Crazy day Thursday

Our excursion today was to go to Moshi town, Tanzania. We were expecting a visa fee of $50. But to our surprise the fee for Americans and Irish is $100. Why? Tit-for-tat as they say. Apparently the US charges tanzanians $100. We decided to go ahead and pay. We are glad we did. Tanzania is very different. It's more developed and cleaner. The main roads are paved, smooth, and wide. We had a nice lunch, a nice visit to The Coffee Shop, and a little walk around part of the downtown. After a few hours, it started to rain. It has rained hard late every afternoon. So we headed back to Kenya. Back to Kenya in the rain means back to dirt roads, floods, and washouts. We had one incident where the road was flooded. Vicky, our proprietor and driver, listened to some kids and went straight through the middle. The Nissan stalled. She offered the kids a bit of money to push us. They weren't getting it done so Mark jumped in the water to help. I asked Vicky to keep it in first and walk it out using the starter. With all these things, we got it out of the water and it started again. Then, on the more narrow road to the castle, we came up to a crowd of people, motorcycles and bikes. There was a place in the road where it is low and made of concrete. It is designed to have water flow over it with heavy rains. It was like a river flowing over the road. One person was helping to drive the motorcycles across. He was also helping bicycles across. We watched all this for a while and Vicky decided we should go for it. (this washout pictured.) First Mark decided to walk across, through the water, to the cheers of the locals. We made it across. Vicky slowed while ascending the other side. At that time Mark approached from behind. Charles told Vicky not to stop until she made it up the slight ascent. She accelerated. The tires spun in the mud. Mark was behind. He got splattered. (Pictured.) It was hilarious. We are again laughing about it as I write this. But we made it back safe and sound to the castle once again. We are now cleaned up and ready for another wonderful dinner.

Coffee Shop in Moshi town. This seems to be where the wazungu, or whites, hang out.  No. 1 in Moshi per Trip Advisor. 

One beer and Mark went for a Tanzania dip in the pool of the hotel we visited for lunch. 

Beers in Tanzania. 3 out of 3 Americans prefer Serengeti Lager. Unfortunately, 2 out of 3 purchased Kilimanjaro Lager. Chuck got lucky with his choice. 

Moshi town, Tanzania

Today we are hoping to cross the border and visit Moshi, Tanzania. Why? Because it's there.

So hot, then cold

After our picnic lunch, we walked along the ridge to a trail head to hike down to the water for a dip in the lake. It was so unbelievably hot. It was Africa hot. As we began our decent it started to rain. And it poured. And it even hailed a bit. We made it maybe 1/4 of the way down and decided this was not such a good idea. We were soaked and freezing. So we climbed back out and made our way back to the Nissan and drove back to the castle. The old Nissan isn't very dependable. It stalled a few times. It wouldn't start a few times. It had to be push-started a few times. Once by a bunch of school kids. The heavy rains had made the dirt roads even worse than they were before by washing away more dirt along the edges. We were glad to get back this evening. It's time to relax.

Lake Challa

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Picnic lunch at Lake Challa

We are having a wonderful picnic lunch at the abandoned hotel on the rim of Lake Challa, a volcanic crater lake of unknown depth, with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance.

Nap time

We spent the first half of Wednesday in the town of Taveta. Mark is napping with his sisal rope in the back of the Nissan Patrol on the way to Lake Challa.

Charles being chased by an imaginary hippo at Lake Jipe Tuesday evening. 

Sundowners

Charles and Mark enjoying bloody mary sundowners overlooking Lake Jipe.

Bush walk

Late this morning we went on a guided bush walk. The first leg was all about dodging thorny branches, bugs, and elephant ding. Susan was stung by something. It was extremely painful for a few minutes. We didn't see any wildlife in the heat of the day, but we did see some interesting birds and this baobob tree. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Snow in Africa. View of Mount Kilimanjaro from the castle. It is the peak on the left which is much further away than the peak on the right. We also had a view of it as we were flying in. The mountain towered far above us at some 19,300'. We were flying at 9,500'. 

No WiFi

No WiFi here at the castle, so no skyping home for Charles and Mark. I can still make some blog updates using the cell networks. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Flying by Grogan's Castle before turning around and landing on their private airstrip. 

View

Susan with Tanzania in the background.

Charles, Mark, Susan and I have arrived at Grogan's Castle.

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Aero Club

Netta, our Nairobi based travel agent, took us to lunch at the Aero Club for lunch. It is just outside the Wilson airport. Taha is on his way to Dubai. Amy and Kim are off to do some sight-seeing before their night flight to Amsterdam. Us final four are waiting for our charter to Grogan's Castle. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Hippo Corner, unbelievable this morning

Leopard, morning game drive

The sun is back out this morning and the Mara is beautiful once again. Our drive was highlighted by two leopards, a mother and child. They are very shy so we are fortunate to get a photo of one sitting still.

Dry season is so over

After seeing the rhinos on our afternoon game drive, we headed back to the resort because it was pouring rain. Hopefully Monday will be dry. After our morning game drive and breakfast, we will fly to Nairobi.

From Nairobi, Kim will head back to Connecticut, Amy back to Indy, and Taha to Dubai to visit a brother and family currently living there.

Mark, Charles, Susan and I will have lunch with our Nairobi travel agent and then fly back out, this time to Grogan's Castle for a few more days in Kenya.

Rhinoceros

Grant's Gazelles

This herd of Grant's Gazelles is hanging out in the trees to avoid the rain. Apparently the dry season ended this afternoon. These are all females except for a couple males with horns.

Young and courageous (foolish)

After the morning game drive and breakfast, the resident residents, Mark and Kim, went for a 10k run, from the resort to the airstrip and back. They made arrangements with management to do the run. Apparently they are not the first to do this here. Running at 10:30 is supposedly low risk as animal hunting activity is low at this time during the dry season. The resort sent a vehicle to follow them to protect them, just in case. The vehicle had a driver and "the head of security and health" for the resort. They saw some monkeys, warthogs, and wildebeest. Mark says his 10k time was a personal best. It would have been even faster if they saw lions.

Fairmont Mara Safari Club

Our tent and common areas at Mara Safari Club.

Harsh brown potatoes at breakfast

They weren't that harsh. ;-)

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Hippo Corner is always crowded

Children across the river bank from Hippo Corner

Giraffe

Elephants

We saw our first elephants this morning. Can you see the one under the tree?

Cheetah

This cheetah didn't look healthy. Our driver suggested he has. Skin disease.

Note in one photo he is marking territory.

Young lions playing

Maasai demonstration

Before dinner, the local Maasai put on a traditional show. Susan and Mark were among the invited participants. Here, Mark is elevating and putting the rest to shame.

Quiz answer

There are four lions in the picture. The obvious lion is just to the right of the bush. There are two more slightly behind and to the left of the bush. And there's one more in the field, to the right of the bush further away.

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Wildebeest

Cape Buffalo

a muddy hyena

Lion cub

Topi

Zebras with ostriches in background

Wildebeest under Acacia tree

Cape buffalo in the early evening

Zebra and wildebeest.