the Great Migration

(this is a long one)

'Twindelé,' says Jonathan, our Masai guide. Dave continues driving across the rough road while I carefully scan the grassy plains for signs of life. It is day #2 of our 52-hour Kenyan safari in Masai Mara National Reserve. 'The Mara,' as Dave coolly calls it, is located in the Great Rift Valley, and is home to thousands of animals. We are here to see the Great Migration - one of the 7 wonders of the world. The Migration takes place every year when wildebeests, gnu, and zebras head south in search of food. Because these animals are so tasty, it's an ideal time to spot lots of interesting predators.

So far, we have seen 4 out of the Big Five --see if you can guess what we missed: Lion, Elephant, Hippo, & Leopard

Leopards (or as Jonathan says lee-oh-pards) are extremely difficult to spot, but thanks to Dave's safari driving skillz, we had a great sighting.

Cheetah are also rare - but we came across a total of 13!! Amazing. We were literally 10 feet away from the animals - just grabbing an afternoon siesta.

On day #1, we had already seen a herd of elephants (including a tiny, adorable baby!) - so on day 2, we are focused on lions and getting a view of the river crossing of the migration.

We drive as far as the border of Tanzania (props to Dave for this artsy photo), and then find a great spot to watch the gnu (pronounced here ga-new) cross the Mara river.











The banks are quite steep, but more dangerous are the crocodiles awaiting lunch.

All we can see for miles are zebras and gnu- they are marching skittishly toward the river, and any sudden movement by the truck will spook them. 'Polé, polé,' says Jonathan- we slow down, and turn off the engine, joining other safari trucks awaiting this amazing event. We wait. And wait.

Finally, one brave, dumb soul decides to make a break for it. It's go time.











Thousands of gnu rush down the steep embankment, wade quickly through the water, and storm up the other side to where the already-brave gnu are waiting. The noise is so loud, we can barely hear one another - all the animals are rushing, rushing down into the water - they are crowded so closely together.

Fortunately for the gnu, no crocs caught wind of the crossing (bet they were splashing themselves later). After a while, one car's movement spooked the animals, so they stopped moving across the river and went back to grazing. We yelled some encouragement ('Just do it!' 'You know you want to cross!'), but the gnu were finished for the afternoon.

And so were we! We drove back to camp and took a couple hours' break from safari and played with the weird birds around our campsite (the one pictured was my fave). We stayed on the banks of the Talek River, just ouside the park gates. This was a great locale - not just because they had toilets and frigid showers, but also because of the animals lurking nearby. One morning, Dave told me not to go wandering off alone - he had heard hippos wandering around the campground all night. I followed instructions.

That evening: 1. we found a pride of lions, 2. I got all black and blue from popping up through the sunroof while we were driving, and 3. we introduced some nice Masai friends to our extremely spicy chili.

The next morning (day 3), we packed up camp into the rockin (and only 1 week old) safari truck,and headed back through the park in search of rhino. Elam, topi, zebras, giraffes, lions, warthogs, and a cheetah later - we never spotted the rhino. Next time, definitely next time.

3 hours later (once again due to Dave's driving skillz) we landed back safely in Nairobi - this was record time. I kept saying - it felt like we were in a video game - how fast can you drive/swerve without hitting any of the following: potholes, trucks, buses, that police barrier, goats, or cows. Without being stopped even once by the police. And as far as we know - zero casualties.

This post has been brought to you by the letter S (like Safari truck), the letter M (for Maasai), and the letter D (for Dave). Thanks, Kenya!

Smattering of photos:























(This is the Great Rift Valley - which houses the Mara National Reserve park)

If you like, see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allkindsoftime/sets/72157621825201438/ for about 300 more pictures.

Ain't no sunshine...

like African sunshine - that is certain.

I left Gulu this morning - always too soon for my liking. Last night my team took me out for dinner, drinks, and dancing - of course - I can't get away from it anywhere. We started at Diana Gardens, moved to Kyero-kyeri for dinner, popped over to 'Da Pub,' and then hit up 'Green Valley' and 'Herms' (rhymes with germs). I think we probably got home around 2 a.m., and then were all up for an early and very busy Friday.

It is difficult to say goodbye to my Ugandan friends, and also to Africa. I will miss the glaring sunshine, that freaking rooster crowing at 5:30 a.m. outside my window, the breezy nights where 60 degrees is considered 'too cold,' and especially the starry night sky. In Gulu there are very few street lights, so the stars are abundant. I will miss the morning greetings, being told I am most welcome to northern Uganda, the blinding smiles, and some of the outrageous outfits. I might even miss the yells that follow me down the street, "Heeey mzungu!" And of course, I will miss the dancing.There are some things I'd like to learn before my next trip to Africa, though: how to play pool, how to drive a manual car, how to build a fire in the middle of nowhere...

All for now- I'm off to Kenya and the Masai Mara for the weekend - I get to see the Great Migration of wildebeests. I am so excited! If I don't get eaten, I will post pics.

Proposal #657

In general the African men declare love more freely and more quickly than any other culture. Maybe that's because they are allowed multiple wives, and they are looking to add a white girl to their repertoire... That is my judgment of charity.

Today, my boss received one such proposal in a handwritten letter. Here is an excerpt, "Am not asking you for an appointment so that we may discuss jobs and contracts, what I have in mind is something quite different. You look so marvelous, young and so pretty... You happen to not know me, but am Kidega Isaac by nomenclature. Anyway that's just a brief introduction of myself, and there's plenty to know about me when you need to."

Sadly, our reception turned this fellow down for a personal interview - but maybe there's hope for other eligible bachelors.

National sports champions!

For the last three days, Uganda's national track and field championship for high schools was held in Gulu. My program sponsored the event and fixed up the stadium so that it would be able to handle the thousands of spectators who came to watch. It's very exciting that this event took place in Gulu - this is the first time that it has ever been hosted here, because of the violence that has been in the north of Uganda for the last 20 years.


Anyway, I finally got to watch some of the events today - some very exciting 4x400 relays, which the Gulu district won in the last 100 meters! The whole stadium was cheering and dancing - it was like the best high school pep rally you've ever been to multiplied by a thousand. I took some pics of the amazing runners who still run in bare feet - check out the stride length on these ladies--

back to basics.

I have long ranted about the uselessness of blogs and how no one should think that the whole world wants to read their every thought.

But recently a lot of my indignation has been transferred to Twitter (don't get me started), and I have decided that some of these stories from my trips are too good not to share. I know - this is just the beginning, soon I'll be tweating with the best of them... ick. Anyway, I'll try to keep these stories updated just for the entertainment of anyone who might want to read, and I promise to limit the social commentary that nobody's interested in anyway.

-Abigail

There's a goat in my office

Seriously! So, I was going to give an intro to this blog (and try to excuse myself for caving in to this online society), but I have to share this first -

Someone donated a goat to one of my colleagues up here in Gulu, and now the goat has been designated our office pet. That is, until we decide to roast him and have a feast. But this goat is wreaking havoc everywhere he goes - he will wander into our office building and butt his head into things. He's broken countless cups and we always have to chase him back outside! A few days ago, we found him curled up under one of the desks, all entangled in the computer cords. This morning, the goat escaped our compound and our guard had to chase him back inside.

In answer to your inevitable questions - yes, the goat has plenty to eat - he is chomping away on the grass in our compound right now. And we actually named him after one of my colleagues - they seem to have similar personalities.

El Salvador

Since I'm in the business of backdating some of these posts... Here's a snippet from my time in El Salvador.















I traveled to San Salvador in May, in order to open an office for my company. I'd been to Central America before (Mexico & Belize), but never for work - it was very exciting. We were in meetings most days - with little time to explore, but some of my favorite memories are:

-watching my friend Martha eat live snails (below)















-discovering the amazingness of pupusas

-the hilarious danger signs



















-the moment when one meeting had dragged on & on, and cute little Maritza leans over and says to me, "You should be shopping right now."

-the formality of the Spanish, and the different accent - it took me a whole week to adjust.

-Looking across the boardroom and seeing our venerable, senior adviser asleep during our meeting with one shirt button popped open, and his fat belly button hanging out.

I'd love to go back - you can actually hike around the volcanoes, go to the beaches, and participate in the fiestas - hopefully next time I'll get some salsa dancing in too!!

This is my friend Martha, and her son Roberto - they were great hosts.