Other People's Children...

Part of living in our community and hanging out with our set of close friends means being around a large volume of people with rug rats running around. We don't have kids, as you may know, but we have had a great chance to be around them enough to get some excellent practice.

Something that I loved about growing up in Crescent Beach was the swim club. In the summer no matter where you were in the beach area, there was a gang of kids of one age or another, riding around on bikes, playing on the grass in front of Openheimer's before the foot races, swimming at the beach at the foot of Target Street, or exploring Blackie's Spit and all its mystery and wonder. The adults were close enough to be there, but the kids were far away enough to feel sort of on their own, and free.

Here, we are a little more confined to the walls of the condominium (not that we can't go out, but it's not somewhere you want your kids to on their bikes given the traffic scene), but even so, you see the teenagers hanging on the corner of one block - generally a few on bikes, a few standing around, you see the little ones under five riding their bikes "independently" with daddy about 50 meters behind walking, you see moms with one babe in a stroller and two other little ladies walking to the playground, and you see the kids just being kids on the soccer field, playing, wrestling, chasing each other, finding a dog to pet, deciding who is in charge, crying because they aren't, etc. This kids also have their "explorer" areas, which basically consists of the hillside and bushes around the rec center that separates the houses from the activity areas. You'll see them looking for bugs, playing interesting made-up games, and using their exploration imagination quite well.

Last night, while at one of our common weekend grill-outs/bbqs - I was thoroughly enjoying the company of two of my favorite young ladies. After painting nails at the picnic table with the help of another grown up, we were sitting up on a big outdoor loungy-couch thing and telling stories of Lazybonia. (Based on a storybook that I can't seem to find anywhere). We were making up stories about Marnie McMac and Cheese, Leila Lemonbottoms, and Tom O'Turkeylegs. Generally I'll do something like this for a while then I'll get attacked by a band of 3-4 year olds all running around wanting to cause some mischief. Then one of the little ones aged 2 or so, will come over and sit in my lap for a visit, and maybe we will eat some snacks of grilled fillet chopped up into bitesize pieces for toddler and KC consumption. Paul gets involved in some serious wrestling and chasing sessions, chats with a few of the little ones, and all in all enjoys watching the kids be as cute and hilarious as they are.

Yes there are tears, yes, there are times when I want to be with the grownups only, and yes, sometimes it's a late night for wee ones because mom and dad are just having too much fun with their friends too, but it's such a great way to spend an evening.

I sometimes have flashbacks to when the parents were enjoying summer as much as the kids were in Crescent Beach (because it's a generational summer camp for the whole family, and when you're a parent who played with the same people 30 years ago, it still feels like you're 5 or 7 or 9 or 11 or 12, 15, etc.) And when I do, I get a huge smile remembering how great I thought childhood was, especially during those CBSC times, and I wish my summers were still back in Crescent.  That these kids are getting something sort of similar, but on the middle of the coast of Africa instead of Vancouver, is pretty great.

Being expats, we will likely see a lot of them again - either overseas, in Houston, or in California, and I get excited to think about watching them grow up. So for Nico, Aaron, Nadia, Jackson, Joey, Violet, Sophie, Hattie Grace, and all the others, I look forward to watching you all grow and look back fondly on the Monte Belo days, and that crazy Miss KC who was always doing something soooo silly.

Golfing in Malongo on a Sunday Afternoon

So... I have a new assignment, and I feel it's necessary to dig in and chat with my stakeholders... Many of them are in Malongo, where we operate, and they are on a 28/28 on/off schedule. So to chat with as many as possible before an important meeting that is this Wednesday, I went to Malongo for the second weekend in a row. This time, on the half-day off on Sunday afternoons that these folks relish, I was invited to play 9 on our golf course. Here are the major rules:

1. A cart with two 9-volt batteries attached to a "boom box" playing anything from Bon Jovi to Jewel to Lenny Kravitz to the Eagles is welcome... And loud.... And mine for 9 holes! With an awesome caddy!

2. 10 people per hole... At the same time.

3. If you can't find your cart amongst the 10 at the tee box, just follow the music.

4. Shirts are optional, and become more optional as the day goes by.

5. Don't swear in front of the lady. I didn't make that rule up... But the guys tried really hard to be extra PC. 

6. If you hit your ball too far left on the 9th, then it's absolutely out of bounds... That's the Heli runway.

7. Tee up every ball; you'll be a hero in Malongo, and you'll likely top everything you hit back home for two weeks. 

8. Be grateful for the comradery - it's hard to find 10 people in the same round who don't take the game too seriously.. Let alone on the same hole!

9. Be very grateful that someone wanted some exercise and pushed the 75lb boom box cart around for you (me). Excellent caddy!

10. Nothing new on this last one - enjoy the walk and the company.

All and all a fun afternoon. Below are a few pics. Hope you all get a chuckle! With the crowd I had as company, we had many. What a fun group of guys!

First tee... All in the same 10-some

My partner Scott - AKA Maui, teeing off..

Scenic view... Rivals Semiahmoo's views of Baker and the coast!

My team and caddy, Chien... Yep... I know what you're all thinking.. Why does KC only have one pair of shorts for golf; they're pretty ug. ;-) and her shirt has no collar.

BTW, "Cowboy" Dave (guess which one) was bummed to find out I was NOT a Texas native... Because he could have sworn I was. Well, I AM a resident.

Happy golfing!

KC

What a Difference a Year of Garden Growing Makes!

Happy spring to all my northern hemisphere friends!

So... tomorrow will be the one year anniversary for me as a resident of Luanda, Angola. (Lord knows where my visa is for this next year, but I'm still here!)

I am still loving being here, love the friends we've made, the lessons we've learned, and the work that we're doing. Sometimes, I forget, however, to take a step back and look around.

Today, as Pablo has gone back to the States (second year in a row that we aren't celebrating his birthday together - much to my chagrin and his indifference), I sat outside and truly enjoyed listening to kids playing down at the rec center/park, and staring at the garden. (I haven't done much today but eat spaghetti, nap, sip on a glass of white wine, and do this, BTW).

But I also realized that I committed at some point to some BEFORE and AFTER pictures from the Garden from last year... (go on, take a look at the "before") and what it looks like now. Below you will see what a difference a year makes.

As of this moment, the skies here have opened up with huge amounts of rain, thunder and lightning as a sendoff for the rainy season as we slip into "winter." I go to Malongo again tomorrow to meet a few more folks, and as part of the 1/2 day off on Sunday, I'll be able to play Easter golf with some coworkers at the "course" up there. (will be sure to post something about that).

Life is good, we are happy, and the world keeps on turning. XO!

K.C.

A little more lush, and more fun! Can't wait to have a One Year party!

I'm pretty happy that I made sure we had good outdoor furniture for the home. It's been really nice having a seating area.

Wow. way more green and full!

We are considering being more effective in our gardening... maybe make the hedge out of basil or something. Pesto anyone?

If I were to add banana, sugar cane, and papaya together, I'm thinking I might have a pretty good mix. If only the fruit would grow!

Banana tree and hibiscus! My mom has a hibiscus this size in Vancouver... it's 35 years old or so...

Check out that papaya tree! I'm deciding now that we may never actually get to eat fruit from it, as the maintenance guys are famous for lifting fruit from the residents' gardens, but it's cool nonetheless.

We now have something like 10 papaya trees in the yard. We're not sure if we like papaya (see caption above about maintenance staff lifting them...) but it's pretty cool to be from Canada and have papaya as a common fruit!

Our pepper garden - Scotch bonnets on the left, green and red bell peppers on the right, and bunch of pain in the @$$ pink weed flowers that get in the way of everything.

Hello! Passion fruit all over the place on both fences to the back yard. Delish!

Well - What about Fridays? Fifis and Fun at the Rec Center!

Before I tell you about Fridays, I'd like to share with you what a Friday in the US was like and what it has been like working for my company for the last five years.

When Paul and I were dating back in California, Fridays, on those that we needed to work (since we get a 9/80 work schedule and only work on every second Friday), started off with a conscious decision to not get into the office before 8:00. We knew we were wearing jeans, so the wardrobe prep for the day was generally minimal, and before hitting the desk for the day, we would enjoy breakfast at a little cafe by the office. We'd work the day, mostly catching up on things that didn't get done throughout the rest of the week. We'd have a nice lunch, come back and work until about 4:00 pm and roll out for the weekend by way of going to get something delicious to cook at home or plan a dinner out.

When we lived in Houston, the story was about the same, except on Fridays, we hop in the car and head up to the Woodlands to visit Paul's parents for the weekend.

Here… we lost the 9 part of the 9/80, and probably gained about 20 more hours.. so it's a 10/100 or so. Generally I optimize the wardrobe on my side (jeans), but Paul still wears his slacks because there is a probable chance that he has a meeting that day that warrants being dressed for the occasion. We still get on the bus at 5:00 am, and we still follow the general schedule detailed in A Day in the Life… During the Week, but we have started to either go offsite for lunch to the Ilha in a large group, or we take about 1.5 hour lunch upstairs just to treat ourselves and really enjoy just hanging out with our work pals. We then come back to the office to work until about 3:00 or 4:00. The dialog about whether or not Fifi's is in the future starts around 2:30.

After we took this picture, Chef wanted a copy brought to him so that he could
have it for the bar. Paul's printing one out now….

Fifi's apparently can get pretty crazy later in the night. But at 4:30 pm or so, it's all ours.

What is Fifi's you ask? Only the funkiest bar in the Bairro Samba! That is all! I'm not quite sure how Fifi's landed in our lap - other than the rumor that the last Business Planner that was here - a famous man by the name of Connelly, was driving home one day, and was almost dying of thirst. He came upon a 2-story place watering hole where the beer was the coldest in Luanda. And voila - a Friday (and sometimes other days) tradition began. 

It's not a busy place at the time that we go there, in fact we're often the only folks in the bar. And Fifi and the Chef welcome us all with open arms, put out some roasted peanuts and grilled plantains, and we enjoy a few cold Nocal beers while watching the traffic go by below.

Me looking down at traffic and playing with the kids downstairs. Samba Road runs up by where the three-story yellow building can be seen. We are down in the trenches on the dirt roads… note the barbed wire behind my head.

Sometimes, Fifi's neighborhood kids, potentially related to her, come upstairs to the porch area, and we play with them and chit chat in Portuguese. The last time we were there, we were sitting outside chatting, when all of a sudden, two little girls, maybe 4 and 5 yelled out "Kay-Ceeeee!!!" and all of turned and thought "do they know my name?" Somehow they do. And they called it again, and when I waved they ran off. We played a little peek a boo for a while. 

The other thing that catches people by surprise is seeing a female estrangeiro (we are a rare breed) sitting upstairs in the bairro with a beer in hand. People driving by can't help but stare - I'm sort of a novelty - so I smile and wave back. Paul calls it my glory moment. I call it being polite and acknowledging when someone is looking at you.

A view out the side window of Fifi's. 

Our good friend Carlos gave up beer for Lent. He brought his
own Hendrick's to Fifi's instead. No problem.

After we have sufficiently enjoyed the time there we generally head out to home and lay low for a bit until the sun goes down. Then we join up with everyone for Recreation Center Spectacular. About 10 families or so join up on most Friday and/or Saturday nights for a get together. We grill food, enjoy an adult beverage or diet Coke, and just have a good time chit chatting about anything ANYTHING BUT work. These are my co-workers M-F, but they are great company on the weekends. Their kids are fantastic, and we enjoy being part of the Monte Belo family here. 

A Day in the Life…During the Week

One of the questions that I get most often is: "What's it like living in Angola?"

My safe and light answer is "Great - we love it here. The work is challenging but rewarding, the days are long, and the weekends are short, but we love it all. The people we hang out with are really fun, and we really have a awesome time living here." Or something similar to that.

But it really doesn't answer the question from a day-to-day perspective… So here it goes....

4:00 am - Alarm goes off, we hit snooze determining what exactly it is that we need to do to get ready - for me that is a "do I need to wash and dry my hair?" for Paul it's "do I need to shave?" - hit snooze as appropriate to meet the grooming needs of the day.

4:45 am - Come downstairs fully dressed with heels in hand and flip flops on feet. Enter kitchen. Remark how filthy it looks from last night's cooking (or if Monday, the whole weekend) and how I might give a Tazmanian Devil a run for its money. Open fridge, grab pre-made 1.5 L bottle of Tazo Zen Tea - perfectly chilled. Pour into Starbucks branded insulated 20oz cup. Slurp a sip. Pretend for a moment that I am at Starbucks. Chuckle at the ridiculous thought.  Take multi-vitamin to prevent low iron and promote good bones, and take malarone to prevent malaria.

4:50 - 4:55 am - Stuff giant purse with shoes, bottle of iced tea, and head towards the door. Acknowledge Paul (usually for the first time that morning) and kiss good morning. Walk down the hill and around the corner together to the bus stop. Mingle waiting for the bus.

5:00 am - See the big bus drive by and pick up a subset of passengers. Hope that our little bus that trails the big bus is coming (sometimes it doesn't). Breathe a sigh of relief or call the dispatch depending on which it is. Get on bus.

5:00 am - 5:30 am - Take bus to work. Leave the Monte Belo complex, watch the Security Detail fall in behind us and close eyes. Hold hands with Paul for a last moment of being Hubs and Wife instead of coworkers. Listen to the day's random radio selections as determined by our driver and on-board security guy. Smile that the Fugees "Ready or Not" is playing on the radio in Angola. Correct more seasoned co-worker when he expresses his disdain for rap music on the fact that this is R&B, and that it's a classic. "There's classic Rap?" Enjoy slight age shock factor that ensues, forget about correcting music genre. Enjoy rest of the song followed by Tracey Chapman, Belinda Carlisle, Phil Collins, wtc. Drive by "24 Hour Fitness" an open paved area with pull up bars and a painted running track in the middle of Samba Road. Think that I should probably work out a little more.

5:29 am - Arrive at work with Michael Bolton singing a classic "When a Man Loves a Woman" as we come through the security gate. The bus, my friends, is one of the only things in Luanda that works like clockwork. We are at the office at 5:30 almost EVERY day.

5:30 am - Get off bus at South Building. Wish those getting off at the North Building a great day, week, etc. Say thanks to the driver and our security detail. Enter work through x-ray machine and metal detector. Say good morning to the security at the door. Ponder what level of sensitivity the metal detectors are at today. Decide to go all in - watch, earrings, belt, and all.  Gain sense of elation that I "passed!" Observe, as my bag comes through x-ray conveyor, the others come through metal detector beeping with belts, watches. etc. Marvel at the inconsistencies of this world we live in. Wish the security guards "bom trabalho" and mosey upstairs to the "first" floor. So Euro.

5:35 am - Greet colleagues who are also in early, unlock office door. Start work. Work work work.

6:45 am - Give or receive IM with Paul "have you got a moment?" discuss quasi-work-related topic or fully work-related topic. Continue to work.

7:30 am - 8:30 am - Watch most of the Angolan staff arrive at work. Greet them all good morning. Continue working.

8:45 am - Remember I have flip flops on and switch out to my heels.  Go to a meeting.

9:27 am - Come back from a meeting to see that Paul has shot me an IM at 9:15 stating that he was going upstairs to Sandwich.com for a Tosta Mixta - this is a sandwich that is panini pressed with ham and cheese inside. A marvelous breakfast almost 4 hours into the day. (blog to be drafted specifically about Sandwich.com as a microcosm of Luanda)

9:35 am - Join Paul for 10 minutes. Say hi to the Sandwich.com gals. BS about whatever activity has gone on that morning, or some ongoing subject. Steal part of Paul's Tosta. Receive death stare from husband for behavior unbecoming of a colleague. Bat eyelashes for forgiveness. Go back to work.

10:55 - Receive IM from Monte Belo pal and co-worker as part of a group chat. "What time is lunch?" Agree on 11:15 based on someone's meeting schedule.

11:15 - Meet upstairs for lunch. Order food.

11:30 - Watch people who ordered their food after you receive it - tell them to go ahead and start eating.

11:35 - Remind Sandwich.com girls that you ordered food. Convince friend who was going to eat at his desk to sit around and enjoy a break for a moment or two.

11:40 - Receive wrong order from Sandwich.com, receive empathetic laughs from lunch time pals. Consume meal, laugh heartily with friends/colleagues for 25 minutes or so. Enjoy at how great and diverse the Colombian, Scottish, US, Mexican, Canadian, South African crew of company is at the table and how great this hour of respite 5.5 - 6 hours into the day really is. Stand in line for 10 minutes trying to pay for the meal that you ordered that was wrong.

12:15 - Go back to work.

14:45 - Start IM-ing about ETD. Agree we can make it out of here by 16:00.

15:45 - IM that I have a meeting until 16:15

16:15 - Receive IM from Paul from 16:08 that he has a project that he needs to close up that will take him until 16:45.

16:50 - Receive IM that he's ready. Respond with "Okay, give me 5 minutes, can you call Emiquilson?"

17:05 - Meet Paul downstairs in the car - hop in the back. Greet Emiquilson and ask about his day. Buckle seat belt - Emiquilson will not move the car unless we are buckled in. He's such a pro. Get on the road. Debrief with Paul about the rest of his day/my day. Start talking about what our next meal or vacation is going to be.

17:10 - Hit traffic.

17:35 - Move 10 feet from when we hit traffic. Extrapolate based on this data point that we will be home by midnight. Buy popcorn from the popcorn vendor. Watch life happening on the streets of Luanda - children playing in water coming from a pipe, vendors selling everything under the sun, taxis crammed full of people jockeying for position, motos zooming by threatening your side mirrors, Generals and their convoys somehow budging through the parking lot of gridlock by way of a police siren or escort or something like that, little boys jumping on the back bumper of a truck only to be chased off moments later. All part of the show.

17:55 - Introduce a topic of conversation to Paul about something deep and meaningful by way of a poignant thought or question - receive no response back from the front seat. Note that Paul has fallen asleep. Read a book, do some work, or fall asleep myself.

18:45 - Arrive at home. Get Emiquilson a water or Sumol (sparkling sweet juice) and thank him for the day. Smile with pure joy that the house is magically organized, the bed is made, the kitchen is clean, and the air conditioning is on HIGH. Turn off the A/C. Praise and thank Veronica over and over again.

18:50 - Decide what to make for dinner based on what kind of food is in the house. Resort to soup made with peppers and onions from the garden and some guacamole and chips, and a mango.

19:30 - Reflect proudly on the nice meal I just made and the nice mess I have left. Wonder what's going to happen when I go back to the States and have to actually clean up after myself. Confirm primary reason why to stay overseas.

19:45 -  80% of the time, make an excuse to not work out. Surf the web, read a book, etc.

20:00 - Go to bed… to do it all again.

20:05 - Kiss Paul goodnight while listening to him watching You-Tube videos on RC Cars, real cars, or watches. Contemplate how that can be interesting, then dismiss it and fall asleep.

Repeat.

Out and About on our First Safari Day

Oh my gosh, we're going on SAFARI!!!!! (If only we can get out of this airport!) Luanda Airport is not winning any efficiency awards.

The first day of safari after our arrival was all about discovery…. Just kind of figuring out what this was all about.  We were constantly being surprised by the scenery and all the superlatives I can’t think of to describe it, the experience itself (kind of pinching ourselves and giggling that we really ARE on safari), and enjoying the over-the-top fancy-pantness of the place we were staying. Here's our view!

Paul lounging outside our tent - we were snacking on watermelon dipped in gin as a welcome aperitif. Refreshing and delicious.

The extra touches that the And Beyond staff put into things was really impressive. We received little good night messages with roses every night at Bataleur, and we were woken by coffee delivered to our tent in the mornings. With us being just a little under the weather, they also brought hot water and salt for us to gargle. The And Beyond lodges have the best service I've ever experienced.

I'll need to do a blog just on the design of the And Beyond lodges… they were all breathtaking, creative, tasteful, and something I would love to call home

Here is the main camp tent. We were able to lounge about after safari each evening, and enjoy meeting other guests and hearing about their experiences too.

This was the view from the plane as we flew into Kichwa Tembo Airstrip. We ended up driving all over this area. It was so vast.

We spent the afternoon of the first day finding lions, giraffes, zebras, coyotes, and cape buffalo. Eric, our guide kept us out until the dusk of dusk; we were probably the last to leave the park our camp was just 10 minute’s drive outside of camp, so we had the luxury of staying late. On our way home ran into a hippo in the rain right in our path where we had to cross through a little stream in the truck.

The trucks themselves are pretty fantastic. Paul and I spent a good couple of days after we got back researching the practicality of owning a safari truck. I think we need to have a home in the Masai Mara for it to actually have any practicality at all, but they sure are rugged and chic in a rustic way.  I can just imagine rolling up to Starbucks on a Saturday morning in my forest green 8-seater Land Cruiser or Range Rover with open sides and a double diesel tank. Super fixe. (Super “cool” in Portuguese – Fixe sounds like Feesh).

 

Eric, our first driver was very knowledgable about the animals; he was great with Nico, and was really a good teacher for all of us.

One of my first zebras… at some point along the trip you start to become a little numb to the exotic factor associated with the animals. It's only because of the sheer volume of animals that can be seen. I still look at the pictures though and love the way they look.

Our poor General cape buffalo… he was such a lonely beast eating grass by the riverside.

Our first lioness. We were so amazed to see her up close and yawning like crazy… rough day hunting and eating, I guess.

We could hear the elephants trumpeting as they walked across the plane. The demonstrate such a tight bond to one another, never leaving anyone too far behind, and making sure the young are between the adults.  

If this was my backyard, I would never tire from the view. The colors of the grass and trees together are striking.

We got back to the lodge and were welcomed to a very warm scene including four tables set for the guests at the lodge. There are only about 10 tents that housed two people each, and the Bataleur Camp did an excellent job of keeping everyone’s space from each other so that you really felt like the only guests in the whole place if you wanted to. Alternatively, you could also engage with other guests in the comfy sitting areas.  Rose petals covered the table, and we enjoyed our first evening in the Masai Mara.

Again, I need to blog about the decor. I really do want to retire here…. and Munich….

Safari Time - First Day in Masai Mara

I haven't been great at posting about our safari. Mostly because I was overwhelmed by the number of photos that we had jointly taken between two couples with three cameras and two iPhones.

That said, I wanted to capture some of the stories about our trip before they started to fade away… that, and we're leaving on Friday for Victoria Falls, so I want to make sure that I've caught up to at least our trips in the 3rd quarter of last year!

We departed Luanda for Nairobi, and not only were we with our good friends Lina, Edgar, and their son Nico, but on the same flight were one of my co-workers, my big boss, and their wives. They were headed on safari too, and we ended up running into them again the next day at the domestic airport. (Good timing for a vacation, I can't miss emails from the big boss if he's not sending them!)


The first evening we stayed at the Norfolk hotel, which was just lovely. This is where we learned about dawas the "medicine" drink - dawa means magic potion in Swahili.  Honey, lime, and vodka on ice?... okay! This was especially nice because we were fighting a bit of a sore throat/cough for a fair part of the trip, so whatever could help was welcomed. The boys quickly became fans of Tusker beer. The beer was named after the elephant that killed the owner and brewmaster. Nice.



We woke up early the next day, and after a quick breakfast under the veranda at the Norfolk, we hopped a car to the domestic airport to take us to our first airstrip.

The airport is itsy bitsy, but it works… we were quite limited in what we could pack. Each of us was constrained to 30lbs (including my camera and lenses?) - luckily they let that slide. We hopped on a plane that looked like a bus inside, which took us to the Okiombo airstrip, where we waited for our next plane.. In the end, this was sort of like taking buses - where Okiombo was a central station.

Nico at Okiombo - He had just received his first pair of binoculars….

Several visitors would first land, and then either a safari car would be there for some of them, or another plane would land and pick us up in smaller batches to go to their respective camps. The Masai were there to help move the luggage from one plane to another. This was the first time I saw Masai in person, and their tartans were in striking contrast to their deep chocolate skin tone and the blond tones of the Masai Mara. It was really beautiful.

We had a little time to kill at the air strip, so it turned into "photo shoot" at Okiombo. Here's a nice one of Lina and Nico. I was practicing my portrait shots…

We caught a little hopper to Kichwa Tembo airstrip, where we landed and were welcomed by our hosts for our first safari stop in the Masai Mara at the And Beyond Bataleur camp.

 We were warmly welcomed with a little mid morning snack, right at the airstrip, we had a little table set up with a full bar, snacks, champagne, and our first view of the Masai Mara and of zebras. They were all over the place. Our safari guide was there with the car waiting for us, and on our way to the camp, he gave us a little mini safari, where we met a General cape buffalo. Generals are the oldest cape buffaloes, and they have effectively been retired from the herd, and go rogue and become loaners. Generally younger buffaloes have given them the boot.

When we got to the camp we were in awe. We very quickly checked out our tents, which were amazing, and spurred me to consider living in the Masai Mara when I retire. I quickly set up the tripod for some photos (the airstrip is in the far far distance, and we could see a plane parked when looking through my telephoto lens.) Sure enough we were lucky to have visitors almost right away.

Edgar and Lina were one camp over from us (we couldn't see each other, but we were able to hear them) and all of a sudden we hear "guys! look out your window!" We ended up having a pack of elephants welcome us to the Masai Mara by crossing about 400 m in front of us as one of our very first experiences. We were pretty much overwhelmed at this point. Something Lina commented on early on in the trip and stuck with us was that "these animals weren't placed here…. this is their home!" You see a lion in a zoo, or an elephant, and it's just not meaningful compared to this. Do this trip in your life.

We were all pretty pumped up by this time, and we walked down to the main camp to be seated right by where the long grass kicks up. Out comes a delicious first meal (keep in mind we live in Angola, and food is not something that we take for granted anymore). And so began the gin and tonics, which, along with Dawas, Kilimanjaro Ales, and Tusker beer, became the favorites on the trip.

A delicious first lunch in Kenya at Bataleur Camp. We are just in awe of where we are...

This was the view from our lunch table...

After lunch we hopped in to the safari car with our guide Eric. The first day we saw many giraffe, a pair of lions, zebra, cape buffalo, ostrich, hyenas, and more, I'm sure, but these are what I can remember off the top of my head. The picture below is taken close to where part of Out of Africa was filmed. I think I was most amazed by just how much space there was. I was never bored just looking at the landscape - it was ever-changing as we drove around, and it gave me a sense of both peace and awe all at once. I loved the Masai Mara/Serengeti the most.

In the middle of the night, I woke up, with a full moon lighting the "back yard" of our tent. I could have sworn that there were elephants right up close eating something… I got out of bed to take some pictures and then went back to sleep... Of course, my eyes were fooling me, and as the world woke up, the elephants turned into bushes and trees. But I did get to catch a nice sunrise and some moonlit shots of the bushes… what a goof. More to come - I will put together some stories from our outings into another post. I just wanted to introduce you to the Masai Mara part of our trip, and the Bataleur Camp.