Capturing the Moment

   I have just wrapped up a big fly and drive safari around Kenya with a Rwandan gorillas adventure at the end. This was two and a half years in the making, as the covid pandemic postponed the original 2020 summer date. There was a time when it looked like even 2021 summer might be touch-and-go, but everyone stuck in there, jumped through a bunch of hoops, and made it happen. And in doing so, got the trip of their lives.     We spent eleven nights in Kenya, visiting five different parks. Then we spent three nights in Rwanda, but I'll touch on that more in the next post. Our experience in Kenya ranged from having our own private driver and safari landcruiser, nicknamed the 'Blue Rhino', to taking small bush planes into unpaved airstrips. We stayed in luxury tents, had coffee delivered to our rooms, shared a pool with warthogs, saw amazing stars and nocturnal animals on a night safari, fed giraffes, crossed the equator....twice, saw snow on Mt Kilimanjaro, watched...

 What a show! On our drive into the Mara on July 19th, we pulled into a river overlook to check on some hippo action. There were probably forty hippos in two groups hanging out in the river. That is when we noticed a small herd of wildebeest come to the edge of the cliff. Could we be so lucky as to see one of the famous crossings of the Great Migration? A large crocodile swimming silently in the murky water sure hoped so.    It looked like the wildebeest lacked the necessary bravery to attempt the crossing. Then a huge, loud fight broke out amongst the larger group of hippos. The water suddenly turned into a churning mass of whitewater and hippos running at and away from each other. Then, for some reason, the herd of wildebeest moved along the shoreline, much closer to the group of hippos, who were now quieting down again. Still looking like they needed an extra push, they got it when a second group of wildebeest came rushing over and down the cliff. This was the bravery ...

  One of the questions I get asked a lot about travel in Africa is what do the safari vehicles look like. And while there are several varieties I thought I would expand this post to cover even more of the typical styles of travel while on safari, from planes to trucks to traditional sailing dhows. Often when I tell people about pop up roofs and open safari vehicles it is hard for them to understand what I mean. They ask, "like a sunroof?", and "How can you have no doors when there are lions around?".  So here are pictures of both styles of safari vehicles and even one with a lion walking by, (it really does happen!)    Enjoying the pop top roof  I have seen safari vehicles big enough for 24 people and I've seen a range of sizes down to 4 passenger vehicles that the more exclusive lodges use. Some of the newer models have electrical outlets for your camera batteries and iPhones, while others with a more photography focus come with bean bags that you ...