KenyaI think I will update this journal entry as I upload to give an outline of the trip, so more pictures will start to appear:
I went with family (my dad, my sister, my dad's girlfriend and her son and daughter!) and the tour thing was with two other families (a family of scouts - I kid you not, parents scout leaders and children all members) and a bunch of wild Australians, who I probably had a little to much fun with for accent play; Doctor Who travels in the Ta-dis?
Aaaaanyway, for some insane reason, despite their being direct flights to Kenya out of London we went from Birmingham which meant 7-9 hour stops at Dubai either way. Which I was excited about really as i wanted to see Dubai, but nooooo, when travelling with old people that get grumpy when tired and young people who just fall asleep that doesn't happen *grumble*. At least the airport was nice to look at... and had odd toilets with heated water in the bowl, it was like going to the loo over a sauna! I watched Star Trek three times on the flights there and back... (as well as The Incredibles, Wall-E and one or two other films I've forgotten about)
So, get to Nairobi, wow I likes Kenya a lot already, everything is so laid back, people walking everywhere, tis just nice. If there's somewhere in Africa with rather better infrastructure I'd be very tempted to move there for a while. Anywho, night in Nairobi then down into the rift valley for animalness. Which starts quite soon after you drive out of Nairobi; zebra, warthogs and baboons aplenty.
The first couple of days there we went to a couple of lakes, one with many many many flamingos.
Also had some fun at night:
Then we went to the Masi Mara. The first morning we went on a hot air balloon ride, which is the most amazing thing ever. Really just outrageously good. When we landed we had breakfast in the grasslands, with gazelles and stuff right over there *points*, which was surreally good. On the way back to meet with our truck thing - we did most of the travelling and safari in this bloody great lorry with windows, was the bumpiest thing in the universe! - I spotted a chetah, go me. which we got really close to, cheetahs are awesome, yup yup, very elegant. Then later on we also got our first elephant and a bunch of other stuffs.
Then we did more days bumping about looking at other animals and saw pretty much every large animal there is to see except a white rhino. I used my cat spotting talent again to spot a medium sized cat called a Serval, which is apparently not often seen in the day, go me again!
On the last day we went to a Maasi village. I did not like this bit, I took one photo there of a band of tourists (us) gawking at a band of Maasi dancing. I found the whole thing fake and patronising, for both parties.
Then we went back to Nairobi, stopping at an "orphanage" on the way back, which was basically a glorified zoo, with rather cramped cages. Another place I did not think very highly of. Though it did have its upsides; getting to see Servals and a cat called a Caracal much closer, and surreally getting to stroke a chetah!
For the night in Nairobi we went to this insane restaurant called Carnivore, where they just bring meat after meat after meat after meat (and so on)
Next stop was at a beach place outside Mombassa. It was very resorty... a few families, a lot of middle aged people and a handful of hyper-attractive young couples. Turns out I've got better at sport since taking up Ultimate Frisbee. I did rather well in Volley Ball and Water Polo. Highlights of the stay there included being chased by an angry monkey and going snorkelling. And sub-highlight of snorkelling was this abandoned resort we went to catch he boat. It was surreal, like Jurassic Park. I had five minutes to take photos there as everyone else made their way back from the boat to the cars. I almost killed myself running about in wet clothes and rather slippy sandals. (really hope those ones came out!)
Anywho, after all that it was back to Nairobi again, we took the afternoon to go to a giraffe sanctuary, which was freaking amazing. They had this platform to take you to giraffe level and feed them. and there's a mansion there you can stay at, so going there next time I visit Kenya!
And then it was home again. And here I be.
In other news my entries into the International Photography Awards did not get any further than honourable mentions. Ah well.
