KENYA Part 4: Land crabs of the Indian Ocean

After our amazing safari we decided to visit Malindi/Watamu on the coast of Kenya. I feel a sense of closeness to India because Kenya's coastline is bathed by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. I just imagine getting on one of these ocean vessels making the same crossing Vasco De Gama did back in 1498. I would obviously have a more comfortable ride especially if I let the summer monsoon winds inflate my sails, pushing me East towards the Malabar Coast on India's Southwestern tip. What a glorious voyage that would be ! I could touch land at Cochin and walk down the spice market with its strong scent of pepper and ginger, both originating in South India. 

Kenya's highlands

Our journey from Nairobi to Malindi airstrip was accomplished by a short 55mn ride inside a small Dash aircraft. The view from the air is varied and devoid of major roadways. Bright hues of green and beige create a tapestry of sort only disturbed by the occasion settlement and unpaved road. We see Kilimanjaro in the distance which seems to hide in the haze of the morning. Landing at Malindi, we disembark by walking down on the tarmac to the "toy terminal" building virtually free of any security apparatus since the scanners are clearly unplugged. I read a sign inside that states (and I am paraphrasing) "Drugs are not welcome. Do not purchase drugs on the beach from anyone or you will meet our law enforcement team who will be sure to make your trip a memorable one". Interesting first impression. Did we end up in Goa ? 

Air 540 at Malindi

The taxi minivan from the hotel awaits outside and we are quickly on our way. We are now in an Equatorial weather environment in sharp contract with the highland cool climate of Nairobi. It is 11am and the temperature reaches a balmy 89F. The road to the hotel passes by villages, market places, restaurants, coconut groves, cows and hotels. Large tropical trees and vegetation are everywhere and shades the road from the intense sun. Auto rickshaws are the local favorite as a transportation mode. They are all Bajaj, the leading brand of scooters of India all inspired and modeled after the Italian vespas.

Beach side restaurant at Turtle Bay Resort, Watamu

The hotel is finally here and we get settled in before jumping into our bathing suits and heading for the white sandy beach. The hotel grounds are beautifully planted with tropical flowering trees and shrubs providing much needed shade and having the added plus of producing a sweet smell which gives a distinctive fragrance to the atmosphere. A small footpath leads to the pool area followed by a view of the beach and ocean through the coconut trees. Some lounge chairs are all setup for whoever might fancy a lazy nap under the palms or maybe read a story about Africa. Expecting my exploration instincts to kick in anytime now, I proceed to the white sand beach and reach the wet sand, gently kissed by the ocean a few moments before.

Low tide at Watamu

Touching the Indian Ocean for the second time ! Once across the sea in Kerala (India) and this time on the African Continent. What an awesome feeling, breathing in the moment and feeling like a milestone has been reached.

Looking for crabs at Watamu

As far as the eye can see, the beach stretches in the distance lined with coconut trees, its protective sand hosting a number of critters running around. The sand is not hot to walk on thank god but the sun is signaling to make sure to cover my shoulders and face at the risk of regretting it the following few days. Of course I ignore mister sun since I love to be warm. I m already wearing the whole protective baseball cap, sunglasses ,a T shirt saying "Brasil" and I live in Sunny Florida so how can I possibly get sun burnt ? what can I do when my neck wanted to get that zebra marking for good measure. OK so I am roaming the beach under 94F weather, the Equatorial laughing at me for being so white.

He was looking back at me kid

Noticing that the further I move away from the hotel the more critters seem to appear, I realize I am surrounded by crabs running around to their hiding holes in the sand as soon as I approach too close. I observe a young British girl having a whole collection of them and proceed to see how she catches them. How difficult can it be ? I just need to get around the claws and I ll be fine. Of course those little beasts run very fast, sideways and have eyes that pop up above their bodies to see what's coming. I observe the dance each of them does to avoid me. I soon figure out once submerged in a wave, their eyes retract into their sockets and stop looking temporarily until the water subsides. I feel I found the Achilles tendon. After a few tries I decide to enlist the help of a bamboo stick to help me reach their body, at a safe distance of the claws. It works ! I am officially a crab hunter in Kenya. I should have rounded a few dozens and made some crab soup but I decided to catch and release instead. What great fun it was. I got to explore the sights and have close encounters with locals.

A Moray Eel in a tidepool

Just a 100 feet from shore lays a coral reef with tropical sea creatures. Fearless, I put my mask on (without the tube I hate those) and start swimming towards the reef. Once above it, as I look down, I see a large grouper gazing inquisitively at my silhouette. A coral reef houses a large variety of fishes, mollusks, live coral, sea turtles, sharks, Moray eels and octopus. I saw many fishes, some unknown to me. The ones I readily recognized were Angelfish, Clownfish, Anthias, Blue dot bass, batfish, pufferfish, butterflyfish, dragonets, jawfish, lionfish and parrotfish. I also saw 2 octopuses running from view and burrowing themselves inside a rocky cave. This underwater safari adventure was worth the redneck burn I got from it.

The beach at Watamu

KENYA Part 3: Simba is swahili for Lion

An antelope named Barati roams freely in our camp at Mara Siria

After 47 years I finally made it to the Maasai Mara Reserve, King of the Safari experience in East Africa, the Crowned jewel being across the border in Tanzania known as the Serengeti. Actually the Maasai Mara is the northern extension of the Serengeti Plains into Kenyan territory.

The African savanna is just how I pictured it would be and more. This area seriously delivers what it promises the visitor. Awe inspiring scenery right out of a Hollywood Academy Award Winner like "Out Of Africa" (some of the movie scenes were actually filmed at Maasai Mara), tireless hours of game viewing through the open top roof of our jeep, a well informed guide capable of explaining animal behavior, approaching them respectfully and getting daringly close to them.

After a total of 5 safaris in a 3 day period we were lucky to see a huge variety of gazelles, lions, hyenas, cheetahs, giraffes, buffalos, crocodiles, wilderbeest, cranes, elephants, impalas and more.

A pride of lions is resting under an umbrella acacia. The only male is sleeping while the two lionesses are keeping watch. There are 4 cubs in the middle

A lioness is tearing the warthog pray she just killed. Her lioness partner is keeping watch a few feet away (out of the frame). Lionesses always hunt in pair or in group of more than two individuals. She started tearing up the softest part of the warthog (the rear) and worked her way inside.

Viewing cheetahs in the wild is quite rare since they are an endangered specie with fewer than 15,000 Worldwide. We were very fortunate to have 3 sightings during our visit to the Mara.

Plains Zebras are the most common specie of Zebras. They are found throughout tropical Africa. Here at the border of Tanzania, they graze the fresh open grassland of the Serengeti Plains. Skittish, they swiftly gallop away when pproached.

A solitary animal, the cheetah gazes at the horizon for potential pray. This is the World's fastest land runner. Cheetahs can speed up from 0 to 64mph in 3 seconds and reach a record 75mph in short bursts. They lack the strong climbing ability of other big cats, are able to purr while inhaling but cannot roar.

This is the warthog, Africa's only wild pig specie adapted to grazing and to savanna conditions. They live in groups called sounders. They do have a home range which they freely roam in search of food.

An Agama lezard in Maasai Mara.

The Savanna of Maasai Mara is sparsely planted with umbrella acacias.

Water Buffaloes are fierce and dangerous to humans. In Africa, they kill 200 people a year and are nicknamed "widow makers".

The Mara river is witness to the annual Wilderbeest Migration from Maasai Mara to the Serengeti National Park accross the river in Tanzania.

KENYA Part 2: 2 teenagers, supplies for 3 days and Pepe Kalle

We leave Nairobi, Kenya's bustling capital city located at 1850m, to drive the beautifully maintained road leading to the Great Rift Valley. It's 630am and at this time of the day, the fog draws gentle misty figures over the tea plantations of the highlands. The roadway is lined with shacks and makeshift stores which sells a variety of products, most of them made in a land far far away we know as China. The road gradually climbs the gentle slope amongst eucalyptus trees to a view point at some 2190m high. The view is breathtaking.

The Great Rift Valley

I am engulfed with a feeling of freedom and space. Like some invisible chains have been lifted and I feel a sense of timelessness. I am on top of a ridge where, as far as the eye can see, spread the homeland of the Australophitecus afarensis who once thrived and evolved here. The land is open and wide, planted with volcanic cones and seeded with umbrella acacias. Not a thick forest, just here and there to make sure living beings are able to shade themselves from the intense heat of the day.

Narok

Crossing the valley surrounded by ancient extinct volcanoes bathed in hues of pastel greens and yellow, I can see clearly why humans thrived here. The land is rich, sheltering and generous. We all know that volcanic ground is very fertile and yield amazingly abundant foods. Villages and small towns are strung along this lifeline highway leading to Narok, a ethnically Maasai city. The Maasai are the most recognizable ethnic group in Kenya. They seem to pop up on every tourist poster at airports or along the highway. They are tall, wear bright red colors and are adorned with multicolored beaded giant necklaces. They are a pastoral society which tends to cows and goats. Their diet is limited to animal blood mixed with milk which is fermented over a few days and drunk as a meal. No I didn't try. I wouldn't dare drink milk laced blood in the heart of Africa.

Roadway to the Mara

We reach the turn off from the main highway towards our tented camp in the Maasai Mara triangle. The safari starts here undoubtedly. We are on an unpaved, barely marked country path which seems to resemble a river bed rather than a road. The deep crevasses, carved by rainfall from the day before, are like canyons on both sides of the road. And by road I mean to use that term very loosely. The path, occasionally shaded by umbrella acacias and giant succulent thorny cactus like trees, crosses the savanna, hillside villages, pastoral scenery which leads to a great plain called the Mara. Once we reach that area, wildlife appears as if it was placed here for our enjoyment. Suddenly appear, gazelles, zebras and wildebeests.

The Mara from Mara Siria

The road continues to the Mara river, passing traditional Masai villages leading to a hill side muddy and rocky road to our luxury tented camp, Mara Siria. We are now on top of an escarpment with a view of the Mara below. This is a glorious moment. The Mara stretches its legs across a wide, flat plain to the volcanic cones far in the distance. We can almost see game running around from our tent. After settling into our luxuriously appointed tent, I relax by listening to my Ipod fully charged with the beats of African drums and soukous beats. I loaded songs by Pepe Kalle, a Congolese soukous star from the 1980's who since died because he was obese. Yes unfortunately they have obese people in Africa too.

Mara Siria Camp. Tent number 12

It's now the end of the afternoon and the skies are painted with bright yellow colors. Tomorrow is the big day when we go inside the Reserve. I am so excited, like a 5 year old in a candy store.

Leshao is a Maasai from a nearby village.
He wears this outfit daily.
 He works at Mara Siria Camp in the Maasai Mara Triangle

KENYA Part 1: He even took the ipod on safari

Karen Blixen would have been horrified to see what sort of items would end up in my bags while I was touring Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve at the end of December 2010. I, unlike Karen who took a boat, flew to Kenya from Miami, FL. A short (well sort of) 18 hour airplane ride through London's Heathrow airport. I arrived in Nairobi to join the family for a 10 day safari/Indian Ocean beach resort extravaganza.

The living room opposite the fireplace inside Karen's house

NAIROBI, Land of the Kikuyus

Exploring Nairobi the first day, we ended up at Karen Blixen's house just outside the city close to the Ngong Hills. The colonial style house sits inside a spacious garden with a beautiful view of the hills behind. The house itself is very livable and cozy. I imagined what sort of stories she would have regaled her friends with by the fireplace, or what her thoughts might have been while gazing at the setting sun out the window of her bedroom. In her living room the table is set. Elegance and charm still bathe her brightly white bedroom, a Louis Vuitton trunk still open ready to pack some adequate wardrobe for a safari.

Karen's House outside Nairobi

Close to Karen's house is the Elephant orphanage, a David Sheldrick Wildlife Fund project, aimed at saving orphaned elephants and rhinos. These baby elephants are just precious. They come running towards bystanders who are positioned behind a rope, directly in front of where they get fed. And they run to eat like there is no tomorrow. Imagine a 1000 pound baby having a tantrum ! They then proceed to wash down the content of their bottles (they are bottle fed), drink up some water, run to the pool to get muddy and finish off by dusting themselves with the red clay on the ground. Now that's the fun part for the people in front of the rope really close to them !

Bottle feeding

The smallest baby as of Dec 2010

A short drive away is the Giraffe Center. For a small fee, one can actually see giraffes face to face. And their head is huge ! One of the attendant will give you some granules since the giraffe are on a strict diet.  You must climb onto an elevated platform to be able to see eye to eye with a giraffe considering their height is 14 feet . Their tongue is enormous and measures a whopping length of 18 inches. Their coat is soft and silky and they don't seem to be too keen on being petted. Once the food runs out so do they.

Feeding giraffes

The enormous tongue is able to reach food between large thorns of Acacias

INDIA, my love

Shy and timid, bright and loud, hot and humid, joyful and disheartening, harsh and unforgiving, India is the land I first discovered at the tender age of 17. I fell in love with it the minute I landed at then Santa Cruz Airport in the Northern suburbs of then Bombay (now Mumbai), a mega metropolis located on the lush tropical coast of western India. I stayed long enough to realize I would be back later on in life. Exactly 10 years later, I returned to India and lived in Delhi for 3 years. Needless to say I got close and personal with India. I got to know the good, the bad and the ugly. As a matter of fact when you are in India you get to see all three in one sitting. You can't go to town without the smells and the loud noises of traffic, you can't see the Taj Mahal without first being harassed by beggars and you can't go shopping without bargaining. India is like a mirror you put in front of your face. You may not understand or like what you see but when you learn to deal with it, it becomes a lot simpler. Some people just can't or won't deal. It's that simple. India forces you to open doors in your soul which sometimes are better left closed. It can be disturbing but never dull. It is guaranteed to open your senses and drive you crazy. It is a journey which must be taken at least once in a lifetime.

Jai Hind !

Father and son at the Pushkar Fair, Rajasthan.

The Pushkar Fair or Mela as it is referred to in India, is the World's largest camel market. 

Street vendor in Jaipur, Rajasthan display their nimbus (small lemons).

Delivering a banana load to market in Tamil Nadu

Joyfully performing tedious domestic tasks in a Mysore street, Karnataka

The City Palace in Udaipur. It was built by the Maharana Udai Mirza Singh as the capital of the Sisodia Rajput clan in 1559, after he moved from Chittor. It is located on the east bank of the Lake Pichola and has several palaces built within its complex. Udaipur was the historic capital of the former kingdom of Mewar in the Rajputana Agency and its last capital.

Potter in Songharwa, Bihar making Diwali diyas or lanterns. Diwali is the most important Hindu festival equivalent to a Christian Christmas in importance. Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas or dīpas) in Sanskrit: दीप, filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.  

The Taj Mahal in Agra is certainly one of the most recognizable building on Earth. With its graceful lines, the intricacy of its adornment, the whiteness of its marble and its location, the Taj Mahal is truly spectacular. In my 3 years in India, I visited the Taj many times and never got tired of it. Actually since I visited at different times of the day, various seasons and weather, I saw a different Taj everytime. The light changes its color and is ever transforming its mood.  The most beautifully crafted, like a jewel box lost in the middle of heaven (Mughals regarded gardens as a map of heaven on Earth), the Taj Mahal is truly the most royal of all buildings. It is worth many visits. I can't wait to go back again !