Kenya and Tanzania Summer Trip

We took an extended trip to Kenya and Tanzania with Megan and Jacob and various friends and we safari'd in the Masai Mara, and hiked Kilimanjaro, and scuba dived in Zanzibar!

click below right to read more . . . . 

Sat July 26th Day 1 – We flew into Nairobi arriving after midnight.  We were picked up by our Airbnb host Victor, and he took us to the Airbnb in Kibera to sleep.
 
Sun July 27th Day 2 – We awoke with the Whites, and Victor drove us to church in Nairobi, and he stayed with us for the meetings.  We stayed both hours, and then went back to the Airbnb.  Brooksany joined us, and we went to a Somali restaurant for lunch, eating on the floor from a large family-style plate of food.  Then we continued on a tour of the Kibera slum with Victor, visiting some locals in their 1-room homes, and seeing the school where Victor teaches.  We ended the evening back at the Airbnb with a BBQ prepared by the local families, and some native dancers.
 
Mon July 28th Day 3 – We met up with our drivers Kennedy and Lawi, and joined the Turners (Norty, Brooks and Georgia) and Dave and Vanessa Schaumann, and Brooksany Barrowes, along with the Whites (Keith, Heather, Kayla and Evan), and started our drive north to Lake Naivasha.  We stopped at the Rift Valley overlook point, and continued straight on to the Airbnb, a hidden mansion amongst the dirt roads and neighborhood cinder block walls.  That afternoon we ate at a tourist buffet lunch spot, and took a tour of Crescent Island, seeing hippos and eagles on the boat ride there, and walking amongst giraffe and zebra and gazelles and other island animals. (This is where Out of Africa was filmed).  Dinner was a SLOOOOOOW affair back at the same restaurant.
 
Tuesday July 29th Day 4 – We breakfasted with our chefs at the Airbnb, then drove to Hell’s Gate National park for a biking tour through the park.  It was fun, but long and a little underwhelming.  We lunched at the Olkaria Spa, and then soaked ourselves in the hot spring pool, along with all the locals and elementary schools and a good many tourists as well.  We played “Bunny, Bunny, Togi, Togi” and “Big Booty” and taught these games to many locals as well, quite a fun trip.  We had dinner back at the Airbnb with our chefs, and invited the missionaries to join us.
 
Wednesday July 30th Day 5 – We drove to Maasai Mara, and I learned I had been scammed out of $1400.  We ended up staying at the “Tayari Luxury Tent” resort anyway, and it was nice.  We went to a Maasai village in the afternoon and bought some big swords and fire-starting materials.
 
Thursday July 31st Day 6 – We spent the full-day in the park on a game drive and saw lots of animals, including a cheetah making a zebra kill.
 
Friday August 1st Day 7 – We drove back to Nairobi and bid goodbye to the Whites, and flew to Kilimanjaro to be picked up by Altezza and driven to their hotel.
 
Saturday August 2nd Day 8 – We made last minute packing alterations and met up with Rob Allen, and rented what was needed, and drove to Kilimanjaro and began our hike to Shira 1 camp.
 
Sunday August 3rd Day 9 – We hiked to Shira 2 camp, with a small acclimitaziation hike
 
Monday August 4th Day 10 – We hiked to Barranco camp, in the shadow of the “wall”
 
Tuesday August 5th Day 11 – We hiked up the wall and had lunch at the lava tower, and then hiked down the valley to Karanga Camp.
 
Wednesday August 6th Day 12 – We hiked up to Barafu camp, and prepared for summit night.  Megan was feeling terrible, so she only hiked about 1 km up towards the peak, and then turned around with me.  Tera and Jacob and everyone else continued on towards the summit.
 
Thursday August 7th Day 13 – We hiked down to Millenium camp for our final night on the mountain
 
Friday August 8th Day 14 – We hiked down to the Mweka gate and lunched at the gate, then drove back to Aishi Machame hotel, singing songs the entire way.
 
Saturday August 9th Day 15 – We flew to Zanzibar and rented a car and drove into Stone town to find our Airbnb.  It was a bit of a manouver to get around and finally find our hostess.  We stayed in the heart of Stone Town.
 
Sunday August 10th Day 16 – We took an Airbnb experience tour of the Forodhani market, and the Utusa Spice Farm, and then cooked with our guide Lutjie and had a delicious curry meal in her private kitchen.  We walked back through the market, and stopped at the Slave market site. We ate dinner at the night market in the park, and had massages in the Airbnb.
 
Monday August 11th Day 17 – We checked out, and took a 2 hour free walking tour of the city, then drove north to Nungwi beach and checked in at our 2nd Airbnb on the island, Villa Anta (run by a Russian couple).  We had lunch next door at the “us and them” villa, then I took Megan and Vanessa to our dive shop “Spanish Dancer Divers” for their refresher and discover courses.  We ate at home our pasta dinner.
 
Tuesday August 12th Day 18 – We left Vanessa and went diving.  We spent an afternoon on the beach then ate at Hanoi House, some surprisingly good Vietnamese food in Zanzibar.
 
Wednesday August 13th Day 19 – We all dove together, heading out to the Mnemba atoll (about a 90-minute boat ride) and had some great dives.  It was a little cold, and Tera just did the 1st dive each time.  We spent another afternoon on the beach and ate out.  Regular city power seems to be a fickle thing in Zanzibar.
 
Thursday August 14th Day 20 – We drove back to the airport and began our long (48 hr) journey home.
 
Highlights: 
Cultural experiences in Kibera and Hell’s Gate – Our walking tour through the Kibera slum was sobering and enlightening and educational.  Victor our guide took us walking through the dirt streets and past the tin building shops and into the actual homes of some of his friends, single room concrete block spaces, with just some a bed and couch and some cardboard boxes for storage, with a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.  No cooking facilities (all cooking was done in the alleyway over charcoal) no running water (bathrooms were at the end of the alleyway), and families of 6 or 8 lived there.  That evening we had a cultural dance with residents clad in the most elaborate costumes, dancing and singing and playing instruments.  It was such a fun experience.  Later at the Olkaria Spa, we played in the water and invited some locals to join us in our games.  They started their own session of the game, with no Americans involved, and our cultural teaching reached its apex and our lives were complete.
 
Cheetah sightings in Masai Mara – within the first 45 minutes of our safari, we stalked a cheetah, who was in turn stalking a family of zebras.  We watched the cheetah take off running from behind the jeep, and run down the baby zebra and tackle it to the ground, and bleed it out in the neck until it died, then immediately move to the anus and take a big bite. It was astonishing to see play out in real time.  Thereafter, anything else we saw was lagniappe, and we saw a LOT.
 
Elephant, (3) cheetah (2) chases and a kill, Hippos, Crocodiles, (4) lions, (1) male lion Jacob found, (3) lions sunning on riverbank, Zebras, Wildebeests, Ostriches, Warthogs, Elan deer, Groundbill bird, Vultures eating carcass, Hyenas eating carcass, Gazelle, Topi deer, Thompsons gazelle, Marabou stork, Blue heron, Impala, Kudu deer, Cape buffalo, Giraffe, African fish Eagle, White-face owl, Tawny, Eagle, Red/blue lizard 🦎 , Horned lizard thing , Iridescent black/blue bird, Termite mounds, Baboons, Various monkeys , Maasai cows, Crested guinea fowl
 
Kilimanjaro hike overall – The hike deserves its own blog post.  Sum it up with it being a wonderful time with friends, and friendly guides, and great food, being well-taken care of by capable staff, with incredible views of the mountain as we approached closer and closer each day.
 
Travelling with friends and relatives – It was so enjoyable to travel with friends (Norty and Brooks and Georgia, Keith and Heather White and family Kayla and Evan) and relatives (cousins David and Vanessa Schaumann and Vanessa’s sister Brooksany, and cousin Rob Allen) and of course Jacob and Megan. We got to know these friends and cousins in new and interesting ways as we experienced these travel adventures together.
​