Amboseli

I spent a couple summers as a tour guide when I was in grad school. I’ve also taken friends and family throughout my life on three different continents. One thing is certain: you never want to be with someone who is unappreciative and/or high maintenance. It’s always fun to share things you think are cool with someone who gets a thrill from experiencing the same thing. My mother-in-law traveled with us from the US and is spending a month visiting the country. She's an incredibly curious person. That’s a quality you always want, particularly when showing someone around. Moreover, she’s genuinely enthusiastic and appreciative. Makes travel much easier.

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After a couple of weeks of getting settled and visiting the sights and sounds of Nairobi, we headed out to Amboseli National Park. It’s the park we’ve been to the most and, though we should probably venture out to other places more often, we sort of wanted to go with something we knew (and love) and avoid any potential unpleasant surprises. It’s also fairly close. We can do new when we don’t have a guest.

One thing we enjoy about Amboseli is obviously its proximity to Mt. Kilimanjaro. Other parks have nice views but the tallest mountain in Africa as your backdrop is pretty special. The question would be whether or not it would make itself visible. We know people that spent several days in the park without seeing it due to persistent clouds. As we approached the park by safari vehicle, it was unfortunately obscured. We were hopeful it would present itself at some point.

We checked into our rooms at the lodge and made our way to lunch. The location inside the park means that the dining area provides you with a gorgeous view of animals milling about in their natural habitat. Meals are “modified buffet style". The buffet spread is laid out similar to normal times but you don’t serve yourself. Masks are required when you are up and moving around. Tables are a sufficient distance apart and all the staff are masked all the time. Works for me.

The first afternoon we spent by the swimming pool, something that plays into the reason we stay at this place. It’s nice to have access to a pool as a grown-up but having that option for kids during the heat of the day (when you’re not going to be out on game drives), is wonderful. Following that, in the British tradition, we had tea around 4pm and then we would head out on the late afternoon/early evening game drive.

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Our guide was the same guy from when we were last in Amboseli nine months ago. He’s a nice guy but I’m not sure he knows the park that well. We’ve been there in our own vehicle (self-guided) and I feel like we managed as well, if not better. One big advantage of a guide is their ability to radio the other guides as they often share info about key sightings. But our guy, who I think is normally based in Nairobi, didn’t seem to be well connected with the other guides and was mostly relying on his own instincts. A couple years ago in Masai Mara, a guide was telling us that guides in national parks are sometimes tribal and will share information with their own rather than inform everyone. Not sure if that's the case in this park but it's possible, if not tribal it could be local guides vs. Nairobi-based.

The weather was mostly overcast but no rain was predicted. Thus the lighting wasn’t fantastic for wildlife photography. Every once in a while I would look south in the direction of Kilimanjaro to see if it was visible. To no avail. Nonetheless, it was good to be out on the dusty roads and feeling the cool air. The landscape of Kenyan national parks, at least for me, is a big part of the overall experience. It’s also just great to be out of the city.

One thing nice about Amboseli is the diversity of the landscape. It has lakes which provide a home to lots of wildlife that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

On this day there was an unusually stiff wind that was picking up as we moved into evening. A guy at the hotel said he’d never seen it like it. Probably an exaggeration but it gave credence that it was out of the ordinary. It really didn’t make it pleasant to sit outside (they make a fire in a pit outside every evening) so when the game drive was over, it was basically dinner and back to our rooms to get ready for bed. I’m not sure what it is about game drives but they do make me tired at the end of the day. I tend to stand inside the safari vehicle most of the time and just keeping your feet sometimes can be a workout.

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The next morning, the game drive would start at 6:30. It’s good to get out early since the animals tend to be a bit more active (and the lighting happens to be better). You basically go out for a couple hours and then come back to the lodge for breakfast. Great way to start the day.

Other than a large herd of elephants near the lodge, many with calves, the day began rather slowly. But before too long we did manage to see three lions. They were a bit far away but things were beginning to look up. About a half hour after that the sun came out and the lighting improved. Kili remained obscured but I was hopeful that as some of the clouds were beginning to dissipate, we might end up seeing the big mountain before the end of the day. I’ve seen it numerous times (and climbed it), but I desperately wanted my mother-in-law to see it at some point during the visit.

Generally speaking, the morning game drive was nice but nothing earth shattering. We’ve had so many wonderful experiences there, I suppose my expectations are a bit too high. Just as we were heading back to the lodge, we did come upon a really nice moment where a herd of elephants passed in front of us (likely the same herd that we saw earlier), alongside some hippos, wildebeest and some zebras. There were things to see on all sides of the vehicle and I had a hard time knowing where to place my focus. Very cool. 

 

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Then it was back to the lodge for breakfast. We would enjoy the down time for swimming, reading and enjoying the views of the animals, often very close to the fence surrounding the grounds. The middle of the day alternated back and forth between overcast and sunny. It kept it from being too hot but I was hoping it would clear up by the evening game drive. Unfortunately it was not to be. It was mostly cloudy for the remainder of the day.

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At around 4pm, we headed out on the evening game drive. I was sad to think that this would be the final one, other than what we might see as we drove out of the park the next day. The one bright spot was that Mt. Kilimanjaro finally revealed itself to us. It wasn’t super clear but you could see the outline of the mountain on the horizon and the white snows on the top. It really is beautiful and it’s always bigger than you think it’s going to be.

As sunset neared, we were quite a ways from the lodge and in an area where we’d never been. It was nice to see some new parts of the park but there didn’t seem to be much in the way of animals. It’s the kind of thing that can be stressful. You have a limited amount of time and you want to make the most of it. In my mind I was sort of questioning the guide’s decision making. I generally don't like to get in the guide's business (particularly since he's been there far more than we have), but it just seemed to be an uninteresting place to be at that time of evening. Before we could say anything, he suddenly hit the accelerator and off we went. There were another couple vehicles in front of us that seemed to get the same information. It provided some hope that we might see something special before calling it a day.

We hit a couple of dead ends and had to turn around, confirming my fears that he didn’t know the park that well (nor did the other two drivers). But we pushed on and towards the horizon we began to see a large gathering of safari vehicles. It was great that there might be something interesting awaiting us, but it was tempered by the fact that it was starting to get dark (and my camera zoom lens doesn’t do well in low light). Hopefully we could at least see whatever it was with the naked eye.

It turned out to be lions. There were a couple of females lounging to our left as we joined the throng of vehicles. Soon we would realize that there was a male, with a stunningly dark mane, off to the right sitting in some tall grass. The sun was mostly set by this time and the air was mostly still, unlike the prior evening. We shut off the engine and just sat and watched. I knew we wouldn’t have long given that it was late but it was still wonderful.

The male finally got up and walked away and that signaled that it was time to beginning heading back. Just before reaching the lodge we witnessed a couple of bull elephants engaging in a little battle. It was almost dark so it wasn’t easy to see, much less photograph, but it was cool nonetheless.

 

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The next day we had breakfast, packed up and headed out. Overall, we’ve had far more amazing safari experiences. But it was still a great weekend and, more importantly, I think it was a treasured experience for my mother-in-law.

Back in Nairobi

We’re back in Nairobi and settling back into our routines. The girls have been back in school for a few weeks and I’m full-on back at work. I’m tracking news again with the same vigor that I do normally when I’m not on vacation. It’s partially because I need to track news for my job but it’s also something that I’ve done for decades. I began to take an interest in reading and what was going on around me (outside of the sports world) when I lived in Switzerland in the late 80s and early 90s. As bad and depressing as the news is, I’m more at ease knowing what’s going on than not.

As a child, I remember my father turning on the evening news around 5pm. It would make my eyes roll and often prompt me to change rooms. But I remember sometimes taking in some of the information. Having a screen on, especially at that time, it was hard sometimes to avert my eyes. I remember passively catching bits here and there. There was the waning days of the Vietnam War (including ongoing totals of US war dead) and dramas in the Middle East. I remember hearing about the Cold War and Watergate though I had little understanding of what was going on at the time. I would overhear my parents' occasional comments, some of which would sink in. But it wouldn't be until many years later that life as an expat would play a key role in clearing the fog from my brain.

My children do the same. But they’re more curious than I was at their age and they have an infinitely better frame of reference to start with. We also spend quite of bit of time and energy providing them “teaching moments”. It’s hard to frame some of these complex situations in a way that a child can understand (in spite of the childish behavior of people in power), but over time they will at least know the basics. It’s important, not only that we are preparing them for rapidly approaching adulthood, but even now some of these issues are impacting their lives. Some events are taking place in countries where their friends are from. Some things might impact their dad’s job or their aunt’s job. In addition to living in an important East African hub, through globalization and the inter-connectivity provided by the internet, their proximity to the rest of the world is far closer than mine was in a small corner of Idaho several decades ago.  

the nightly pre-bedtime read - this time, Harry Potter

While at my parents’ house, I was reading a calendar with the theme, “You know you’re a hillbilly if…”, followed by some humorous description, often stereotype, of rural America. One that caught my attention was one that said, “…the only books in your house are propping up a table.” It is funny but I think it reflects a certain uninformed bravado that I find puzzling and potentially dangerous. Admittedly, we didn’t have much literature in our house growing up, but there was no defiance of the literate – equating literacy to elitist and elitist to out-of-touch, and thus being informed would be seen as negative. On the contrary, there was a strong pursuit of information. My parents were tracking news, religiously reading newspapers and my dad was always scanning brochures, maps, etc. I think that curious nature, combined with a strong puritan work ethic, were conveyed to us and it was up to us what we did with it. All five children have master’s degrees or higher and have done alright professionally. I'm happy that education and critical thinking are valued in my family, in spite of them being in a context where there's often a puzzling lack of these qualities.

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In Somalia, to some degree it reflects the old adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Election drama has been amped up again as tension between the president and prime minister grows. The historically complex and multilayered context, as in many countries, continues to polarize. Fallout could be serious, particularly in and around Mogadishu if partisan troops are mobilized. So far it’s mostly political power plays on both sides. We watch in the hope that level heads will prevail.

The pandemic continues to wreak havoc though it’s unclear how bad the situation is. People tend to not talk about it much. Hospitals are inundated but less than you would think given the lack of vaccinations and minimal Covid mitigation protocols. I had intended on being in Mogadishu before the end of September but it will not happen. My schedule has filled with meetings in Nairobi and upcoming travel will push my time in Somalia to October, assuming the security and Covid situation permits.

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In the meantime, we host my mother-in-law and for four weeks. Tourism weaves its way in and out of my work schedule. It’s busy, but it works.

 

Idaho

Travel to Idaho no longer involves a welcome at the airport as it once did. After nearly 27 years as an expat, it makes sense that family wouldn’t drop what they’re doing and come to meet us (though it still happens in Indiana…). It’s generally: pick up the bags (alert the airline of our lost luggage, frequently), retrieve the rental car and off we go. Thankfully we were not at a hotel this time as we were during a few years when siblings’ houses were tighter on space.

This year did have a different feel, obviously, given the pandemic and the fact that it had been so long since we’d seen family. Hugs were a bit tighter and emotions seemed to run a bit deeper. We don’t take these interactions with family lightly even in normal times, less so now.

We began our time in Boise staying with my sister and brother-in-law. We took a few days to relax and hang out with the gang. We had a couple family gatherings, ran some errands and just enjoyed being there. 

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After a few days we headed north to McCall to enjoy the mountains for a week or so. I can never get enough time up there (and someday I’d like to rectify that) but for now I’ll take what I can get.

We spent some time on Payette Lake boating and beaching. The weather was warmer than normal but manageable. The was a considerable amount of smoke in the air, mostly from fires in other states. Some days were worse than others but I never felt that it was overbearing.

One afternoon we headed up the chairlift of the ski mountain to enjoy the views and the cool air. The mountains are my happy place and having been away for a long time, it meant a lot to me to just soak it in.

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We then shifted a few miles to the west to the New Meadows area. It’s a short drive over the mountain and you come down into a beautiful valley (where our property is located). It’s less populated since there’s no lake and it doesn’t have the ski resort. Nonetheless, it’s an area that has already begun to grow and it’s inevitable that it will continue to do so.

After a weekend in the NM area, we headed off to what was supposed to be a backpack trip. One complicating factor was that the high fire risk (and corresponding stage 1 fire precautions) meant that campfires in the wild would not be allowed outside of designated campgrounds. The dilemma then was to choose between a backpack to a remote lake destination and skip the fire, or skip the backpacking and car camp at hopefully a lake location that allowed for a fire. Given the importance of campfires for the kids (and grown-ups), we opted on the latter. In the end it would work out pretty well.

There are dozens of alpine lakes to choose from in the McCall area. We’ve hiked to many of them and I’m looking to get to almost all of them at some point. We opted on a road that heads past the ski area and continues deep into the national forest. I’d never been on this particular road and given how much there is to see, it was as easy choice. It gave us multiple options for alpine lakes and I was surprised at the quality of the road. Given that we didn’t have an SUV, we needed to be on roads we could navigate in a car.

After a few miles, we stopped at a signpost which provided a list of the possible campgrounds. It seemed that the ones allowing campfires were those that had some sort of Forest Service presence (pay sites). One campground that I recognized from my reading was another half hour up the road and located on a lake, in addition to having a second lake a couple miles away farther up. I figured that if the road was navigable with our car, it would be worth the drive to check it out and see if there was an available campsite. So off we went.

In fact the road was wonderful, as mountain roads go. We passed a couple of lakes, or roads to other lakes, along the way. I was tracking all this in my mind in case we needed a plan B. Regardless of where we would end up, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive.

We finally arrived at a place call Hazard Lake and immediately the place looked busier than I expected (or hoped). But from what we could see through the trees, it looked gorgeous and the next thing would be to find a spot to camp. Eventually we homed in on a space with a small view of the lake and began to unload. I admit I was disappointed as I pulled the carefully packed backpacks from the car. I had spent a considerable amount of time putting them together, being vigilant to make sure they weren’t too heavy, that they had all the necessary gear and that their weight corresponded to the strength of the respective hiker. Alas, we were car camping. But the setting was beautiful and relatively quiet. It wasn’t plan A but I was happy to be in the woods.

We would only be there one night so we needed to get moving. Without setting up camp, we quickly pivoted to day packs and headed off on a 2-mile hike up to Upper Hazard Lake which was originally a candidate for our backpack trip. The plan B would still allow us to get our hike in and we wouldn’t need to do it with our heavy overnight packs.

The trail meandered through a meadow that was hit by a forest fire a few years prior but the foliage had had enough time to begin its comeback. In spite of several articles I read that talked about the ugliness that the burn had left behind, the wildfire area presented a rather remarkable beauty. Wildflowers were in full bloom and the grass was still green. The colors contrasted wonderfully with the charred trees. A new generation of saplings had become young trees and taking the place of their predecessors, many of which were taller than I. You could also see the contours of the surrounding hills in ways that you are unable to when laden with full grown pines.

The last stretch of the hike was steeper as we neared the upper lake. Soon we were through the trees and the blue, clear water appeared in front of us. It was a rather stunning setting, and one of the more beautiful lakes I have hiked to over the years. It was a shame we would not be pitching our tent alongside it.

We spent a few moments taking photos, had a snack and soaked it in before heading back down. As one might expect, the hike down took a fraction of the time as compared to the hike up. Soon after arriving at the campsite, we began to pitch the tent. I do love all the busyness that camping involves. I think it annoys some people but for me, the various little projects are an enjoyable part of the camping experience.

For dinner I cooked a few ribeye steaks on the grill and the girls followed up dinner with smores. The air cooled considerably but in the end it wasn’t as cold as we anticipated. We all slept moderately well. The next morning I fried up some bacon and eggs. Not sure if there’s anything better than coffee and bacon by a morning campfire.

Packing up was relatively easy since we were light on gear. We took our time driving down, stopping to have a look at a couple other lakes on the way. Our goal was to be in Boise by evening and then head to Kimberly to visit my parents the next day. It felt as though we were constantly on the move but at least for now, that’s what holidays are all about.

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Traveling to the Magic Valley is always a pleasure for me. It’s sometimes hard to explain why. It’s a collection of rural communities with Twin Falls in the center. Other than Shoshone Falls and the Snake River Canyon, there aren’t a lot of fascinating landmarks. It’s a lot of farmland surrounded by desert. It also has a population that seems to becoming more conservative as I become less so. And though it has changed to some degree, generally speaking there is very little diversity. Most tend to live simple lives and there seems to be, generally speaking, a limited understanding of what is happening in the outside world. Many struggle to get by and don’t have the luxury of spending too much time worrying about world events beyond some Fox News sound bites. It’s in many ways the antithesis of the world I live in now and where I have spent most of my adult life. It’s possible that that’s part of the appeal. I can genuinely escape my current world and be in a place that provides few reminders of what I do and where I live. It’s quiet. Safe. Though I would be unable to enjoy it for anything longer than a few days, it successfully allows me to unwind.

We arrived in the afternoon. The main focus of the visit, of course, was to visit my parents but we also spend a considerable amount of time running errands, medical/dentist check-ups, etc.  

The plan was to greet my parents, hang out for a couple hours, have some tea and by early evening head to a local fair and rodeo. This has become sort of a tradition for us, an opportunity to partake of a true slice of Americana. I realize that such things are not for everyone but for us, particularly our children, these things are as foreign to them as a Masai dance would be to American kids.

A concern that grew the closer we came to the fairgrounds was the likelihood that few if any of the fair goers would be taking any sort of Covid precautions. Most would likely not be vaccinated. Such fears were realized as we approached the food area. Not a single mask in sight. No efforts whatsoever to provide distancing in seating areas. It was as if there was not pandemic and the area’s inundated emergency rooms did not exist. We clearly stood out with our masks but received no noticeable dirty looks or comments. It wasn’t until we were sitting at a table waiting for our fair food did we see our first mask, a Latina woman who gave us an approving nod as she and her family sat next to us.

We had time for a quick visit of the animal barns and dinner before heading into the rodeo. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we’d never seen the bleachers as packed as they were that evening. Happy to see the popularity of the event. Disappointed that we would be wedged in the middle of the packed seating.

The weather was perfect, the air cooling slightly as the sun set. The rodeo was actually exciting given that the girls understand the events better now that they’re a bit older.   

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Soon we were back in Boise for the final leg of our long trip. We would have time for a few more fun activities but the emphasis would be on final preparations for our return home. We visited the Boise Art Museum. I can’t remember the last time that I was there but it’s been decades. It’s quite impressive and I was happy to see Boise continuing to advance the arts.

The one thing that was a bit weird was a visit to the zoo. Weird probably isn’t a good word but I can’t think of a better one. It was just different for us compared to most other visitors. While it was fun to hang out with family and see some of these rare animals, it was a bit off-putting for the girls to see animals they had seen in the wild for years for the first time in cages. I should say that the zoo does a very good job and I know they often have great partnerships with national parks around the world which support animal preservation. It’s also great to see the fascination in peoples’ eyes when then see these animals when they would otherwise not be able to. It’s not perfect but zoos are okay. But for our kids, I wouldn’t say it was traumatizing but it did seem to leave a mark on them.

Where the zoo thing did become an unquestionable disappointment was a sort of display near the giraffes labeled “African House”. It was a small, primitive shack with a cot on the inside. No context was provided and I wasn’t sure what the point of it was. Was it representing some point in history? In a specific country? Is it meant to represent the way all Africans live currently? No info. So if we were to reverse this situation and put a run-down American trailer house with a beat-up sofa on the porch on display in Kenya and label it as “North American House”, would Kenyans understand what it represented?  

Anyway, it was a good visit overall. Being there took me back to my college days when I would walk past the zoo every day on my way to class, given its location exactly between my house at the time and the university. It sits in a nice park near the city center though I fear that the green spaces are dwindling as more and more attractions continue to be added to its limited acreage.

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The trip was about six weeks length and we spent time in five different states – our longest vacation to the US to date. It consisted of water parks, a cave, gymnasiums, boating, camping, trampoline parks, swimming pools, etc. It was a full and wonderful time with our families. And a much-needed rest. But now, back in Nairobi, the new school year beckons. I’m back at work and we’ve returned to our routines. Good to be back.