Nairobi: The City

I planned to spend two days in Nairobi on this trip because I wanted to know what an African city was like, outside of South Africa. Now I know, or at least I know enough to know that I could live here if I had to, but otherwise have no desire to come back. The city is definitely big enough to support what I imagine to be a healthy expat community, my hotel is just lovely, and people seem to be very nice. But the city is very congested, most of downtown was built in the 1940s (and reminds me of a very busy and safer Guayaquil), and there is really nothing touristy and fun to do (aside from safaris).

Today started with a visit to the Nairobi National Museum, Kenya's flagship museum showcasing their heritage. Other than me the only visitors were about 100 school children. Beginning to wonder if kids here actually go to school or just on field trips! Overall the museum was interesting and better curated than I'd expected, but still worlds away from something like the ROM. Highlights included the skeleton of Amhed, an elephant who had really massive tusks (to the ground!!) and to whom they assigned two guards to spend 24 hours a day with him to protect him from poachers. He eventually died of old age. There was also a stuffed animal we hadn't seen on safari because it only lives in the Congo - an okapi. It is most closely related to the giraffe but has zebra stripes!! They had tons of stuffed animals and the most impressive bird collection I could possibly imagine. As in it took me 5 minutes to walk from one end of the room to the other and I didn't stop to look at anything! There was also some interesting displays on traditions that take place at various life stages, as well as traditions like medicine men. I found the section on colonialism particularly interesting, and it made me think of other places I have been like Penang which have a very similar look to them. Kenya also apparently has the oldest and best collection of prehistoric human remains, so evolution also had it's own room. Creepy how closely our skeletons compare to chimps!

Next up was the city tour, which was basically just driving around downtown. Much smaller than I would have thought and very few tall buildings. Most large buildings were government. We drove past the US embassy which was bombed in 1998 and my driver told me an interesting but scary story; he was just a couple blocks away when it happened and his car was thrown up in the air then he hid on the car floor convinced the world was ending. We didn't stop anywhere really - not because it was unsafe but because there was really nothing to see. We did stop at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) because it's the second tallest building in Kenya and the tallest you're allowed to go up (27 floors). I went up to see the views, but guess what!? There were another hundred school girls up there! One asked if she could touch my hair - I said okay but only if I could touch hers too. Interesting request!

Last stop was a very touristy market which was crap really, in a parking lot in the baking sun. I found someone to make Mitch a custom gift (his love of monkeys and baboons is not widely shared here, and nothing can be found depicting them) but this was a large mistake. Not only do I not really like what I got (sorry Mitchie, will keep looking) but it was very annoying waiting for it with everyone else trying to sell me things. Not a good end to the tour!

So, I came back to the hotel and enjoyed an afternoon by the pool! Tomorrow I'm very excited to be flying to Mombasa (coast of Kenya) to stay in what appears to be a gorgeous resort that I somehow booked at a steal. I'll believe it when I see it but I'm very optimistic! For my mom and anyone else wondering where all these places are, firstly I am on the east coast of Africa, and secondly here is a map with a lot of the places I have been: the crater, Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, Zanzibar, Nairobi, Masai Mara, Mombasa, Arusha!!! And for those wondering how I have time to write so much while in Africa - exploring Nairobi alone at night is not inline with "being safe" so I have some time on my hands!

Nairobi for Tourists and Children

Part Two of my adventures started today. AE flew home last night and should be landing around now, and I'm happy and safe in a great hotel in Nairobi called the Fairview. It's on five acres of land, has four restaurants, a big pool nicer than the one in Zanzibar (although with highs of 18 it isn't very inviting) and much appreciated by me, a gym. It's been a lot of eating and sitting, with the result that I've enthusiastically been at the gym three times in the last 24 hours. I'm writing this after enjoying a sushi dinner and sitting in front of a real fire with a latte and listening to a great pianist in the hotel atrium.

Beyond enjoying the hotel, I saw the side of Nairobi today that I venture is reserved for tourists and for local school children, who were at all of the places I visited en masse. I really liked the driver that met me at the airport so I scheduled him in for a day of sightseeing today and for a city tour tomorrow.

We started at Daphne Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage, located in the Nairobi Game Park which is pretty much inside the city. The orphanage takes in baby elephants from just a week old to two years, who are orphaned because of poachers or because they fell into a well and couldn't get out. Babies need milk until they are two, and so they would otherwise die. They keep them in the orphanage until they are between two and three and then spend several years reintroducing them into the wild, before they are accepted by a wild herd. It's really a cool story and apparently a very successful program.

Visitors are only allowed between 11 and 12, for one of the feeding sessions. The rest of the day the elephants are in the national park accompanied by a handler each, who acts like their family. Handlers even sleep with the elephants every night to provide company and because they have to give them bottles of milk every three hours!! They currently have twelve elephants and they came out six at a time for feeding. As they got close to the feeding area they stampeded to their bottles. Very cute.

They also take in orphaned black rhinos, but the baby they had was too "playful" to bring out, and the other one they have is six years old and blind....I visited him (Maxwell) in his pen.

Our next stop was the giraffe centre which was founded to protect and help foster the development of the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. In 1973, there were only 130 of these giraffes living in all of Africa (and only in one part of Kenya) but this breeding program has expanded the number to only 400. I guess it's hard to get giraffes to mate...it's also an educational center now for all the school children.

The reason I went is that (a) I really like giraffes, and (b) you can get really close to them and feed them from your hand!! I fed one named Jock and he was very nice. Their tongues are super weird. You take a bunch of little dog food pellets and just cup your hand and they bend down and their very long and strong tongue (think like a big snake) wraps around your entire (entire!!) hand and like sucks out the food. I looked it up - their tongues are 18 to 21 inches! They are sticky and leave a long trail of saliva attached between their mouths and your hand when they stand back up. I got to feed Jock from both the ground and the observation deck for maximum picture effectiveness. Unfortunately the pics are all on my camera so will have to wait to be shared! The whole visit was only 20 minutes, and not a must-see unless you're a giraffe fanatic!

My adventures were not yet over! Next stop was a very nice but touristy shopping center in a big house where all the rooms had different themed things. I looked very hard to find a mask or something for Mitch but nothing was quite right. Luckily I have many more weeks to look! I checked out a nice cafe there they had for lunch though.

Next stop after that was at the Kazuri beads factory. I hadn't heard of them but apparently they are well known handmade beads and pottery. They employ disadvantaged people, mostly single mothers, and you could watch them make all stages of the beads and they had a really nice store where I finally found something I liked! After looking it up online I should have bought a lot more...my $16 necklace would cost $80 at home it seems!

But the excursions weren't over yet! The next stop was the Bomas of Kenya, a cultural music and dance show that is put on every day in an amphitheater and celebrates and educates on the heritage of all of Kenya's tribes. I figured if it's good enough to support that kind of audience I should check it out. You'd think I'd have learnt my lesson at the cultural show in Chiang Mai...it was pretty painful and only mildly interesting. Lots of traditional music and instruments and costumes and dancing, but at 90 minutes it was a bit long. 101 six year old boys were in the audience (I had time to count them) and at least 50 thirteen year old girls....they all went nuts when they played this song "jambo rafiki" that we've been hearing everywhere and started to sing along and dance in their seats, so I guess at least the show was authentic!

I got out of there as soon as it was over and was back at the hotel by 5pm to enjoy the evening here! And enjoyable it has been!

Ras Nungwi, Zanzibar

We are approaching the end of our almost four days in a beach resort in Zanzibar. There hasn't been much to report because we have been so busy doing nothing. Nothing that is except eating, sitting on the beach, reading, and playing scrabble and crazy eights. The views are beautiful - we have an ocean view front porch, and the water is brilliant, but the beach is not good for either walking or swimming - too short and full of seaweed and coral and rocks. Hard to beat the Florida beaches for us. The food has been incredible - lots of seafood with an Indian influence, and great fruit deserts (mango carpaccio with lemon sorbet).

Tomorrow we fly back to Nairobi in the evening, and ae heads home while I stay to explore the city and continue the adventures. Here are a couple of pics from the last three days!

Also tried to take a pic of ae's foot - has been badly eaten by bugs, spiders, and ants. Fortunately for you all the light isn't good enough at the moment. It's pretty bad though.

Enough for tonight - we are enjoying an easy listening band while we wait for the drums to summon us to dinner. I'd Rather Be a Hammer Than a Nail seems to be a big hit here.

Stone Town, Zanzibar

Our first full day in Zanzibar we had a private tour of Stone Town, the main city on the islands. (Zanzibar is actually an archipelago of many small islands, the largest is called Unguja which is where we are staying.) Our guide's name was Mohammed (95% of Zanzibar is Muslim in contrast to Tanzania's large Christian population) but he said to call him Eddie, as in Eddie Murphy. He looked nothing like Eddie Murphy, but coincidentally the porter at the hotel was wearing a yellow Arabic outfit and looked exactly like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America. He was only missing the princely lock!

A lot of the tour was devoted to the slave trade. Zanzibar was the hub on the east coast of Africa, and the slaves were sent to India and the Middle East. We saw the area of the slave markets and visited the underground holding areas which were as depressing as you would think they would be. Here is a picture of a memorial statue outside the Anglican church which was built at the site of the slave market. The alter is at the spot where the whipping post used to be.

Had an extensive tour of a museum in the House of Wonders, which was a sultans palace (Omani influence). It was called the House of Wonders because it was the biggest house in East Africa and the first with running water and electricity and an elevator. Today it houses a museum where we had a very extensive tour showcasing the history of the Swahili people. My favorite fun fact was that everyone in Zanzibar learns to read Arabic fluently because they read the Qu'aran in it. AE's fun fact is that the Swahili people build their beds ridiculously high so they have storage space underneath (because their houses are so small), which explains the beds we have been experiencing while in Zanzibar.

We also saw the Forodhani Gardens Market where we had purchased sugar cane juice the evening before (and which ae swears has further contributed to her need for Immondium). It's just an area where they cook and sell fresh seafood, but it looked even too scummy for me to try. However we saw another market which was much larger and included a fresh fish section, a fruit and vegetable section, and a live chicken section. AE also loved that experience.

Note to daddy: can't believe you ate fish from a market like this in Japan. No wonder you got sick! (says ae)

Next to the House of Wonders is the oldest building in Stone Town - an old fort originally built by the Portuguese. Shaggy (yes, good old Shaggy) was playing there on Friday night. We were disappointed to be missing him by one day. I'm sure it would have been a wild party inside the fort. Mitchell, this would be where you would work if you were Zanzibari.

On a further musical note we saw the home of Freddy Mercury, which was more exciting to ae. We also saw the smallest street which was less than a meter wide.

Stone Town is famous for the wooden doors scattered though out the town, with different shapes for Indian, Arab, and African doors. Most are made of teak or mahogany and although they are interesting you tire of them pretty quickly! Every building in Stone Town must be made out of corral and be white. Also no dogs allowed on the streets. Still quite dirty.

We retired to our hotel to wash our feet in the pool and wait for our driver to take us to Ras Nungwi at the northern end of the main island, which is where we are now finishing the joint portion of the trip.

Toilet paper, missionaries and musicians ...... Oh, my!

Hi. Auntie Em here. I know you've all read the blog about Serengeti under canvas, but there is an untold part of the story. We had not one, not two, but three misunderstandings about the use of toilet paper in our tent toilets. First of all you have to understand that when you arrive at these luxury camps, one of the first things that happens (of course after you have been greeted with singing, warm towels, and a welcome drink) is that your personal butler takes you to your room and shows you where to find everything. Of course in the case of the tents, there was much more to explain....a crucial part being proper toilet procedures. After each of our respective butlers had shown us around, Emily and I met for a drink. We seemed to have different interpretations of the "toilet rules".

Misunderstanding number 1: I was told not to flush any toilet paper, and that it should all be discarded separately into this little brown box (which i thought was extremely small, and i thought the whole thing was a little strange), which your butler would collect each time they straightened up your tent. (Wow, what a job, big tip required there!). So, i had my pee and dutifully put my pee-soaked toilet paper into the little box. Then after discussing the events with emily, i realized that the little brown box should have contained a supply of small brown paper bags, and it was into these bags that we were supposed to put the toilet paper...so i had to run quickly back to my tent to beat the butler there before he could discover my faux-pas and get completely grossed out by me!

Misunderstanding number 2: Emily thought her butler said to use the paper bags for "other items", and not to flush them. She thought toilet paper was ok to flush, and had already flushed some down by the time we had met up to discuss all of this. It came as no surprise to me later when she told me that her toilet had not flushed adequately!!

Misunderstanding number 3: Emily thought each "occurrence" of toilet paper use should be stashed in a separate bag. However, my butler had explained that you fill the bag, then start another one if necessary. Emily had used half the camp's supply of bags before I had a chance to clarify things to her!!

Anyway, we got it all figured out in the end.

On to the missionaries....
It was our last dinner in the serengeti....another romantic, candle-lit dinner for the two of us....we had just been discussing that after twenty-plus game drives, many starting at 6 in the morning, we could finally sleep in. The ranger approached our table....he would be coming to tell us what time we were leaving for the air strip in the morning...we figured around 9 or so.....but no, he told us we would have time for another game drive on the way to the airport, but we had to be up at 6 again!!! I was very excited....Emily, at this point, has had enough game drives to last a lifetime, and would prefer to sleep, but she could sense my elation at the prospect of one more safari!!!!

So off we went in the morning.....but not just the two of us as usual.....this time we had a family of four missionaries from Tampa with us!!!! The pastiest group I have ever seen. Not a surprise when we witnessed them entering a toilet tent to douse themselves with a complete spray can of number 75 sun screen!!! The two kids, likely in their early teens, were two of the weirdest kids I've ever met.....they are going to have problems in life for sure.....when we first saw them approaching, we saw the mom and the son together and we thought they were a nice lesbian couple.

Anyway, off we went. We knew we were in trouble when we had to stop for about twenty minutes for them to photograph some mongoose, which resembled rats as they poked their heads out from an old termite mound. I mean, really, people, this is the /:)$(;:/($ serengeti......and they wanted to see mongoose and were also eerily interested in mice and ants!!! The drive wasn't a total waste, though, as we ended up getting within about 10 feet of both a huge hippo wallowing in the mud and two male lions having a little siesta!

On we went to the air strip to catch our flight to Zanzibar ..... Which leads to the musicians:

First there was the Indian sounding band that played outside before dinner.....almost enjoyable until one of them started to sing!! Very bad. I couldn't help but think of Russell peters and I found it a bit humorous! I know, that is very bad of me, but he could have done a great imitation!!!

Then we went to dinner, and just as we finished our appetizers I spotted them.....the dreaded restaurant-roaming musicians!!! Needless to say a few uncomfortable moments while we smiled and attempted to look interested.....luckily I'd had the foresight to order some wine.

Well, those are just a few "side stories".........

Serengeti Under Canvas — June 23

We've just finished three nights "camping" in the western Serengeti. Check out these pictures and judge for yourself the degree of camping we had to do!

There was also an amazing bucket shower attached to the back...we both agreed it was the best shower of the trip. Our ranger Mohammed called ahead at the end of each game drive and it was filled with the perfect temperature water waiting for us.

The cool thing about this lodge is that they move around and try to locate near the Great Migration. So it's amazing that they can set up such a nice abode and keep it mobile. The slightly less cool thing is that they didn't really know where the wildebeest were, because they can't drive off road in the Serengeti, and the lack of rain this year made them move out of the western region more quickly than usual. Sometimes they even have to rely on pilots to know where they are! That being said, we were still able to drive a bit and catch some of the straggling herds. They run around in single file, wherever they smell the rain. We saw a couple instances of thundering hooves, but mostly they just mill around and eat. We were hoping to get to see some of them cross the Grumetti River, but weren't so lucky. Maybe just as well, since the river banks are very steep and many break their legs going down and are at the mercy of their predators. One of the neat / unfortunate things about being at the tail end of the migration is that you see the ones that were left behind and not going to make it. Definitely sad, but a true glimpse of the circle of life...and of lots of very ugly vultures eating.

On a more positive note we also saw some very cute lion cubs playing and fighting, snapping thorny branches into each other's faces, wrestling, etc. We watched them until we had to go meet up with the other guests for a surprise drink and snack in the middle of the Serengeti. Today we also got very close to two very large male lions. I'm talking like 4 or 5 meters. When the one by my window started doing these very large yawns and got up, my fear of elephants was almost eclipsed. But not quite!

We escaped unharmed and left the beauty of the Serengeti, the amazing food, and the fantastic service of our two butlers Osman and Josephat for our two flights that brought us to Zanzibar. AE got to sit up front in the copilot seat which she really enjoyed, for the first flight. The second flight had a (very strange) group of 6 also from Toronto! And at the same airport we saw a lady wearing the Disney Princess Half Marathon shirt we both have. AND while I'm on the topic, I forgot to mention that the last time we were in the Arusha airport a week ago we ran into two of my friends from HBS (Joey and Julia) on their honeymoon! That was pretty cool!

Anyways, we are in Stone Town now staying at a lovely hotel overlooking the ocean and with a great pool. We strolled around a bit today and each managed to find a useful souvenir with our favorite animal on it - zebras for ae and giraffes for me. Tomorrow we are heading to the northern part of the island after a guided tour of Stone Town! In the meantime we are enjoying some live music from our amazing balcony (free upgrade!)

Animals of Ngorogoro Crater

Today we had an 8 hour game drive into the crater and had some pretty amazing animal encounters. We spotted a cheetah right off the bat, which is amazing because only four live in the crater. She wasn't doing much so we moved on. Tons of zebras and wildebeest super close up, including some very cute babies.

The stars of today were the lions though. First we saw some cubs, the two males sleeping - we came back hours and hours later and they still hadn't moved - and then we saw four lionesses getting ready to hunt! We waited and waited - over half an hour - as they slowly approached a warthog. Poor guy was downwind so couldn't smell them, and has bad eyes so couldn't see them - and they got super close to him, all four of them. Maybe 10 meters! And they were ready to pounce, all tensed up like springs....and our guide said they were waiting for him to turn his back....and he finally did...and they let him walk away! We have no idea what they were thinking, except that they must be bad hunters!

A bunch of cars had gathered by this time. There is very little shade on the crater floor, and it's very sunny, so sometimes the lions lie in the shade of the cars. One was lying right outside my window! I could have pet it (I did not) or she could have jumped in my window (she did not). Anyways it was amazing.

After that we had a very fantastic picnic lunch at the hippo pool, spotted a black rhino napping, and saw a herd of elephants on the way out of the crater (one was looking at me funny, I am not yet over my very rational fear of elephants).

When we got back to our rooms a hot bubble bath was magically waiting for us. They were both very much needed and enjoyed!

We are meeting soon for special drinks and then to be in a "parade" with the other guests somewhere for a special celebration. It is freezing here when the sun goes down (pants, fleece, jacket, a hat would be nice) so I hope they don't make us stay outside for too long! Tomorrow we are headed to the Serengeti where we are hoping to catch the Great Migration. Not expecting to have Internet there, so will give a full report (of course....you are dealing with two very thorough people here) in a few days!

Happy Father's Day!!

Ngorogoro Crater

Lake Manyara Tree Lodge ended with a bang - on our way out this morning we saw a bunch of lionesses and cubs eating a buffalo. Very cool, especially when one started playing with the intestines. We are now at the Ngorogoro Crater Lodge which is insanely beautiful. No point even trying to describe - let's just say you shouldn't worry about us for a few days!

We had our first game drive in the crater today - spectacular. New kind of car - has to be closed in in the crater, but they pop the roof and you stick your head out real safari style! Saw some lions, flamingos, hyenas, jackals, cheetah, tons of stuff. They have pink flamingos here! Tomorrow we will be searching for the black rhinos...here are just a couple pictures to give you a flavor of this place!

We were surrounded by wildebeest for the first time here. They make a sound like a cow crossed with a pig, and look like someone made them from all then other animals combined, so they call them "spare parts" here. Also, they call the warthog the Ngorogoro Express because they are always running somewhere! We hope to see 1.5 million of these wildebeests in the Serengeti in a couple days!

Lake Manyara Tree Lodge Day Two - June 17

Joint blog here. Awesome morning. Adam brought our coffee and tea to our rooms. Armed with our binoculars and cameras we embarked on our private safari. Within 5 minutes we met a large elephant blocking our path on the road. We filmed and photographed him from a distance of about 20 feet. Just at the moment AE turned off her camera he took a half step backwards, began waving his trunk vigorously and then took 2.5 very quick steps towards the jeep, stopping only about 1 meter away from the front of the car, scaring Emily to death. She literally had visions of his trunk knocking the jeep over and her mom being really mad she got herself killed. Just yesterday on the phone her mother told her that elephants are not friendly. Even if they look nice. (But she is also afraid of Ben the dog so we took no heed. As usual, she was right.) Our ranger Malley spent the rest of the day imitating Emily saying "Oh my God." Apparently this happens all the time. We simply quickly backed up a few meters and waited for the elephant to move so we could continue our safari. It was called a "mock charge".

Our next encounter was a group of about seven giraffes, all men. Two of them were having an argument. We don't know about what. They fight by winding up and swinging their necks and each other, making a loud thud as they strike each other with their horns. Quite interesting but looked painful.

Then we stopped for a picnic breakfast at a hot springs where the water can be up to 60 degrees C. While we were testing the water temperature with our fingers, Malley was setting up our breakfast table. The usual fare. Delicious but AE was afraid to put anything in her stomach that might come out instantly liquid. She has been having some trouble. (Based on Emily's experience in Thailand, she is now treating it with shots of liquor.)

Back in the jeep to continue our adventure. Soon we spotted three hippos out of the "water" with two more walking over to join them. Upon closer inspection we realized there were 43 more wallowing in the thick nasty mud ("water"). They were pretty neat, blowing bubbles and such.

When we got back, Emily tried to have a nap but was a bit scared of all the noises. She thought she heard an elephant outside of her room. So she invited AE over to read on her deck and keep guard. Not an effective idea. (first AE had to wait for Adam to deliver her drink.) As soon as AE arrived she spotted the elephant just on the other side of Emily's outdoor shower and became very excited, ruining any prospect for a nap. So we are now sitting and enjoying drinks and the sounds of elephants and baboons and monkeys and birds on Emily's balcony as we wait for lunch.

UPDATE!!
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!!
Make sure your speakers are on!
It was taken from my deck right in front of my room!
Click here!

Lake Manyara - June 16

A 20 minute flight took us to the edge of Lake Manyara. We took a leisurely drive through 45 km of park, stopping for a great picnic and to enjoy elephants, giraffes, baboons, many different birds, and unique species of antelope. At the other end of the park we arrived at our lodge, the Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. Rain has been light this year ("only a few small drops") and the lake is only a quarter of it's typical size. I think this has changed the look and feel of the park quite a bit; we could hardly see the flamingos through our binoculars.

Our rooms are once again amazing, and we both enjoyed outdoor showers to the sounds of baboons fighting and birds chirping. Looking forward to two more game drives tomorrow! The landscape is very different here - mostly forest with some plains thrown in around the lake.

Lake Duliti Lodge - June 15

Slept like a lioness last night....was totally exhausted. This safari lifestyle has not been especially relaxing with all the early morning game drives!! Today was incredibly relaxing and lovely. Met the naturalist, Solomon, for a 2 hour walk around Lake Duliti, which roughly means "deep lake". It's 700 m at the deepest, and it's really not that big around! He knew a ton about all the plants and animals and we saw a lot of neat things, including blue monkeys (they are black, I was disappointed), a plant with leaves so soft they call it toilet paper plant, their version of a Christmas tree (they are all Lutheran or Pentecostal here), mango banana and papaya plants, and a ton of birds and lizards and such. The coolest thing I saw was a tree with about 4 nests in it...all made by the same male bird! The male makes the nest and the female checks it out and if she likes it she will mate with him, but if not he has to build a new one. Here's a picture:

Here are some other pictures we took too:

We also spent a few hours relaxing by the pool, sipping various drinks our butler Frank brought us. We also had our first incident of the trip when ae got stung by a bee while going swimming and had to run for her benedryl. I believe all is well now and she might even have forgotten about it. If you know her, the you know it was an Incident with a capital I.

We are now relaxing in our room before what I'm sure will be another fantastic dinner. Tomorrow we leave at 6:45 am for a short flight and then a 3.5 hour drive through a game park to our next lodge - Lake Manyara Tree Lodge!!

Unsure when we will have Internet next, but will keep blogging and post when we can. This iPad is amazing! Sorry for all the multiple posts in one day that are sure to come!!

Also, I'm not sure if we mentioned it earlier, but we are staying in a coffee plantation here in Lake Duliti:

Moving to Lake Duliti Lodge - June 14

Said a teary goodbye to Wilson and boarded our first of two flights. Flight number one: Kishwa Tembo to Wilson, Nairobi. Uneventful. Emily fell asleep. Amazing airport staff and transfer to next flight, Wilson to Kilimanjaro. We got the front row, basically in the cockpit. Pilot pointed out Mt Kilimanjaro to AE appearing over the clouds. Met by driver and whisked away to Lake Duliti Lodge, about 15 min outside of Arusha, Tanzania.

Greeted by almost a dozen hotel staff singing and clapping, with a great welcome drink with ginger in it. Hot towels to wash our hands. A quick tour of the lounge area and taken to our room, which is actually our own cabin. Very romantic again. King size bed with fancy mosquito netting.

Our butler's name is Frank and he walked with us to stretch our legs for an hour, then we came back, showered in the fancy bathroom

and came to the lounge for a drink before dinner.

So here are waiting for dinner. Tomorrow's plans are to (a) sleep in; (b) meet the naturalist for a guided walk around Lake Duliti; (c) lounge by the pool; (d) eat and drink even more.

- Emily as dictated to by AE