Addendum - Picture Links!

Just wanted to post the various photo upload sites for everyone's pictures from our trip.

Michael Meyer's pictures are up here.
Lisa Stoddard's pictures are up here.
Mary & Jerry's pictures are up here.

Will post more picture links when we get them!

Made It to London Heathrow!

Almost home - Terminal 3 where we're waiting for our Virgin Atlantic flight home is a virtual shopping paradise - Harrod's is here as is a plethora of designer-name stores: Gucci, Dior, Mulberry, etc. At the duty-free shop, they have various "stations" where you can sample the new Grey Goose pear-infused vodka, an Amaretto station, and a whiskey station.

Confused about the time now - could've sworn it was evening when we got here, but at the restaurant, they gave us breakfast menus . . . as always, the Kenya Airlines flight was wonderful, the food fantastic - the service great.

Almost home!

Travel Day

Today is travel day for most of us. Vanetta has already left - she will be staying on in South Africa to visit friends. The rest of us are getting some last-minute shopping in for souvenirs. My rash is aggravated by the sun, thus, I am sitting here updating this blog in the hotel.

I have to apologize for the lack of pictures/timeliness of blog entries. Internet access is hard to come by in the bush, and when it is available, it is VERY SLOW. I will try and update during our layover at London Heathrow.

We are scheduled for a "city tour" this afternoon, after which, Seif will drop us off at Nairobi Airport to check in for our flights. Michael will be leaving earlier for Paris/Boston, then the rest of us will take off at 11:59P tonight.


Wish us safe travels!

Leaving Lake Nakuru

Jerry and I woke up to a view of the Lake Nakuru savanna and a giraffe feeding on an Acacia tree. Not something you see everyday - I could get used to this!

Breakfast buffet was OK, not as nice as Sopa Lodge, but it's sustainance. We were packed and ready to leave at 7:30A - took a short safari around the other side of the lake and saw 4-5 hyenas lounging on the beach. Noor mentioned that you don't want to get caught alone with these guys - they are pretty ferocious. Also lots of baboons all around the park, Thompson Gazelles, Impalas, buffalo, water buck and Topi. We were taken to the top of "Baboon Cliffs" for an immense view of the whole park - there was a baboon who was hurt hanging out there. We were told not to feed him.

We started back to Nairobi. This is a 2-lane highway and although it's a very good highway, it's slow going because of the trucks that tend to have a top speed of 40km/hour and it's playing "chicken" with alot of oncoming traffic when passing.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Tamambo in Nairobi (traffic here is worse than I've ever seen). It could only be described as "Nouveau African"? - The prie fix menu had a choice of chicken, grilled lamb chops and vegetarian masala. There was also a corn coconut soup and sorbet after dinner. Back to the hotel for quick check-in and then back out for shopping.

Seif took us out of the Boulevard Hotel compound to some shops for fabric (for me and Mrs. Chen) and also to Nakamatt (Kenya Walmart) for some souvenir shopping. About 7P we headed back for dinner and an impromptu birthday cake for Vanetta - although it wasn't her birthday (it's next month). I, on the other hand, stayed in - I've got a huge rash going on on the front of my legs and the backs of my arms. Have a feeling it's related to heat rash - but it's darn uncomfortable. Ready to come home!

To Lake Nakuru

We started off to Lake Nakuru this morning after breakfast buffet - a velvet monkey came in and stole the bananas at yesterday's buffet - the chef was guarding the fruit tray today.

Forgot to mention the Masai village we visited yesterday. It is close to Sopa Lodge where we are staying and is pretty much a "tourist trap." They did a dance for us in ethnic costume (Michael and Jerry danced too), made a fire with 2 sticks of wood, toured their homes (made out of cow dung, mud and sticks), then were bombarded with hard-sell tactics for souvenirs. We lost Anthony for awhile, but found him later with a machete and 3 necklaces.

Back to our trek to Lake Nakuru - at the halfway point to Nairobi, we had to drop Lisa and Mike off since they would leaving to go to Tanzania in the morning. We will miss Mike inhaling the endless plates of food and Lisa's Nikon clicking away (can't wait to see the pics Lisa!).

The road up to Nakuru was tons better. Our drivers, Noor and Paris are amazing - not only dodging potholes and oncoming traffic, but missing errant goats, zebra and other forms of African wildlife. We finally made it here to the lodge in about 2 hours.

Lake Nakuru is 1 1/2 feet deep throughout - one can conceivably walk across the lake if he wanted to. It is also very alkaline - not many fish, the wildlife will eat the algae. After checking into our rooms and lunch, we did a quick safari and found the rhinoceros (a whole herd of them). Also, the flamingos are in abundance here - the "Lesser Flamingos" are pink, while the "Greater Flamingos" are white. A lot of Marabou Stork and European Storks passing through on migration.

Dinner was good - I had a small steak fillet - and, of course the Kenyan tea. The boys and Vanetta stayed up to play a little pool while the rest of us turned in - saw mosquito in my room for the first time this trip!

Masai Mara

Masai Mara has the largest variety of animals of all the game reserves here in Kenya. After our 2 safaris, I am told we are lucky to have seen all but 2 of the "Big 5" - giraffe, lion, hippo, leopard, and rhinoceros - some folks go away with not seeing any animals! We didn't see any rhinoceros or leopard.

We almost witnessed a "kill" yesterday - a mother giraffe and her 2 babies were being stalked by 2 maile lions in the bush. Mom started walking toward the lions - every time she turned away,they would creep closer.

When they finally did attack, mom bolted very quickly, as did the babies. It seems she had approached the lions "on purpose" to draw the lions to her and away from the babies - an amazing site to watch.

Our time is almost up here. The Sopa Lodge where we are staying is a lush facility with pool, great food and waitstaff. In the dinner area, you can hear Japanese, Indian,Mandarin, German, English, French and more. Today we move northeast to Lake Nakuru for more game watching.

To Masai Mara

The one road to Masai Mara has got to be the WORST road in the world. There are potholes and bumps everywhere. Our drivers Noor and Paris have got to be nuts to do this for a living! This drive is not for the faint-of-heart; besides the bumps that punctuate the whole of the trip (approximately 4 hours), you are virtually at the mercy of diesel fumes from a number of commercial trucks/vehicles and dust clouds. When we finally arrived at Sopa Lodge, they gave us some wet face towels that were almost black after being used (at least on me)!

The highlight for me was when we were just outside of Masai Mara - we came upon 5-6 giraffes on the plain. We drove over to see them and not one of them ran way. . . it seemed like they were equally curious about us. We snapped some pictures and continued on . . .

Finding the Best Chinese Food in Africa?

After settling in to Hotel Boulevard in Nairobi, we don our polo shirt/khaki pant uniform to meet with Chairman Han of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya. Dr. Li has arranged this dinner - they are very glad to see that dragon boat is finally here and that the United States has sent a team to Kenya.

This was one of the most amazing Chinese banquet-style dinners I've ever attended. The food was almost better than any of the restaurants I've been to in California. The name of this place i New Jiang Su in the Westlands, Soin Arcade, 2nd Floor. The Westlands is, I'm told, the "Indian" part of Nairobi. We were treated to pig's ears, Chinese broccoli, a pork dish that I'm told is very hard to come by - it was so tender it melted in your mouth! My favorite, the sesame dumpling with red bean curd inside was also amazing - it was made with pumpkin?

Chairman Han was toasting us several times during the night with some type of liquor that was about 55 proof (no lie). Tasted like lighter fluid going down, but as long as we kept up with eating (of the 30-odd plates of food),we were OK. Lots of toasts/speeches were made in Chinese (by Mrs. Chen, Dr. Joe, Chairman Han) but I couldn't really understand what they were saying.

All-in-all, the gist of the speeches I'm told had to do with the historic arrival of the sport of dragon boat into Kenya - and that dragon boat should open up the doors for "sports-tourism" here in Kenya. We hope that more teams consider coming out to Africa!

Arriving by Train into Nairobi

Woke up about 5A on the train headed toward Nairobi. It's crystal clear, and we can see villages with children waving as the train snakes by (top speed is about 40km/hour). The grossest part about this train is the fact that the toilets are basically "squat" toilets, on which you straddle a hole in the floor that goes DIRECTLY ONTO THE TRACKS. I found this out when the train stopped for a mechanical fix and while I was standing next to the car with the "choo toilet" a bunch of excrement and urine came out at the bottom (you are NOT supposed to use the choo toilet when it is stopped).

The neat thing is the children and visitors who wave to you as you chug by. These folks are members of the Kukuyu tribe (one of the 40-odd tribes that make up the country of Kenya). Jerry ended up breaking into the toy supply for the Ugandan kids to pass out yoyo's and small Christmas toys.

After breakfast in the dining car, we settled in to see some zebra and giraffe passing by our windows. Getting closer to Nairobi, more shanty towns spring up, there is more congestion, more people. We finally make it in to the station at about 12:30P. Robert from the children's school in Uganda is there to greet us. We are whisked away to the Boulevard Hotel (nice, but looks like it's been around for a long time). We have lunch and make the transfer of the laptops and school supplies to Robert - he is very grateful for our generosity. We now have more then enough room for souvenirs in our bags.

Race Day & Leaving Mombasa

So, the 500m races are today. At this point, some of the kids on the teams from yesterday have not returned, and all 3 teams are combining to make 2 teams to compete - still lots of fun as the kids are learning alot from us "seasoned paddlers" and are actually listening to the tidbits of advice we have been giving them . . .

Paddling ended about noon today. After the last race, both boats continued on at a leisurely pace down Tudor Creek to the Indian Ocean to visit Fort Jesus - an ancient stronghold. Closing ceremonies followed. Shirts and certificates were awarded to all the kids, Team USA "treated" them to a lunch of hamburger, fries and soda. The Kenyans were very generous and gave each of the Team USA paddlers and Mrs. Chen souvenir wooden canoes/paddles, shirts - we were given a beautiful hand-carved wooden dragon as an award for "Best Mixed Team" (the only mixed team) and an extra special gift - a carving of the African version of the "dragon" - a wood-carved rhinoceros.

No time to rest . . . we had to pack and be on our way to the station to catch the 7:00PM train. This train has to be at least 100 years old - narrow gauge - reminded me "Murder on the Orient Express". We all had first-class cabins - dinner was set with china, silverware, glassware and food was not bad!

It was a nice way to fall asleep to the clickety clack of the railroad tracks and feeling the rolling of the train as we moved north to Nairobi . . .

Race Day

As the ceremonies were opened for the 1st Annual Tudor Creek Dragon Boat Regatta, we all gathered for the “dotting-of-the-eye” by Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Patwa. Seif Patwa and Mary Melton also gave some opening words, and Lisa Stafford recited a blessing for the beginning of the races.

There are only 3 teams participating: Kenya Team A, Kenya Team B and Team USA. The Kenyans have only had their 2 dragon boats for 3 months, but are already looking like a formidable presence on the water.

Today’s races are 250m along the creek in front of the hotel. The Kenyans have had difficulty trying to recruit female paddlers, so consequently, Team USA with its 3 women paddlers are the only mixed team.

Team USA paddling with Kenyans to backfill the boat, and our 3 women, ended up 3rd out of 3 teams for the day.

After some rest, one of the regatta sponsors, Dr. Li, who owns a drinking water distribution plant, invited Team USA to a “Moonlight Barbecue” at a Chinese restaurant located near the water on Mombasa Island. Not bad food for Africa! Also tasted cassava chips and a delicacy from the top of the coconut palm tree.

Kenyan Independence Day

I woke up bright and early about 4AM (just like back home!) The last of our crew, Lisa and Mike had arrived late last night (also after losing a piece of luggage and missing the connecting flight to Mombasa). Today is Kenya Independence Day, so a lot of people come out to Mombasa on holiday for some R&R. Seif mentioned that it is celebrated by the president of Kenya making speeches and then other leaders of the different districts making their own speeches to the people. No barbecues and fireworks like we have at home.

After breakfast, we loaded on to our air-conditioned bus for a trip to Ujamba Marketplace where local artisans sell their crafts. Picked up some very nice wooden salad utensils. Jerry bought a backgammon set made out of soapstone. We also paid a visit to Dr. Lee’s house (he will be sponsoring a dinner for us on the evening of the 13th. He works as a distributor for bottled water here in Mombasa.

We visited Haller Park – a former limestone quarry that the Kenyans have turned into a thriving wildlife sanctuary. The highlight for me was being able to get “up close and personal” with the Rothschild giraffes (the ones with the “white knee socks”).

After Haler Park, we took lunch at the lovely northern shore of Mombasa Island (overlooking the Indian Ocean) at a restaurant called Il Covo – It billed itself as a “sushi teriyaki” place, but also served pizza and pasta. It sits right on the beach with parasailing, boating, and other water sports taking place nearby.

Afterwards, a stop at what we think is the Kenyan version of Walmart: the Nyali Nakumatt. I was able to find supplies of my new-found favorite tea – Masala Tea and tons of postcards for people back home.

We're There!

Not sure at what point exactly it became the next day, all I know is this was one of the longest flights I’ve ever taken – absolutely FULL plane, although the service that Kenya Air provided was wonderful. The food from this flight was really better than what we were served on United.

We had an on-time arrival into Nairobi, but unfortunately, one of Kathy’s luggage was missing out of London Heathrow; we missed the connection to Mombasa and got there a little late. Seif Patwa – the organizer of the 1st Annual Tudor Creek Dragon Boat Regatta – and his staff were there to greet us in an air-conditioned bus (the heat is stifling in this part of the world!)

After about a 20 minute ride, we were at the Tudor Water Sports Creek Hotel – right on the water on Mombasa Island. Vanetta and Michael had already arrived; we had a short briefing and some lunch, and then Jerry, Joe, Anthony, MaryAnn and I helped out in doing an impromptu on-the-water dragon boat clinic for the kids of Tudor Creek. These are disadvantaged youth from the area and part of Seif’s plan is to help steer these kids away from drugs and crime by using dragon boat. I would say there were about 50 kids there – more than the 2 dragon boats could carry.

After meeting with Hassan and Joseph, their coach and team leader, we went through the basics of stroke mechanics, and did some drills: the helicopter, pause drill and then some race sets. These kids have so much energy . . . they will be a formidable team to beat once they get everything down!

We spent about 2 hours with them, and then headed back to our rooms for a much-needed shower and some rest. The meals here are very good – mostly Indian influence (Chicken or Fish Tika, variations of Marsala dishes) – I found that the Marsala Tea is something I would really like to take home with me – it’s almost like a Chai tea, but sweeter and spicier. Our server, Michael took good care of us!

Finally, back to our room to stretch out and SLEEP!

Getting There

Check in for this flight at United was a breeze since we didn’t have to go through Tom Bradley International. Our first leg had a stop and change of equipment at IAD (Washington Dulles). Except for a crying baby, things were great to London Heathrow.

At London, since we had approximately 9 hours to play with, we took London’s famous subway system, The Tube, which connects directly to Terminal 4 at LHR, in to Central London.

First stop: Green Park station – picked up sandwiches/salads at “Pret” – recommended to me by Simon Blackburn from the Kingston Royals – nice place, though rather crowded. Walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace – she was at home – the royal standard was flying above the palace!

We also hurried over to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, then finally, an audio tour of Westminster Abbey – then The Tube back to London Heathrow for one of the longest segment of our trip: 8 hours to Nairobi.

Kenya Here We Come!

So here are the Long Beach paddlers going to Kenya - from left to right: Melissa Chen, Jerry Melton, Kathy Chin, MaryAnne Mosher, Mary Melton, Anthony Luna and Joe Yang.

We leave tomorrow afternoon. Bags are packed, we're taking laptops, office supplies and small toys for the children of Kivabuka Primary School in Uganda.

Our thanks go out to those who donated the laptops (Joe Yang, Alex Chen, Irwin Casiano, Dee Lowe and Jo McLachlan) and the wireless router (Crystal Gutenberg) - your generosity is appreciated! Special thanks to Alex Chen, Gary Furakawa and Audrey Pau for making sure the laptops are all in working order. . .!

OK, so this is where we're going - right below Somalia (where the pirates are pillaging).

The race takes place in Mombasa (SE corner on the Indian Ocean) . . . from there we go to the capitol city of Nairobi . . . then on to safari in Masai Mara National Reserve . . . next, an all-night safari at Lake Nakuru, back to Nairobi and finally - home!

Total time to get to our destination (4 airline segments later) from Long Beach, CA - approximately 32 hours. We have a 9-hour layover in London and hopefully we can get some sightseeing in while we're there. Stay tuned!

Music for our Kenya Trip!

Music for our Kenya trip!

We're Really Going!

11/7/08

OK - Jerry and I received our shots: Meningitis, Hepatitis A and Yellow Fever - we also have our meds for malaria, typhoid, and diahhrea. Passports are on the way to the place that issues the visas. Jersey/Shirt sizes are off to Dr. Chen to be ordered. Tickets are finalized . . .