Diani

We returned from Amboseli on a Sunday. I returned to work the next day, albeit at home of course. During this time we had an invitation to join another family who was vacationing on the coast. But we needed to await the announcement from the government as to whether or not we would be re-locked down in Nairobi during August or whether we could at least move about the country. International travel still seems to be a ways off.

Thus my ability to plan my leave from work was hampered by the fact that it was hard to predict when things might be loosened up and for how long. I have to use my vacation days before the end of September so time is running out. We cannot carry vacation days over from one fiscal year to the next so I'll need to take it, regardless of whether or not I can leave the city.

After a couple of delays, the announcement finally was communicated and the lifting of restrictions was renewed for the month. We quickly booked some tickets to go to Diani on the Indian Ocean coast to join friends who had rented a house for a couple weeks. By Thursday we were off.

Given that I didn’t have the opportunity to request time off (and arrange for the coverage of my duties), I would need to continue working while on the coast. It’s the advantage of work from “home” that I could do this but it would mean many hours on a computer while longingly looking at everyone else enjoying the beach. At least I had a stunning view.

This would be the first flight we took during the pandemic. It was an interesting experience and, at least for me, it felt less risky than I was expecting. In Nairobi, masks are more or less the norm. Few people are not wearing them, at least in the heart of the city (masks seem to be worn less the farther you move towards the countryside). For air travel, surgical masks were required and were worn by all the staff at the small, internal flight terminal. We had to walk through a disinfectant “shower”, apply hand sanitizer two or three times, and maintain a physical distance from staff and other travelers. Otherwise the experience was strangely normal. We had time for lunch before being called to board and an hour and a half later we were on the coast.

As we arrived at the tiny terminal in Diani it was raining. We hadn’t really prepared for it but it really didn’t matter. A bit of rain in a warm climate is not a big deal, particularly if you’re on holiday. In any case, it didn't last long and most of the time that we  were there it was sunny. In the fifteen years I’ve spent in East Africa, I have never been here this time of year since we are normally traveling outside the country. This is “winter” just south of the equator and that means that the muggy, hot coast was rather comfortable.

The other first for us was the length of time that we would be there. Normally we would stay for about three nights. On this occasion, we would stay for eight. It was fantastic to be able to settle in and not do the “hurried relaxation”. Due to work, I didn’t get the reading time that I wanted but I still was more or less able to be engaged with the family and take some time to enjoy the coast.

We stayed in a house that had about five bedrooms, a pool, internet and was sitting directly on the beach. The other family had arranged for a cook who would do some of the shopping and prepare the meals. By the way, the guy was amazing. In addition to being a super nice guy, he made some amazing meals. We joked about seeing if he was interested in coming back to Nairobi with us. We had fresh fish a few times as well as local Swahili cuisine. I have to say, that was a trip highlight for me.

The pool was not huge but clean. The kids alternated between playing on the beach and in the pool. There were other kids around so that made it easier to keep them entertained. I did early morning runs on the beach followed by a swim in the cool ocean. There were quite a few hawkers on the beach selling bracelets, fabric, carvings, boat trips, etc. I actually felt sorry for them given that tourism has obviously been almost non-existent. Many of them looked rather desperate. We bought a few things but, other than some fresh coconuts, we normally don’t buy much. It’s a bit different for us than it is for someone who’s visiting for the first time or who comes rarely to East Africa. You can only buy so much of that stuff.

Maintaining pandemic protocols was relatively easy given that the beaches were more or less empty. It was a rare sight to see. Though most places were closed due to the lack of tourists, we did go to a restaurant a couple times. Staff all seemed quite strict about wearing their masks and keeping surfaces disinfected. I suppose they have to or they’ll be shut down. Hopefully, once international flights open up, people will begin to trickle back. The sad part is that it may not be until the northern hemisphere “summer” holidays are over. What would normally be peak season will have passed.

We were analyzing the pros and cons of this sort of arrangement. Being in an all-inclusive hotel is nice since you don’t need to worry about thinking through and buying stuff for all the meals, drinks, etc. In a hotel you just show up and eat. For those of us with kids, a hotel usually offers more potential kids for your children to play with. And, where we have stayed, they have staff who do activities with them (giving parents some down time).

The downside to a hotel is that you have less space. Less autonomy/privacy. Less choice of what you eat. There’s less incentive to try out a restaurant since meals are included in the all-inclusive room cost.

So it’s hard to say what we’ll do next time. I’m cool with either.

 

As I mentioned, it was a rare time to be in such a beautiful place this time of year – a quick flight from home – and not be surrounded by tourists. It’s sad not to be with family like we ordinarily would during this time but this is not a bad second best.

Amboseli

 We’re sort of making this up as we go. As I mentioned before, we obviously gave up on the idea of making it to the US for our July-August vacation. Sad not to be with family as we normally are during these weeks, seeing photos of things the family are doing without us, but we understand it wouldn’t be the same even if we were there. The pandemic has fundamentally changed everything. So we remain in Kenya for the time being and making the best of it.

There are worse places to be. In fact we’ve said that on numerous occasions that this is an amazing country with so much to see and do. By not traveling outside, we can take advantage of seeing more of what is inside.

One challenge, of course, has been managing the lockdown restrictions. In addition to the inability to travel internationally, for weeks travel in and out of the city has been prohibited. We hadn’t had too much difficulty balancing work/school and Nairobi life in lockdown but as school ended, we gradually began to sense that we were all increasingly feeling stir crazy. When Nairobi opened in July, we jumped at the chance to escape for a few days on safari, not knowing how long the opening would last. There would be an assessment of the situation in early August and there was a strong chance that the lockdown on the city would be re-established.

We had some friends that were headed to Amboseli National Park. We’d been there before last year and it was amazing. Nestled at the base of the highest free-standing mountain in the world, the park is primarily in Masai country. When we were there last March, the views of Mt. Kilimanjaro were stunning. This time of year, we anticipated that we might not be so fortunate. But we were hopeful that the clouds would allow us a glimpse from time to time.

Another difference this time is that we were going to drive. Not only were we looking to minimize the Covid-19 exposure of air travel, we have been wanting to see more of the country anyway. The other bonus of driving is that you have much more flexibility what you bring (the last time we flew the limitation was about 10 kilos per bag). And you get to use your own vehicle on the game drives, which is not only cheaper but you have more flexibility as to when you come and go. I also felt like I knew the park well enough to find my way without a guide, with or without the monstrous mountain as a helpful landmark.

We arrived at the park after about a four-hour drive. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. The roads were pretty good and traffic seems to be lighter during the pandemic. Our room as near the one we had last year, with a mountain view, only there was no view. We had our memory from last time which assured us that it was out there someplace.

The hotel was far quieter this time. The only tourists were those from Nairobi given that there was no international travel into Kenya. These places have been struggling financially to stay afloat, particularly when Nairobi was locked down. Though there aren’t enough tourists in Kenya to maintain the tourist industry throughout the country but we’re hopeful that, now that residents in Nairobi can travel, it will keep most of these places in business – supporting the thousands of jobs that depend on it.

Amboseli is mostly about the elephants. Though there’s a diverse animal population, the numerous large herds of elephants sort of steal the show. For us it was just wonderful to be out of the city and to reconnect with nature. Driving around, seeing the animals, feeling the cool, dry air, it was just what we needed.

 

 

One of the disadvantages of being self-guided is that you miss out on the radio chatter between the guides. They inform each other when there are key sightings. They are also aware of the tendencies of animals over time so they can anticipate, for example, when lions might be given where they have been hanging out. We don’t have that knowledge so we sort of had to wing it. We were fortunate enough to find lions on our own. Even though we didn’t use it as much on this trip, another tactic is to move towards groupings of safari vehicles. It often means that there’s something worthwhile going on.

 The lodge seemed to do a pretty good job of respecting the Covid-19 protocols. Staff wore masks. Tables in the restaurant were a safe distance from each other. Hand sanitizer was everywhere and overall it felt like a safe activity. It was win-win as we had a great experience, far safer than being in Nairobi, and we knew that we were helping the economy in our own, small way.

 After three nights, we made our way back to Nairobi. We were anxiously awaiting the government announcement as to whether the lifting of movement restrictions in Kenya would be maintained or whether we would return to lockdown. Cases had risen significantly since the recent opening so we weren’t overly optimistic. I had several vacation days to use up before the end of the fiscal year and it was also the girls’ school holiday. We feared that we might be spending this time cooped up our apartment. The announcement would come within a couple days of returning to Nairobi. 

Non-vacation

We’ve reached the end of July. We would ordinarily be in the US right now on holiday. I would be in Idaho doing some manual labor on a house we bought late last year. The kids would be in Indiana playing with their cousins. My wife would be hanging out with her mother. We would reunite in Idaho to hang out with my family, go camping, etc. Alas, none of that is to be. Having passed the halfway point, it appears that 2020 is sort of becoming the year that wasn’t.

Having said that, it’s not like we’re doing nothing. May usually begins a season of special days for us. We had Mothers’ Day and my birthday. In June we had Fathers’ Day. July will be the birthdays for both girls. Priya’s is in August. It’s different celebrating these things during a pandemic obviously and calls for a bit of creativity.

This year for Moms’ Day the girls prepared breakfast for their mother entirely on their own for the first time (they provided it for me as well). Not only was it cute, it’s something that we’ll need to encourage for the future – hopefully with fewer bits of eggshells in the eggs.

For my birthday, in addition to receiving a few books, a shirt, a cake and handmade cards, I was presented with a Vidhug. I’d never heard of it before but it’s basically an app that allows people to submit video clips of their birthday wishes. It’s pretty cool and quite wonderful to see all these faces from different chapters of my life. A couple years ago a friend of ours pulled something together for my father-in-law’s birthday but he had to do it the “old fashioned” way. He received mpegs from people and used some video editing software to pull them altogether. It was massively time consuming but a really cool thing in the end. Having this app makes it all pretty easy. It was a half hour of people from my past and present: 15 different countries and 8 US states. Newborns to 90 years of age. Greetings came in English, French, Dutch and Kirundi. There were house pets. A horse. A mounted elk. Fresh cookies. Singing. Some champagne. A birthday cake. It’s going to serve as a really nice archive. Quite the treasure, I have to say.

noticing more birds in lockdown - a black kite out our bedroom window

stork on our roof

* * *

A few weeks ago our soon-to-be 7-year-old lost her second incisor. She now has no front teeth. I distinctly remember those days with slightly affected speech and the frequent rubbing of the tongue over the gap. I was against the idea of a tooth fairy but somehow it happened for our kids. This is an interesting fairy in that it tends to use the currency of the country where the tooth was lost. When the previous tooth was lost, our inquisitive little daughter left a list of questions for the fairy under her pillow along with the tooth. Among other things she asked for a description of what she looked like and some other things about her job. And she asked her to leave the tooth since she wanted to keep it. The tooth fairy complied with the demands.

I wasn’t nearly as demanding back in the day. In any case, this time things got a bit more complicated because we lost the tooth sometime between the extracting and the going to bed. It was likely my fault. I pulled the tooth in the late afternoon and what I didn’t realize was that she set it on the coffee table. In the meantime Priya had made some meringues that we snacked on while watching a Star Wars movie. Unfortunately the meringues were the exact same color as the tooth. Given that I am notoriously tidy, after the movie I proceeded to clean up the coffee table, likely scooping up bits of meringue with the tooth. I’m not really sure but I think that’s what happened.

Tears ensued as it became apparent that the tooth fairy might not have the tiny calcified structure to retrieve from beneath her pillow. Ugh. When I realized that I may have been the culprit, I proceeded a gag-inducing search of the two rubbish bins where the tooth might have ended up. Unfortunately it was the proverbial needle in the haystack. Later, when I went to kiss her goodnight, the tears streamed again and her cute, sad eyes guilted me into a second failed, albeit brief, attempt at finding the tooth. I finally gave up and we convinced her that she’d still get her compensation due even without the tooth.

catching the early morning solar eclipse in July

 * * *

 In July the Kenyan government decided to open up a bit. We spent a nice Covid-friendly evening at some friends’ house celebrating the 4^th of July. It was good to get out and see some new faces, albeit without the hugs and handshakes. It was a hint of freedoms to come - though were not there yet by any stretch of the imagination.

the posse of kids playing in the courtyard

Part of the opening is to allow internal travel within Kenya. That’s a pretty big step and we’re going to take advantage of it, just in case they reverse the decision next month. We’re planning to go to a national park with some friends, driving rather than flying to make sure that we are in contact with as few people as possible. It will be interesting to see how this will work with pandemic restrictions. It’s not the same as going to the US but we’ll take what we can get at this point.

masks down for the photo - hiking in Nairobi with friends