I had a bit of a rough past two weeks - it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, right? - during which I got pretty disillusioned with some of my work, and also found out that my earlier malaria diagnosis had been correct. Apparently it was just a scant trace a few weeks ago, but leaving it untreated was a poor decision, as the case escalated. However, 190 Kenyan shillings (less than $2.50) got me a hospital check-up, blood test, and medication, and I'm back in full form. Pretty fair price for a good lesson learned.
Pictures will need to be posted soon: I just finished a 3-day safari in the Maasia Mara with my co-OAFer Veronica. (Since planting season is over most of the staff is on vacation - in the US, Europe, East African hotspots...) We spent a night in Nairobi with Shravan, the photographer who visited a few weeks ago, and his family. They had a beautiful house, complete with a bathtub, parrot, and 47 doors. The next day was a 7-hour drive from Nairobi into the Mara, where we stayed in "tents" (with beds in them; what kind of camping is that?!) right outside the park reserve. We got three game drives, one of which was an entire 9-hour day drive. We saw all "big 5" animals and more. An incomplete but illustrative list:
- Leopard
- Lions (lots - we even saw the same pride of 10 female lions doing different activities each day, including eating a zebra!)
- Hippos
- Crocodiles
- Cheetah (my personal favorite)
- Elephants
- Giraffes
- Wildebeest
- Zebras
- Ostriches
- Warthogs
- Baboons
Yes, it was absolutely amazing. And the entire experience - drives, food, lodging, trips to/from Nairobi, etc - cost about $280. And one of the best parts turned out to be our friendly and ultra-knowledgeable guide, who told us stories about his wife and a group of his favorite tourists from Wisconsin. In the end we gave him the customary thank-you tip along with 2 Dr Suess books to share with his son and flowers for his wife. Bottom line: if you want to live a couple days in an episode of Planet Earth... I'll be happy to put you in touch. :)
Anyway, I'm in Zanzibar now (are you feeling sorry for me yet?) and will add pictures/stories about that too. I'll try not to let 2 weeks lapse again between entries. Apologies!Happy Easter!! Enjoy the spring.
2 comments:
"Safari" has got to be one of the coolest words in the English language. Sounds like an amazing experience. And it's good to see that the blog lives on to fight another day. Viva Amber!
I am proud of you Amber for not giving up. We love reading your blog and reading about your adventures. We are also glad to hear that you are taking care of yourself and feeling better. Keep fighting the good fight and know that what you are doing really does matter.
J.Q.
Post a Comment