Up in the Air

5:15. Tea and Kenyan mango delivered. Kerosene lamps lit by the camp porter assigned to my tent. How cold will it be at 2000 feet at dawn? How many layers do I wear and do I need sunscreen at 7am in the bush? It doesn't even occur to me that the balloon might malfunction and crash into a pride of lion or the banks of the crocodile-inhabited Mara River.


Escorted by the rifle-toting guard to the launch site where the balloon is being inflated with fans and the pilot provides instructions and checks the equipment.

45-minute balloon safari availing an aerial perspective of dawn in the Mara (the first image is a stock photo from the balloon safari operation I had to include):

That's hippo in the water:

We're moving too fast and there's not enough light for my simple point-and-shoot Lumix to get a decent shot of the rhino we spot as well as other creatures already snapped from the comfort of the game drive truck. This is a view of the side of the basket looking straight down:

And in a moment, we land sideways and a glorious feast is served in the savannah, beginning with a customary champagne toast celebrating a successful voyage....it's 7am and there's no time like the present to raise a glass.

No breakfast in the bush is complete without lemon-scented crepes:

And while we gorge on fruit, eggs, sausage, pancakes, stewed tomatoes and mushrooms, croissants, hash browns, coffee, tea, bubbly, juice and the afore-mentioned crepes, the balloon is packed and returned to the camp by tractor:

After all the morning's adventure and feasting, we go on a game drive and witness more wildlife (vultures, wildebeest, cheetah - that followed us with bush paparazzi stalking them, elephant, topi, giraffe, zebra...) and take in more landscape:

And back near camp, a few more elephant in the bush to close out the morning adventures:

More Mara

It is possible to work and play too hard and on Day 1 of my excursion into the Mara, I slept through the 6:30am and the 10:30am drives to try to restore my zapped energy and sense of well being. The Camp Director wanted to call a doctor but I persuaded him that I wasn't a public health threat to his other guests and staff if I could just sleep....most expensive naps of my life, for sure.

When I emerged close to noon, I discovered that the camp was set adjacent to a marsh which, of course, serves as a watering hole to the wildlife. Breakfast is served in between the morning drives at 9:00am next to the marsh with a sublime wildlife theater as ambience. This was the view from my tent when I emerged on Day 1:

Yep. Elephant, zebra, giraffe across the marsh and warthogs scampering in front of my tent on the way to lunch. The camp is not protected by any fences. Each of the 17 tents has a porter that brings tea or coffee in the morning at the hour requested the previous night and lights the two kerosene lamps in the tent as it is still dark when one has to get up to make the 6:30 game drive. At any time that it's dark, one has to point a flashlight outward from the tent to summon a security guard to be escorted to the main office or the bar or dining tents. Amazingly, I had BlackBerry service in my tent but no electricity! There are other Governor camps in the Mara with bathtubs (I had a large shower with a waterfall nozzle) and electricity but none have the adjacency to the marsh and the spontaneous wildlife spectacle.


So I had a porter, a rifle-toting security guard, and a waiter assigned to me throughout my stay. I also had a game driver, Fred, a former school teacher that shared a profound knowledge and passion for the Masai Mara and its indigenous wildlife with those lucky enough to be in his care. These are some snaps from my first drive with Fred which include more zebra (the one on the right is pregnant), topi, a leopard (in the tree), cheetahs on a termite mound, napping lions, and a Chardonnay "sundowner" with some other guests.

Dusk back at the camp over the marsh at the end of Day 1 (as I was escorted to my tent to change for drinks before dinner). Had to get to sleep early as I booked a balloon safari departing at 5:45am the next morning.

Masai Mara

The Mara. Some of you may know it if you have watched the BBC's "Big Cat Diaries" as it is filmed in this 1500 square kilometer reserve named after the local tribe and the river that runs through it. When a business trip to Nairobi presented itself for mid-November, I tried to figure out how to get to Zanzibar before/after and was advised to get myself to the Mara and forget all other distractions. With the kind help of a NYC friend in the travel business, I found myself signing up for a 3-day excursion to Little Governor's Camp - arrival made possible from Nairobi in 45 minutes by local air transport.

I was picked up at the air strip by one of the camp's game drivers in a 5-seater open truck and before heading to the camp to check in, we went on a short drive where I spotted a pride of lion (10+) napping in the late afternoon sun, zebra, Thomson's gazelle and others. I was groggy from 12 hours of transit and a bad cold and couldn't believe how much I saw so seemingly close to the air strip.

This savannah would be the backdrop for six more excursions:

Work hard. Play hard.

Jambo

The four entries in August clearly indicate that very little was going on in the extreme heat and during the holy month of Ramadan. After the quick visit to Oman, I don't know what hit me but I didn't take a weekend off from Eid Al-Fitr to Eid Al-Adha. Apologies to the faithful and hopefully this and the subsequent entries will redeem.

I didn't forget an "N" in this entry's title, referring to the French word for ham...I am in Nairobi for business (when I should be taking 10 days off for Eid Al-Adha) and jambo means "hello" in Swahili. I arrived 4 days before the work began and flew to the Masai Mara (post to follow), which was an incredible privilege to be so close to so much wildlife for three days in a former British Governor's holiday and hunting camp established right after Kenyan independence.

I skipped today's procedural sessions and went to the Karen Blixen Museum to pay homage to one of my favorite films, "Out of Africa."

This same house was the setting for the film, which Karen and her distant cousin/philandering husband shared when they purchased it in 1917 to start a coffee farm. The wildlife and landscape scenes were shot in the Masai Mara so the pilgrimage to the movie was completed with this visit.

This is the Museum's raw data on visitors and country of origin:

This is the back of the house. Note the very tall palm at the left corner, which Karen planted when she first occupied the house so it's about a century old.

True to life, the Karen character played by Meryl Streep takes a lover named Denis Finch Hatton played by Robert Redford. Their relationship ended in 1931 when his plane, a Gypsy Moth, burst into flames shortly after take-off as he was headed back to Nairobi after a trip to Lamu on the Kenyan coast. His remains were buried in the foot of the Ngong Hills overlooking the Nairobi National Park, which are visible from the backyard of the Blixen house where he lived with Karen after her separation.

This area is now called Karen and it is the most exclusive real estate and private school enclave of Nairobi. Diplomats, business leaders and high-placed government officials reside in what was once a 6000-acre coffee farm with 700 Kikuyu servants during the era of the British protectorate. I didn't take a photo of the Karen Country Club sign but here's one of the hospital:

And no trip is complete without documenting the global beverage: