Final Safari

For my final safari in Kenya, I visited Amboseli National Park.  Amboseli is known for having lots of elephants.  And it didn't disappoint.  On our very first game drive, we must have seen a gathering of over 100 elephants, no joke.  Here's a group of them that crossed the road just in front of our line of cars.

I also got a final look at my favorite animal, the Thomson's Gazelle.  I know, I know...how can my favorite animal be a small deer-like-creature, when there are hippos, elephants, lions, and cheetahs around?!  But the Thomson's Gazelle is so darn cute and I just love the strikingly dark stripe running along its side.

Amboseli has a hill called Observation Point, where you can get out of your vehicle and enjoy a 360 degree view of the park.  My friend Angela and I were glad to stretch our legs and snap some photos.  

Besides elephants, the other big selling point of Amboseli is views of Mount Kilimanjaro.  Mt. Kilimanjaro is located just across the border in Tanzania, and is the highest peak in Africa.  (See my earlier blog post about climbing Kilimanjaro.)  Unfortunately, Kilimanjaro was shrouded in clouds during most of my time in Amboseli, but it did peak out a couple times.

My final safari did not provide an opportunity for many great animal photos.  We saw plenty of elephants and gazelles of course, and a fair amount of hippos.  But the only lions we saw were too far away for good photos.  And we raced across the park to see a cheetah, only to discover he had left the scene by the time we arrived.  But Mother Nature did provide some fabulous cloud formations and a stunning sunset, a fitting tribute to my final days in Kenya.

Exploring Zanzibar

For our last beach vacation in Africa, we decided to leave Kenya and go to Zanzibar, an island of neighboring country Tanzania.  The word "Zanzibar" conjures images of exotic paradise, but the day before our trip, we actually wondered if we'd have to call it off.  We were hearing reports of unrest and riots in Zanzibar, related to long-standing tensions between Christians and Muslims, and the residents of Zanzibar and the government of Tanzania.  We kept an eye on the news, and when all seemed well the next morning, we continued with our trip as scheduled.  

And I'm so glad we did.  Our hotel had the nicest beach I've been to in all my visits to the Indian Ocean.  The sand was soft, the water was not too seaweedy, and the beach was free of beach boys - the usually ubiquitous entrepreneurs attempting to sell everything from souvenirs to boat rides to drugs.

After spending our first day lazing around the beach, we visited Stone Town on the second day.  Stone Town is the historic town center of Zanzibar, designated as a UNESCO world heritage site for its preservation of the architecture and culture of the Swahili coast.

First stop on our Stone Town tour was the Anglican Cathedral, built on the former site of the slave market of Zanzibar.  Perhaps unknown to most Americans, Zanzibar was a key trading post along Arab slave trade routes.

From the Anglican Cathedral, we continued to an open market, museum, and window shopping in the winding alleyways...although sometimes it was just the girls window shopping, while the guys took a break.

Finally, we stopped for lunch at Mercury's, named for Freddie Mercury of the band Queen.  Did you know he was born in Zanzibar??  I sure didn't.

Finished with our tour, we returned to our hotel and enjoyed another day on the beach before bidding the ocean farewell and returning to Nairobi.