July 18-21 Nairobi - Arusha

Life seems to have slowed down to "travel mode" with a slow and easy pace. At the same time, it has sped up to lightening speed as each new minute brings a new site, smell and feel. Sadie & Anna have embraced travel with wide eyes, a new display of flexibility and appear to be up for the challenge - Phew. But, this is only day 5. We did have our first night of goodsleep last night as our jet lag seems to be fading. A good night sleep is like putting on a new pair of rose coloured lenses.

Before leaving Nairobi we decided to check out the local scene. After reading for the first time (probably good Janetdidn't know this in advance) that Nairobi rivals Johanasburg for crime we headed downtown on the local bus. But first we were reassured the dangers lie mostly after dark and advised which bues to climb aboard. The Motutu's are small privately run vans and clearly the competition is stiff as they rival for passengers. We took the larger and more safe City Hopper (yes really)which took us quickly into downtown. Downtown is much like any downtown, busy and generic. There was the occasional building left from the British Colony days but mostly they have been replaced by non descript architecture. The exciting part for sure was getting there and back. Our trip back was not as successful with less than 1 km in more than 30 min. So? What do 4 white folks do when they still have a little North American impatience left in their system? They hop off and walk. The polution from cars is choking but it was still nice to get the legs moving and we were home in 15 min.

Our trip from Nairobi to Arusha was incredible. We had received advance warning to head off with empty bladders and our own snacks packed. Good advice. The trip was a total of about 7 hours on a small van style bus including a fairly uneventful border crossing andvisa purchase (and only one pee break). Before long we were spotting the likes of zebras, camels and hundreds of very skinny cows and goats. We were awarded to the site of about 7 giraffes near the end of our journey. The road was CRAZY. Bumpy, contantly interrupted with detours on to dirt sections (at moc speed) and the most amazing scenery scrolling by our windows. Once we got out of the city and through the industy secion of town we seemed to be in the most forbidding county I have ever seen. I can not imagine how the people can squeeze one day of life out of the land. The drought combined with non sustainable use of the land is devastating. As I lookedout the window I tried to figure out how to describde how dry it looked. Not dry, parched. No not parched, barren. Mmmm., maybe moonscape would work. As we drove towards Arusha the whole sky was filled with dust and surrounded by this moonscape with the the statues of dead trees & bush standing guard. The only sign of life was the occasional brightly dressed Massai standing in the wind with his herd in what felt like the middle of nowhere. I was starting to wonder what Arusha would be like...but we are here and it is leafy green. We have landed in a really nice guest house. We were hooked when we arrived, boughtcold beer & pop and settled in to watch the Tour de France. We've had a day of rest and head off on our saffari tomorrow. We'vealready changed currencies and our bank card isn't working. The girls (and Janet) are practicing their math as each US$1 equalsTsh $1300. Life is less expensive so far here in Tanzania with 30 min. internet access for about 80 cents and $1.50 fora 500 ml beer. Mmmm, is beer and internet going to be our constant measurement for daily life? Probably.

Ciao or Kwa heri (Swahili for good-bye)

Day 1 - Nairobi

What better way to get adjusted to travelling than listening to the sounds of nature and a guy puking on your first night.The 30 minute drive from the Nairobi airport to our tent camp was uneventful though the kids eyes were wide open and their mouths a little agape as the sights, smells and driving techniques of Nairobi unfolded before them. We were only stopped by the police once and our driver, Charlie, seemed to handle it flawlessly without any money changing hands. Wildebeest Tent Camp awaited our arrival at 8pm after 17 hours of travel from Toronto via Zurich. Our first African beer tasted real good, though it wasn't enough to let us sleep through the birds, dogs, insect noises, the mosque call to prayer and of course our neighbour puking.

Today was a full on tourist day as we visited Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe Center and Kazuri Bead and Pottery Factory. Yes, baby elephants are extremely cute, the baby rhino was hilarous as it played around like a puppy and the full grown black rhino that appeared out of nowhere was scary. The staff were not altogether surprised by the rhino's visit from the adjacent Nairobi National Park as they had brought it up and released it into the park. Apparently, it comes to visit from time to time, primarily for a free meal. They did warn us that it could charge at anytime and the staff became very attentive to coaxing it away from us picture happy tourists. The Nairobi school kids were outa there on first sight and I must say I was very aware of the 18" long horn and the whereabouts of Sadie and Anna.

The Giraffes were rather pet like, as were the baby elephants. Feeding, petting and even giraffe kisses were all part of the visit with the giraffes. The kisses were accomplished by putting a pellet of food between your lips and letting the giraffe take it with his/her lips and tongue. The inevitable saliva on your face was actually not so bad. The Bead center was set up to provide work for women who were mainly single Mom's and disadvantaged. It employs 340 women and produces beads, pottery, etc that is sold all over the world. Each bead is hand made and hand painted. The women earn about US$2/day.

Off to Africa

Yes, tomorrow is departure day.  6pm out of Toronto to Nairobi via Zurich.  That is about the extent of our arrangements so far, but I have assured the family everything will work out just fine.  Really, what can go wrong?

This is the first time on the blog figuring out how it works so this is less of a blog post and more of a test of my technical abilities.  If this works then I should probably move onto planning something for Janet for our 13th anniversary - which is today.  

We are looking forward to what will hopefully be an experience of a lifetime.  I think the concept of this blog is to be part trip journal - so we have a record for ourselves - and partly to share experiences.  I am not sure how much internet connection we will have so the postings could be days or weeks in between.  That is kind of a disclaimer, mainly so our families will not worry abut us..... likely the only real subscribers!

Bye for now, Ron