Going, Been, Wish List
In random order and many with a cell phone!! Oy vey this trip required a camera, but we had 2 photographers among us who took well over 3K pictures so if you need more to entice you, let me know. And birds species…thousands…remarkable!
Tonight I ran with Masai warriors..
Brought my running stuff with only hopes of getting in a few runs but I had promised the Mr. no adrenaline runs that included me and a lion, hyena etc. As it turned out, our safari guide, Doug, is a runner and he arranged this special run.
Attached below are a few quick snaps enroute and post run.
The pictures don’t show it but Masai wear shoes made from re-purposed motorcycle tires, somehow rigged with straps. And I should clarify, they don’t run, they float.
After quick introductions we got underway, Cheryl up front, Katie and I hanging in there. The Mr. ran with our safari guide. The Mr. is not stupid, he knew who was carrying a gun.
I’ve run in many places on this planet, but never with zebra and wildebeest grazing, elephants trumpeting, and a guide with a spear, surreal to say the least. We had talked loosely about how far we would run, wouldn’t a 5K be great, “we” being the English speaking idiots, but certainly no communication to our guides in Swahili or better yet the Masai language. Lots of smiles and bows at the outset (yup me bowing, where was I Asia suddenly?)
Sometimes the lost in translation conversations lead to the most hilarious travel stories, but for an out of shape runner, this disconnect on distance had shades of train wreck written all over it. I had a general idea of where we were and where our camp was, but at mile 4, we had made no move to circle back. I looked over at Katie and her face read my sentiment…what the what??!!
I grunted some noise of “yo”and one of the human clouds floated back to me. “How far are we planning on going my friend?” He smiled and we kept running. At 5.5M, we saw salvation in the distance, a jeep. Cheryl sprinted to the jeep, not missing a chance to say she had dueled with a Masai.
Katie’s “Aunt Chris I don’t think that is a jeep” comment was lost on me as I dreamed of a shower and cocktail. And indeed 19 year old eyes are far better than 50+ year old eyes. The “jeep” was 3 old barrels. In fact we were at an old airstrip and that vast cool feeling when we arrived by plane, suddenly had the holy shit we are in the middle of a nowhere feeling. My only salvation was Katie…I knew her mother would not let us be gone for too long before she sent the National Guard.
At this point I went into pantomime mode, “is a jeep (hands outstretched at 10 and 2, gripping a steering wheel) picking us up?” Smiles from Masai man. And then more pointed, “what’s the plan here man?” “We run back.” In my head I am screaming wtf, but at the same time, cursing myself for blithely jumping in and not cementing the details. Also wanted to be upbeat for Katie who had no plan to run more than 2M, 3 at most. We were staring at a run back that included hills. Cheryl is a beast, fit for days, I knew she was up for the task at hand.
Nothing to it, but to do it. Sunset is upon us, lets not waste time. And we started back.
About a 1/4 mile up the road, “Aunt Chris, I think that is a jeep”. And sure enough it was. Cheryl and Katie blazed toward it, this old gal was d-o-n-e, and ambled in. Reaching the jeep, my Masai friend had a devilish smile that would make a leprechaun jealous. Between English-Swahali-Masai, he knew exactly what was going on and had a fun time at my expense. I punched him and his buddy and they laughed out loud. Truth be told, even if we had run back, I would have felt safe. The Masai know their land and their animals. They would have kept us safe. Would love to hear the story being told in their village…yea so this one old white lady who shook the ground with every stride…
A running experience of a lifetime.
On we go.
Hope to see you along the way.
Your writer payed the price for her Monday night shenanigans, in the morning..I was green. Something did not agree with my stomach and let’s leave it there.
But this was moving day…bye bye Nairobi and hello what we came here for…safari. Back to the airport for a small hopper flight to the bush (don’t I sound like I know what I am talking about – insert sarcasm here).
You know the scene in movies when the actor strides out onto the tarmac with a badass strut, that was me.
Upset stomach be gone, I fancied myself a rock star picking up my 16 seater and headed off for adventure. Not everyone in the group was so enamored with the idea of a small flight, but quick prayer and we were air-born.
And 45 minutes later, we landed at an airstrip that had an acacia tree as a terminal and painted white rocks as the runway lights. Vast…quiet…2 jeeps waiting for us. And a diet coke…wahooooo
More later
Hope to see you along the way
I’m a gal who loves words and these last few days have found me speechless, or maybe worse, pretending I speak Swahili…
Last we chatted our Monday plan was local sites in Nairobi. And so after a great buffet breakfast (good mix of local and traditional choices) we headed out to an elephant orphanage. As the pictures will show, we were right up close…a small rope separating us and 10 baby elephants. The orphanage helps babies without families due to natural (drought/famine) and not so natural (poachers) reasons. The care given to these elephants is extraordinary. Each has a handler who stays with them until they are ready to go back into the wild..and when I say, “stays with them”, the meaning is literal. Handler and elephant sleep together. The Mr. was very moved, maybe not moved enough to move into the shed, but impacted no doubt. In some ways these small orphan babies make out better than their human counterparts as they are fed, housed, and cared for; not a daily certainty for some citizens of Nairobi. Before I go deep, on we go to a giraffe sanctuary.
Oh wait, tourists from the orphanage are headed to see the giraffes, who wants to get caught up with that riff raff…let’s detour to an artists cooperative. Various artists and mediums…wood, beads, fabric, are represented under one roof and as we are learning, everyone shares part of their profits with the community at large. We descended like locusts and rummaged from room to room. At one point one of the African ladies sat down, exhausted, clearly we Americans do not understand pole pole..meaning, slowly. Negotiations complete, maybe a Tusker beer for good measure, we rerouted to the giraffe.
Not sure that my pictures will do it justice, but think Jurassic Park…big trees…and bobbing and weaving amidst the trees..giraffe. In my opinion, and it is my damn blog, these creatures scream darling. Those big eye lashes and the sweet face, wild animals no doubt, but I was swooning…and cannot imagine them in the true wild. 
From the giraffes, we split up, some went on to the Karen Blixen museum, some went back to the hotel. The driver who took we “Blixies” described it as “history stuff” when we asked what was there, and after our tour, Ryan noted, “that’s all you need to get a museum, be a failed coffee farmer?”. Both hilarious comments and astute analysis. I’m glad we went, Karen Blixen impacted the community (and a great role for Meryl Streep – not everyone gets to kiss Robert Redford) but the museum is not a must stop. Clearly time for that drink on the veranda!
Dinner was at a fabulous place called Tamarind; the kind of dinner when you switch seats, interrupt conversations, get loud, sing happy birthday to people you don’t know, and have a waiter who goes along for the ride. For dessert, each of our plates was personalized.
Mine…enough said.
And again we split up the group for the ride home, some went back to the hotel, some in search of bottled liquor reinforcements for our days ahead. Let me remind you, it is now 11:30pm-ish on a Sunday night in a predominantly Christian country. Where in the holy hell did we think we were sourcing booze. Use your imagination people, comical and crazy to say the least. The only thing more funny was the translation of, “no, not three shots, three bottles”.
Hooligans safely returned with thoughts of tomorrow.
Hope to see you along the way.
Tonight I was a football fan on a continent far from my own with people that made my heart happy and my face smile. With the Mr. and two of his nephews, we went in search of World Cup viewing. At an eco-lodge with no “screens”, we had to be creative. Asking around I found out the live-in staff had a tv in the community room.
And so there we found ourselves with billionaire guests (clearly not us), staff who have treated us so graciously for the past two days, and our guides who protected us quite literally from lions and other African wonders.
Common denominator, sport, otherwise as disparate a community room as you have have ever seen and we loved it
An unexpected slice of time like this is why I travel.
Talk again soon with many pictures.
Hope to see you along the way.
We’re here!! Arrived late last night in great spirits with various hours of sleep under our belt.
One quick note about international travel, yes yes yes there are all the aches and pains of, are we there yet, but if you allow it, it can actually energize you. At Heathrow we waited for our connection under the big connection board. Listings for Barcelona, Budapest, Mumbai, Prague ..a feast of people watching and wondering…who are they, what is their story, have they been up for hours and do they have the sleepy giggles too??
And very fun to be with British air crew when England clinched their semi-final spot in the World Cup. Still a Croatia girl, but good for you England.
I’m terrible with pictures, but wish I had taken one of the woman holding the sign at the Nairobi airport..Fosterx9. We whisked through customs and off we went towards our hotel. Midnight dinner…very cosmopolitan, and then shower … ahhhhh … and bed … complete with mosquito net … don’t worry my favorite mother in law, it is decor only.
This morning, Sunday, very quiet. Feels like a movie set, hotel is beautiful, set amidst very plush trees. We are outside the city, but from what we saw last night, Nairobi looks like many other cities on a Saturday night..a-buzz.
Today we are off to an elephant orphanage .. yes, there is a fear one will find it’s way to PA, we have the space at the 205 right?
And then a museum of some sort…they lost my attention after the discussion of elephants and giraffes.. and then cocktails on the hotel veranda.
Veranda..such a lyrical word.
Doesn’t everyone do this on Sunday evening??
Gotta leave you for a bit, the staff is finding me coffee and surely wondering why this idiotic woman is up at 0’dark thirty.
I’m not missing a minute.
To coffee we go…
Hope to see you along the way..
Friday night, leg one of my journey home is complete as I am dining tonight not by the Adriatic Sea, but by the lights of the Munich airport.
Parted ways with my cycling pals around noon today with all of us promising to stay in touch, not sure how that will resonate after we all return to reality, but for some new found Canadian friends I hope it holds true.
I loved the trip, I mean really loved it and was sad to leave. It is a part of the world I really know nothing about, and am still figuring out. Many of the sleepy coastal towns had an Italian feel, but then again not. There is no mistaking the Slavic in the people.
I saw some truly amazing things this week and I’ll forever more love Korcula because I was served a slice of pizza from a mother/daughter who were closing up shop, they saw hunger, and answered. I’ll remember Hvar with a fun smile as I sat on the stoop steps with a shop owner and drank little glasses of vodka. And today on an oddly quiet alley, in very cruise boat busy Dubrovnik, an older lady handed me a free gelato that she was whipping up and I was watching through a little window. Small indelible moments of wonder and wonderful.
Cannot wait to see my honey pie…and my dog.. and start planning my next adventure.
Hope to see you along the way…
After a very fun dinner and pictures on the cliffs of Dubrovnik last night, this morning we take a final walking tour of the city and part ways. Most are staying on in some form or another, I’ll start making my way back by way of Munich this evening and on home Saturday morning.
So excited to see my honey pie and sad to say farewell to a really cool adventure.
Time to wander through the castle from Game of Thrones, we’ll talk later..
Today was our final ride, some climbs, but more so today was about the pictures..
just realized I never posted this..
Yesterday was a blur, we said good bye to our beautiful sailboat and crew, our mode of transport when not cycling on the islands, and started our day in the midday sun…oooph! That’s an oooph from a true sun-worshipper. And if I have learned anything in the last few days, there is no way around hills in Croatia. Today was no different.
Only 2 of us took the full ride, the others opted for a lift into our next town Vela Luka. At times, when I was in granny gear and going nowhere fast, I questioned my decision and then I would ride into a little town or experience a serene moment passing by a quiet sea cove and think, nope I made the perfectly right decision for me.
Cycled into town like I was at the end of the Tour de France, of course no one was there cheering me, but it felt good to complete the challenge. Obligatory plunge into the Adriatic, shower, and then we headed off to dinner as a group.
To say this restaurant was off the beaten path, think prairie dogs, vast beyond, and then there it was… a home.. a restaurant.. built completely from the white Croatian rock I have come to love, and no cement, very cool.
Like the obligatory sea plunge, grappa has greeted us at every location. Shots… okay and now we begin. Father and son with a pretty large kitchen set up but not a thing you would call modern or even have confidence could serve the 17 of us, let alone the other diners. And let’s throw in rolling outages where all of us would turn on our cell phone lights and periodic breaks for singing. Too fun!
While at dinner, we did talk about home a bit and I learned about FaceTime audio, free call via the Internet. I’m so stupid!! But I called Joe, yeah!!!!!
Today, Thursday, (6hrz ahead here), our last day of cycling. We ride the island of Korcula and then a ferry to pick up a bus to drive to Dubrovnik.
Gotta run and gear up for a busy day.
Talk soon
