Exterous' trip to Africa. So many kitties!

[Exterous]

We got picked up at 5:30am from the Nairobi airport and headed out to the Masai Mara area (Which changes names at the Tanzania boarder to the better known Serengeti).

Some people would say a self drive safari is fine and I was actually given a bit of a hard time on another forum for getting a guide. Having done a guided safari there is no way I would do a self drive one. And this is from someone who usually plans things out to do ourselves. First - there is zero chance I would take a rental vehicle to some of the locations he did. Second - good lord this guys eye's were good. He would point out and head towards animals so far off in the distance that I struggled to identify what he was headed towards even aided by binoculars. Add in his knowledge about animals and behaviors ("He's nervous. There must be a lion nearby." "They usually head here in the afternoon unless its raining.") and frequent communication (In Swahili) to other drivers about game locations and I was extremely happy to have gotten a guide. There are also rules that can be stretched a bit if you discuss plans with the Rangers and they trust you won't harass the animals

Some of the lodges provide a game drive for people staying there but we opted for a private safari. Maybe the lodge drivers were just as good but we enjoyed the ability to choose what animals we wanted to try and see when and how long to stay to try and get a great photo. Our driver had also taken photographers around and had a good eye for composition

 

[highland145]

Where's the signup to vacation with Exterous?

 

[IronWing]

Oh crap, think, think, what did I do now?

 

[purbeast0]

Wow those pics from the safari are awesome.

 

[Exterous]

 

[Exterous]

Where's the signup to vacation with Exterous?

There's a bit of a waiting list but with a large enough donation you can be put at the top of the list

Oh crap, think, think, what did I do now?

Heh - one of my coworkers made a similar joke

Wow those pics from the safari are awesome.

I've been saving a couple of my favorites for the next update

 

[Exterous]

Going into the safari I was concerned about an activity where we would be sitting in a vehicle for most of the day. In reality I wish we had a lot more time to have spent out and about. And I now get the "game" aspect of a Game Drive. It is a game to try and situate yourself in the best spot or even a good spot. Not to mention the patience and evaluation of animal behavior. As an example of the benefits of having a private tour - to get the leopard picture below we sat and waited a bit. She was almost completely hidden in the trees but was occasionally standing up to look for food. We were hoping she would get down from the tree because you could barely see her at all. Other vehicles came and went while we waited. While she never got down she did move to another branch where we could get a much better picture. Then she turned out and looked at us and we both felt a profound sense of...well I'm not quite sure but a mix of gratitude and satisfaction with a bit of a feeling of a 'special moment' thrown in. Shortly after she again re-positioned herself to be almost entirely hidden again - making us the only vehicle to have gotten this shot.

As a side note I did see someone trying to get iPhone pictures through one of the eye holes on some binoculars. I wonder how well those turned out

 

[zinfamous]

This is a good candidate for "LoL, didn't read!" or "and zero shits were given that day" memes.

 

[ponyo]

Those are some amazing animal pictures.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Did you run into these guys yet?

So that's Africa, eh? Where's all the sand?

That's cool. I didn't realize Toto covered that song....not as good as the Original. Wheezer is so much better.

 

[Scarpozzi]

There's been a problem this past year with sargassum seaweed in the Caribbean in general. We saw a bunch of it down in the Keys last year which kind of sucked and made for not so nice beach days as far as it looking cool and stuff. Thankfully in Grand Cayman where we were, there was none at all, except on the other side of the island where we drove to check out another place. It wasn't a lot and it was only in the close shallows. Once past that you could swim and snorkel no problem.

I prefer going to beaches with less people. We enjoy going to beaches with our own coolers and bringing our own drinks instead of paying $15 for a drink at the bar of a big crowded resort. We hang out at our resorts sometimes don't get me wrong, but that's typically at the end of the day after we've been out all day on less crowded beaches that we take rental cars to.

That sucks about your ears. I hope I never experience that. I have asthma and am allergic to a lot of stuff too, but the minimal dives I've done it hasn't bothered me. I'm in the midst of booking another trip to Grand Cayman in March to finish up my OW and get my AOW as well. Hopefully I don't get sick this time again and can do it.

When I beach it, I almost always pre-mix rum drinks...then just stock the cooler with ice and try my best to keep sand from getting in it. Then all I gotta do is replenish the ice and pour... I totally agree...I'll drop $20 on a big bottle of rum, $5 on a gallon of orange pineapple juice, and another $3 on some cherries for the garnish/juice. It's a cheap way to get hammered in the sun.

My ears do the same thing. When I dive beyond 30 feet, I've had my ears bleed. My deepest dive was 75 feet down when doing a checkout dive in a quarry. When I did that my ears had all kinds of problems. I actually have one of my ears produce too much earwax and after diving and it requires a lot of time to get back to normal. What's bad is that my earwax builds up quite a bit and it's fine if it's left alone...if an ear gets infected it can cause more to show up and then I have to clean my ears out with water and put in drops. It's a real pain....it's why I prefer to snorkel on the surface....that and because it's cheaper. ; )

 

[purbeast0]

When I beach it, I almost always pre-mix rum drinks...then just stock the cooler with ice and try my best to keep sand from getting in it. Then all I gotta do is replenish the ice and pour... I totally agree...I'll drop $20 on a big bottle of rum, $5 on a gallon of orange pineapple juice, and another $3 on some cherries for the garnish/juice. It's a cheap way to get hammered in the sun.

My ears do the same thing. When I dive beyond 30 feet, I've had my ears bleed. My deepest dive was 75 feet down when doing a checkout dive in a quarry. When I did that my ears had all kinds of problems. I actually have one of my ears produce too much earwax and after diving and it requires a lot of time to get back to normal. What's bad is that my earwax builds up quite a bit and it's fine if it's left alone...if an ear gets infected it can cause more to show up and then I have to clean my ears out with water and put in drops. It's a real pain....it's why I prefer to snorkel on the surface....that and because it's cheaper. ; )

I've never dove below 30 feet so I hope I don't have any issues. I don't really have any indication that I will though. I'm going back to Grand Cayman in March though to finish my OW and do my AOW dives so I'll know sooner than later.

 

[paperfist]

That's cool. I didn't realize Toto covered that song....not as good as the Original. Wheezer is so much better.

The Toto version has more soul though, Wheezer’s sounds flat.

Just like the original Hash Pipe Toto kills it, Weezer ehh

 

[brianmanahan]

That's cool. I didn't realize Toto covered that song....not as good as the Original. Wheezer is so much better.

 

[brianmanahan]

Did you run into these guys yet?

this is unironically my favorite song of all time

 

[Scarpozzi]

 

[paperfist]

this is unironically my favorite song of all time

I'm sad to say all I knew of them up to a couple of weeks ago was Africa and Rosanna. Then for some reason I stumbled upon their greatness. They have such diverse, funky, sappy, heavy and mostly well written music. It blows my mind that it took me 30 years to discover this especially in the current state of subpar music. They really know how to play their instruments and the keyboardist(s) is/are sick. Their story is also quite interesting and tragic. I think they started in '76 and in 2014 they put out an awesome and somewhat hard album. Most bands are way past their expiration date by then let alone together.

 

[zinfamous]

The Toto version has more soul though, Wheezer’s sounds flat.

Just like the original Hash Pipe Toto kills it, Weezer ehh

TIL 2 things:

1) Toto is still around

2) Toto has covered a Weezer song

 

[paperfist]

Going into the safari I was concerned about an activity where we would be sitting in a vehicle for most of the day. In reality I wish we had a lot more time to have spent out and about. And I now get the "game" aspect of a Game Drive. It is a game to try and situate yourself in the best spot or even a good spot. Not to mention the patience and evaluation of animal behavior. As an example of the benefits of having a private tour - to get the leopard picture below we sat and waited a bit. She was almost completely hidden in the trees but was occasionally standing up to look for food. We were hoping she would get down from the tree because you could barely see her at all. Other vehicles came and went while we waited. While she never got down she did move to another branch where we could get a much better picture. Then she turned out and looked at us and we both felt a profound sense of...well I'm not quite sure but a mix of gratitude and satisfaction with a bit of a feeling of a 'special moment' thrown in. Shortly after she again re-positioned herself to be almost entirely hidden again - making us the only vehicle to have gotten this shot.

As a side note I did see someone trying to get iPhone pictures through one of the eye holes on some binoculars. I wonder how well those turned out

OMG now that's a sunset!!!

Thanks for sharing your pictures they are simply incredible!

Would you run into any of those animals while say touring a city? I mean we have squirrels and rabbits and such all over the place so I wonder what you commonly see in a more of a less dense city there?

 

[shortylickens]

this is a good thread

 

[Zanovar]

WOW love your pics

 

[Exterous]

Here are a few more and some videos from the tip. Apologies for some of the videos - my wife wasn't familiar with how my phone adjusts for lighting

This is how they keep the beds warm at night. Being from Michigan I just set my hot water bottle off to the side:

Not a hotel I would choose to stay at:

Kenyans are big into decorating vehicles. These are public transport buses in Nairobi

View of Nairobi from our hotel:

Videos:
(I recommend turning the audio on. Not all of them have audio but the ones that do have roars and whatnot)

https://imgur.com/MnyEKrT

https://imgur.com/wVLwO1L

 

[Exterous]

https://imgur.com/XGv9sqr

https://imgur.com/b6CnWEK

 

[Exterous]

Parts of the main road from Nairobi to Masai Mara are a bit bumpy. This is me being jostled around and dropping my phone:

https://imgur.com/sAx2ixt

They are working on the road though. Instead of cones and street signs they use rocks to tell you where to drive. And the pattern of the rocks tells you if you can take the main dirt road or the dirt bypass road. I wasn't able to make sense of the patterns but I felt better that our driver made a few mistakes reading them too:

https://imgur.com/2yHsp44

 

[Exterous]

When I beach it, I almost always pre-mix rum drinks...then just stock the cooler with ice and try my best to keep sand from getting in it. Then all I gotta do is replenish the ice and pour... I totally agree...I'll drop $20 on a big bottle of rum, $5 on a gallon of orange pineapple juice, and another $3 on some cherries for the garnish/juice. It's a cheap way to get hammered in the sun.

My ears do the same thing. When I dive beyond 30 feet, I've had my ears bleed. My deepest dive was 75 feet down when doing a checkout dive in a quarry. When I did that my ears had all kinds of problems. I actually have one of my ears produce too much earwax and after diving and it requires a lot of time to get back to normal. What's bad is that my earwax builds up quite a bit and it's fine if it's left alone...if an ear gets infected it can cause more to show up and then I have to clean my ears out with water and put in drops. It's a real pain....it's why I prefer to snorkel on the surface....that and because it's cheaper. ; )

Sorry to hear you have ear problems too.

OMG now that's a sunset!!!

Thanks for sharing your pictures they are simply incredible!

Would you run into any of those animals while say touring a city? I mean we have squirrels and rabbits and such all over the place so I wonder what you commonly see in a more of a less dense city there?

Thanks and glad you liked them! Touring a city? Not likely because the cities there were pretty dense. Now their towns are much smaller than we would consider a town to be and yeah you could encounter them there. You would see everyone walking around with large sticks so they could make a lot of noise and try to scare animals off.

this is a good thread

Thanks