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We’re staying at Il Keliani camp in the Maasai Mara on the Talek river. We have a bridge to cross to get into camp, and we’re staying in a tent. Don’t worry, it still has plumbing and a queen size bed. This is easily the nicest tent I’ve ever stayed in.

Another drive through Maasai Mara delivered lions, black rhino, and some amazing scenery. It was raining at camp just before we started out, and you could see big downpours all around.

We again found lions. I must say, their king of the jungle status pretty much says it all. They head out for a kill every couple of days, and sleep fat and happy the rest of the time. I’m still amazed how close we can just drive up to them, even with cubs around. First we have mama with a cub, then two males. Yes, one is sleeping flat on his back.

We found another black rhino and were able to get much closer this time.

Elephants will walk right up to the car, and let you know that you need to move. This one did just that a bit after this shot.

And… the sunset again did not disappoint.

Sunday morning’s drive was all about lions. We first found a family of four. We have some amazing video, but that needs to wait for a better connection. Cubs dining on last night’s kill – a wildebeest.

It’s a vulture, and they’re not at all pretty, but this shot came out great:

After the morning drive, we went on a nature walk with Wilson, our Maasai guide. Here he’s explaining how moths burrow into antlers.

I also got to try out some spear throwing. The results were mixed (at best).

We said goodbye to Amboseli on Saturday. A parting shot on the drive out:

We drove to Nairobi’s local (not international) airport and caught a small plane to Maasai Mara. Two pilots, maximum capacity of 18, and landings on grass and dirt runways. We were the third stop.

We landed a bit after 4 and went on a safari drive until dinner. Highlights: we got up close to lions, and saw a black rhino. The guide said that rhino’s are very shy and he only finds them once every couple of weeks. The drive was capped by a beautiful sunset.

We went out for a game drive last evening. The weather was hazy, and during the drive the wind kicked up and it even rained for a bit. Some highlights:

Baboons

Lion (we haven’t seen any closer… yet)

Hello Zeebah neighbah

Did you know you can’t hear elephants walk?

Elephant family

We were up at dawn this morning for another game drive. The haze cleared enough for Mt Kilimanjaro to be seen.

Spotted hyenas finishing off a wildebeest carcass (likely left behind after a lion kill last night)

Water buffalo. Our guide said this is the most dangerous animal to humans. It won’t ignore you; it will set an ambush. And you can’t play dead. It will lick you with its sandpaper tongue and if you flinch, it will stick around to finish you off. Good to know…

Another look at Kilimanjaro

Mama and baby elephant. Amazing encounter – I’ll post some video next.

Ostrich with Kilimanjaro

Zebras and elephants

We had an easy flight yesterday to Nairobi. Europe was cloudy, but cleared as we got to the Mediterranean. Pretty cool to see Africa come into view. Our flight path was over western Egypt. Lots of sand.

Our tour company put us up in a really nice hotel. We slept well, had a great breakfast, then set out for a 5 hour drive to our first safari stop: Ol Tukai Lodge in Amboseli. We already have some fun sightings. Ostrich, giraffe, camel, zebra, and another giraffe.

Smooth flight to Amsterdam got us in at 10a local. We both managed about two hours sleep on the flight, so we allowed ourselves another two hours sleep at the hotel. We headed into the city about 1p and grabbed some cheese and bacon pancakes. And a Heineken of course.

We toured the Anne Frank huis next. Despite a number of trips to Amsterdam, I’d never been. We walked the city, grabbed some dinner, and got back to the hotel a bit after 9p. We both slept a solid 10 hours and feel pretty well adjusted to the time change this morning. We’re off to the airport for a 11a flight to Nairobi that gets us in a bit before 9p. I think it’s one more time zone to the east. We overnight in an airport hotel, then start the first safari.

And we’re back! The sabbatical is underway. On Monday we depart for Africa. Here’s the rough itinerary…

Monday 9/23: Portland to Vancouver to Amsterdam. We arrive Tuesday ~10a.

Wednesday 9/25: Amsterdam to Nairobi.

We’ll do a week of safari at three different locations in Kenya followed by two nights at Victoria Falls. From there we head to Botswana for a week of safari at two different locations. We then head to Cape Town for a bit over a week.

To finish the trip, we fly to Johannesburg for one night and start back on Wednesday 10/23. We fly overnight to Paris, then on to Houston to Seattle to Portland, getting back late Thursday 10/24.

We arrived home yesterday after smooth flights from Buenos Aires (via Dallas). The biggest challenge — believe it or not — was getting pictures off my iPhone and onto my laptop. The regular camera battery died at the worst moment — right as stunning Mt Fitz Roy came into full view on our Friday hike.

Anyway, it took an hour to figure out that I needed to clear some “ghost” USB device plug-ins from the laptop (I guess I now know you should wait for those “safe to remove” messages) and reinstall the iPhone USB driver. I’m still not sure why it started working. I followed the same steps on a comment board and it magically worked the third time. I’ve learned not to question these small victories.

We spent a snowy day holed up in our hostel in El Chaltén. The next day was beautiful and we set out on an ambitious hike to the foot of Mt Fitz Roy. We quickly crested a hill to a spectacular view. Unfortunately, the outlet at the hostel that I attempted to use to charge the camera wasn’t live. After a few clicks, the camera died. On to the iPhone!

The trail went through some forested sections that were beautiful with the fresh snow.

After about 7 miles in, the trail came to a final steep pitch. Leena decided to stay back. A ranger stopped me and wasn’t happy with the quality of my boots (not serious hiking boots) and lack of poles, but let me continue with a warning to be very careful. It was very slick with the snow with some scrambling over rocks. A look back during the final climb:

The reward: an up-close look at Mt Fitz Roy with a glacial lake in the foreground.

The black and white treatment:

A look back late in the day on the hike out.

We covered over 14 miles on a most memorable day!