Been There Done That Too…

Nairobi

// November 15th, 1996 // Comments Off // Kenya, Passage To Africa

Back to civilization. After three days in the wild Nairobi seemed exceptionally noisy, busy, dirty, and chaotic. Nairobi isn’t all mass congestion, there is a wildlife preserve practically in the middle. I didn’t get a chance to go there, but it’s supposedly a fairly good one. There are also some other unique places in Nairobi like “The Carnivours Club.” A rather legendary restaurant that offers a prix fix menu feauturing roasted – just about anything if it’s not on the endangered species list: Giraffe, gnu, antelope, warthog, zebra… well you get the idea. I just couldn’t make myself go, however I hear that giraffe is the best it’s tender and sweet. I went to Wimpy’s instead (British version of Burger King). (more…)

Kilimanjaro and Amboseli

// November 14th, 1996 // Comments Off // Kenya, Passage To Africa

The countryside past Tsavo gradually goes from the dramatic red and orange earth of Tsavo to a much grayer, less dramatic landscape with the tall grass and less brush. Crossing the plains on the way to Amboseli we were frequently rewarded with the site of Kilimanjaro, however we never did see the top of the legendary mountain that dominates the plains that surround Amboseli. We also passed several native villages and all the children in the villages would run out to the minibuses asking for candy and pencils. (more…)

Tsavo

// November 12th, 1996 // Comments Off // Kenya, Passage To Africa

The one thing I didn’t expect was the vibrant coloring. The landscape glowed in red and orange. The lodge had a wonderful verandah you could relax on and watch the animals drink at the watering hole. The most endearing was a young elephant. It took him over an hour to work up the courage. He acted like a child playing hide-n-seek. Starting out behind a tree 100 yards away, he’d peak around the tree and then go back behind it. After an hour, he finally mustered up the courage to come all the way down to the water. (more…)

Mombasa

// November 11th, 1996 // Comments Off // Kenya, Passage To Africa

Arriving in our last port we are greated by over a dozen enterprising salespeople selling their wares on the dock right beside the ship. This made souvenier shopping incredibly easy – and a lot of fun. Not only do you bargain here, you trade. Half of Mombasa must have pens, soap, shampoo, conditioner and anything else the passengers and crew thought Orient Lines wouldn’t miss from the Marco Polo! This is by far the best place to buy wood carvings 1/4 what they were asking in Djibouti. (more…)

Djibouti

// November 7th, 1996 // Comments Off // Djibouti, Passage To Africa

After several wonderful days at sea cruising down the East African coast we reached Djibouti, a tiny country on the elbow of Africa. I believe our cruise director summed it up perfectly in his Port Talk “I think the only reason we stop in Djibouti is because the fuel’s cheap. We will have shuttle busses running to the main part of town, but my quess is you’ll come back on the same one you went in on.” (Ok, so I actually did get off the shuttle – I caught the next one back to the ship, 15 minutes later.) (more…)

Luxor and Valley of the Kings

// November 2nd, 1996 // Comments Off // Egypt, Passage To Africa

Before turning in we were told the busses were leaving at 8am, and we should make sure to ask for wake up calls. Well, I did, for 7:30. I don’t do mornings, and I don’t do breakfast, a half hour was plenty of time for me to roll out of bed and make it to the bus. Imagine my surprise when my phone rang at 6am, 6:30, 7am,7:30!!!! Needless to say I was really PISSED OFF. The tour company had taken it upon themselves to place a wake up calls for everyone when they thought everyone should get up. This did not improve my already lousy opinion of Egyptians – now they’re treating us like 2 year olds! It was insulting. Not a good start to the day. (more…)

Luxor and the Temples

// November 1st, 1996 // Comments Off // Egypt, Passage To Africa

After lunch at the hotel, we proceeded to visit Luxor and Karnack Temples. We first went to the smaller of the two temples, Luxor. Both temples were finished by Ramses II, though both had been started by previous pharohs. One interesting thing the Pharohs did was any existing statues in the previous Pharoh’s image were “recarved” to the current Pharoh, so all statues look like Ramses II whether they were actually his or not. (more…)

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