Africa Saga continues

March11- 12, 2011
Linda:
I am writing this from the front porch of our tent at Siana Springs Camp. After a very very long drive (5+ hours and two of them over the bumpiest road we’d ever been on we arrived here. After lunch we had a lecture from JJ, a Masi warrior and the son of a Chief. He claims to have only high school education but is very knowledgeable and well spoken. He still lives at home with his parents and will do so until he marries at age 26 when he becomes a junior elder. After his talk we all went to visit his village. It bagan with a dance or two by the warriors. They do throat singing in their dance and it is amazing. They end the dance by coming right up and getting in your face!The second shortest warrior wound up in front of me and then i had to go dance beside him. He put his dance necklace on me (one of those beaded numbers that goes up and down when you bounce up and down) so I put my hat on his head for the dance. Their heads are shaved but it did cross my mind to think of what might be on his head!
After the dancing we got tours of their homes. We were divided into groups of 4. I got the American lady who seems adept at asking disresptful questions so I cringed but she behaved like a Canadian Bless her heart. The women build the houses, cook, wash the clothing, take care of the children and milk the cows. The men buiild fences (of brush), tend the cattle and build the fires.
The houses are at best 5 feet high with a flat roof. They are made of cow dung, mud and straw, as is the roof. Before the rainy season they add grass and more dung to make it water proof. Mike took our group to his house. His English is very good. You duck down and go through a small entrance and enter the kitchen – it is about 5 feet across and maybe7 feet long. In the center is the fireplace which is dung built up about 6 inches on 3 sides and open at one end. There is a small round opening in the wall for the smoke to exit. They use wood for their fires. We didn’t see any cooking utensils. There is another room for the parents to sleep. The bed is built up out of the floor and is made of you guessed it – dung. The mattress is cow hide as are the covers. The two boys had a bedroom of their own with the same bed. Both bedrooms have large windows that open on to the kitchen so privacy is nonexistent. They also have a small store room. All this in a 10x 10 space. We praised the house as they are as house proud as someone in a mansion at home. Some of the homes had a baby goat or lamb in residence. There were were 15 to 20 houses in a circle surrounded by a brush fence. The cows and goats are out grazing all day and at dusk they come inside the fence. Our village had 300 cows. The ground is very dungy as well. They showed us how to start a fire – the boy scout way and using – dung. After all this the women danced for us. They sing and dance in a row so of course we had to dance with them too. Then they took us to their outdoor market to sell us jewellry (but no dung was involved.). They are not afraid to charge a heathly price.
JJ told us a lot about his culture. He would like to study more and be an ambassador for his people. He would be very good in that role as he speaks well and can relate how his people live and understand that it is quite foriegn to us so he inserts some humor. He has travelled to the US, a big dream of his. He wore his Masi clothing and almost froze but was loyal to his native dress. He thought everything was wonderful in America but was glad to come home to his village. He is 24.
After the village we went on a game drive. We saw a leopard stalking a gazelle. It is rare to be able to see them hunt so we were thrilled. At the last moment the gazelle swered and the leopard lost his prey. Shortly after that we saw a pride of 19 lions (all female with cubs0. The cubs played with their mothers tails and acted like kittens. We were able to observe them for a long time.
We also saw Topi with are only in this area. Also saw wildebeasts and hartbeasts.
Home for dinner and bed as we had to be up at 4 amto go for a ballon ride. After a 1 ½ hour drive that left us feeling like scrambled eggs we arrived at the balloon site. It was fabulouss. I don’t think I can give the experience justice. We floated above the Masa Mari at heights of 1200 feet to just skiming over the grasss. Did’nt see many animals but it was all about the experience. You could see for miles. What a thrill. We glided to a stop and were driven to an outdoor bush breakfast, complete with shampagne on the plains. How cool is that.
After breakfast we rejoined our group and went on a game drive. We saw ever so many crocodiles. They pretty much stayed submerged in the river but their heads were massive. Saw many mongoose and even saw one catch a rat. Of course Pombah was everywhere. Kenyans call warthogs Pumbah which means stupid in their language. When chased by a lion they will run like stink for about 30 feet and then forget what they are doing and stop and eat. We saw more lions and 3 leopard brothers. Were supposed to find rhino but it was hot and the animals were in the deep shade and we had enough so came back to camp.

Roys Notes: Some will be similar to Linda’s but enjoy

We left the Kigio Game conservatory with a bit of reluctance. I was not partial to all the food they served, but was a unique experience. It is an eco camp which tries to bring back some of the animals which are in danger of going on the extinction list. They have 32 reticulated giraffe and they will soon be relocating 10 of them. For a change we had a good road for the first couple of hours of driving. When we stopped for a pee brake at a shop selling souvenirs we were told that the rest of the trip would be on really bad roads. And you know they were right. It took us two hours to drive a road which should have taken less than an hour. It was so bad that one of the vans punctured an oil pan and had to go back to the town to get it fixed. One time I ask Edward our driver how fast he was going and he said 15-20 KPH, and this was on the paved section. Our driver often drove off the road onto the dirt side going the wrong way to find the smoothest path. Finally after an hour we cut off the main road to a goat trail, and when asked were told it was a short cut and better than the main road. The scarcest part was going through the dry river beds because there was a steep drop down to the bed and just as steep getting back out. When we arrive at the camp, everyone was tired from the beating they took on the road, and was ho hum about the place. Once we got to our tents, everyone was raving about the accommodations at lunch. After lunch we had one of the local Maasai tribe members give us a talk on Maasai culture and then take us to his village. He was a very well spoken individual and very interesting to listen to. When we got to the village, there was a reception waiting for us with male members dancing and chanting. We were then taken into the compound where there was information and a jumping contest. While filming the jumping compound, J.J. our Maasai guide complimented me on my watch ( almost cheapest I could get at Wal-Mart). We talked for a second and then he asked to trade me my watch for a Kenyon bracelet he was wearing which the Maasai make and sell (and boy do they sell, like the Mexicans). Anyway, I thought what the hell, I could buy one like it but it would be neat to have the one he is wearing, so I did. We were given a tour of the houses, which are made of cow dung and wood ( which the women make) in groups of 4. The houses and the tours were actually quite interesting, and I had trouble understanding why people who are educated still live in them. While leaving the abode, one of the Maasai men, took off a bracelet and put it on my arm. I asked how much, negotiated a price and I got that too. I am a sucker, and not a good barginer, but It was fun. Next was the market of jewellery, which Linda also bought a bracelet. Then off to another game drive, this time on the Maasai Mari. We saw a lot of the same animals, but our driver spotted a cheetah at the side of the road and stopped, and we watched him stalk a gazelle. In the end the gazelle got away, but was it exciting. We were the last to leave the cheetah and as we were driving along, our driver stops and says there are lions. And so there were, only about 10-15 yards off the road sleeping. The other 3 vans had driven right past without seeing them. Edward called on the cell phone and we were soon surrounded by vans. Other than the cubs there wasn’t much action, but just seeing them was great. Soon after we had to leave because you cannot drive in the park with your lights on, and we just made it out. Once back to our camp we had supper, got ready for tomorrow and hit the sack, because we had to get up at 4 am for our balloon ride.

Up at 4 got dressed in the dark because the power isn’t usually on until 5 am, only to find out the power had been put on for us early risers. We had a chance to get a cup of coffee and off we went. This time it was in 6 passenger Land Cruisers. And boy did they go, it may have been the roughest ride yet. They took us to another camp called Fig Tree, and it was even better than ours. After a bit they put us through, believe it or not, security before taking us to the balloon site (short walk). It takes a lot of people to get a balloon off the ground and recovery. Our pilot Kim has been in 15 countries the last 3 years piloting balloons, including Winnipeg. Quite neat to watch the balloon being inflated first with air then with hot air. Once the balloon was full and the basket upright, they split us into groups of 3 and we climbed into the basket. The pilot kept applying heat until the basket just left the ground and about ½ dozen men moved it into position and up and away we went. It was fantastic, the only sound was when the pilot added heat to go up and when we were talking. Didn’t see any cats on the plains, but the ride was worth it. We flew about `10 miles and our height above ground varied between 1000 feet and 3 feet. Super. Landing was smooth, and we climbed out, took pictures and then boarded a 4 wheel drive bus to take us to breakfast. Had breakfast our on the savannah, wonderful experience, and Champaign to boot. Once breakfast was over we headed out to meet up with the rest of our group for another game drive. On the way back we came across 3 cheetah brothers lying under a tree. The trucks are not allowed off the roads, but this tree was only about 10 yards from the road so it was real close. Only problem is they just layer there and hardly moved. Once we met up with our group we started another game drive for about an hour and then stopped for a picnic lunch again on the savannah. Too much food and for some people, not us too many ants, but again it was pretty cool. Afternoon game drive gave us lots of animals, but nothing new or exciting. Back to camp by 4 PM and started typing this note. It will be early to bed for us…..

Night drive and Lake Nakuru

After our long drive through the Great Rift valley yesterday we went on a night drive at Kigio Wildlife Conservancy. Roy, Tim and I got the back seats of the Toyota 9 passenger landcruiser with big tires and good suspension. The back row was quite a climb but I made it without looking like a klutz(got out gracefully too). It was a much smoother ride than our six passenger 4x4 Toyota and that was a good thing as we drove over huge rocks and god knows what else. A spotter sat outside in a seat and shone a powerful light about to look for game. Not much! We rode a long way and only saw giraffe's, common zebra and waterbucks. Eventually we saw a jackal, a rabbit and missed seeing the ardvark, a Thompson gazelle, and a fox. I somehow drifted off into a doze- how I don't know because it was really rough at times, especially when we crossed stream beds. I woke from a doze only to see Roy and Tim asleep on either side of me. We were obviously a tired crew. We were escorted back to our rooms and were happy to crawl into bed. They put hot water bottles in your bed here. It does cool off at night. The first night we got the hot water bottles everyone was surprised by them and the comments at breakfast were hilarious. Anyway, I slept the best I have since we arrived. Thewind in our trees and the monkeys chatter put me to sleep.

Roy has written about our wonderful day that started with a bush breakfast and the trip to Lake Nakuru. If only these places weren't so far apart. Lake Nakuru is a National Park and the animals there were amazing. We saw 10 white rhino today! Now we have seen the Big Five.
We watched a group of about 20 to 30 baboons for about 15minutes. What a hoot. Took lots of video of them. 2 were having a territorial fight, one was showing off his manhood ( you can guess what else he did), some were grooming each other, babies were romping around, one had a plastic juice container that he tried to drink from. Very entertaining.

We had a picnic lunch looking over the lake and all the flamingos and pelicans. When all the flamingos return there are around one million on the lake. They feed on Tilapia which are stocked in the lake. Watching the pelicans fish was like watching a well choriographed ballet! A group of 8 to 12 pelicans swim in a tight group, suddenly they all dip their beaks in the water, bums up at the exact same time. They come up, swim a bit and repeat the manouver.

We visited the village that works with the conservancy on the way home. The conservancy wanted the tribe to be on side with them and have worked to include them in all that is done here. They fenced the park with electric fencing so the wild animals do not eat the farmers crops and now the farmers don't kill the animals. The farm produce is purchased and used to feed the tourists and so the farmers don't hate having the tourists. They also work here and there are many ways that the conservancy helps them.

After much needed showers we headed to a delicious dinner and have now packed up and are ready to proceed to the Masai Mara tomorrow where we will have our first balloon ride.

The wind has come up and sounds quite neat throught our tent walls. Did we mention the stars? Wow, you can see so many but we haven't seen the Southern Cross. There is a sliver of a moon which is the reverse of what we see at home.

I'm off to bed, God bless everyone!

Trip to Lake Nakuru

Roys notes: For some reason I am having trouble downloading pictures. Sometimes I can get one or more, and today I can't get any. Not sure why, but it may be the file size.
Today we were off to Lake Nakuru famous for the number of flamingos which live there. We were warned a head of time that there wouldn't be that many because the lake is salty, and right now there is too much fresh water in the lake, which sends them else where. We started the day with a walk to the river, where there might be hippos. Unfortunately the water is too low and no hippos today. When we got to the river, the crew had set up tables complete with cutlery table cloths and were ready to serve us breakfast. They had brought all the fixings and were had bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, pancakes, fruit, juice, tea and coffee. It was a great way to start the day. Everyone was raving about the outdoor breakfast. Once everyone was finished and went to the toilet we hoped into our vans for the trip a head. The roads in the Kigio conservancy are worse than goat trails. The vans can only do a few miles per hour, and they shake the hell out of the passengers. Once out of the park area we got onto the Pan Africian highway which runs from Cape town to Cairo, and its a good highway. Lake Nakuru is also a game protected park, and as soon as we entered we saw wildlife. There were hundreds of zebras, waterbucs, and cape buffalo. There were monkeys up in the trees and on the ground. As we cruised around the south end of the lake we came across baboons and impalas. Quite a sight in a short ride. There was a black rhino which the one of the other vans spotted, but it was in the bush and hard to see. As we came onto the lake and the planes, there were animals everywhere. Under a lone tree was several cape buffalo and 3 white rhinos. They were awesome, and we stayed and watched for about 10 minutes even though they were just lying in the shade.

Have to go for dinner, so will post this and hopefully complete later to night. If we do not it will probabily be several days before we have the internet again.

Ark to Kigio

Linda: Kigo Wildlife Camp

It has been an interesting time since the luxury of the Mt Kenya Lodge. We visited the animal orphanage at the lodge - they keep animals safe there and try to reintroduce them to the wild but many come back and live at the orphanage. The ostrich named Penelope ate corn out of ur hands as did a monkey. They had climbed up on peoples shoulders the day before but weren't interested in doing that with our group.

Roy has mentioned our golf game. Richard and Tim (van mates) played with us and we had a lot of fun. It was very interesting to have a caddy. Roy and I had Simon for a caddy. The ground was so hard that he teed up my ball for me. Probably a good thing as tees were at a premium. They each had two old tees and if the tee went flying when we hit the ball we had to spend time finding it. It is a nine hole, par 3. We all did pretty well but didn't keep score. The caddies charged us a dollar each for used balls but were very good about finding them when we hit into the bush. Simon would say, "your face was open on that hit". When I out drove the men and was on the edge of the green he said "not too bad". I'd like to have brought him home.

From the Lodge we went to the Ark away out in the bush. 17 km I believe. It is built in the shape of an ark with 4 levels. You have to be escorted in and out as there are wild animals all around. Every level has a veiwing area of the pond and natural salt lick which attracts the animals. The bottom level has a bunker and you look out of small open windows and are just meters from the animals. During the night they ring a buzzer in your room to let you know which animals are outside. We only got buzzed once for an elephant. It was too bad as everyone was hoping for a rhino. There were a great many Cape Buffalo and 7 hyenas, many bush bucks, and lots of wart hogs.

The elephant came around 1:00 am. We had been out a bit earlier to watch the hyenas circling a cape buffalo. I heard the hyenas come past the path by our room and we went out. The action seemed to die out so we went back to bed. No sooner did we get to bed than I heard an elephant trumpet. Back out we went. (the area is flood lit) When we got to the outside viewing area (very cold, the altitude was 7,500 feet) the elephant was backing toward the salt lick and us so it could keep the hyenas in view. They were ranged all around it and a cape buffalo was complacently licking away. The elephant trumpeted and chased the hyena off a bit then began to enjoy the minerals in the salt lick. Between the buffalo and the elephant they kept the hyena away. A little bush buck (like a small deer) and the elephant chased it away too and wouldn't let it rejoin the rest of it's family. It took a long time for the poor little guy to get back to its clan.

The hyena finally chased a bush buck off into the bush and that ended the drama. The hyenas were bully's always making the other animals uncomfortable.

We were back on the bus at 8:00 this morning and travelled to the Kigoio wildlife camp. On the way we stopped at the equator and saw that the water does really go clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter clock wise in the southern hemisphere and goes straight down right on the equator. We also stopped at Thompson Falls which are 260 feet high and were discovered by Thompson in 1897. It was a long, long, bumpy ride here. The potholes we had seen so far were nothing compared to today's. A grown man could get lost in them. We were all dusty and tired when we got to the camp. Here we sleep in tents with cement floors. It is very rustic and we really are not allowed to go outside with out a guide and we really don't want to. Still have to check for scorpions in our shoes and can't drink the water. Tonight we go on a night game drive and see the nocturnal animals. It will be dusty and bumpy as the roads are the worst we have experienced. Our camps electricity is on a generator again so we have no power or hot water during the day time or night when we sleep. Roughing it eh! Sort of from the sublime to the basic.

I haven't mentioned our van mates. We got very lucky and I think we have the best van. Richard and Lori and Tim and Ellen, all from Abbotsford.

Our guide, James says the tour is unique because of the high ratio of men to women and because no one uses a breathing machine at night.

Golf at the equator

Yes we went golfing at the equator and at 7000 feet. The course is a challenging 9 hole par three which requires you to hire a caddy. While having breakfast we talked to Tim (one of the guys in our van) and he thought it was a great idea and wanted his wife Ellen to go to. She didn't want to but Richard the other guy in our van did so the four of us went. It costs $20 to rent clubs and $4 for the caddie. Green fees are free. At the hotel they told us to rent one set of clubs between 2 and one caddie between 2. The ground is hard, and air thin so the ball would really fly when it was hit well, which we often didn't do. Linda had several great drives where she out drove all the men. The greens were very small and very rough, and climbing up the short hills to the tee box was a challenge, but we all said that it was a neat experience and we had a lot of fun. I will add more later, but I have to go to a meeting on tomorrows itinery.

Africa Day 3

Roy's notes Today we are leaving the Samburu. We are up early to get some breakfast before we leave at 07:30. For some reason, the duffle bags seem to take up more room this morning and they have trouble fitting them all in. Before we leave the park, we go on another game drive. We have seen so many animals in the 3 game drives we have had so far that you would think we would become jaded, but each time someone spots an elephant or garaffe everyone looks, the driver Edward stops and the cameras pop. As we stop to photograph some baboons, word comes over the radio that a leapord has been spotted. Off we go with petal to the metal over roads or trails which make logging roads seem like super highways. Its' easy to spot where the leapord has been spotted, you just look for the dust. When we get there, there already 4 vans there and soon after another 4 or 5 arrive. The leapord is just sitting up in a tree resting after eating part of an impala ignoring all what is going on around it. The leapord has dragged the impala, the size of a small horse up the tree to feast and keep it away from the lions. Apparently leapords are rarely spotted because the hunt at night and sleep hidden during the day. Edward, our driver says that the chances of seeing one is only about 2 out of 5. What a magnificent animal. While leaving the park, we stop at the gates for a bathroom break and are hounded by men trying to sell copper jewerly which we were told not to buy because the copper is stolen from telephone and cable lines. Sound familiar. We leave the park behind and start the climb to Mount Kenya Lodge . The country side changes from dry, farely flat savanna where even grass is tough to grow to hillside country with wheat and canola fields. Here they have tractors and combines where in the Samburu area everything is done by hand or animals. It is about a two hour drive to the lodgfe, and the Toyota vans struggle with the hills. We arrived for lunch. The Lodge is fantastic. It makes you feel like those rich snobs who use to sit in Africa in the movies. Everything is first class from the decor to service. I don't know what it costs per night but I would love to spend a few more days just taking the grounds in. The lodge is located right on the equator so now we have crossed the equator several times. The lunch was out of this world, variety and taste. Linda and I went to the pool, and its in the Southern hemisphere and we are staying in the northern hemisphere, a short 2 minute walk. We are travelling with 2 other couples , 12 other Canadians and 2 women from Connecticut. Everyone is really easy to get along with. Our room is a suite and is 5 star by our books. Dinner was also first class. I can't seem to get the pictures to go where I want them so you have to bare with me. In the afternoon, I crashed trying to get over my cold, and Linda toured the grounds. They have a maze and a 9 hole golf course. We think we may try the golf tomorrow.

Africa first days

March 5

We arrived at our hotel in Nabrobi an hour late because our plane was delayed for mechanical problems. Glad they were able to fix it quickly.

The Norfolk hotel is the oldest in Narobi, very colonial and very nice. Everyone was quite thrilled with it. We get to stay there again so that is nice. Hopefully we have a little more time to appreciate it. We got to our room about 12:30 am and had to be up and ready for breakfast by 7:00

Our driver is Edward. He is very patient and has been doing this for years he says. Thank god he knows his stuff. Driving on the roads here is worse than in China. At least in China they have decent roads. Here you are on pavement then dirt back to pavement with potholes big enough for our grandkids to swim in. There is a lot of road improvement going on - if we couldn’t get through Edward would just go out on the shoulder
And onto the dirt, up and over huge mounds of soil. The soil here is red, sometimes light and other times very dark red. Like PEI! There are also many diversions (detours) and they are invariably dreadful.
They all drive like they have a death wish. If it is 2 lane traffic they use the centre as a third passing lane and once they get out there they stay as long as they can . It seemed like they were playing chicken to me.

As we drove along from Nairobi to the Samburu the agriculture varied, each area had its own crop. There was pineapple farming, mangos, corn, potatoes, charcoal production, wheat and barley ( the landscape looked just like the Canadian prairies) . All along the highway people had goats tethered, usually only one goat and someone would be there tending it. Same with cows. Some animals were quiet thin and others very robust and healthy. A person would be walking along with their cow or cows. Lots of donkey carts, they look so cute. We haven’t got a picture yet. It is not easy to take a picture out the window of a safari vehicle that is barrelling down the highway at 80km. There are lots of stalls with people selling their wares out in the middle of what seemed like nowhere to us. Coke signs everywhere (the bottles are the same as at home). The homes look so poor but the people look so well dressed and healthy. Children walking to school in their brightly coloured uniforms without shoes on their feet.

It was a long day. We didn’t get to the Samburu game reserve until about 4:00 Then they popped up the roof in our van and we went on a safari drive. The first animal we saw was a Gravy’s Zebra. I may not have the spelling correct as our guide’s English is heavily accented. WOW! We were so close to them. We saw many giraffe’s and lots of elephants. We got so close to one group that we felt that we could almost touch them. A baby was nursing - sweet. At about 6:20 our guide announced that we had to get to our lodge as we couldn’t be in the reserve after 6:30 or he’d be fined. Off we went at high speed over the roughest road I’ve ever been on. It was good that he had told us to sit down in our seats. We had been standing looking out the roof and would really have got a tossing around. I am glad we are able to stand and look out but sure wish I was a little taller .

The lodge is very nice, rustic - the power comes courtesy of a generator that only runs for a short time morning and evening. There is a pool but we opted to rest in our room this afternoon. Roy has got the cold I had before we left and is not feeling too good. We go on an evening game drive at 4:00 this afternoon.
We were in the van at 7:30 this morning and oh what a morning it was. Yesterday was exciting - just being on the savannah and seeing the scenery was terrific. First we saw a warthog family, then stopped to take pictures of an ant (termite) hill. Then the battery in our vehicle died. We are in the middle of nowhere!!!
Our driver pulls our a cell phone and one of the other cars comes and gives us a push. Imagine - cell phone coverage. We are miles and miles and miles from what we call civilization. (his radio is broken and he can receive but not transmit). While we are waiting we see many baboons along the river. We saw more giraffes, elephants, lots of little dik diks ( antelope family), they are tiny and so cute. We saw lions -Mating!, we saw orynx, gazelles, cape buffalo, gerenyk, I can’t think of all the names, Roy will help me when he wakes up. It was very exciting to see all the animals in their own home, They don’t seem to even notice the vehicles but we are told not to get out of the car at any time as they do notice individuals. We also have to be escorted to and from our hut at night and when the power is shut off at night we have to flash our flashlight for a quard to come and get us if we need to go out of our hut. Leopards wander through here all the time.

We had a talk by a Samburu tribesman at noon today. Very interesting. I will write more later as my back is getting tired from the position I am in and there isn’t much choice

Notes from Roy:
Made it as far as London . Flew on a British Airways 747-400, with what seemed like a thousand other passengers. It was a long flight, and neither of us were able to catch much sleep. There were a good choice of movies, but again, neither of us could get interested so we read. Linda had no problems with the takeoff or landing this time, but she was a little drugged. After clearing customs we walked to the Sofitel hotel, checked in and freshened up. A bunch of the others had purchased tickets for the Lion King, and were heading into London. We decided to join them on the underground, but decided that getting back to the hotel around midnight and up again at 06:00 was pushing it. We got off the train at Covent Station with the group and then separated. We walked around some of the streets, and the buildings and the shops were way cool. We ended up at the Covent market area and that was cool. So cold a lot of the stands were closed. It was 6 degrees with a light breeze, so felt quite chilly. After walking around for a while we set off to a pub, the Great London, for dinner. Had quite a time getting a table, the Great London was the 5th pub we went into. Linda kept the table while I went up to get the drinks and order or meals. I asked the bartender to recommend a beer, and he asked if I wanted cool and bubbly or traditional British Beer. I said traditional British Beer and the guy standing beside me said you want this one, London Pride. He had me taste his beer (which hadn‘t been drunk out of yet), and I ordered 2. Linda had the steak pie and I had fish and chips. Very good. After dinner we walked around a bit before heading back. It was about an hour train ride back to the airport, and we had trouble staying a wake. Quick shower and hit the sack.

Notes from Linda:
It was a limo that picked us up in Mission. It was a little early but we had been ready for ages. We loaded in and then we pulled round the corner to collect Myra. Sandra was next and we were off to the airport. As we were picked up first Roy and I rode facing backward. Very disorienting! Once at the airport we were able to get aisle seats across from one another. That made us very happy. I was on the window side and had a bit more leg room than Roy, however it wasn’t a lot. BA seems to have the least leg room of any airline we have travelled with. The fellow in front of Roy kept his seat in the reclined position all the way and the fellow next to him had his feet in the spot he needed to put his backpack so all round it wasn’t great for him. As for me I had it great and no pain!

Roy has described our time in London. What a treat. Wandering round Covent Garden. I could almost see Eliza selling her flowers. I felt like pinching myself to see if it was real. Sitting in the pub having dinner with all the Londoners - men in their business suits standing, gabbing about heaven knows what, young girls on a hen night. It was so far from Mission. It made me want to stay longer but of course we are off on our adventure and London will be there for another time I hope.

We are sitting at Heathrow now. It is a busy place but the noise seems so muted, people walk by and I can see they are talking but it is quiet. My ears are a bit plugged but I hope that is not the reason for the quiet..

The Sofitel didn’t quite live up to expectations but perhaps we were spoiled in China.

Off we go to Nairobi!

Linda's post

January 23/11

Roy and I are sitting by the pool. We will have a glass of wine and some banana bread we bought on the road to Hana yesterday.

It has been a busy few days. Friday I took a quilting lesson and learned about traditional Hawaiian quilting. I am doing a taro plant pattern. The class was fun and it I turned out to be class star. Now that has never happened before. It helped that I picked the easiest pattern. It was recommended that I sign up for two classes on Friday but it turned out that I only needed the morning class. We went for a swim and did some body surfing in the afternoon.

Saturday we drove to Hana. What an experience! I will let Roy tell about that. We were exhausted at the end ( a 10 hour day and most of it spent driving on narrow, sometimes one lane bridges with 600 twisty turns). The views were wonderful, the vegetation amazing! We stopped for waterfalls (a bit of a disappointment), views (most were tremendous but one we hiked up a mountain path over exposed roots that were set to trip you, with slippery wet clay between the roots only to find the view has been obscured by vegetation and then we got to go back down over what we had come up. I had my walking stick, in the car, so Roy found me a stick to use. MY HERO. Got some fabulous banana bread and some mango bread but the baked breadfruit was sold out much to our disappointment. It was quite a trip.
Today,I reluctantly went boogie boarding and hated to get out of the water when I got tired. It was a blast, even though I got most of the sand inside my bathing suit.

Notes from Roy
We were told that we had to get to the airport at least 2 hours before for inter island flights. We had tried to get a shuttle to get us there at that time, but the best we were able to do is 3 hours early, which didn't make us happy but thought we could have lunch before we left. We get to the terminal and check in, and the lady at the counter asked if we would like an earlier flight, as there was room on the flight which left 50 minutes earlier than our booked flight. So we took it. Turns out that the inter island terminal has less food available than the Bellingham terminal, which doesn't have much. Got to fly in a Canadair 200 commuter jet, seemed old but held up fine for the 35 minute fligh. They offered to sell beverages on the flight, but by the time you would have your beverage, they would be collecting the plastic glasses before landing.
Linda didn't say anything about our car. We had booked a compact because it is cheaper and also easier to get around in. The girl at the counter said we would look good in a convertible, we said no, but she said she would look it up and see what she could do to upgrade us. All were spoke for, so she tried to get us to take a jeep. When she offered us one for $400 which is half the cost we said no. So she told us to go out to the lot and pick a compact car, keys were in it. Out we went looking for compact cars. Turns out there were 2 left, and one was just backing out of its stall. As we walked over to the last one, a young man got in and drove it away. The lot attendant told us to pick any car in the full size lot because she was out of compacts. We have a Buick Lucerene with leather interior, and all the bells and whistles. Still not sure what they all are.

Our first day after swimming at the beach across the road we toured the beaches down south. They are beautiful and didn't seem to crowded. We may go to one tomorrow before heading to Lahanai for the afternoon and our evening Lulau.
As for the drive to Hana, the shoreline and overlooks were wonderful. The water falls were disappointing. None of the falls we saw were very high, nor was there a lot of water flowing over them. The cascade falls outside of Mission are much more spectacular. The road was something else. There are over 600 curves and 54 bridges of which almost 50 are single lane over the 28 miles. As well there are a lot of single lane stretches where the signs say to yield oncoming traffic. Speed limit for a lot of the road is 15 miles per hour, with a maximum top speed of 35 mph for a short spell, but mostly 15 or 20. Once we got to Hana, around 3 PM, we decided that it would be better to head back so we weren't on the road after dark. It took over an hour and a half to get over the 28 miles of curves. We had to stop after we finished the road, we didn't feel so good, and we saw one vehicle had stopped to let the passenger out to barf. We stopped at an overlook (lookout) where the best surfing waves on the island are located. Lots of surfers out there and great waves, at least by our standards, we could have watched them all day. We got home about 5:30 and both of us were bagged. We both laid down and had a nap,and were finished for the night. Having a full size car didn't help, but even a compact would have been a challenge.

One other note, we were in Foodland buying some groceries and who do we see, but everyones favourite politican from Mission. Yes Randy Hawes is in Maui, can't seem to get away from the Liberals.

Hawii, 2011

January 17, 2011

Here we are in Honolulu at the Ohana West hotel. When we got up this morning the sun was shining and we could look out at palm tree. Just like a post card.

The trip here seemed very long. We got to the Bellingham airport early so we could get aisle seats. For some reason we could not reserve our seats to Honolulu until we got to the airport. We tried to do it on line and couldn't do it that way either. When we passed through customs the agent delayed us to give us travel information. How often does that happen??

Bellingham airport was full of BC cars. These cheap flights to Hawaii only began January 4 th or something like that. The airport is small and so hokey that it is kind of cute. We had to walk out in the rain and around a corner, across the tarmac to board our plane. It was a no frills flight and seemed very long. There were lots of children on board and though there were some melt downs they did very well. I would have loved to have a melt down myself. It seemed a long 6 hours!

We had only had a bun for dinner (purchased at the kiosk in the departure area before we boarded the plane so went across the street from our hotel to Denny's for tea and toast at 2:00 am. It was 3:00 am before we got to bed and then we were so tired we didn't sleep very well. 7:00 saw us up and looking at the view. We headed back to Denny's for breakfast and met a couple from Prince Albert (we both thought they were Americans). They had gone to the golf tournament and surprised us when they said it cost $50.00 for the whole 5 days.

After breakfast we walked through the international markey and happened upon a Martin Luther King parade (it is his day). Watched it for a while and then went on to explore the beach. The water isn't hot. After a while we boared the free shuttle and went to a shopping district for a wander. Didn't buy a thing but had lunch at a very nice Chinese restaurant. The food reminded us of the food we had in China. Then back to the hotel for our swim suits. Got on the shuttle again, but being tourists got on going the wrong way so we had the full tour of it's route before arriving at the beach. We took turns going in for a swim as we were a bit leary of leaving our stuff unsupervised. The water was great! Toured the Royal Hawaian Hotel on the way back. It is very fancy ! The ar shop had Anthony Quinn's work(I liked it), Tony Curtis (I could probably do as well) and Anthony Perkins ( I couldn't do as well). Lots of Anthony's. Back to the hotel for a shower and dinner. Shopped for snacks for our tour tomorrow at a very interesting store. Roy got a bottle of scotch and we got some cereal for breakfast as we begin our day at 6:00 a.m. And so good night, sleep tight!