Our minds play tricks on us…Learning to avoid disappointment…

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Thank you, loyal readers, for taking the time to read the relatively mundane storytelling of the process of preparing to leave yet another country. At this point, if we didn’t share this process, our alternative would be to avoid posting for many days with little else to tell.

Nothing pleases us more than sharing photos and accompanying stories that seem to pique the interest of most of our readers. What’s to show or tell when the packing in itself is repetitious and boring?

But, wait! A week from today we’ll be lounging on our new veranda with a tower (see chart below) of giraffes only feet away nipping at the tree tops or a sounder (see chart below) of warthogs getting comfortable for an afternoon nap in the yard or a crossing (see chart below) of zebras staring at us in wonder as they contemplate a drink from the swimming pool.

Animal
A group is called a –
Cobras Quiver
Crocodiles Float
Elephants Herd
Giraffe Tower
Gorillas Band
Leopards Leap
Lions Pride
Rhino Crash
Warthogs Sounder
Zebra Crossing or Herd

Click! Click! Click! Will the camera be smoking’ then or what? 

With much to do to prepare, to hopefully arrive safely in Marloth Park, South Africa next Sunday by late afternoon, as soon as we have an Internet connection, we’ll be posting photos and the story of our arrival. 

If, for some reason you don’t hear from us by then, please be patient. Our flight may have been delayed. We may be delayed at immigration or customs. Who knows what delays may present themselves? We don’t worry about possible delays as long as we arrive safely, hopefully with our luggage.

Of all the places we’ve visited thus far, I can honestly say, I’ve anticipated South Africa the most, mainly based on the opportunity to live in a wildlife reserve, bugs, heat, and all. 

Invariably, when entering the new locations, we’ve discovered some disappointments that the house isn’t exactly as we’d imagine. Human nature. You know how we get a picture in our mind, even with accompanying photos of what something will look and feel like, only to find something different upon arrival. 

This isn’t to imply that the property description was inaccurate or dishonest in any manner. It’s just the fact that our brains play tricks on us, helping us paint of picture of “what we’d like it to be” as opposed to “what it is.”  Moving as often as we have in the past 13 months, we’ve come to accept this fact as simply a part of the process. In a few days, we’ll be settled in, accepting the differences, but oddly never forgetting the image we’d conjured in our minds. I guess this is true in life in every area.

So now, I imagine the plastic “vacuum sealed bags” containing all of our clothing, securely closed in our luggage with zippers working and walking out the door of the house in Diani Beach, Kenya five days from today. 

Carrying with us will be the memories of safari which in this case, were more breathtaking than any vision we may have had in our brains long ago.

Part 2, Departure plan in place..Step by step process…Handling of leftover supplies…

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It would be ideal if we could use all of the foodstuffs, cleaning supplies, and paper products that we acquired when spending up to three months at each location. Each time we move into a new location, we’ve found that we spend a fair sum to stock the new home with the basic necessities. 

Our goals are simple; don’t be wasteful and, don’t be wasteful with our money. However, we must admit that we’ll be leaving many items behind that are both impractical and costly to pack.

Although we try to gauge how much of any item we’ll use, it is frustrating to have purchased grocery items we never used, ingredients for a specific recipe that we never made but purchased with the best intentions. It is those very items that often filled our kitchen cabinets anyway, stuff we may never use, eventually to be donated or thrown away? Besides, no matter where we live, I’m not exempt from the occasional “impulse purchase.” 

When we arrived here, I jumped at the chance to purchase a large bottle of organic “real” vanilla extract for KES $520.50, US $5.76.  ‘d hoped to find unsweetened “real” chocolate so I could make our favorite sugar free, low carb fudge. Never found the chocolate. Never opened the bottle of vanilla. So it goes. I won’t bore you with several other such items we’ll be leaving behind. 

Then, there’s the bigger expense that we’ve incurred while in Kenya, the purchase of “scratch-off” cards for data to “top off” our Kenya SIM cards for our two MiFi devices for Internet connectivity. These are useless to us once we leave Kenya. They don’t work outside the country, typical for SIM cards in most countries, tricky for us world travelers. 

Another area of concern is the disposal of clothing that has either worn out or we’ve found to have no occasion to wear.

The question for today:  How will we dispose of leftover, unused, unwanted, and no longer relevant items which we have no desire or intention of packing?

The food items will be left behind informing Hesborn or Jeremiah to take any of the items they’ll use and either leave the balance for future renters or if they choose, for Hans and Jeri.

When we left Italy, we’d posted photos of a pile of clothing and shoes we’d left behind for Lisa and Luca, the kindly landlords, to either keep, give to family or friends, or to donate which they gladly offered when we mentioned this dilemma. 

The clothing, yet to be sorted, is much smaller now that we’ve narrowed our clothing down to one large suitcase each. Some worn items will be tossed. In a concerted effort to reduce the weight of our bags, we’ve decided to ship ahead a few boxes utilizing the Ukunda post office that will allow us to insure the contents of the boxes.  Alfred will drive us to Ukunda on Friday to ship them off.

At this point, we have no idea as to the cost to ship these boxes within the continent. The fact that we’re willing to ship them by the slowest possible method to save on the cost should result in our receiving them within a month or so, which is fine for us. 

Why not toss these items? The biggest issue is the difficulty in finding clothing to fit me. I’m tall and wear an odd size. My inseam is 35″ (88 cm). Do I want to take the time to find a pair of pants or dress long enough not to embarrass myself? No. In all of the countries we’ve visited thus far, the women are shorter than I (here’s a chart of the average heights of men and women worldwide).

In only nine months I’ll need the to-be-shipped clothing items and shoes for two upcoming cruises. One of the highlights of cruising for us is dining in the main dining areas which typically don’t allow jeans or shorts. 

We don’t want to be forced to eat at the buffet for dinner due to our lack of proper clothing, which we’ve only done twice on our eight prior cruises, each time, much to our dismay; once when returning late from an excursion with the main dining room closed and another, on the night of a Minnesota Vikings Playoff game when we loaded trays filled with food to take to our cabin to watch the game. (The TV signal was lost almost entirely throughout the game and, surprisingly, ha, Minnesota lost).

Yes, I know in a prior post, I’d mentioned my willingness to forgo style and selection in my attire. But when on cruises, one surely desires to get their money’s worth of the meals already included in the fare in the main dining areas. Were it not for this fact, I’d gladly dispose of my few remaining dresses, and matching sandals. In any case, we’re shipping all of those. 

We’d already ditched all of our “formal attire” for the dress-up nights, falling back on our basic inventory for those evenings since formal wear is not mandatory on most cruises. 

In essence, it’s clothing and shoes that we’re shipping. I have six pairs of shoes in my possession and my beloved safari boots. That’s all I own: one pair of Keds leather slip ons, one pair of tan 3″ heels, one pair of water shoes, plus three pairs of Clark’s sandals: black, beige and white. (I left my bulky workout shoes in Italy.  These can easily be replaced once we’re near a health club again).

Tom, on the other hand, has four pairs of shoes: one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of water shoes and two pairs of Cole Haan, one dressy, one casual, and of course, his safari boots. 

Start adding up shoes alone and they consume an entire carry on bag. Ah, the challenges of stuff, continues to play a role in our lives, although considerably less than it used to.

The end result of our clothing issues;  we’re shipping ahead enough weight in shoes and clothing, weighing everything on our portable scale, in order to avoid paying excess baggage fees when we fly to South Africa a week from today. Once these boxes are shipped, we’ll share how much we paid for the shipping.

The final items that we’ve contemplated over these past few weeks, was the remaining data left on our SIM cards on my MiFis. As of today, Tom has 8.7 gigabytes, remaining and I have 9.1 gigabytes remaining, more than enough for Tom to watch the Minnesota Vikings game and for me to download several TV shows and movies. 

We carefully tracked our data usage since arriving in Kenya, in an effort to ensure we didn’t leave the country with too much paid-for but unused data. 

We’ve determined, via our recordkeeping that our combined average daily usage is approximately .5 gigabytes resulting in our ability to save enough data for the layover at the Nairobi airport.  Once we arrive in Johannesburg our devices will no longer work containing the Kenya SIM cards.

We’re pleased that in the past month, it wasn’t necessary to purchase additional data by carefully monitoring our usage:  no videos other than downloaded TV shows for our evening entertainment and Tom’s Minnesota Vikings games. Avoiding the download of Facebook videos was most instrumental in us having ample data to get us through this next week. 

Yes, we still may have unused data remaining at the end, which we hope to use to download movies and TV shows.

So, there it is folks.  The process of winding down appears more complicated than it is. It requires careful thought and planning, neither of which is foreign to us.  As we maneuver our way to yet another country in our ongoing quest for exploration and wonder, we can smile, knowing that we’re doing everything we can to make the transition as stress-free as possible.

An extraordinary evening…Out of Africa, the movie, while living in Africa…

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Watching this movie last night had a special meaning for us.

While living in Tuscany, Italy we watched the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun,” becoming delighted scene after scene of the mention of familiar language, towns foods and customs.  Several years ago, having watched the movie On Demand, Tom read the newspaper in the background, while I drooled over its content.  He referred to it as a “chick flick.” 

Once we were living in Tuscany, we watched it together with a new meaning for both of us.  No longer was Tom grumbling about the “chick flick” factor.  Instead, he was pleasantly surprised by how much we related to its contents.

The replication of the house that Karen Blixen, a writer depicted in her true story, the basis
of the movie.

Isn’t that typical? Having an experience of our own we often find that we become entrenched in a similar experience presented by others; in a story told, a book or a movie.

Last night, this is exactly what transpired for us as we watched yet another timely movie, “Out of Africa,” while sitting in the dark in our outdoor living room munching on nuts, wearing our BugsAway clothing.

The household staff played substantial roles in the movie, as they do here in Kenya in our lives.

I won’t bore you with the romantic storyline of the movie.  Perhaps you too had seen the movie years ago after being released in 1985.  After considerable research this morning, we discovered that none of the film was actually filmed in Africa, although much of the scenery depicted included various parts of the bush, Ngong Hills, the Masai Mara and the Maasi people, all of which according to our experiences, were well represented.  Where the movie was filmed was of little concern to us.

What prompted us to watch the movie, more than anything, was when Anderson, our fabulous guide while on safari in the Masai Mara, pointed out an area that was filmed on site that actually appears in the movie.  And yes, last night, we recognized that very spot, reveling in its familiarity.

Although, when watching a movie we don’t dwell on, “Gee…where was this filmed?”  Instead, we focus of the realistic depiction of a place we may have visited at some point in our lives.  After all, it is a movie: A step outside of our own reality to engage in a compelling story that satisfies our minds and emotions, sufficiently taking us outside of our own lives for a short period of time.  Mission accomplished.


This is the veranda to the house that was built for filming the movie in England. It was only yesterday that Tom and I commented that we’ll have to stop calling “porches, decks and patios” a “veranda” after we’ll arrive in Hawaii, where of course, they’re referred to as the “lanai.”  It was only recently that Tom finally stopped saying “grazie” for thank you, when in fact, “asante” is most appropriate while in Kenya!

But, last night, as while in Tuscany, we found ourselves slapping each other’s knees time and again, in a sheer state of enjoyment as we watched the movie’s details unfold, so much of which has become familiar to us over these past three months living in Kenya, where the movie’s story line occurred.

Particularly, we embraced the representation of the wildlife, the Maasai people, the familiar words in the Swahili language, the traditions and the scenery bringing us back to the glorious safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, an experience embedded into our hearts and minds forever.

Review of “Out of Africa” by now deceased reviewer Roger Ebert

Music from “Out Of Africa”

Meryl Streep and Robert Redford both played award winning roles in the movie which won the Academy Award that year for the best picture with Meryl winning best actress award.  Redford won as best actor in other awards granted to foreign films.

This link to the Youtube full video of Out of Africa can’t be played here in Africa in order for us to test it, as is the case when we try to connect to certain other websites as the servers detect that we’re in Africa or out of the US.  Please try this link if you’re interested in watching the movie. 

In the event this link doesn’t work for you, it can readily be watched on Netflix, Hulu and others and may also be offered for free from your cable company from Movies on Demand.  There are also numerous websites that offer the full movie at no cost, by using a search engine (such as Google), entering:  Out of Africa video.

As the movie was ending, the battery on my laptop indicated it was running out of juice. Quickly, we moved to the glass table, close to the only electric plugin (using our converter and adapter) in our outdoor living room, as we watched the ending. (No spoiler alert here).

This blurry photo (almost 30 years old) has significance after watching the movie.

Need I say, we loved every moment of this movie as it reminded us over and over as to why we came to Kenya.  As depicted by Meryl Streep in the film, “I had a farm in Africa,”  I was reminded of my own words notched into my memory for as long as I can remember, of “I had a dream of Africa” that now, has finally been realized. 

Never in our wildest dream did we ever believe we’d actually come to Africa.  We pinch ourselves almost daily, hardly believing this is our lives.

Three months from now, we’ll begin packing to head to Morocco.  There’s a movie we’ll be watching after we’ve been in Morocco for awhile, “Casablanca,” a movie we’ll surely watch again, with new eyes, new hearts and new minds.

Finally! Itinerary gaps filled…Flying to Africa, challenging…Honolulu/Waikiki, here we come…

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Flying from country to country in Africa is no simple task.  Check out this map illustrating the size of the African continent compared to the US and other countries.

Once we’re situated in South Africa, we’ll continue to search for flights as needed, especially the difficult process of finding our way to Morocco three months later. There’s no such thing as a direct flight from South Africa to Marrakesh, Morocco. Most likely we’ll have to stay in a hotel overnight along the way in order to maneuver in that direction. 

Africa is not comparable to the US where you can fly just about anywhere in less than a day with few layovers if any. These maps illustrate the vast distances.

Booking flights is our least favorite form of research. Overall, we’ve found the research for vacation homes most enjoyable and hotels, second, a necessary reality when a vacation home isn’t practical for short stays.

To have finally filled every gap between now and May 15, 2015, we feel a sense of relief.  One may ask, “Is this when it all ends?” Nope. This is as far out as one can get a commitment for a booking for most vacation homes, most cruises, all flights (330 days or less for bookings), and many hotels.

Over the past few days, in the hopes of freeing our time to begin packing to leave two weeks from today, we wanted the peace of mind knowing that we’d filled the remaining gaps: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, October 5 to October 16, 2014, a mere 11 months away and, Boston, Massachusetts, USA from September 14 to September 17, 2014, only 10 months from now.

Today, we’ll share the details of our find in Honolulu and tomorrow, Boston, which in itself presented a few challenges based on our needs at that time.

Here is the link to our 11 night rental in Waikiki.  Need I say, we’re thrilled and relieved to have found exactly what we were seeking, at the best possible price, in an ideal location convenient to everything. (These vacation home websites don’t allow photos to be copied making it necessary to follow the link to see the photos).

Researching Honolulu/Waikiki was brutal. Prices are through the roof, especially when including the 13.5% rental tax, resort fees, and in some cases, fees paid to the company listing the property. What started at US $185 a night (it was higher than listed on their site, due to time of the year), the price we paid for our selection, ended up at almost US $200 a night.

The owner of this ocean-view condo has been fabulous to work with so far and based on the reviews we’ve read, that will continue to be the case throughout the rental period. 

With our rigid criteria of having an ocean view, laundry facilities, free WiFi, a lanai, close to buses for sightseeing and dining, the search was frustrating. Most properties with a view were much more expensive. As we were just about ready to bite the bullet and pay more, we stumbled across this property by leaving HomeAway to search this other well-known listing site, AirBNB that we’d casually perused in the past.

Minus a few glitches we experienced in the booking process late last night, we were able to work it out. The time difference between Hawaii and Kenya is 13 hours. Waiting until after we returned after dinner last night made it possible for us to communicate directly with the owner, as he was waking up (on the same day) to assist us in fine-tuning the details. 

The rental is paid in full and we don’t have to give it another thought until the time nears, and we’ll need access information.  Most likely we’ll make those arrangements during our cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver, BC arrives in Honolulu on October 5, 2014. Ah, relief.

Tonight, we’re trying a new-to-us restaurant for dinner at the upscale Swahili Beach Resort.  They’re having their usual Saturday night buffet of local favorites. If the food isn’t great, as it wasn’t last night at another popular resort, the company will be extraordinary as usual.

Rhino day…Lions, and more lion in a tree…Cheetahs…Tanzania tomorrow…

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How did we get so close, so lucky to get this shot?  I must be dreaming!

I purposely shot this photo to include the window ledge of the Land Cruiser to illustrate how close we were to this female lion. Never once, did we feel at risk during any of our sightings.

The black tear line differentiates in part, the difference between a cheetah and a leopard. 
She just wouldn’t open her eyes in the bright sun.  
Notice the difference in coloration and the lack of the black tear lines, making this a leopard. We spotted this one and a few others at dusk. They are nocturnal, often difficult to spot.
Anderson spotted this scene from afar, taking off on a mad dash to ensure we could get as close as possible to see this oddity, a lion in a tree.
Lions seldom climb trees in the Masai Mara. Even Anderson, a guide in this area or 14 years, was excited to see this rare find. Actually, he was excited to find all that we were fortunate to see.
As the young male lounged in the tree, the remainder of the family engaged in some serious power lounging below him.
 We couldn’t have moved any closer as were we all thrilled to be able to get these close-ups.
 “What a glorious day! Brother in a tree. Me, under the tree with my mom and siblings.”
 If you have a cat as a house pet, you sure can relate as to how these photo ops present themselves.
 Getting more comfortable in a tree is tricky.
 Finally, the perfect position for the lion in a tree, a rare sighting that we treasured.

As we work our way through the many stories and photos to share of our safari last week, we can’t help but marvel over the amount of action we’d witnessed in the short 3-day safari. Any longer and we’d have been overwhelmed trying to sort it all out.

With over 600 photos taken, approximately 400 saved for review, deciding which photos to post has been challenging. Daily, as I begin to write here, I mulled over those we haven’t posted, reviewing them with Tom for feedback.

Choosing our remaining favorites, our stories evolve along a natural course. At times, I find myself smiling so much that my face hurts.  At other times, tears flood my eyes, tears of joy for the experience, tears of sadness for the hard lives of the animals and their young, and tears of hope to someday return.

In the bush, it became so clear to me about the life cycle, how every creature placed on this earth by God, your chosen higher power or by nature itself, has a purpose and a natural food supply in its nearby surroundings, man/woman, animal, and vegetation;  animals, animal or vegetation.  That’s it.  Nothing more.

It part, it made me laugh since I guess I really have reverted to the beginnings of man/women in my diet.  All I eat is animal and vegetation.  Ironically, the Masai, whose story we’ll share in the next few days, only eating animals, no vegetation. They live very long lives and are slim and fit. 

Today, we continue on, the smiles still on our faces for the dream we chose to chase, for the knowledge we chose to gain, for the people we’ll never forget, for the wildlife presenting itself into our willing hearts and in a small part, for our own desire to put aside fear and apprehension to stretch ourselves to the limits.   

Rhinos are elusive, hard to find. We met several people on the return flight that never completed “The Big Five,” unable to spot the rhino or the leopard.  The animals almost lined up for us to spot The Big Five in the first 10 hours on safari.
Anderson explained that there are 30 rhinos remaining in the Masai Mara with only 10 on the side we were on of the Mara River. During our safari, we photographed 5 of the 10.


When we spotted this mom and baby, we went nuts with enthusiasm, deciding to wait patiently to get a better shot.  At this point, we were about around 100 feet from them.  A skittish male, perhaps dad, took off when he saw our vehicle approaching.


Off they went with caution and bulk in search of their next vegetarian meal.
Finally, mom and baby were in view.  My heart was pounding with excitement as I tried to hold the camera steady to get this photo.
Suddenly, what may have been dad appeared, rather grouchy and annoyed by our intrusion. We didn’t move or talk, practically holding our breath as she/he moved on.

Either this rhino has a partially pink lip or her tongue was sticking out. Look at the three birds sitting on her. We were thrilled for this close up as Anderson maneuvered the Land Cruiser to our best advantage.

Part 2…Le Cafe at Lantana Galu Beach…Price shocker at end of post…

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The flowers that lined the walkway from the main building at Lantana Galu Beach to the outdoor path were absolutely breathtaking. What a perfect spot for a wedding!

The menu at Le Café at Lantana Galu Beach was a plethora of appetizers, meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, and side dishes suitable for the finicky of diners.

Vegetarian options were available as well as foods easily amenable to my low carb, gluten-free, starch-free, grain-free, sugar-free diet. There were more possible combinations than we’ve seen on any other menus thus far in Kenya. 

I never doubted for a moment that the chef would make an error in the preparation of my restricted meal.  The elegance and grace of the establishment bespoke a keen sensitivity to the needs of its customers.

The service, flawless. With neither of us starving, we didn’t partake in any appetizers or salad. Most certainly, next time we go to Le Café, we’ll surely experiment trying more dishes.

My dinner:  Seasoned Grilled Red Snapper with sautéed non-starchy vegetables

My plate, as shown above, was flavorful, albeit the lack of sauces and starchy side dishes. It may sound difficult, if not impossible, for a restricted diner such as myself to assess the quality of food without the usual sauces and side dishes.

In my perception, the true test of a great restaurant is in their ability to masterfully take the simplest of foods with the least amount of ingredients to ultimately turn out an epicurean delight. This was accomplished at Le Café with finesse. 

An otherwise bland snapper resulted in a flaky and flavorful entrée, enhanced with the subtle use of local spices, grilled at precisely the correct time and temperature, and presented with this perfect blend of al dente sautéed vegetables. 

Notice the lack of veggies on Tom’s plate?  He requested they be placed on a separate plate to be handed over to me.  I did the same with my potatoes, handing them over to him.

My only suggestion for my dinner was to have smaller carrot bites to avoid the necessity of cutting, as my knife couldn’t quite tackle the job. Secondly, the pea pods could have been strung more completely to avoid that awful green string, stuck in the back of one’s throat, and struggling to find a gracious manner of extracting it.

A simple tomato and cucumber garnish adds the finest little touch.  Tom gave me this also.  The only raw vegetables he’ll eat in carrots and celery.

For beverages, Tom had two local Tusker bottled beer approximately half-liter each (16.9 oz.) and I had my once a week treat of one Coke Light (sugar-free) with lots of ice and a straw, switching to water when done.  (The water at Le Café is purified as if often the case at the finer restaurants in Kenya. We suggest you ask, if unsure as to the purity of the water). 

After our walk back to the main building, once again, we were mesmerized by these gorgeous fresh flowers.

HERE’S THE SHOCKER, FOLKS!!! Our entire dinner including beverages was Kenya Shillings $2500 which translates to US $28.61 (including tax and service fee!).  We added a tip for our server for Kenya Shillings $1000, US $11.44 for a grand total of Kenya Shillings $3500, US $40.06!

The buds for the sweet-smelling flowers was intoxicating, as in a fine perfume.

With our cab fare and tip for Kenya Shillings $1500, US $17.16, our entire total for the evening at an extraordinary resort, a memorable dining experience, and service beyond all reproach, was US $57.22! 

An exterior window of one of the units was adorned with more of these flowers.

So far, of our four Diani Beach restaurant experiences over the past four weeks, Le Café at Lantana Galu Beach is vying for first place with Sails Restaurant on our list for ambiance, service, food choices, food quality, and much to our surprise, in price. We’ll be back!

Wouldn’t this make a lovely bridal bouquet?
Just as we began to exit the main door, this red plant caught Tom’s eye.

Monkeying around….Taking photos….Living in abundance…

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Φ

 
“Oh, please. I’m sick of tourists taking pictures of me!” He actually did look annoyed when we shot this.  To his left is another larger monkey lying on his back, stretched out.  Tom made a comment I won’t mention here. 

 A bunch of baby monkeys having fun.
Each day we’ve notice changes around us. After days of pelting rain, the trees, the flowers and the plants are thriving.  Of course, the rain brings out the creepy crawly things causing us to keep a watchful eye inside our shoes, in our stack of clothes in the closet shelves, on the floor in the hallway, in the bedrooms and the biggest target, the bathroom.
At night, we hear the enchanting bush babies rustling through the trees.  These ultra shy nocturnal creatures are seldom seen or photographed.  We borrowed this photo from this site that offers an excellent description of these beady-eyed little creatures of the night.
Yesterday morning, Tom was up before me.  Lying in bed I heard a tremendous amount of shuffling outside the bedroom door which we keep closed at all times. As it turned out, the moment he stepped outside the bedroom door, he spotted a huge black millipede, comparable to a photo we’d posted in our first week after arriving in Kenya. 
Although relatively harmless, they can leave an annoying itch if they come in contact with one’s skin. He trapped it under a small trashcan leaving it near the gate for Hesborn to collect.  Later, when Hesborn arrived, he giggled when he saw the familiar huge black “curly q” disposing of it for us.
I’d never taken a photo of the rain.  Check out the size of these raindrops!  Its no wonder that living things work their way inside to escape the rain.

My major fear of creatures in Diani Beach is that darned 46 legged poisonous centipede and the enormous  buzzing black hornet that visits us several times each day.
I’d read online (torturing myself) that the carnivorous attack of humans by this centipede causes a toxic reaction similar to a wasp, hornet or bee sting, especially so for the allergic. 
Safely under the roof of our outdoor living room, with only a slight wind, we had no trouble staying dry.  In fact, we enjoyed being outdoors during the two days of off and on rain.
As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, Tom and I are both allergic to bees. We keep our EpiPens handy for such a dreaded occasion.  Hans showed us a spot on his ribcage where he’d be bitten a few years ago, leaving an ugly permanent reddish bump, the size of a dime. He refused to go into graphic details of being attacked. However, he did reveal it happened in bed while he was sleeping. That, is our fear, rational and founded in facts, not based on an illogical state of mind. 
Actually, the only times we think about it, is upon getting in and out of bed onto the dark stone floors, during the night or in the morning. Tom never gets up during the night and now, I’ve stopped drinking liquids after 7:00 pm, no longer getting up either. That was tremendous motivation! 
Ah, but the beautiful things that surround us, the animals, the vegetation. We’ll never tire of the gifts of God and Mother Nature. In only 10 days we’ll be going on safari to finally experience the magnitude of these gifts on a much larger scale.
Apparently, most varieties of palm trees and plants flower and produce some type of pods within the center. Searching online I couldn’t find this specific type of palm plant in the gardens. This one is in the beginning stages of “flowering.”
This palm has “flowered” revealing its unbelievable interior.  A previously closed pod apparently, an animal tore this open to dine on its colorful interior.
These are the spikey point on the above flowering palm.  While attempting to get a good shot of the red interior, one of these points stuck my finger, leaving a droplet of blood. This tiny “sting” hurt for several hours, later to completely disappear.  Most likely, given Nature’s brilliant strategies, these  spikey points are intended to deter creatures from attempting to devour its luscious interior pod.  It appears that in this case, the spikes were not enough of a deterrent.
This papaya tree is tall, perhaps 12 feet off the ground. The tough exterior may be a deterrent for animal consumption, as is the case for the many coconut trees that surround us. Its hard enough for us humans to open a coconut, even using a machete.

Hans explained that he had several mango trees removed in order to keep the monkey population under control on the property surrounding our two houses. Often, we surmise that monkeys are partial to bananas. However, as shown below in the photo, bananas and papayas stay untouched in the yard.

Today will be a lazy day with little to tackle other than looking for a house for next year in England which has proven challenging thus far. Prices are outrageous when located close to water or a town, both of which we’d like.
Tom will spend an hour or so loading more gigabytes to the mobile hotspot. The company, Safaricom, provides a small portion of free data time from 10:00 pm until 10:00 am if used in the first two weeks of purchasing the scratch off SIM reloading cards. 
Last night we set up my laptop in the guest bedroom to download TV shows utilizing the free gigs. Its a slow process but left functioning overnight, its no big deal.
In most cases 3 one hour shows eats up 1 gig, preventing us from ever using XCOM Global’s MiFi which limits our usage to 150 megabytes a day, a puny amount for our substantial usage.
To our delight, we downloaded Season 4, Episode 1 of the UK version of Downton Abbey which won’t be available in the US until January.
Tonight, sitting on the bamboo sofa in our outdoor living room, wearing our BugsAway clothing, well coated with repellent, snacking on some of the finest nuts we’ve had so far, we’ll watch the show.  Who’s to complain?

Our safari decision is made…Details tomorrow with photos!…More visitors to our house…

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At dusk, Tom shot this Kenya sky.  Rather impressive for the infrequent photographer.

Over a period of several days, we’ve read reviews, viewed photos and perused dozens of websites searching for what hopefully will be the perfect safari for us.

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled up a chair close to the open wrought iron weaving (to keep us safe from the monkeys or other larger animals) surrounding our outdoor living room to take photos of the many birds singing in the yard.  In my impatience, I was unable to capture many birds instead focusing on items that caught my attention such as these branches in the shadows.

The prices for anything other than a basic tent in the bush are more than one would ever anticipate. If seeing The Great Migration wasn’t what brought us to Kenya, most likely we’d have waited to see the Big Five when we get to South Africa on December 1st, living on the edge of Kruger National Park.

The red in the background is a bunch of flowers on the bush behind this palm.

But, the Great Migration has been one of the first items on our “must-see” list inspiring us to come to Kenya.  And, see it, we will! 

The tall pointed thatched roof of the house next door to us.

After narrowing our choices down to two separate camps in the Masai Mara where the herds are right now, we continue to weigh our options.  Realizing there was no way we would be able to experience this magical wonder of the world without literally spending US $1000’s, our search has been intense and goal orientated.

Hidden in the fronts of the palm tree, this little yellow bird, the Golden Weaver, the male of the species is noisy and feisty, providing much entertainment flitting about frantically. The male makes the nest and if the female doesn’t like it, she goes on to mate with another more nest building worthy colorful male.
This is the very noisy and particular female of the yellow bird, the African Golden Weaver, less colorful.  They are elusive, sensitive to movement, making photo taking a near impossibility for a novice such as I.  She seeks the colorful yellow male capable of building a satisfactory nest. She landed in our outdoor living room, enabling me to get this lopsided shot.

The criteria we’ve searched:
1.  Close as possible to the Masai Mara where the massive herds of wildebeest will be grazing after their journey over the river.
2.  An option to have breakfast overlooking the “hippo pool” on the river.
3.  All-inclusive: meals and beverages (including cocktails for Tom)
4.  Two daily game drives
5.  Meals optional in the dining room or in the bush, day or night
6.  Complimentary WiFi throughout
7.  Electricity (needed to recharge our digital equipment)
8.  Availability for dates in early October for a better opportunity to see the Great Migration in the Masai Mara
9.  Entrance fees to the reserve to be included (cost at almost US $100 per person/per day for a three-night stay)
10. Round trip airfare included from the local Diani Beach airport, a short distance from here.
11. Affordable based on our budget

Hesborn offered to open a coconut that had just fallen from a tree.  They seem to fall throughout the day.  We have to be careful when we walk under the coconut trees, they cover the entire yard, leaving only a few safe spots for sunning without a risk of being clobbered on the head.

The camps we’ve narrowed it down to meet all of our criteria. At first, the cost of such a three-day event has been shocking. After reviewing the inclusions, the cost at other camps, we’ve resigned ourselves that when it comes to safaris, you get exactly what you pay for and, if not careful, it could be much less.

Hesborn with his machete preparing to cut this thick stringy exterior off of the coconut before releasing the stringy brown interior that we see for sale at the grocery store.

Choosing either of these two options will put our minds at ease, both being highly rated by many booking sites including Trip Advisor, Booking.com, Hotels.com, and more, along with 100’s of positive reviews, ensuring us that in either case, we’ll make the correct decision. We’ll decide today, posting details tomorrow.

This coconut meat was exceptional, the best I’ve had. Tom has no interest in eating this without sugar so he passed it up. What a treat!

With all bookings sold out for September, our only possibilities haven been for October, still in the peak season, still at higher prices. If we waited until November, we’d increase the risk of not being able to see the Great Migration, a risk we just don’t want to take.

As we’re sitting in our outdoor living room this morning while writing, seven goats jumped over their stone wall behind our yard directly in our yard only a few feet from us. Waking up early such as we do, they decided to jump over the stone wall separating us to dine on the lush leaves of the hibiscus bushes in our yard.
I wasn’t able to get a photo of the seven of them together as they were jockeying for space at the lush bushes in our yard. They were a little unnerved by my enthusiastic chatter.
They were in goat heaven munching on the flavorful leaves when they usually dine on boring grass. For them, this was a gourmet meal.

It’s hard to believe it’s Friday again, the time passing so quickly these days. We’re waiting for a confirmation for our dinner reservation in a cave for Saturday night which we’ll excitedly share on Sunday with photos.  Dining in a cave sounds interesting.

Notice the white two front legs on this young goat along with the white tip on the left rear foot. Cute, eh? Hesborn came running into the yard shooing them back up over the wall when he’d realized they were missing from their yard when he brought them water this morning. We all laughed!

Hope all of our readers enjoy today’s mishmash of photos we’ve taken over the past few days.  he number of surprises we continue to experience just “hanging around” makes each day rewarding and unique unto itself. 

BTW, as we wrote this morning, we received information that has prompted us to make a decision on our safari in early October. We’ll post photos and information tomorrow. We’re excited, to say the least!

Be well. Be happy. Check back!

A stormy, stormy night…Date night that is…

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The puffs of clouds surrounding us this morning were a delight to behold.

When a couple is together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (I never liked that expression, 24/7) we find it’s important to designate certain periods of time as “date nights.”

Sure, it’s pretending. But then, isn’t romantic in itself a pretense of sorts, making special times out of “normal” times?  Some may believe this is not important in a strong loving relationship.  For some, it may not be important, or so they think.

Sadly, power lines always seem to obstruct the view in the remote areas we’ve visited.

But, spend an evening freshly showered, wearing an attractive outfit (need not be fancy), preparing a carefully planned and executed quiet dinner, finishing off the evening with a movie befitting the taste of both parties and a romantic evening can be had. 

For the budget-minded, the cost is no more than any other evening at home. For the extravagant, the experience is as rich and fulfilling as a lavish night on the town with the end result being the same;  feeling loved, cherished, and fulfilled.

Last night was “date night” appropriately a Saturday night that even us retired folks still perceive as the time for extra fun (along with Friday nights). 

Beginning at 5:00 pm, our evening began when the bells from the church out our window began ringing prompting me to once again attempt to take a video, once again to do a poor job but I’m working on it. Taking still photos has been tough enough for me, as my family so well knows.

The church across the road with the bells only ringing on Saturday nights.

The delight we felt during the six minutes as the bells joyfully clanged began the tone of the evening. It was uphill from there. Since neither of us felt like eating all day (a phenomenon that occurs when one eats low carb-loss of appetite), by 6:00 pm, we were ready for dinner.

Planned as taco salad night (minus the bowl), I had chopped and diced all the accompaniments well in advance and had only to cook the grass-fed ground beef seasoning it accordingly. 

By 6:00 pm, an hour earlier than usual, we were dining at the kitchen table digging into our massive salads filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables from the garden especially those plump red tomatoes gifted to us by Santina on Friday.

More puffs of clouds.  As the morning wore on, the puffs dissipated as the sun struggled to appear.  The thick heaviness of humidity remained with the cool temperature making it tolerable.

Some may say watching TV shows or movies is not romantic. For us, it is.  Tom tends to chatter on incessantly during the show, something I’ve found charming. The laughter and conversation continue as we watch. 

Our show of choice last night during dinner, one that invites comments and observations, was “America’s Got Talent,” a mindless TV series that easily incites laughter and smiles.  Without commercials, the episode ended about the time we’d finished dinner.  I tackled putting away the leftovers (repeat tonight!) while Tom as always, washed the dishes.

It almost looks as if its smoke, rather than clouds.

By 7:15, part two of our evening began, spending time on the veranda overlooking the mountains, listening to the birds, and swatting off a few flying insects.  Once again, I put on the Africa pants to avoid being stung as a couple of flies buzzed around my head. Each time I wear the pants I’m surprised by how well they keep the bugs from biting.  I’ve yet to be stung once while wearing them, even without my arms or feet protected. 

As we often do, we moved my laptop to the coffee table in the living room, positioning ourselves in the uncomfortable 100-year-old sofa, and proceeded to watch a few more episodes of our favorite downloaded shows from Graboid:  season 3, episode 5 of The Killing, and season 1, episode 2 of The White Queen (excellent shows worth watching).

After the first show, we rousted up the big dishwashing bowl for the shells for the pistachios and peanuts, more out of fun than hunger. By 9:00 pm our shows ended, leaving only a few minutes of battery time on my laptop.  

From experience, we knew that by charging it for 45 minutes we’d regain enough of charge to watch a movie in bed. We busied ourselves in the kitchen as it recharged, Tom, checking email, and Facebook, while I read my latest book.

By 9:45 we meandered to our room, setting up a wooden tray to support the laptop on the bed (it’s a dangerous fire hazard to place a laptop directly on top of the bed) and crawled under the comfy covers to watch the movie, Linda Lovelace, (bringing back lots of memories of the ’70s) that we found disappointing. But for us, with Tom’s chatter, I was thoroughly entertained.

Once again, this bell tower is a focal point in our photos.  Most villages in Italy have such a tower, visible as one travels through the winding mountain roads.

By 12:30 am with the mosquito netted window wide open as a cool breeze wafting our way, we drifted off within minutes of each other with smiles on our faces.  Indeed, it was a delightful evening.

An hour later, deep in sleep, we both were alarmed by as an outrageous bolt of thunder and lightening permeating the area as the rain pelted the tile roofs.

It was no less than two hours, there was a relentless storm that hovered in this mountainous valley as loud and as bright as any fast-moving storm we’d experienced in Minnesota.  The difference here was the time it hovered as if it was caught in this valley with no way in which to escape. 

Although neither of us is fearful of the storms, we were entranced by its intensity, eventually forced to close the window as the wind whipped in its direction, pouring torrents of water into the bedroom at the moment it took for me to jump out of bed to hurriedly shut it. 

Tom had fallen back to sleep. I lay awake comforted by the fact that this 300-year-old house has most certainly survived centuries of such storms and was nonetheless still intact. Reading my book, an enticing Irish novel, until almost 4:00 am, I finally drifted off tucking my phone under my pillow.

As always, 6:55 am forced my bleary eyes open, only seconds before the 7 clangs of the clock tower next door to us. It’s funny how it never awakens us during the night. Not wanting to awaken Tom, I lingered in bed until he awoke at 7:56 am, moments later to hear the 8 clangs, as we both offered a groggy, “Hi, sweetie.” As always, upon arising together we made the bed, a habit we started years ago when arising at the same time.

Tom called out to me as I was getting ready to shower, beaconing me to the patio to look out at the mountains. These are the photos we took this morning, thrilled to see the clouds so low, lingering in puffs throughout the valley.  What a sight!

Date night turned into “date morning” as we were entranced by the view as if it was a parting gift from Boveglio for the 2½ months were lived in its midst (no pun intended).  Thank you, Boveglio. 

Housekeeping for upcoming travel…

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Definitely, not as much “stuff” on the bed when we originally packed almost a year ago.

Two weeks from today, we’ll drive the five-hour journey from Boveglio, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy to Venice Italy, where we’ll stay overnight in a hotel close to the airport.  Planning to drop off the rental car after we’ve checked into the hotel upon arrival was a plan I’d originally resisted, thinking it made more sense to drop it off in the morning before our flight. 

Tom was adamant that we drop off the car on the day of arrival in Venice and take the hotel’s shuttle to the airport in the morning. He felt that the time spent returning the car, from past experience when we picked it up on June 16th, would impose upon the time necessary to board the plane.

Those darn vitamins! This is only a portion of the supply!

After thinking about this premise for a few days, I saw his point.  With the free airport shuttle offered by the hotel, it was one less stressful task to perform before boarding the plane. 

The Marco Polo Airport in Venice imposes a strict rule that passengers may not appear at the airport more than three hours before their scheduled flight.  This small airport doesn’t have adequate space to accommodate travelers for longer periods. Thus, careful planning is a must. Otherwise, passengers can be refused entry with their bags into the terminal. That could be stressful!

With only two weeks left, we’ve begun planning for all the tasks we must accomplish before leaving Italy.  No, we don’t have household goods and furniture to move, but in a way, it’s comparable to moving after the moving van has removed the household goods and furniture, a monumental task in itself.,

Its not easy keeping a cupboard tidy with clothing as opposed to dresser drawers, none of which we available in this extra bedroom.

Not only do we have to ensure we’ve collected all of our belongings scattered about the house, but also the following tasks to complete over the next two weeks:
1.  Carefully pack all of our luggage including careful planning for the carry on bags to avoid further delays at the airport when going through security.
2.  Weigh all of our luggage to ensure we’re prepared for any excess baggage fees which we fully expect, although not as costly as on our flight from Dubai,  UAE on our way to Barcelona, Spain to board our last cruise.
3.  Hold back clothing and toiletries for overnight in the hotel to avoid opening the packed luggage, using only a duffel bag.
4.  Ensure we have comfortable clothing and shoes to wear for the long flight, prescriptions, toiletries (especially toothbrushes and toothpaste) considering the almost 24 hours from the time we arrive at the airport in Venice, to the rental house in Kenya.
5.  Grocery shop tomorrow, purchasing enough food to last through our final night here on Saturday, August 31st, while using any items that are frozen, refrigerated, and in the cupboards.  (We’ve already planned a menu for each of the 13 remaining nights with an accompanying grocery list, utilizing our on-hand supplies).
6.  Scan and store all of the receipts we’ve accumulated while living in Italy, tossing the actual paper.
7.  Clean and reorganize our laptops’ bags of any superfluous materials.
8.  Ensure that our digital equipment is fully charged with the hope that the three planes we’ll be flying will have plugins at our seats. If plugins are not available on the planes we’ll locate and use “digital kiosks,” available at most airports during our two layovers.
9.  Return the house to its original condition as we received it upon arrival over two and a half months here, replacing any items we moved about to facilitate our personal needs.
10. Clean, leaving only the towels and bedding we used on that last day. Santina will clean on our last Friday, two days before our departure. With no paid deposit, we are none the less committed to leaving everything in excellent order, as we’ve done at each of our prior rental homes.
11.  Write a glowing review on Homeaway extolling the virtues of our lovely owners, Lisa and Luca, her parents, Cici and Dano, and the overall comfort of this well-stocked and maintained home, which without a doubt we’ve fully appreciated.
12.  Update the budget with any last-minute expenses, including gas for the long drive, rental car fees, hotel and dining, taxi and tips, etc.  Doing so leaves us a clean slate to begin anew in the first of three upcoming homes in Africa:  Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco.

Need I say more?  There’s plenty to keep us busy over the next few weeks with little time for frivolity.  Yes, someday we’ll return to Italy, most likely by ship, allowing us an opportunity to explore further.  But for now, we’re ready to move on, feeling no disappointment in leaving with plenty of enthusiasm for our upcoming adventures.

Tom has kept all of his clothing in the master bedroom where we sleep. Mine have been scattered among three rooms, the master, the above guest room, and the huge main bathroom where I’ve kept fresh clothing for dressing after showering each morning.

Tom just reminded me of one more thing.  We’ll have to empty the Ziploc bags hung in the doorways and windows in order to recover the Euros we’d placed inside with the intent to repel flying insects which, as we’ve mentioned, does seem to work to a degree, although not entirely.  With screens on the windows in Kenya, we’re hopeful that the biting flies won’t be such a bother. 

Lately, in the evening, I’ve been wearing my BugAway long pants for a few hours which have totally protected me from receiving a single fly bite.  Although lightweight they’re too warm to wear all day, during which time I’ve taken on two or three new bites per day, continuing to itch for days.  The cumulative effect is the most annoying, new bites, old bites, all itching at once!

Yesterday, I finally washed my BugsAway pants for the first time. Having worn them to the Pyramids in Egypt, Petra in Jordan, and a few other excursions, they didn’t appear dirty nor did they smell. Most likely they were covered in fine dust.

With the embedded insect repellent Permethrin in the fabric, they’re good for 70 washings of which I’m now down to 69.  That should be enough to see me through our upcoming time in Africa which, dear readers, will begin, sooner than later.