THIS WAS WRITTEN on August 11th, but not posted til now. So don’t get confused, it’s out of order!
In transition, 10 minute to write. in nairobi between tent camp on edge of maasai mara in masai village and flights either to home or to So Africa for those of us going on to Botswana. Trip amazing, too much to process while it is happening. Picture:
The ultimate ‘hard eye’ from a lioness 10 ft from YOU while she walks by your van with her cubs.
A leopard getting beat out over a kill by a lion.
Streams of wildebeest drawing lines across the vast and open mara, always led by zebra.
Elegant and yet adorably cute Thompson’s gazelles switching their tails in time to the bumps in the road.
More dust in your hair than you can ever imagine getting out.
Talking to young maasai warriors about their belief that cows = money, and wondering how long they can continue gathering cattle now that they tend to stay in one place.
Making life long friendships with driver guides Joe and John and Hamm, and especially Tony, our own African Angel.
Hearing that Lassie looks all over the house several times a day.. for me? and trying not to turn into a puddle.
gotta go, car leaves for airport in 20 min. next adventure, here we come….
(and everyone is well.. a few tough days for some of us, me included, but everyone doing great, though all ready for a long bath and long sleep!)
barrie says
A while back you were looking for positive only gundog trainers and I just ran across this and thought you might be interested: http://www.learningaboutdogs.com/acatalog/gundogbk.html
Liz F. says
Ha, nice pun!
There are many challenges to traveling without dogs -but- there are many positives too.
For starters, dogs deter wildlife viewing. I’ve been on a handful of outings w/ my dogs and saw many animals, but I live with the “what if” factor of not knowing what could have been had the dogs not come along. Birds don’t react as much, but almost all ground dwellers bolt at the first sight of us. Impossible to maintain a non-threatening presence in areas where the dogs must wear small bear bells (for deterrent/safety), for instance. Not to mention the fact that humans can have have a hard enough time being discreet on their own.
The other huge positive is that you don’t have to worry about the dogs well being in the wild. On one trip, a young porcupine walked directly though camp at dusk. My dog, Nala, greeted it with her mouth before I could utter a word. She recoiled, looking like some unruly deep sea fish with quills sticking out of her mouth. Thankfully, none of the quills were in her nose or eyes and I was able to pull them out myself without too much of a struggle. But we were miles from civilization, and all I can say is I’m sorry, Nal. We were very, very lucky that the situation wasn’t worse, and this is a case where I would’ve preferred seeing an animal from a distance because of the dogs.
Moral of the story is that people traveling w/out their pets can often better enjoy what nature has to offer, and at least be comforted by the fact their friends are likely in a safer place.
So glad that Africa has been incredible, and despite the challenges involved, everyone is making the best of such a wild experience!
Joanna says
I’ve been reading all the Africa entries, and it sounds so… “amazing” is the best word I can think of, but even that doesn’t seem enough. If there’s another trip a few years in the future, perhaps I will be able to go.
I was wondering, how is the food? What kinds of things have you been eating?
Trisha says
Joanna: On my second favorite subject (behavior being first), Food: The food varied in Africa but little of it was really local ‘african’ food. Most of the tent camps and lodges in Kenya and Botswana are well aware that tourists cherish food and that meals are important to travelers. The standard African fare (maize mush and/ or boiled roots) isn’t going to get people to come back. So most of the food we had was pretty Westernized. We had truly superb food at Finch Hatton’s in Tsavo West (a tent camp began by the lover of Isak Dinesen of Out of Africa fame), at the High View Gardens in Jo’berg and at Chitabe Tent Camp in Botswana. The food at the Amboseli Serena (Kenya) was plentiful and good, and the food at Tipilikwani Camp (Kenya) was, well, okay. There was lots and lots of fresh fruit (Passion Fruit Juice every morning, yummmm), lots of beef, fish, chicken and lamb but lots of good veggies as well. You would never want to go on safari to lose weight, although we found that even though we were overwhelmed with buffet tables groaning with food, we used up all the calories trying not to bounce out of the vehicle on game drives.