I’m traveling once again to Africa! Stick with me for some great adventure in the bush and first-hand experiences in several of Africa’s biggest cities!
For nearly two months I’ll be guiding three different safaris with some wonderful folks from the U.S., Canada and Germany. We’ll be concentrating on the wilderness, of course, but there’s some interesting stuff I’m really looking forward to in Nairobi, Joburg and Durban.
First stop is Nairobi! I’ll be there early next week and will post as much as I can!
What will Ngorongoro or the Mara look like in 20 years? We ended 12 days exploring the southwest at America’s most heavily used park, Zion, for an answer.
The easily accessible wild areas of the world are 
Autonomy is the buzzword, now. The Navajo Nation, Catalonia, Maasai Ngorongoro, Yukon First Nations or Zanzibar, and they are all wrong. This is becoming clearer and clearer to me as I tour America’s southwest and listen to the same story lines and their dismal outcomes that I have heard in Tanzania for years.
We woke to a brilliant white sunrise over an absolutely still landscape of New Mexico’s first snow. By 10 a.m. it was gone from all but the highest mountain tops.
Certain Africa tribes are marginalized by their modern African societies, and this often in spite of noble efforts to reduce allegiances individuals feel towards their tribes. The Maasai are one good example.
I’m on my way to America’s great Southwest, a safari of 12 days. I should be able to post some pictures by Thursday.
We had a Maasai guide for our final days in Kenya. There are about 500 guides in Kenya’s best game park, the Maasai Mara. Only three are women: “our” Lucy was one.
Unusually, we chartered from Kenya’s best game park directly into the international airport rather than normally into a smaller airport across town to avoid having to make that transfer.
Incredibly punishing rains fell last night. Lightning kept the night alive as if it were a fire. Water fell into the wee hours and ended with a cold wind that continues to blow under overcast skies.
A good safari is an adventure, and an adventure takes effort. I keep thinking of the phrase, “No Pain – No Gain.” Sure, we can end the day at an unbelievably luxurious place with bubble bath and champagne. But just take a look at a successful safari traveler stepping out of her vehicle at the end of the day:
People come on safari to see lions and elephants, but they return for another trip and refer their friends often because of the surprisingly moving non-game viewing experiences.
As usual for this time of year it was bone dry. Mornings were still and cold. Saturn twinkled above in the ink blue predawn sky almost as brightly as the half moon which had set in the middle of the night. The sun rose as a giant orange ball behind a charcoal grey curtain of dust and the first breezes tossled the fields of dead, blonde grass. By noon dust devils twisted across the veld. By afternoon strong winds obliterated the cloudless sky with layers of dust.
Riding cabs in Nairobi isn’t fun. Traffic is unbelievable. You really get to know your cabbie.
I’m in Paris on my way back to Africa, stay tuned! It’s a fabulous Kenya/Tanzania safari that ends in the great Maasai Mara where we hope to encounter the great wildebeest migration.