Amboseli: Kenya's Lost World?

One year down the line and we can all remember the 2009 Amboseli drought that left many of us in tears.Hundreds of animals died due to the natural disaster. A disaster that we could do nothing about.I recall driving by Amboseli and the smell of the decaying animals was unbearable!

I remember my visit to Mombasa using the train - the railway cuts through Tsavo National park;all we could see was animal and people caucus!I have never had such a bad experience while in a game park or reserve in all my life.I even remember watching from my train cabin window, a traditional man and woman sacrificing a cow in what seemed like a ritual, from what we know about Africans: In the olden day we would sacrifice an animal so God could answer our requests....I guess that is exactly what that man was doing!

However one year later and this is the much i found in a rejuvenating Amboseli National Park!

Arrival at Amboseli....

Satao Elerai in house Lizard...(it looks so much like one of the species recently discovered or is it one of those?!)

Relaxing at Satao Elerai Camp,just before Lunch....

Satao Elerai swiming pool...(I Love it!)

Tawi Lodge..where i spent the night!

Tawi Lodge room, this bed is unbelievably comfy!!!

A serenade by the local Maasai before dinner at the boma at Tawi Lodge....

Birds at Tawi Lodge...

Goofing around at Tawi Lodge...

The "soon coming alive "Amboseli

Monkeys at Oltukai Lodge.

Amboseli, with less animals....

 Finally some Rhinos...

 

And some Elephants......

The gofer (is there such a word?!)

Wildlife Images of the day:29112010

Courtesy of BBC & Cloudboxer.com

What happens in Mombasa stays in Las Vegas or is it Hawaii: Day 2

Following my post: Mombasa:Our Las Vegas and Hawaii i did promise to share with you what we did on day 2 which was unbelievable incredible! This was my first time to go on a sea safari. You must be wondering what on earth is a sea safari? 

A sea safari is when you walk on the sea..yes,you can walk on sea, not on water (LOL) . This is only achievable early morning when the water is not near the shore, basically is almost mid the sea, that way you are able to walk on the dry land.

The sea safari guides are quite specific with the rules when you start the safari, they warn you; tell you that you must be fit, ready to swim  and be very careful on your steps, you might step on something and it turns out to be a sea animal - consequences could leave you without a leg or dead in worst circumstances. (Death safari was more like it..) 

This is how the sea looks like when half dry in the morning....

You have to watch your steps in the water patches, you do not want to step on something that may cause your death!!

Jeff discovering the sea, with the Sea safari specialist....

Dry land patches....

Sea urchins...the animal that looks like a black jack, should you step on it and the pokes enter your foot, you have 30 minutes to get to a doctor or you die...

Black is male Urchin, white is female urchin..looks like God made all animals either male or female...

Sea cucumber..its an animal not a vegetable.. LOL!

Sea spider..you thought the normal spiders are dangerous, here is a twist this one is harmless!

If a fish steps on this it gets strangled then becomes a meal, if your leg gets caught by this, its squeezed the life out of you!

Stone fish..you may not be able to see the fish because like the name suggest it looks like a stone!Secondly when you step on it, it has a needle like thing that pokes your foot and in approximately 15 minutes you are dead!

And on our way back to shore we picked up a lovely Star fish which i can tell you is now lying in my living room......

After lunch.. it was beach relaxation time...swim, swim, swim!!!!!!!!

 And after a long adventurous day, we put on our party gear and enjoyed Mombasa night life....!

Mombasa :Our version of Las Vegas and Hawaii!

I should have blogged this 3 weeks ago but somehow (still can explain how) i had misplaced my camera's cable thus could not down load anything!Anyway here is the story...My significant other that sounds so lame and I had been planning to take a vacation but we were not sure when or where we would go and how much we would spend, we just knew that we needed to get away and we needed to do it soon.When our good friend sent us his wedding invitation, we knew we had the perfect excuse to run away from the busy capital Nairobi and Mombasa here we went!

Day 1

Time to cross the ferry....

This is what i call a sunset.....

And this is where we stayed...

Mombasa city ar early as 6.30 A.M

The wedding we went to....

The wedding we ended up at..!!!!!!!!

And where our evening was..plus dinner and dancing at the beach...(Kim and the band, we love you!)

Stay tuned for day 2...You will be surprised with what you will see...

Classic Train getaways...

Trains are classic,period. They all have great historic stories which i must confess, i am a sucker to the stories! Two years ago i got to experience what travelling on a train from Nairobi to Mombasa feels like. I got to know (by experience) what a train derailment is. I also did get to know how to balance my breakfast cup of tea on a moving train!Imagine going to a toilet that is moving, if you are thinking it's somewhat like being on an plane, well let me tell you, a plane is far much stable!The scenery is unbelievable beautiful, i so wished i had a camera then, you guys would be viewing that scenery.The whole experience made me feel like i had traveled back in time and was living in the 1920's..

The Kenyan train safari to Mombasa.....

The Nairobi - Mombasa Train Restaurant

Today however,i write to share this world's top "classic train trips" that i stumbled upon on lonelyplanet.com. Brace yourself folks, this is good stuff!!
  
Old Patagonia Express, Argentina- Better known as La Trochita, this train goes at a speed of 35Km per hour thus the "Express" term, the historic rattler steams from Esquel to Ingenieno Jacobacci, with half a dozen stations and another nine whistle stops.(apearderos)

Ghan, Australia - The two night trip runs from Adelaide to Alice Springs to Darwin.It was started when the initial railway line was put up in 1877 and has now become a tour attraction.

Rocky Mountaineer, Canada - The 2 day tour through the Canadian Rockies is done on broad daylight to allow you the perfect viewing of attractions such us the British Colombia Mountains.

What i found most interesting was  that SA's classic train Outeriqua Choo-Tjoe, was among the top ten list!

Others that topped the list are as follows:

• El Nariz del Diablo, Ecador
• Venice Simplon Orient Express,Italy
• Copper Canon railway, Mexico
• Cuzco to Puno, Peru
• Trans Siberia, Russia to China
• Coast starlight,USA