Author: Traveling Fullers

My husband, Bill Fuller, and I love to travel the world. We do an annual trip with our children and grandchildren. I am a retired teacher and author loving every minute of every day...

Last day in the Crater before heading home

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Well, all good things must come to an end and so we find ourselves at the last day of this incredible adventure!

We have loved this gorgeous Lodge and its amazing staff! We have enjoyed magnificent views of the crater from our room while sitting in front of the fireplace– including looking at Zebra right on our front porch steps!
However, I do,have to say the game drive here was “ho hum!”  We have been spoiled by all the magnificent animals we have seen so close to us!  There are a couple of reasons why the game drive here wasn’t as exciting.  The first thing is that none of the guides talk to each other by radio unless they are from your company.  This results in 10 vehicles lined up on the road looking at something and you have no idea what it is until you spot it yourself!  Another reason is that no vehicles are allowed off the road.  Most of the animals stay far away from the vehicle traffic so when you do see something, it is usually quite far away.  We saw a pair of lions mating but it was too far away for photography.. The animals that stay close to the road are Wildebeests and zebras.  We’ve seen so many of them that now it’s like seeing a herd of cattle on the range!  There are so many vehicles on the road that you are eating the dust and exhaust fumes a lot.  When you try to slow  down to provide “dust space” another car comes racing up to pass you…It does make you glad you are in an enclosed vehicle with a “pop top for viewing” because of the dust and cool temperatures, but its not as easy to do photos, especially if your short.  I had to stand on the car seat in order to shoot and when you’re moving, that’s not easy!
We did see a very pink necked (their necks turn pink in breeding season) male Ostrich try to mate with a female, but she was having none of it and took off running.  She was faster so he gave up. Guess his neck wasn’t “pink” enough…And speaking of pink, we saw over 1,000 pink flamingos in the lake.  Quite amazing!  
Despite some of the drawbacks to the game drive, we have enjoyed the stop.  Thank you to all the new friends we’ve made and the amazing memories we are taking home.  Africa is an amazing continent and we’ve all loved every second of if!!
Dinner in our lodge!

Good morning from the porch balcony!

Zebra having a dust bath!
Jackal who wandered by..
Our friends on their way to water,,
This funny guy is a secretary bird!
Buffalo seat!
Note his pink neck!
The one that got away!
Our lodge..

A couple of photos I left out the other day. Daniel and Grant found this abandoned Ostrich egg at Mara Plains!
Zebra outside our door.
This big guy was standing in the middle of the road and didn’t want to move!  Had to wait for him to decide to move on!
And you thought I was kidding about the flamingos!  I couldn’t even get them all in the camera shot!
Goodbye Wildebeests!

Ngorongongo Crater lodge in Tanzania

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We left our new friend this morning at Mara Plains after one last early morning game drive.  We found two lions and one beautiful male Cheetah!  We even had a small adventure of getting stuck in the mud with our vehicle!  Daniel jacked up the back end and Bill and Grant  sat on the hood on the right front side and we made it out!!!

After four flights, we arrived at the 7500 ft Ngorongoro  Crater  lodge.  It is beautiful!  Crystal chandeliers and roses everywhere!  I’m blogging in front of a fireplace in our room!  Game drive tomorrow!  Upon our arrival, there was a lovely birthday welcome for Mary! Champagne and a yummy cake and the whole staff out singing happy birthday!! We aren’t sure how it all came to be, but decided it was in honor of Mimi’s birthday which is today!!
After a lovely dinner, Grant is watching the Dolphin game on his iPad and I’m blogging with photos again!!!
Tomorrow is our last day so were hoping for more “spectacular!”  Nothing has disappointed so far!!!

Male Cheetah at Mara Plains
Big baboon!
Observation point at the crater!
Duffy’s happy birthday celebration!!
Happy birthday Mimi? And Duffy?
Beautiful lodge.  Zebra grazing on the lawn.. Sort of like zebra lawnmowers.
Dining room.
Living room.
Setting up dining room..
The crater lake from our room…
More tomorrow !  

Hot Air Balloon Ride , Lions, Hippos, Rhino and visit to Masai School

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Well, it was definitely worth getting up yesterday at 4:15 am for our hot air balloon ride.  We were a little concerned early because it was raining as they were loading the baskets, but it stopped before we got off the ground.  We had a very experienced lady pilot, Ellie.  She gave us the softest landing of any of our 7 previous balloon rides..I will post her picture.  She currently has almost no hair.  She cut it all off ( it went down to her waist) in support of her best friend who has breast cancer and is losing her hair with chemo…

On our return to camp, we had a great game ride.  We saw a 12 ‘ crocodile, hippos galore and lions.  Grant also made an extremely rare sighting of a Rhino!  We even saw the kill of a leopard that had been hauled high into a tree to protect it…grant is getting really good at spotting the animals!!! Even the guide was impressed!
Our visit to the Masai School was awesome.  It was a primary school with 600 children, 300 of whom are boarders.  They built two dormitories 3 years ago.  The girls dorm has 50 beds with 100 girls!  That means two children per mattress and some don’t even have mattresses.  We did get to see some of the classrooms.  One classroom has 100 students in it that are 6-7 year olds.  Our guide , Daniel, attended the school when it was just one room.  The head teacher that showed us around was his classmate!
I had publishing issues last night so I’m also going to tell you about today’s game drive to the Mara River.  We spent a long time watching a small herd of Wildebeest decide if they were going to cross the dangerous Mara River.  They went to the edge three or four times, but never leaped.  They were spooked by two enormous crocodiles.  We did see  four female elephants cross the River with two babies.  One of the babies was too small and we thought it was going to drown.  The mother was frantic!  They all made it but I don’t know how the one little guy did it.  The River was way too deep and swift for him!  All you could see was his little trunk going up and down as he was tossed around!
We saw tons of Hyenas several lions and a VERY curious young cheetah who came up to the back of another vehicle and started chewing the spare tire!!! We thought he was going to jump on t, but he was content to rip the tire cover!  We saw several GIGANTIC crocodiles!!! They were just so prehistoric looking it was unbelievable!  We did see the crocs feeding on a recently deceased Wildebeest who didn’t make it across the river.  In addition to the depth (deeper then usual at this time of year because of the early rains) and the very swift current, there are large crocs just waiting for their dinner which makes it very dangerous for them!
 One of the MOST amazing things we saw today was two young male lions who started out hunting.  They hid beneath bushes thinking about a small baby Cape Buffalo as a meal.  They changed their minds, but the head of the herd saw the two lions and started to charge them!! Then the rest of the herd came running and they chased the two lions into a tree.  The Buffalo really tried to get them, but they were just high enough that they couldn’t quite get them.  One of the lions stood on top of his brother for a short time trying to stay away from the Buffalo.  It became a Mexican standoff and eventually the Buffalo left.  The lions came down and went on their way.
We also saw a warthog eating a dead cow that wandered away from the Masai.. Warthogs are not meat eaters and our guide who grew up here has never seen anything like that before!  
We really had to hurry home this afternoon because big rainstorms were headed our way.  The problem is not getting wet, it’s that the river we have to cross to get back to the lodge gets very high with rain.  It can get so high that we can’t cross and then it takes 2 hours to go around the long way!  We made it before the river got too high!
We’re off tomorrow for Tanzania. The game viewing here has been breathtaking..
When we go to sleep, it’s not to the sounds of crickets and frogs, but Hyenas and grunting  Wildebeests! 

Cornered…
Great guide Daniel!

Hippos galore!!
HUGE croc!  Maybe 15 feet!
Baby elephants struggling to cross the Mara River!
Wildebeest who can’t make up their minds to cross!! Two crocs scared them off..
Time for a swim.. Don’t want to get sunburned!!
Note croc on bank on left. 
Guy who led charge towards the lions!
Curious Cheetah.
Topi playing king of the hill!
The school…
In the dormitory..
After balloon ride.  Ellie is waving!

The lodge loaned Grant this great camera and lens!
Rainstorm coming….
More hippos!
The Masai school…
Impala…
Up up and away!
Baboons..
Leopard resting in tree..
Leopard kill hauled to top of tree…
Magnificent sunset!
Tiny baby elephant…
Vervet monkey…
We crossed right after them!
Magnificent !
Elegant…
I think this catches you up on the photos I couldn’t post before!! Enjoy!  And go Dolphins!! 🙂

3 Cheetahs take down a gazelle, Male Lion brushes bumper of our vehicle

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IWell, the morning started out as a beautiful sunny day.  But towards nightfall, the rains came rolling in again.  The trade off was a beautiful sunset and a magnificent rainbow.

This morning we ran across our three Cheetahs again ( mom, young male cub and young female cub). Thw “kids” are still a bit anxious and don’t have the patience yet to hunt.  They ran too early and once again the impala escaped…however, a short while later, there was a baby gazelle who was not so lucky. They made the kill and the gazelle, bones and all, were gone within 30 minutes!!!
The Masai take their cows out to pasture during the day and there is one place on the river where everyone must cross — including vehicles.  We were literally in a traffic “cow jam” with hundreds waiting to cross!! And, as Grant put it, they weren’t “moo – ving!”   :).  We did see Wildebeests and zebras cross the river as well.  There are literally thousands of wildebeests on the plains — sometimes as far as the eye can see.  It is very difficult to catch the feeling with a camera!  In fact, there are so many animals that you see something everywhere you look.. You do NOT struggle to spot game!  
A bit after the Cheetahs hunt, we had a male lion walk directly up to our jeep.  He was so close he brushed our front bumper.  If he had yawned, I could have seen his tonsils!  Incredible experience.  Mary was probably 5′ away from him!!!
We did spot a leopard high in the tree tops.  She probably took refuge there because of the male lion we saw.  Leopards fear the lion.  Later in the day, we saw here again.  She has an 8 week old cub hidden.  She had her kill up in the tree and we waited as long as possible for her to bring the cub out to eat, but it just got too dark.  It was a MAGNIFICENT day… 
Tomorrow we have a very early reveille –4:15 am– to do a hot air balloon ride, weather permitting.
Then we are going to the Masai village.  (I have to give out my notebooks and markers!) 🙂
It’s really chilly at night– especially with the rain, but we all just keep adding layers!  Wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to take my jacket off and then put it right back on!  
Grant has taken some amazing photos, but he has taken so many I can’t download them all to the IPad. The Lodge has loaned him a 400 lens (really big!) and he is doing a great job with some of his close ups!  
More tomorrow!  Beware if you have a squeamish stomach because I am posting the kill and the aftermath…
Hunting…
The kids!
Sharing breakfast…
Cleaning up…
The giraffe line up…
Breakfast in the bush for us…
Masai herdsman
Cow traffic jam
Crossing the small river.
Warthog
Crossing the swinging bridge back to the lodge.. Duffy doing great!
The joy of it all….

The pot of gold is truly Mara Plains!

Our wonderful guide, Daniel.
Sunset on Masai Mara..
Good night!  

Sumbaru, Saruni Lodge, and Mara Plains tented camp

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 Well, I have some catching up to do since I had no wifi at the last camp, Saruni Lodge in Sumbaru..  I will start with two days ago.  I have wifi at our current lodge (Mara Plains) but we are having rain storms and the clouds affect the wifi so not sure how much I can upload tonight.  

Saruni Lodge is built on top of a large rocky hill.   The drive to get up there takes your breath away the first time.  You are driving up the mountain on smooth rocks.  In daylight  it was tough, but I’m not sure how our driver, Chris, managed it in darkness after a night game drive!  The camp is quite
“rustic” when compared to Ol Donyo and Mara Plains, but it has spectacular views, an exceedingly nice staff, great Italian food “African style” ( the owner was visiting and he’s Italian), and super guides and game spotters.  Our terrific guide was Chris and Simon we nicknamed “Eagle Eyes” for his game spotting ability.  We were treated to a viewing of two leopards, a Cheetah, a troop of about 100  Baboons,  lioness and two cubs, several very large families of elephants , and a family of Ostriches with about 15 chicks that were one day old.  The game viewing was fun!  Did you know that elephants get 6 sets of teeth during their lifetime and when the last set of teeth goes, so does the elephant.  They live to be approximately 60-70 years old.  The teeth are ground down by all the chewing  of bark they do..
Our guide , Chris, took us to a Samburu village.  They are a migratory people and when the land becomes over grazed, they will move their herds of goats, sheep and cows to a new location.  The women are responsible for building the “homes” and tending to the goats when they are out grazing..  We had a great time at the village.  The women greeted us with song and dance and managed to get me dancing as well!  Great giggles were had by all watching me do the “chicken neck” dance in order to make my “Samburu beaded necklace ” move up and down!  We were even allowed access to one of their homes.  They are a happy people, but their living conditions are extremely primitive.  It is a VERY  HARD life..
At our new camp, Mara Plains, the rain has just stopped and out our “front tent flap” there are hundreds of migrating Wildebeests making Wildebeest noises!.. We’ve just had a fabulous lantern lit dinner.  The rains have stopped.  Before dinner, our great guide and new friend, Daniel, took us on a Game drive.  We immediately found 3 Cheetahs — a mom, and two juveniles .  We saw them attempt a kill of a gazelle, but the teenagers were too impatient and the Gazelles escaped.  We waited quite awhile to see if they would try again, but alas the rains came.  When the rain comes , most everything stops as all the animals take shelter.  We had “sundowner cocktails without the sun” and enjoyed the company of our guide!  
There are sure lots of strange noises going on outside our tent.  At night time, you are not allowed to go outside on your own.  There is always an armed escort for you.  The animals come right up to our fabulous 5 star tents!!!
More tomorrow.  Hope I can get photos to upload!

Samburu Village welcoming committee!
Dancing?
Mary is the one on the right.  My new friends!
The other Mary! 🙂
Beautiful faces…
Mary and her son…she is the wife of a warrior.  You can tell by her ear rings and chains and head gear.
a happy little girl and her father… The Samburu are polygamists and may have several wives.
Our first sighting of Cape Buffalo.  This a a group of old males nicknamed “the Generals”!
Our swinging bridge entrance to the Lodge…
Our hostess and Grant…
The three hungry Cheetahs that missed out on a gazelle dinner!
On the alert in case the juveniles get a chance to redeem themselves!
Our rainstorm rainbow….
Still hoping…..
Saruni Lodge in Samburu.
Our first leopard.
The young Cheetah.
Ostrich mom and one day old chicks.
Ostrich parents.
Our lioness looking for dinner.
The Garenuk ) sp? Also called the long neck giraffe gazelle.
The Garenuk
Really wants those green leaves. 
Crossing the river…
Let sleeping lions lie….
Awake and hunting.
Simon , also named by us, “Eagle Eyes”!
That’s a LOT of baboons!

Infrared photos from Night drive and breakfast in the bush !

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We had a wonderful dinner last evening and were surprised by a dance with junior Masai warriors.  I couldn’t get a good enough action shot in the dark conditions last night to show how high these guys can jump!  Any NBA team would be proud!  It’s tough to get a shot in total darkness during the night game drive.  They can only use infrared and no flash so you don’t blind the animals and make them vulnerable to predators.  I did manage to get a couple…. I missed the Jackals though that were out hunting!

This morning we were up and off with Seki for our morning game drive!  We saw elephants, Oreck, Gazelles, Goat herds belonging to the Masai, Gerenuk, (long necked antelope), zebras and Wildebeest.  After being out for a while, our tummies were thinking of coming back for breakfast, when low and behold, on the plains in front so us we drove into a beautiful camp site that had been set up for us for breakfast!! We had delicious fresh fruit, granola and yogurt, homemade cinnamon rolls and fried eggs on top of toast! Yum!!! It was such a fun, wonderful surprise!!! 
Grant slept up on the outside start bed again last night and loves it!  He snuggles down with two very warm blankets.  I, on the other hand, am very content to stay in the very soft bed warmed with hot water bottles!!!  Another game drive this afternoon.  The fires continue to smolder but they are far from the camp now.  All 65 guys were out fighting the fire the day before yesterday and their efforts worked!  They turned the fire back by beating it down with branches.
There are baboons in the area and we have to be careful because they come up to the lodge.  We had a footprint of one by our plunge pool.  We are the only rooms with doors.  The other rooms just have a curtain. It’s a very quiet day today at the camp.  We’ve all commented on how great we are sleeping!  No one wakes up at night!  We are sleeping soundly all the way through!!!
Today is our last day at this camp so we are savoring every moment!
Baboon foot print.

Our breakfast in the bush with Seki..
Our hand washing station!
Masai goat herd..

Our Masai dancers. 
Infrared on Gazelle.
Giraffe  grazing at night.

Surprise! Breakfast in the bush!
Showing Duffy the airplane about to take off. 
Gerenuk. 
Wildebeest 

Afternoon Sundowner Game Driver

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We have had such an amazing afternoon horseback game drive.  Grant, Bill and I rode horses to our sundowner cocktail hour to observation point..  Behold the beautiful sunset photos.  We are doing a night game drive tonight.  One more day at this magnificent and friendly camp.. The people are superbly nice…

Ray and Alyssa— our incomparable hosts!

Masai goat herd. 

Intrepid riders!!!  Grant’s allergies were fine!
Just before the ride!
Cocktail hour!







Morning Game Drive at Ol Donyo

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We had a marvelous morning game drive!  We saw giraffe, a Kori Basturd (large ground bird-largest in Africa that can still fly, ) a Gerenuk (“combination of an antelope and giraffe with a long neck) and lots of Thompson Gazelles.. I’m posting photos. Game viewing by horseback after lunch and then a night game drive after dinner.  Grant slept on a bed on top of the room last night—a star bed.  He said it was great. They  give you a really warm blanket and the birds wake you up about 6am.  It is chilly in the morning as you can see from Duffy’s outfit! :).   Fires seem mostly out, just a few smoldering areas they are closely watching .  

Our intrepid hostess, Alyssa.
Note the “M” on his rear end?  This the “fast food of Africa”!  McDonald’s on the hoof..
This is the Gerenuk.
Little yellow finch taking a bath .
Our wonderful guide, Seki!
And we have smaller sightings too!
Note all the swarming, biting ants .  They protect the tree from losing all its seeds to the animals because with the slightest disturbance they are out and swarming!  They do a better job then the thorns!
What majestic beauty… God’s country….
Enjoy !  More tonight!

Ol Donyo Lodge in Kenya

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Good afternoon everyone!  We have arrived at a place that must be African Heaven. The peace , serenity, tranquility and beauty are wonderful to behold.

We flew into the area aboard a small passenger plane.   It turned out to be a bit of a rush due to HORRENDOUS traffic from the Hotel to the small airport.  We were quite late but since there were only 6 passengers (4 of which were us) they waited for us.  We also had a small delay at the airport because when they weighed all our hand luggage and duffles, we were 20 kilos over.  I had to go upstairs and pay for the extra weight.  Not too bad, and we paid one time for all our other intra Africa flights.  
As our plane landed on the dirt runway, we were greeted by the most wonderful guide for the next two days, Seki.  He greeted us warmly and proceeded to give us coffee and tea.  We then did a brief drive around and were treated to views of Wildebeests, zebras, giraffes and Thompson Giselle’s..  
Our rooms are magnificent, as you will see in the photos below.  We have just finished lunch (delicious home made everything !) and we’ll be going on an afternoon game drive.  After dinner, we are going on a night game drive.  This is the only park where we can do a night game drive.  We will get back to the room around midnight and we have been warned it will be quite cold!  We will sleep in tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow afternoon, Bill, Grant and I are going on a horseback safari.  The animals let  the horses  get quite close….
There are only two other delightful couples staying here at he moment.  Our hosts are Eliza and Robert who have been here for 7 months.  They are on a 2 year contract.  He is a chef, but met his wife in Australia when she was at the University.  She was born and raised in Minnesota.. They are the perfect host and hostess.  They did tell us the biggest danger they face is fires set by the Masai to burn off the grass in order to get better grass fields.  They send any available staff to try and help tamp down the fire…They are an absolutely charming couple….this Lodge has an amazingly intimate “family” feel. The staff are all super friendly and so trying to accommodate your every need!  No blog tonight since we get back after midnight…
Grant and Seki..
That is Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance.  This is the first day in 2 months that they have seen it so clearly .
This is a whistling Acacia Tree.  Look closely and you will see lots of ants on the berries.  They are the tree protectors.  When a giraffe comes for the fruit, they can only get one or two berries before the biting ants begin swarming .  They keep the tree from being completely devastated be giraffes or other animals .
Wildebeests .
Zebra.
Mt Kilimanjaro in the distance.

Our first giraffe sighting. 
Our lodge lounge.
Clouds already building on Kilimanjaro .
Our deck outside our rooms.
Our bathroom .

There is an inside and outside shower.  All the water is recycled down to a watering hole that the animals come to drink from.  There is no other water in the area.
Entrance to our double rooms.
Our plunge pool.. Not sure I’ll try since the water is pretty chilly.
PS Our evening game drive has been canceled due to a grass fire.   As mentioned at lunch, fire is the biggest danger they face.  This afternoon , all available men were out fighting a grass fire that came quite close to the Lodge.  The smoke was pretty thick..Since all the guides have been out all day making fire breaks, our evening game drives have been canceled. 

 We are going on our morning game drive at 7:30 am. Breakfast to follow.  The afternoon safari will be on horseback and we’ll do the late night game drive tomorrow night after dinner.  The guides are all pretty tired since they have been out fighting the fire all day and making firebreaks….the smoke made for a gorgeous sunset though.. Dinner was a barbecue: steaks, lambchops, grilled vegetables, yummy potatoes, a salad I couldn’t see but it tasted great!!! A beautiful dinner and NO BUGS!  Not a single one!  And we have candles e everywhere!!! Amazing!!!!

Sunset from our porch.
Dinner.

Leaving Nairobi for the first game camp

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Well, what a FABULOUS day we had!  It started with a tour of the Karen Blixen House/Museum.  The township we are in is quite affluent and is named Karen for Karen Blixen who first came to Africa as a young bride in the very early 1900’s.  She was quite a pioneer.   For those that have seen the Meryl Streep/Robert Redford movie, Out of Africa, that was the story of Karen’s life.  She was one accomplished lady!  She married a Baron who came to Africa to grow coffee.  It was a marriage of convenience for both.  Karen wanted the title of Baroness and had money which the Baron needed.  She divorced him five years later. He had given her syphillis which she treated with arsenic.  The treatment made her malnourished and she was a heavy smoker and acquired lung cancer.  She had several years of happiness with her lover, an Englishman hunter and adventurer, Denys Finch Hatton. But alas, he was killed in a small plane crash in the bush in 1931.   Karen was greatly loved by the people during this period of colonialism because she gave her workers land to live on and a decent wage.  She was also the Dr. on the coffee plantation, treating workers with medicines.  She set up a school for the worker’s children.  She was also a VERY fine artist.  We saw copies of her work (originals are in a Danish museum) but we were not allowed to photograph them.

After the tour of the Blixen House, we went to feed the giraffes!  How much fun that was!  Duffy even fed several.  Their lips are velvety soft and on so gentle as they take the pellets from your hand.  In fact, they are so gentle, you can “kiss” the giraffe by putting a pellet in your teeth and the giraffe will gently take it from you.  I have a great photo of Grant doing just that, but unfortunately I couldn’t download
all my photos today.  I think my camera card 64g was too large.  I have now changed the card to 32g and it seems to be fine.  Suffice it to say there IS a picture of Grant “kissing” the giraffe.
After a beautiful lunch at our hotel, we went to a baby elephant orphanage.  It is a large rescue center for baby elephants with the goal of releasing them back into the wild when they are between 3 and 4 years old. Some of the younger ones are on milk every four hours provided by the handler that stays with them. The handlers even sleep in the stall with their charge.  You can “adopt” a baby elephant
and they send you monthly emails and photos of your “adoptee”!  They even let you know when they are released back into the wild.  So, of course, we adopted several babies. Bill and I adopted two females born In August for Gaby. Our family adopted one for our friend and travel agent, Arlene Feen.  And of course, Grant found one he was partial to and then Duffy needed one!  Boy was that orphanage happy to see us!  Lol!
We’re all packing tonight for a 6:15 am departure from the hotel to the small airport where we catch a small plane to our first camp, Ol Donyo Lodge.  We’re told by locals that the lodge is amazing!  Hope we have good wifi so I can report tomorrow night.
Coming in for dinner!
Dinner!
The most recent baby brought in.  He is not eligible yet for adoption because they say its 50-50 
whether  he will survive.  He has only been at the refuge for 2 days.
Getting ready to go to sleep!
One of our “Adoptees”!  Narok, not Duffy!! 🙂
Getting a drink….
Masai Warrior. 
Karen Blixen House which is 101 years old.
On the coffee plantation.
Grant’s adoptee!!
Breakfast!
Dinner!
Our guide and driver, Sammy and David!

US OPEN TENNIS and on to NAIROBI

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Let me catch everyone up quickly!  This is going to be a short blog because we just flew 16 hours from New York to Nairobi with a short stop over in Amsterdam and the bed looks pretty darn good right about now!  However, the Hemingway Hotel is GORGEOUS (have our own butler) and the all important wifi!  

We had a terrific time in New York.  Our first night we had dinner with cousins we had never met (on the Fuller side).  We had a delightful dinner with Anne and Jenny Borland!  We swapped family stories and had a great dinner at Keene’s Steak house –the oldest steak house in New York City they claim! (1882)
The following day we met with my sister and her husband who flew in from Colorado Springs to go to the US Open, a Yankees/RedSox game and a play.  Friday night we had an early dinner at the famed Club 21 and then went to see the EXCELLENT play Kinky Boots  (just won a Tony Award for Best Musical)!  It’s a funny and entertaining show. The costumes and dancing are wonderful and I hope you get a chance to see it one day.   Saturday my sister and her husband headed off to the baseball game while Bill and I headed to Flushing Meadows for some excellent tennis matches!  We saw an amazing 5 set match between Warinka and Andy Murray.  It was an amazing match with excellent tennis!  We didn’t get back to our great hotel, the Langham, until almost midnight after watching a 3 set women’s doubles finals..Sunday we all saw a great women’s final between Serena and Azarinka.  It took Serena 3 sets— the only set she lost in the entire tournament!  And what can you saw about the fantastic Men’s finals Monday evening between Nadal and Djkovich?!  It was simply amazing if you’re a tennis fan!  
Tuesday we packed one suitcase to go back to Florida with our New York clothes and headed to a great restaurant to meet up with our very special travel agent, Arlene Feen, who flew up with Mary and Grant just for the day in order to take our “New York” suitcases back to Florida!  We actually got to meet Maggie Maranga from Pro Travel Africa division, who helped put our Africa adventure together.  She gave us a few last minute tips as we all ate lunch together. Arlene was already at the restaurant with Grant and Mary when we arrived with Winn and Jim..
We had a great flight over to Nairobi!  We had great flat bed seats and everyone got some sleep! ( some slept better than others).  The change of planes in Amsterdam was quick and easy— off one plane straight on to the next one! We arrived at 8:30 pm into Nairobi and it was too dark to see much.  We had an expediter meet us at the airport and we were whisked through customs and immigration to our waiting car with driver and guide.  Customs and immigration is in a huge series of tents because there was a fire here last month that destroyed the previous custom building.  Because of the great assistance we got, we had our suitcases immediately and off we went for our 45 minute ride over some VERY rough and bumpy roads.  We have arrived at a jewel in the desert– the Hemingway Boutique Hotel.  Even in the dark we can tell this is one gorgeous hotel. I’m posting photos of our very luxurious room!  Breakfast tomorrow at 9:00 am and then we meet our guide, Sammie at 10:00 am sharp (not African time as he stated!) :). Can’t wait for the sun to come up so we can begin enjoying our surroundings!  More tomorrow night. Great wifi at this location..
Our hotel room in New York at the Langham.

Entrance to tennis Center.

 Junior semi finals match on a side court .

Men’s Final

Very cool and windy in the stands!
Trophy presentation to the winner, Nadal.
Our room at Hemingway Hotel!