Hakuna matata...

what a wonderful phrase! And yes, also the song I had in my head for the entire 4 days we spent in Masai Mara on safari!!

On our first day in the park our driver, Leonard,attempted to cross a small river and failed. So we watched for an hour as he and several other drivers worked on getting us out.
We knew it would be a while when they took out a canvas rope to tie the van to another vehicle (TIA - this is Africa). After the rope snapped (obviously), we had a good laugh, and then watched as the next plan, which involved a cable wire managed to rip a metal hook right off the front of the van. THEN they decided to get out a chain, which they tied in a knot to the cable wire...miraculously it worked and we were off again.
Our first day scored us 4 of the big 5 and a ton of other animals. We saw a lioness and what was left of the wildebeest she took down, then we found 2 lions mating which was incredible, and unfortunately for the lady, quite quick! 2 brother cheetahs were catching some shade under an acacia tree and then we saw a solo female doing the same. Heards of buffalo, zebras (my fave), wildebeest and antelopes were everywhere. Luckily we got to see a leopard, and she was so beautiful. We saw loads of giraffes, elephants, vultures, bright and colourful birds. A few animals turned up that we hadn't really thought of, like, jackals, warthogs (quite possibly the cutest animal on earth...I would seriously consider having one for a pet).  Funny story actually...on our 3rd day in the park, we sa all this commotion with wildebeest and zebra running everywhere. Get this! It was a warthog chasing them! Freakin hilarious!
We also met some fantastic people on this trip...Becky from Virginia, who's here to volunteer for the next 6 months, but we think she should consider being a tour guide...this well travelled 22 year old took us into big bad Nairobi! And Joe, from Switzerland, who has done a ton of traveling in her time and was hilarious on our game drives, coaxing all the predators to go for the kill and baby talking the big cats. We also met Rachel and Simon from the UK. Simon's here to work for AMREF and he offered us some incredible advice and tips for traveling in India. And ironically enough, we all met James,who Simon is replacing at AMREF. James has been here for 8 weeks with his girlfriend Lee. They were finishing up their last few days in Kenya, then making a quick visit home to the UK, and a week later moving to Australia, where Lee is from. They were nice enough to offer us a place to crash when we get to Sydney, so we're looking forward to meeting up with them later this year. James left us with a fabulous new term - "type 2 fun". For example, climbing Kili would be "type 2 fun". It sucks the whole time, but it's worth it in the end. Hmmm...in some ways I think triathlons could be considered type 2 fun as well? 
The 4 days up in the Masai Mara with these 6 people was certainly NOT type 2 fun...it was fun all the time...

OK I'll try to post some pics soon

Finally an update! We're on Africa time now ...

What do you get when you put 2 Americans, 2 Canadians and a Masai in a land cruiser? 18 chapatis, a case of Tusker beer and an incredible trip to Chyulu hills.

Aran and I hit the jackpot when we met Becky and Jenna at Wildebeest camp in Nairobi. Days before Jenna was set to head back to the states, after working for a year in Kenya, she arranged for us to climb in Chyulu with her friend Sapaya, whom she has come to know very well.

So we met at the Ranger cafe in Kimana, a small town just north of the Tanzania border. For 6 dollars we each got a coke, a bowl of delicious soup, and a huge plate of rice, green beans, carrots, cabbage and onion, plus Aran got a half chicken and I had black beans...mmm.

On the street we spent a whopping 3 bucks to get about 20 tomatoes, a bag of onions, 4 huge avocados, 5 oranges and 10 cobs of corn.

Sapaya took us on a game drive through the group ranch at the base of the hills. We didn't see a lot of animals, but we ran into a gang of trouble-making baboons and a few Masai herds. Mostly we spent our time taking in the beautiful sunset and the hills and landscapes surrounding us. Kilimanjaro even made an appearance, so we soaked up every last ray of sunshine before making our way up to the lodge. After getting settled in, we stuffed ourselves with corn perfectly roasted by Jenna on the campfire.

The next morning we sat on the gazebo drinking chai, eating oranges, pineapple and chapatis with jam for breakfast. Good thing we ate so much because we had a steep climb! It was so beautiful and it got better the higher we went. We were accompanied by 2 Masai warriors to protect us from wild animals...they pointed out some fresh lions paw prints on the way up! Part of the path was a nice flat section through the forest where we explored huge trees with crazy roots. At the top we crossed over into the Tsavo west national park.

Following a lot of picture-taking we had lunch and shared a beer with the Masai..."save an elephant, kill a Tusker!"

Our descent was quick and really dusty so back at the lodge we all had a wash to scrub off the thick layer of dirt packed on our sweaty skin! We practiced some Swahili phrases while preparing food to accompany our goat. That's right! A goat!! Aran and I watched as the Masai warriors slaughtered a goat from their herd. It was kind of sad because the little guy was bleating and scared but it was quick. And someone pointed out that if you eat meat, you should be able to watch it be killed. One of the Masai drank all of the goat's blood on the spot. Then they quickly skinned and dismembered it, sharing the raw kidney, intestines and heart among themselves. The head was saved for the elders in the clan and the rest was put on stakes around the fire. It was impressive how quickly and efficiently the Masai prepared the meat. Sapaya explained that this was a skill all Masai men were expected to know how to perform.

When the meat was cooked, one of the Masai warriors cut pieces of the meat off the stakes and passed it to each of us...going around the circle until all the meat was gone. It's a good thing there were about 15 Masai with us because there was a LOT of meat and, delicious as it was, we filled up fast.

The 3 days up in the hills were the most cultural and fun we've had so far and we consider ourselves lucky to have had this experience...

I wrote this post a few days ago...since then we've spent a couple days in Loitokitok, crossed the border on foot into Tanzania, hung out in Moshi for a couple days, and today was a 10 hour bus ride into Dar es Salaam. Tomorrow we're heading to Zanzibar for some beach time! 

Big "hugs" eh? Well...see ya later

2 more sleeps...

It's been a busy couple of weeks... and the goodbyes have begun. One last date with Nick, Diwa with  Dani & Ger, a tearful squeeze with Katie, dinner with Matt & Tara (our biggest cheerleaders)... and they keep coming, or should I say going? Big hugs followed by a weird feeling that we won't see each other for a year or perhaps longer!

A lot of people are saying...it's just a year; it'll be over before you know it. It's true, but for me, it's the longest I'll have ever been away from my family and friends, so a year feels a bit like my first Olympic triathlon. Will I finish the year? How will I feel? I didn't move away to go to University and the next longest departure was 3 months in Europe back in 2005. Feels like jumping from a 5k to a marathon!

A lot can happen in a year. We're going to miss Cath & Lionel's wedding which is super disappointing. We're going to miss our friends having babies, but like Dani says, "you'll be back just in time for them to be interesting and doing stuff" Its funny because its seems like a long time, but when we sit down to map out where we want to go it's been difficult to fit everything we want to do into just a year.

This past Friday was my last day at work. WEIRD. After 6 years of Economical being my home it felt strange to be packing up my desk and saying bye to all the people I've worked with for so long. We promised Chris & Victoria we wouldn't leave until after their wedding and what a great move that was! We were happy to be part of their special day, and they threw one hell of a party. It was an awesome night, with our incredible friends. Merin I promise...I will keep my mouth shut on this trip!

Tonight we send Kaya off to live with Grandma. And yes, I know she's an animal but she's my small baby and I'll miss her.

Tomorrow's going to be the toughest...saying goodbye to the fam. So I'm prepping myself for some bigger hugs, ones where I'll want to hang on for even longer so that I can keep them with me for the next 12 months...

Oh the places we'll go...

It's creeping up on us! Less than two weeks to go and now that all the folks I work with are aware that I'm leaving, the most frequently asked question is, "where are you going?". So I thought I'd share the game plan...

• Kenya
• Tanzania
• Malawi
• Zambia (probably cross the bridge over to Zimbabwe for a different view of Victoria Falls)
• Botswana
• South Africa
• India (Nepal perhaps?)
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Vietnam (possibly connecting with my parents?)
• Taiwan (including any place Paul decides to take/send us!)
• Japan
• Indonesia
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Fiji
• USA including Hawaii, San Fran (joined by Katie & Nate for a drive up the west coast?)
• Finishing up with a road trip across Canada

And yes, you'll notice Europe, the Middle East and South America are missing. Aran and I travelled around Europe in 2005 (we'll hopefully go back some day) and South America feels close enough to do when we have money again (ha ha). We want to spend quality time in the places above so we're trying not to cram in too much.

Please note this itinerary is subject to significant change without notice. 

In fact, we're counting on it.