheetahs do on the savanna what bears do in the woods. Next we spent time watching an elephant family. I could do that all day. Got up close to some giraffes.

After lunch and a siesta, we have a cultural briefing by Ben, who was fully clothed in traditional warrior garb. He described the disturbing (for me) traditions his tribe has for children transitioning into puberty. Etc. It was troubling that the discussion was all about continuing their traditions and nothing about the challenges facing his tribe (i.e., they are ranchers facing a permanent drought).

I was too tired for the evening viewing drive.

Thursday, Oct 27. A full day drive. Rough roads were even rougher. We drove west to the Mara River, which flows west to Lake Victoria. There were sleepy hippos in the river. We had a picnic at the turnaround point, consisting of rice, beef, chicken, etc. Flies were everywhere, so I finally put my head net to use. Eating was a bit difficult. During the drive in each direction we stopped for many birds, most of who never flew. I used a cool feature of my camera to capture the flights of some that did take to the air. Without the feature I’d have had no hope.

However, the day’s big story was sighting a leopard and several cheetahs. We were one of the first trucks at the leopard “viewing”, but were rapidly joined by a stampede of trucks from all corners, ignoring safety and “stick to the road” rules. The leopard soaked up the entertainment value, calmly walking through the fields, then walking through the parked trucks! Not a care in the world. Driver said this attitude was highly unusual. We also saw cheetahs before and after the leopard. In my opinion, the cheetah is prettier. Both species have respectable teeth.

We stumbled onto what appeared to be an hyena convention. If fact, we have now seen not only the Big 5 (the leopard being the fifth), but also the Ugly 5 (wildebeest, warthog, Hyena, and two birds). The lack of sharp focus in my photos has a lot to do with distance and waves of rising heat.

Learned about ant lions (which eats other ants), plus a variety of trees that protect agains malaria.

Tomorrow morning I take a $$$$ balloon ride. I had to sign a waiver that even included “operator error” in its list of things I must waive. Not too happen about that.

Wednesday, Oct 26. This is the pre-extension tour, with only 5 adventurers. A flight was required to reach the Reserve. Nairobi has a separate airport for domestic travel. Dozens and dozens of aircraft, far beyond what a country the size of Kenya should need. Safaris clearly begin in the air. Our plane was the largest by far, a four engine prop. It delivered people to four different safari destinations, ours being the last before its return to Nairobi. Its two right-side engines were never switched off.

Our tour guide, “Ben”, was dressed in traditional tribal garb. The driver, “Justin” was in greens. We departed on an initial 3 hour game-viewing drive on the way to the lodge. It became clear quickly that this was a viewing drive much different than the one I took in 2020. Long-distance viewing. I attached my telephoto lens, which has been largely collecting dust since I bought it. Now it became essential. We saw many different animals and birds, but all from a considerable distance. Ben related that off-road driving is frowned upon by the (armed) authorities. We violated this once to get a better view of sunbathing lions. Stopped once for coffee/tea and really good sweet bread.

Eventually we drove through a primitive community and arrived at our lodge. Nice place, with a pool. Lunch was fine. We had a 4 hour siesta before our afternoon drive. Much better experience, though we were still usually far from the animals. I added more lens power and got some okay shots, though not my desired sharp resolution. It was fun to notice that to find exotic animals, one must be on the lookout for a herd of trucks (mostly Toyotas).

Dinner was okay. The server spilled an entire fruity drink on me, which caused a more rapid return to my room for the night.

Tuesday, Oct 25. I spent most of the day in the room and tried to reset my body’s rhythm . Had a briefing about tomorrow. Walked a bit, snapping photos of plants and some kind of monkey, who mostly moved faster than my shutter speed. I tried to identify the species, but there are so many. Skipped lunch. Actually used the gym. Had an odd burger that I don’t need to have again. Tusker Beer, with an emblem of an elephant with large tusks.

As usual, though Kenya is a third world country, there are things we can learn. No plastic. Water bottles are glass. Glasses in the gym are glass. Trash cans have no plastic bag liner. Probably considered a bad thing, but smartphones haven’t become ubiquitous. Phones resemble small TV remotes in shape. Tech hasn’t completely taken over social interaction.

Tomorrow we fly off to Maasai Mara National Reserve. Glamping, but electricity is iffy. Wifi more iffy. We spend three nights there. Probably no updates until Sunday.

Sunday/Monday, Oct 23/24. Lyft to airport was an exciting 85mph early morning ride. Flights were fine. The two 8+ hour legs were alongside a vacant seat. KLM was interesting in that a gate sign said masks were mandatory and the on board announcement included a warning to only remove the mask during actual bites of food. But virtually no one worn masks, including none of the crew.

My lounge pass was useless, in that the lounges in Atlanta and Amsterdam were waitlisted, with no realistic chance to get in. I need to really reconsider renewing the fancy credit card that provides this useless lounge pass.

Amsterdam Airport is beautiful but also awful. We spent a half hour 20 feet from the gate while ground crew tried to move equipment. Huge empty spaces where it’s not needed, small crowded spaces where it is. Few restaurants. Very weird layout. I logged over a mile of walking without even trying. It’s got a museum! The flight was delayed departing the gate, which meant we missed our departure time slot. Had to wait 40 minutes for the next available slot. Amsterdam is added my growing list of airports to avoid.

Arrived in Nairobi almost on time. Customs was routine, except for the guy in front of me who hadn’t printed his e-visa. Five minutes to sort it out. The tour organization and Delta stressed the need to get a QR code before arrival. Never asked for. This overloading of unneeded requirements is getting to be too routine. Covid consequences will outlive me.

Got out of the terminal to find an Overseas Adventure Travels rep. But he was waiting for other people for a different itinerary. No sign of my guy. The rep was helpful in getting things worked out for me. Eventually the hotel’s driver appeared. They drive on the left here! As usual, lane lines, where visible, are recommendations. Silly waste of paint.

Very nice looking hotel. Very serious guard at gate, who did a walk around of the car. Guard at the door, sending everything through detector. Card needed to use elevator. Card needed to enter my wing of hotel. A gift bracelet on the bed, suggesting I order personalized versions to help pay for girls’ education.

Snore.

Sunday, Oct 23. Departure for Nairobi. 33 hours door to door, 21 hours in the air. A 2.5 hour layover is now a concern in this new version of air travel. Hope it’s long enough to get from one plane to another.

This adventure begins in Kenya, at the Masai Mara National Reserve. Then we cross the border into Tanzania and explore the Serengeti area. Besides wildlife safaris, we visit various communities. The trip ends on the island of Zanzibar (Spice Islands). 24 days in total.

I have mixed emotions. Watching elephants roam the Earth is great entertainment, but as with the safari I did back when Covid was entering our lives, the itinerary includes long days in trucks on rough roads (or worse). I’d really much rather sit in a high chair and let the animals come to me. But I am certainly looking forward to Zanzibar.