When I got picked up by my tour company for my 4-day safari to Massai Mara on Sunday, I was more excited by the amazingly cool people in my van than I was for the animals. My mid 20's roommate Corinne from Switzerland studied social anthropology on child soldiers in Nepal. 19 and 20 year-old friends Inger and Soulkie from Norway are traveling pretty much the SAME RTW (round-the-world) trip as me-- they even left January 5th, were in Bangkok at the same time as me on February 25th, and will be in Cuzco Peru hiking Machu Picchu at the same time as me on May 25th. Crazy! Then there's Tucker, a guy my age from San Francisco, who works in international sustainable development in the most impoverished countries like Angola, Vietnam and Afghanistan. And Italian Alecia who's in Kenya for 2 weeks for something related to kids' surgery. Topping off the impressive list is Kegi from Punjab India but who now lives in Seattle and works for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation! He's seriously the smartest and best traveled person I've met; he's not only been to over 110 countries but knows more about each of our countries of residence than we do. So that's our incredible van of amazing people! I couldn't have been happier to share such an amazing travel experience with such amazing fellow travelers. :)
Sunday morning we headed out to the Rift Valley, and it was BEAUTIFUL! It's more green and lush than Ethiopia, apparently because they experienced really good rain this season, and it's dotted with the Massai tribal people in their red checkered scarves herding goats. We saw zebra and giraffes along the way, and the "Lion King" soundtrack was stuck in my head the whole time, meanwhile "Africa" by Toto was stuck in Tucker's head, haha. We got to the campsite at 4pm and checked into our cool rural tents, then went for our first game drive at 4:15pm. Many animals were clustered near the entrance of the park-- wildebeasts, antelope, impala, thompson's gazelle, birds, zebras and giraffes! Then we went further and saw a topee (type of big antelope with shiny black fur on front and brown on the back, and curly horns), as well as a lioness hiding in the grass. It was amazing! Even though our car broke down within the first 10 minutes of being in the park and we had to stand amidst the animals a bit, hoping a lion wasn't nearby, haha.
The food that evening was really great, and on Monday we started the day with the song, "Lions, Tigers and Bears-- Oh My" stuck in my head, haha. Kegi left, and we knick-named ourselves "The Big 6" as we drove throughout the park. The day started with a few lions prowling the grass to try and catch a warthog, and then 2 cheetahs feasting while jackles and vultures waited. When the cheetahs had had enough, the jackles and vultures had a fight! Feathers flying and beaks and teeth snapping, it was incredible! Every time animals were in the process of eating or chasing others, I found that even though I was safely within the van, my adrenalin was racing at full speed.
For lunch we went to see crocodiles and hippos, and my favorite part of the day was at the end when we found ourselves in the middle of a buffalo-lion show-down. The lions had just killed a baby buffalo, and the buffalo were PISSED. We waited for a while in-between the groups of animals, with 2 lions hiding in the grass and the buffalos angrilly stomping at the dirt to try and intimidate the lions to leave. Finally the buffalo had dwindled down to a small group of 5 and they left to join the larger herd, and all of a sudden 4 mama lions and THIRTEEN baby lions came out of the tall grass to feed! They were beautiful, smelly little kitties-- just like a huge catbox-- and my friends and I all excitedly screamed we were so happy to see "Simba and Nala," haha.
Today "The Big 6" all left, so I joined another van of a Columbian couple named Ivan and Mari. Our driver Leowi is really cool and enjoys off-roading to show us the best animals, so that's been really fun. We started out the day with lions feasting on a buffalo, and then we went back to the Mara river to see hippos out of the water and better views of crocodiles. We also saw lions eating a 2-3 day-old giraffe! It smelled terrible, but was really impressive to watch! Driving back to camp we saw more topee, antelopes, dik-dik and giraffes among others, and I was happy that my ability to spot animals in the tall grass has only gotten better with a few days' practrice. At camp, I did a consistent hour-long run to prep for my Kili hike, and fortunately felt really good.
The next day we did one more game drive in the morning, and was psyched that we found 2 cheetahs chilling in the grass! Although I was really bummed not to see a leopard or rhino-- and therefore only saw 3 out of the "Big 5" (leopard, lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo)-- apparently it's a really big deal to see a cheetah, so I was excited to see a total of 4 on my safari. We also got to see them chasing antelope! I don't think they went full-speed, since they didn't actually catch them, but it was still really exciting to see them stretch out their long legs and heave their barrelling chests across the plains.
On the drive back to Nairobi, I got to chatting with an interesting 34 year-old photographer named Nick from LA, about his passion for charity to sexual abuse, women's and environmental causes. We had a great conversation about how he's trying to change the model industry in LA by educating models about photography techniques like air-brushing-- so cool! I think Jean Kilbourne from "Looks to Kill" would be proud of his efforts, along with my UC Davis friends who used to do educational workshops with me about media messages that affect women's body images. Hopefully we'll stay in touch back in LA.
Meanwhile, I must really be tired and ready to return to LA, because I was a DORK tonight while walking around Nairobi. I met up with my student friends at the University at 6pm for their environmental club meeting, and afterwards I decided to walk home. Apparently I took a wrong turn, because after walking 10 minutes I found myself on a long dark desolated highway road all by myself! It took me forever to realize I was in the wrong place, and even longer to realize that I couldn't catch a cab where I was. I got to the end, where maybe 10 young guys were lingering. CRAP! They slowly approached me and I turned to skiddadle, and thank goodness they yelled to me, "Don't worry-- we're like you, also looking for a ride-- we work in the museum next door." Just like my friendly Ethiopian friends, they payed for my taxi cab (matatu) ride back to my hostel! So nice! I texted this guy Dismus when I got home to thank him and let him know I was okay, and he immediately called me back to ask what qualities I look for in a man. ;) Well I guess you can't blame him for trying! Haha
Thursday I pretty much hung out in Nairobi, catching up on computer work and much-needed sleep. Friday Lucy from Shelter Tours picked me up at my hostels to make the last arrangements for my Kilimanjaro hike, and then hooked me up with her driver Freddie who drove me to the Mathare slums for a little tour. I got to meet up with a Rastafarian Drum Circle group of young people named Sambara, and then the Mathare Talent Youth Organization, both groups with gave me a little beautiful performance. So amazing! I think similarly to other youth group projects I've seen, often times the ones that focus on friendships, consistent meeting times and alternative livelihoods arts projects are often also the best ones that tackle sexual and reproductive health challenges, even though they lack basic services like informational pamphlets and contraceptive supplies.
Friday night was super fun, when my friend Jade's study-abroad brother Odongo, aka Ronald, picked me up at 8pm for a "night on the town" in Nairobi. He told me we'd go out "politely" which I loved-- means till 2am instead of the customary 6am-- and he was right! Him and his friend Tom took great care of me, hanging out at their "bachelor pad" before hitting up the "Westland" club district. We went to a place called "Sohos" and then "Black Diamond," and they bought all my drinks and complimented me on how pretty I am the whole night, saying "it's a Kenyan thing." So nice! No wonder my self-esteem is at an all-time high right now, haha.
Today (Saturday) we left in the morning for Arusha, Tanzania, for my Mt. Kilimanjaro hike. My Kenyan guide Joseph, aka Kariuke from the Kikuyu tribe, seems really nice-- I've been joking that he'll be my "best buddy" for the next week, and I really hope he pushes me to make it to the top, since I really have no idea if I'll make it! Wish me luck! :)
The food that evening was really great, and on Monday we started the day with the song, "Lions, Tigers and Bears-- Oh My" stuck in my head, haha. Kegi left, and we knick-named ourselves "The Big 6" as we drove throughout the park. The day started with a few lions prowling the grass to try and catch a warthog, and then 2 cheetahs feasting while jackles and vultures waited. When the cheetahs had had enough, the jackles and vultures had a fight! Feathers flying and beaks and teeth snapping, it was incredible! Every time animals were in the process of eating or chasing others, I found that even though I was safely within the van, my adrenalin was racing at full speed. 
For lunch we went to see crocodiles and hippos, and my favorite part of the day was at the end when we found ourselves in the middle of a buffalo-lion show-down. The lions had just killed a baby buffalo, and the buffalo were PISSED. We waited for a while in-between the groups of animals, with 2 lions hiding in the grass and the buffalos angrilly stomping at the dirt to try and intimidate the lions to leave. Finally the buffalo had dwindled down to a small group of 5 and they left to join the larger herd, and all of a sudden 4 mama lions and THIRTEEN baby lions came out of the tall grass to feed! They were beautiful, smelly little kitties-- just like a huge catbox-- and my friends and I all excitedly screamed we were so happy to see "Simba and Nala," haha.
