Africa Unite

Just back from our honeymoon in Kenya, courtesy of the fine planning from the babes of Virgin Bush Safaris. In short - an amazing time. I could write for days on just the "miracle breath-taking moments" of each day we spent in kenya. But that is probably for another time and another place, so I'll just provide highlights for now from each spot. Pics are available for everything I am mentioning below...

We arrived in Nairobi after overnighting briefly in Jo-Burg, South Africa, and immediately took a provate Cessna 182 charter to the very hot and very dry Shompole, in the Great Rift Valley, south of Nairobi near the Tanzanian border & Lake Natron.

• Our room was built into the hillside, overlooking the bush, no doors or windows, just a spear in the doorway as a "do not disturb" sign! There we met Eddie the Eagle (a martial eagle, one of the largest birds of prey in the world capable of killing young impala), who sat near us for lunch - Eddie was saved and reared by the staff as a chic, and he ocassionally retruns back from the wild to get some food and a safe place to stay.
• We also tracked and found 2 "renegade" male lions (brothers), who were encroaching on the territory and generally aggravating the olive baboons, waterbuck, and other local inhabitants.

Next on to Samburu, at the Elephant Watch Camp:

• A nature walk along the **completely dry** river (the next time someone tells me global warming is bullsh__, I'm going to punch them in the mouth!), during which we watched owl hunting and heard the sound of the whistling bushes, ending in a "Sundowner" during which we explained the concept of the Amish to our Masaii guide, Sumaru (he expressed an immediate kinship :-).
• Watching Ker have her lunch stolen by vervet monkeys; sitting nearly within touching ditance of elephant, and of a lioness and her 2 young cubs; hearing the sounds of leopard hunting the middle of the night, getting to know the wonderful staff at the camp...
  

We then had a brief stop at the Borana lodge, high (7K ft. or so) in the hills within view of Mt. Kenya:

• The views of the surrounding countryside, as well as of the small dam (where elephants enjoyed scratching their butts) from our room's balcony were amazing - as was tracking a large group of migratory elephants that happened to be passing through
• Seeing a black rhino wandering through Lewa Downs conservancy in Laikipia on our way out of Borana
  

Then on to a longer stay in the Maasai Mara at Serian tented camp:

• Generally hanging out with the other guests, who were much fun, and the irrepressible Alex Walker who runs the camp and clearly loves his work!
• Hiking out to one of the local schools, visiting a Masai boma, and watching a sundown standoff between a pride of lions and small group of buffalo

We capped off the trip on the old Moorish coast near Lamu at the Manda Bay resort:

• Visiting the ancient ruins on Manda and the centuries-old (and still only donkey-propelled) town of Lamu; 'Sundowners' out on the resort's large dhow sailing vessel...
  
• Snorkeling on the reefs and seeing lion fish, giant clam, and purple lobster; genreally drinking and relaxing in our 'well-ventilated' room (open to the bay... and its strong breezes!)
  

Then an overnight in Nairobi at the stately Giraffe Manor, where we fed the resident giraffe by hand during breakfast; with some shopping in Nairobi (special thanks to Sally Dudmesh for hooking us up with the awesome gift and also for showing us her home, which was used extensively in the filming of Out of Africa) before departing for our long trip back to the States.

I've not even mentioned the food, the individual people we met, the fear-of-flying inducing moments spent on SafariLink... just an amazing experience all-around.