From: Sherman Rootberg (biggiroot)
Date: Feb 12, 2007 2:43 PM
Subject: Monday, February 12, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
MOMBASA, KENYA
Today was the big day. It was billed as: “Amboseli in the Shadow of Mighty Kilimanjaro.” This was one of the included side trips for world cruise passengers. This one had to be expensive.
The ship did make up some time last night. I saw it going as fast as 20.8 knots while going into a head wind of as much as 85 kilometers. They must be able to it when they want. The people in this city could not have been more friendly. They literally cleared the ship in minutes and people who had early tours were walking off the gang plank as soon as we were securely tied up. There was no official band or performers at the dock but as soon as we got within ear shot, all the tour vehicle drivers were singing and dancing a loud welcome. Every single person we encountered, whether part of a tour, selling something or just people on the street, were sincerely friendly and were happy to have us here.
We had to be at the dock at 10:20 in the morning. It was a very short walk to the waiting buses. They were the usual large air conditioned buses we had seen all over South America and Africa. I should mention, even though all the buses were popular brands like Mercedes and Volvo, none had automatic transmission like those in the states.
This was a working dock, the largest in east Africa. There were no tourist accommodations at all but they made us feel welcome by placing the transportation right at the ship and allowing their selected people, selling tourist goods, right at the dock also.
The ride to the airport was only about ten or fifteen minutes. The scene along the way was total squalor. People living in stick huts on mud. Some were built of mud. No where was there electric or running water except by the businesses. Yet the people we talked to were proud of their country. They knew there was a long way to go but they were picking themselves up.
Once to the airport there was no red tape at all. We were taken as pre approved groups, right through the airport and out to the runway area. The only stop was a brief stop for a security check. A very friendly man asked me if I was caring any guns. That was it and out onto the planes.
They were not single engine planes as we had been told. Nor were they four or six passenger planes, as we had also been told. They were twin engine turbo props that carried from 17 to 35 passengers. They were not air conditioned and the seats were a little skimpy. Make that a lot skimpy. The weather was just partly cloudy and not rainy as forecast. On the way it was cloudy most of the time. It was all clouds when we landed and even a few drops. The one hour flight was actually an hour and fifteen minutes. It was mostly cool enough once we were at altitude.
As soon as we landed we were taken to waiting safari vehicles. The other parks used four wheel drive Land Rover type vehicles that had just fence like sides and a soft top. This park used almost regular mini vans. They had three rows of seats behind the driver and could carry as many as nine. No one ever sat in the front next to the driver and the last row for three passengers only had two people for a total of six passengers. The entire tops were able to be opened and raised about four or five feet. There were sliding windows on the sides but no air conditioning. There were Bushnell binoculars for everyone to use.
Each of the three places we went to were different. This one was very flat and was usually very dry this time of year. The others had trees. This one had none except for the perimeter. Most of the views were long ones but there were a couple of up close encounters. The elephants were not tearing down and eating trees. They were pulling trunks full of grass out of the ground and eating it. There must have been plenty because we saw many huge herds of the elephants. We saw just about everything except lions. Come to think of it, we did see lines. Trouble was, the only lines we saw were for the bathrooms and buffet.
This reserve was also beautiful. The rules do not allow anyone to go off the paved and dirt roads. We saw huge herds of almost all the animals. We saw many more birds also.
At about 1:30 we had a buffet lunch at very nice lodge. The Masai were the local tribe that controlled the area. They did some very nice songs and dances for us while in native dress. These are the people that do the very high jumping up and down. It was quite colorful.
After lunch we got back into different vans and continued to safari. We saw a lot more of the huge herds but we never got to see the top part of Kilimanjaro. It remained covered in clouds all day. It rained good the night before. But the skies cleared for most of the day.
We loved all the parks and could have spent days more in each. I liked the idea that we could go off road at the first two and I would pick the first as my favorite for just the safari part. It had the most hills and curves and the animals at close range. While the people were friendly at all the places we visited, each and every one we came into contact with here, went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We were asked to come back many times and when it was time for the ship to leave, a group of the tour drivers came dock side and sang and danced again. I would love to see more of this beautiful country.
Date: Feb 12, 2007 2:43 PM
Subject: Monday, February 12, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
MOMBASA, KENYA
Today was the big day. It was billed as: “Amboseli in the Shadow of Mighty Kilimanjaro.” This was one of the included side trips for world cruise passengers. This one had to be expensive.The ship did make up some time last night. I saw it going as fast as 20.8 knots while going into a head wind of as much as 85 kilometers. They must be able to it when they want. The people in this city could not have been more friendly. They literally cleared the ship in minutes and people who had early tours were walking off the gang plank as soon as we were securely tied up. There was no official band or performers at the dock but as soon as we got within ear shot, all the tour vehicle drivers were singing and dancing a loud welcome. Every single person we encountered, whether part of a tour, selling something or just people on the street, were sincerely friendly and were happy to have us here.
We had to be at the dock at 10:20 in the morning. It was a very short walk to the waiting buses. They were the usual large air conditioned buses we had seen all over South America and Africa. I should mention, even though all the buses were popular brands like Mercedes and Volvo, none had automatic transmission like those in the states.This was a working dock, the largest in east Africa. There were no tourist accommodations at all but they made us feel welcome by placing the transportation right at the ship and allowing their selected people, selling tourist goods, right at the dock also.
The ride to the airport was only about ten or fifteen minutes. The scene along the way was total squalor. People living in stick huts on mud. Some were built of mud. No where was there electric or running water except by the businesses. Yet the people we talked to were proud of their country. They knew there was a long way to go but they were picking themselves up.Once to the airport there was no red tape at all. We were taken as pre approved groups, right through the airport and out to the runway area. The only stop was a brief stop for a security check. A very friendly man asked me if I was caring any guns. That was it and out onto the planes.
They were not single engine planes as we had been told. Nor were they four or six passenger planes, as we had also been told. They were twin engine turbo props that carried from 17 to 35 passengers. They were not air conditioned and the seats were a little skimpy. Make that a lot skimpy. The weather was just partly cloudy and not rainy as forecast. On the way it was cloudy most of the time. It was all clouds when we landed and even a few drops. The one hour flight was actually an hour and fifteen minutes. It was mostly cool enough once we were at altitude.
As soon as we landed we were taken to waiting safari vehicles. The other parks used four wheel drive Land Rover type vehicles that had just fence like sides and a soft top. This park used almost regular mini vans. They had three rows of seats behind the driver and could carry as many as nine. No one ever sat in the front next to the driver and the last row for three passengers only had two people for a total of six passengers. The entire tops were able to be opened and raised about four or five feet. There were sliding windows on the sides but no air conditioning. There were Bushnell binoculars for everyone to use.
Each of the three places we went to were different. This one was very flat and was usually very dry this time of year. The others had trees. This one had none except for the perimeter. Most of the views were long ones but there were a couple of up close encounters. The elephants were not tearing down and eating trees. They were pulling trunks full of grass out of the ground and eating it. There must have been plenty because we saw many huge herds of the elephants. We saw just about everything except lions. Come to think of it, we did see lines. Trouble was, the only lines we saw were for the bathrooms and buffet.This reserve was also beautiful. The rules do not allow anyone to go off the paved and dirt roads. We saw huge herds of almost all the animals. We saw many more birds also.
At about 1:30 we had a buffet lunch at very nice lodge. The Masai were the local tribe that controlled the area. They did some very nice songs and dances for us while in native dress. These are the people that do the very high jumping up and down. It was quite colorful.After lunch we got back into different vans and continued to safari. We saw a lot more of the huge herds but we never got to see the top part of Kilimanjaro. It remained covered in clouds all day. It rained good the night before. But the skies cleared for most of the day.
We loved all the parks and could have spent days more in each. I liked the idea that we could go off road at the first two and I would pick the first as my favorite for just the safari part. It had the most hills and curves and the animals at close range. While the people were friendly at all the places we visited, each and every one we came into contact with here, went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We were asked to come back many times and when it was time for the ship to leave, a group of the tour drivers came dock side and sang and danced again. I would love to see more of this beautiful country. 
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