The Adventure Begins! (Nairobi, Kenya)

We start here. A little, tiny airplane...takes off in the morning sky and lands on a dirt airstrip, further than either of us have ever been! This is just the start of something so spectacular!

A View From the Top (Somewhere over Kenya)

Kenya is a gorgeous country. The landscape changes constantly. Jason took this video out the window of the plane and it is obvious how lush and green Kenya can be.

Wanna go inside the plane? (Kenya)

The plane was empty of passengers as you can tell from everyone standing on the airstrip so I took the opportunity to show you what the inside looked like! The planes were really quite nice!

Further than... (Kenya)

Further than we had ever been...but of course, there was always an enterprising lad around...duty free shopping, anyone??

Checking In! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

After we landed and finished our mini-game drive, we were taken to our "cottage"/home for the next few days. It was heaven! Totally unexpected!

What about the animals? (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

Let's start with the elephants! Moms, Dads and babies! On our way in from the airstrip, we had a mini-game drive. For our first time in the jeep, in Kenya, and the sights were extraordinary! Our first sighting? A herd of elephants! They were cooling of in a mud hole right next to the car! We thought it was an incredible sight and then -- out comes the baby! I was thrilled!

As you can see from these pictures the baby was very interested in his trunk and ears! He was kind of enough to wave to Jason over and over again!

Video Elephants! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

A little video to show you how beautiful these creatures truly are!

Giraffes! (Kenya)

I think that the easiest way to organise these photos is by animal. Unlike the one species of elephant we saw, there are two main types of giraffes that we saw in Kenya. The first is the reticulated giraffe. Its pattern and colouring are very distinct. The picture below is a reticulated giraffe. He also happens to be peeing. Sorry. Its the best photo I have to show you his beautiful colouring. These male giraffes are generally 16-18 feet tall and weigh about 3,000 pounds.

Giraffes also do something else very cool -- when they run, the right front leg and the right back leg move together, and likewise the left side moves together. The effect is incredibly unique looking!

This is the other giraffe -- A Masai Giraffe. These giraffes are the largest of the giraffes and used to live all over Africa. The have lost, however, the majority of their habitat and thus they only live in Tanzania and Kenya. Even though they are a land animal, they are able to swim for a short period of time. They are different from the reticulated giraffe in that their colouring is less defined and vibrant.

This Masai giraffe is just as curious of us as we were of him!

Wanna meet Lula? (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

Lewa Downs was originially a family owned ranch. Now its a wildlife conservancy. "The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy works as a catalyst for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat. It does this through the protection and management of species, the initiation and support of community conservation and development programmes, and the education of neighbouring areas in the value of wildlife." Lewa's main focus is the black rhino. One afternoon we were given the opportunity to meet the newest black rhino at Lewa -- Lula! She is a four month old black rhino. She weighs about 200 pounds. We arrived just in time for her afternoon feeding -- warm milk!

The man on the left side of the picture is Lula's "mother"! He is her caretaker and will raise her until she is capable of being released into the wild. He is with her all day at the conservancy. I was charmed. Their relationship was wonderful, and it was clear he adores his job!

Lula so did not want to give up that bottle. Even after it was finished she hung on! And at 200 pounds, she is quite strong!!

Because its my blog! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

Well, dear reader, we have reached that moment again...the where I get to put pictures in my blog because I like them. These, according to our guide, are called Fire Lilies. Since we were in Kenya during the dry season, there were very few wild flowers around. Like most things in a desert climate, something beautiful always grows. So as you see the brown landscape of the dry season, it is not so bleak as there are these gorgeous red puffs scattered across the landscape!

Pumba! (Warthogs!) (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

Warthogs are extremely shy -- making them very difficult to photograph! They are usually in families, or groupings called sounders. I can say that even though warthogs are not particularly attractive, they were the star of everyone's safari. I think this is because when they are frightened, they stick their tails straight into the air and run away. Its a bit difficult to describe, but it has earned them the nickname of the "Kenyan Express"! No matter how many times we saw them do it, it was still the cutest thing every time!

Zebras! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

There are two main types of zebras in Kenya. Grevy's Zebras and Common (Burchell's) Zebras.

This is a great side picture of a common zebra! You can see that the stripes are larger and that they cover the belly area!

I like this picture because the zebras are all together and are looking so peaceful, snacking in the early morning light!

Grevy's zebras are an endangered species and in fact, about a quarter of Kenya's Grevy's zebra population lives at Lewa Downs. In the picture above, you can see the white belly and the finer stripes of Grevy's zebras.

I was very surprised by the zebras. I thought that they would be more like horses, but in reality they are more like donkeys -- especially the ears. They even make a very donkey like noise when they are speaking to one another! They are also much smaller than horses.

Horseback Riding! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

A little discussed fact about Safaris -- its hard to bounce around in the car that much. It really is. So, Jason and I were looking for alternatives. At Lewa, guests have the opportunity to take nature walks, go horseback riding or camel riding. If you know me, you already know, I am not wild about horses...so to tell you how much I wanted out of the car for a morning, I agreed to go horseback riding with Jason! On our journey we were accompanied by Silas (our Masai guide) and the manager of the horse stables. In the picture above, its the manager, me and then Silas. Jason is in the rear taking the photo!

In addition to being a break from the car, horseback riding allows you to get really close to all the animals. The theory from the Kenyans is that you are not human looking on a horse, you just look like the horse, and thus the animals just see another large animal and therefore could care less that you are near them!

Don't 'cha just love this photo! Don't I look so happy to be on the horse?! :) Even though I knew we would be very close to the animals, I have to admit I was surprised by how large they were! Consequently, I enjoyed being in the back of the group and the farthest away!

Baboons! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

These are two photos of baboons from our horseback ride! Jason and the boys were so excited to find them! I, on the other hand, was having horror moments of how vicious baboons are and how NOT excited I was to be so close to them! So here I am very far away, and everyone else is creeping closer and closer to them at this very moment! I thought they were nuts!

Turtles in the Road! (Lewa Downs, Kenya)

On one of our drives we encountered a very unusual object blocking the path of the jeep! A turtle! As you can see he was quite afraid of us...but our guide was kind enough to return the little guy to the grass on the side of the road and our adventure continued!

Welcome to our little chateau! (Masai Mara, Kenya)

Imagine! All that luxury to a tent. Okay, so just a "tent" is a stretch! But still, bucket showers, a tarp floor, and only cloth between me and the animals! Something entirely different again! (I have a small confession...the bed was heavenly. The best ever. So, there was a touch of luxury after all!)

Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys (Kenya)

These little black faced monkeys were everywhere! They looked so cute and when they were eating it reminded me of squirrels...they ate with their "hands" very close to their faces -- it was so funny looking! And for the record, they are the loudest, smackiest eaters ever!

Ostrich -- Can you imagine? (Kenya)

This is a male ostrich, black and white, as opposed to the female ostrich, all brown, below. They are very large birds and are surprisingly pretty!

One day, in the Mara, a group of guides returned to camp with an abandoned ostrich egg. Needless to say it was the highlight of breakfast the following morning! An ostrich egg can make an omelette for about 25 people -- they are huge eggs! I considered it a plus that we were on an early morning drive and missed the ostrich egg breakfast -- Jason, on the other hand, was gutted! He still speaks of missing out on the experience!

Whew! I could use a break! (Kenya)

Even when you are in the most beautiful place on earth...everyone needs a little down time! Jason was napping and I decided to sit on our "porch" and work a few sudoku puzzles!

Hyenas! (Masai Mara, Kenya)

If you have ever seen The Lion King, you might be under the impression that hyenas are nasty, ugly creatures...in fact, I thought they were really cute! They reminded me a bit of a small furry bear!

Everyone has to work together in Africa to survive. In this instance, the lions killed the wildebeest, ate first and when they were finished, in moved the hyenas, who had seconds on the wildebeest, and finally the vultures! They take the leftovers!

Because I know how to please my audience! (Kenya)

LIONS! You know this is what you have been waiting for!

If this picture looked better on blogger you would see that the male lion on the right is actually eating a wildebeest! His entire face is red with blood. Oh, and did I mention its about 7:00/7:30 in the morning? It was so gross!

Mostly though, this is what the lions did --slept in the shade! I, personally, was pleased not to see the lions kill anything. I didn't mind the eating after the kill at all, but I didn't need to see the chase, the fight and the death. So sleeping lions were fine with me!

Jason waited and waited for the yawn! Here you go -- he is so proud, its a perfect yawn pic!

I know lions are cats. I know. But it never ceased to amaze me how related they all are. The lion in the front of this picture is cleaning herself by licking her paw and rubbing it over her head! Oh, how many times have I seen my own cats do that??? It was priceless!

This is a male and a female sleeping in a post-sex daze. Lions mate for seven days -- throughout the seven days, they do nothing but sleep and have sex. No food, water, nothing -- just sleep and sex!

This is my favourite picture! Look how happy and contented the lion looks! (By the way, I have seen my own cat do this very same pose in the sun in our apartment!)

Here the lions are about to mate. What I really like about this picture though is how close the lions are to the car. Immediately after the sex, the male came and laid in the shade of our jeep! He was so close to Jason that all Jason could do was lean his arm out the window and snap a quick picture (whilst praying his arm wouldn't be eaten off)!!!

White Rhinos! (Masai Mara, Kenya)

Its a long road, up hill to see one of the world's most incredible sights. There are two white rhinos in the Masai Mara. Since the white rhinos are an endangered species, they are protected in a sanctuary, twenty four hours a day. They have their own guards who will escort you to see them. We only saw one of them, but it was so worth it!

Buffalo! (Masai Mara, Kenya)

Buffalo are HUGE! I had no idea. They were also everywhere! The males and females look almost identical and for the most part, the buffalo do nothing! They eat, sleep and poop!

My personal favourite! Babies! Without Dad's trademark horns!

Cheetahs, Cheetahs, Cheetahs! (Masai Mara, Kenya)

I had a few requirements for our safari, or should I say interests or requests. I left the UK wanting to see cats -- lots of cats. When we were in Kenya, I was also struck by how adorable all the baby animals were. So ultimately, I was after cats and babies. And true to my interests there were tons of cats! We saw all the big cats, except the leopard. The leopard is a loner and well, blends quite well -- it was going to be a stretch to spot and ultimately, we never did. *Sigh* You've seen the pictures of the lions and I did think they were beautiful and big, brutish even! It was the cheetah, however, that sealed the deal.

A little background. Again, being tired of riding in the car, I had a bit of good fortune, well sort of. The husband of one of the couples staying in the camp with us had hurt his back prior to coming on the safari, meaning, long days in the car were out for him. So they were clever enough to organise nature walks. Late one night, they invited us on one of their walks. So the scene is: Me, Jason, Richard and Sarah (the couple), Piers (camp owner with the rifle), and two Masai warriors (David and I forget the other guys name) with large knives. At the beginning of our walk I asked Piers where we were going, he pointed to the farthest point on the horizon and said "there". I should have known better than to think a man with a rifle was joking. So off we set. At the end of this glorious walk we were to be rewarded with breakfast by a gorgeous stream (the guys from camp were going to meet us there with breakfast and the jeeps and drive us back to camp)!! How excellent.

So we set out. About half way into our walk, the guys in the jeeps radio that they have spotted a cheetah (probably hunting) and would we like for them to swing around and pick us up and take us to the cheetah. I am thinking, "Yes! Of course!" I was also thinking, it would be a bit of drive in the jeep! Turns out, the guys come and pick us up and drive us say a half a mile to the cheetah! I was stunned that in the middle of this charming walk, where I am learning about patters and foot prints, and little animals, that there is a cheetah hunting a half a mile away.

Cheetahs have extraordinary vision and let's face it, they can run roughly 60mph. Oh my, indeed! All I could think was in a minute, one minute, I could have been breakfast! It was breath taking to say the least!

There is nothing more beautiful than a cheetah. I was smitten. Where the lions are big lugs, cheetahs are graceful, elegant and deadly. This was a female. Her colouring, her spots and her black tears streaks all added to her beauty. I have to say, upon reaching her, no one spoke for many minutes! We were all in awe!

If you click on the photos you can see how truly amazing she was!

The end of the story: After watching her for awhile, the boys in the jeep took us back to roughly where we were! Gulp! And we set out on foot again. I must confess that was incredibly careful for next few miles to position myself between Piers (with the gun) and David (with the large knife)! And yes, breakfast was delicious!