May Wrap-Up!

Why was I so much better about keeping up with my blog in Korea? It doesn't make much sense...then I was just starting, but now I know how much I enjoy blogging (and looking back on my blogs after I've left a place to relieve the memories) so you would think I'd be better about actually writing here. Alas, I am not. I can also tell that I need to blog more because I've been writing some just absurdly long emails lately. Too many words in my head! So here goes.

Not surprisingly, a lot has happened since I last wrote. The weekend after returning from Watamu, I hosted a huge Italian potluck at my place. Sweet Jesus there was an excessive amount of food.  I made ricotta (surprisingly not so difficult) that went into homemade ravioli  (much more difficult, as rolling out pasta dough really thin without a pasta maker is challenging) and lasagna. We also had: salad, roasted veggies, fruit salad, a chickpea salad, garlic bread, penne with vodka sauce, and mini meatball sliders. Seriously, 11 of us loaded up huge plates of food and the "after" picture looks like we barely made a dent. Lots of people went home with leftovers that night, haha. The original plan was to go out after dinner, but all of us quickly fell into an absolute killer food coma (to be expected) and let's just say that didn't happen.

Look! I made ricotta from scratch! And it wasn't even that hard.

Jeeeesus so much food. 

In keeping with the themed food nights, Chris, Kalpana, Clayton, Eliza, Dian, and her friend Joyce came over for dinner the following Friday. The boys made a bunch of delicious foods featuring Taiwanese ingredients that Clayton had brought back from the states. SO GOOD.  Fried rice with Chinese sausages, stir fry with Taiwanese BBQ sauce, glass noodles with XO sauce, and a really delicious eggplant/tofu stir fry. It was really nice to get together with a smaller group, as we seem to mostly operate under the go-big-or-go-home event planning philosophy. I recently re-took the Myers-Briggs and I am literally only 1% over the line into extrovert...which, frankly, I might not even agree with. These huge group get-togethers are sometimes just exhausting!

So much deliciousness. 

What a good group.
Joyce, Dian, Eliza, Clayton, Kalpana, Chris, Me

The following morning, we met at two different locations (half at Yaya Centre and half at Junction) to get picked up to go on a weekend safari to Amboseli. Amboseli National Park is a huge park, located at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, right on the Tanzanian border. As you drive around through the park, you get multiple "Welcome to Kenya!" "Welcome to Tanzania!" "Welcome to Kenya!" "Welcome to Tanzania!" messages as your cell signal bounces off the nearest tower, regardless of country.

When we arrived at Yaya I was totally pumped to discover that Mathias, the driver who had taken us around Nairobi National Park, had been, contracted out by Skylax Safaris and was our driver again. He is phenomenal- super knowledgeable and funny- and we were more than happy to be setting off with him again.  After grabbing some bacon bread from Alexandre's and caffeine from Java, Clayton, Eliza, Izzi, Joyce, Dian, and I loaded into the car and we were on our way. It takes about 4.5 hours to drive to Amboseli from Nairobi, winding through the city, industrial areas, and then out into the countryside. There were 6-7 of us in each van, which is the right amount for a safari van- no one is too crowded and there is plenty of window space to go around.

Just getting outside the city. Very pretty.

These kids deliberately herd their goats into the path of oncoming safari vans so they can stop the tourists to ask for candy. In the words of Eliza, "CHEEKY!"

My vanmates and I.

After a few requested bathroom stops, and unrequested curio market stops, we turned off the main road following signs to the park. Stopping at the main gate, we sorted our park payments (and I got a super nifty reloadable SafariCard, which lets me get into the parks without carrying my passport around, which is fantastic). While waiting, the boys pulled out the football that Clay had just brought back from the States. They tossed it around for a bit...and directly into a cactus which ended up puncturing it. Oops. Once everyone was sorted, we loaded back into our vans and headed off to Ol Tukai Lodge, a 5-star lodge that (thanks to low season) gave us a really good full-board rate. It was lovely, with a pool overlooking Kilimanjaro and the elephants, a nice outdoor area complete with fire pits, and comfortable rooms. We had a bit of time to relax, eat, and settle in, and then we were off on our first game drive.

Time to go off-road and into the park!

Main gate.
Photo credit: Eliza

Playing American football in a Kenyan National Park...is that now how you spend your Saturdays?

Driving into the park.

Ohhh, hey there ostrich.

Our first ele spotting!

The lodge where we stayed.

Walking into the lodge. It was really lovely.

Double decker dining area.

The...umm....eclectic lobby.

Pausing to cheese with Izzi, Katie, and Malaika.
Photo credit: Eliza

Overall the food was pretty good. This first meal was especially delicious because we were staaarving.

Tricky little monkeys, like the one pictures above, are a bit of a problem at the lodge. They steal people's stuff, etc. So they have Maasai guys that they contract to come out with little slingshots and...encourage...the monkeys to leave.

One of the aforementioned monkeys.

Grounds of Ol Tukai.

Kalpana trying her hand at the slingshot. Spoiler alert...neither she nor Clayton could use one worth crap. I am decidedly NOT hiring them for my monkey patrol.

Amboseli has a ton of elephants. They are everywhere. And it is awesome. Big herds range all over the park, trailing little baby eles, and it is just incredible to see them where they belong. When you visit the elephant orphanage it's easy to feel heartbroken about what has happened to them, but when you are out in the bush and see the wild families it brings it to a whole new level. As we rode around, wind in our hair as we peered out of the pop top safari van, seeing what the poachers seek to destroy, I don't know if I've ever so viscerally hated some I don't know. It was moving.

Life lessons: This is why you don't just go out walking in the bush. Sometimes there are swampy areas with puddles big enough to swallow an elephant.

Enjoying cooling off on a hot day.

Gorgeous tusks.

Going to join up with some friends.

Katie love birds, so when I spotted this cute little fella I popped out of the top of the van and yelled "Katie!!" to the van behind us while frantically pointing...turns out the van behind us was NOT our friends, but a group of very confused Chinese tourists who probably think the Katiebird is some rare species I was lucky enough to spot. Oops.

We got out in the middle of the park to hike to the top of this little Observation Hill.

On our way up.

Looking down on the herd of safari vans.

Wetlands always make me think of Arrested Development.
"I think I just maced a crane, Michael!"

Hahaha special.
Photo credit: Clayton.

One of many (marginally successful) jumpshots from the weekend.
Izzi, Clayton/Katie, Eliza, Farah, Chris, Dian, Joyce, Liz

Three of my favourite Brits in the world...all of whom have left or are about to leave. SAAAAAAAAAAD.
Katie, Eliza, Izzi

Taking it all in.

Squeeee!

Gorgeous.

Just hanging out. As per yooj.

Look at that twee little baby! I want to hug it.

Kilimanjaro starts to work its way out of the clouds.

So peaceful and pretty.

Bird friends.

Walking around in the shadow of Kili.

Sunset begins.

Hip? Hip hop? Hip hop anonymous? 

Kili just peeking out. I love how diverse the landscape of Amboseli is.

Lovely!

Oh safari hair.
"God, Clayton, can you crouch down or something? Your shadow is in the picture. Oh...wait...no. That's me." -Eliza

Eles in the fleeting light.

Just hanging out with mom.

We drove all over watching the elephants, and then, just as the sun was setting, we had the opportunity to go and watch two cheetahs as they prepared to hunt. It was awesome. Low light makes for tricky photography, but as I've always said, sometimes I think the inability to capture it makes a memory even more special. You have to be there to see it...and we were. It was very cool.

What an awesome animal.

Two cheetahs getting ready to hunt.

Teensie little head.

So pretty!

Why did the cheetahs cross the road?
To catch their dinner. Obvi.
Photo credit: Clayton

That night we had dinner, relaxed around the fire, and played some Catchphrase. Before hitting the sheets, Clayton and I walked out to the edge of the fence and watched a line of elephants walk by in the moonlight. It was amazing. Then we all fell asleep comfortable in our beds (swathed in mosquito netting, mom). 

Dining room at Ol Tukai.

Enjoying the fire pit.

The next morning most of us up early to go out on a sunrise game drive as well. I love morning light...it makes every photograph so much richer. That early in the morning Kili was out in her full glory, and it was just beautiful. Covered by clouds for most of the day, the MASSIVE Kilimanjaro generally emerges in the evening and early morning hours, and it is spectacular. Sometimes it seemed as though the elephants were just stopping to pose in front of the mountain...which was rather obliging of them. We got quite close to many of the animals, which was really sweet.  Overall throughout the course of the weekend  we saw monkeys, baboons, elephants, hippos, cheetahs, zebras, antelopes, a hyena, and tons of birds (including my favourite, the Grey Crowned Crane). Though there were many of us, it was a really good group and we had a lot of fun.

The sun, starting to break through the clouds behind a huge herd of eles.

On the move.

Little babies! So cute.

Wait up, mom!

Beautiful morning light.

Ivory looking gorgeous in the only place it belongs....on an elephant.

AAAAH love the warm morning light!

I really love zebras.

Look at their awkward little stick legs!

Van 1 in front of Kilimanjaro.
Izzi, Katie, Eliza, Joyce, Farah, Liz.

Super spacious van 2.
Malaika, Clayton and I

Kilimanjaro in all her glory.

A bloat (god I love collective nouns) of hippos. And some eles.

So close!

What incredible animals.

Heading off toward the mountain.

I've never had a favourite bird before. But these guys are so awesome.

I was not joking when I said Kilimanjaro was GIGANTIC.

So many elephants...and the photobombing buffalo.

Sigh. Gorgeous.

I love.

Baboon.

Pool at the lodge. Kilimanjaro is off to the right.

Backlit group photo!

My favourite jump shot.

What a lovely group to get away with.
Me, Dian, Eliza, Liz, Kalpana, Chris, Joyce, Izzi, Farah, Malaika, Katie, Clayton

And one more for the road, including the safari drivers.
Mathias, Farah, Liz, Malaika, Me, Chris, Izzi, Clayton, Eliza, Katie, Dian, James

On our way back to rainy Nairobi reality.

The day after returning from Amboseli it was time to say some very sad goodbyes to one of my favourite Nairobi friends, Dian. Though she only blew into our lives SUPER briefly, she's a keeper. I'm still not sure why she had to leave, except to attend NYU law and change the world and blah blah blah, but I'm glad we got to have her here briefly. I miss her dearly (though we are still in touch) and can't wait to reconnect next time I am in NYC (or when we both need to run away to a far-off place and decide to meet somewhere cool).

Goodbyes are more palatable when drowned in Ethiopian food from Habesha.

Amrit, Kalpana, Amanda, Chris, Joyce, Dian, Clayton, Eliza
Jess's friend, Jess, Mark, Katie, Me

I especially love the four Facebook weirdos on the end. This picture makes me laugh for days.

And that, my friends, was May. June and July updates coming soon. xx