"Dude! Do You See . . . "

Well, we spent two and a half days in Tsavo and instead of seeing the famous lions we experienced the stunning landscape. We spent yesterday in Amboseli and instead of experiencing the stunning landscape (i.e., Mt. Kilimanjaro) we saw lions.



This is one of the many reasons I love to travel. My pre-conceived notions are always challenged, and pretty much everything is a surprise.

Despite the lack of Mt. Kilimanjaro as a stunning, albeit clichéd backdrop, our day was NOT a disappointment. We saw a ton of wildlife--most of which we've seen before, but the viewing is always a thrill--and, as I mentioned, we saw lions. We came upon a lioness in the tall grass, chewing on a wildebeest carcass. Soon she had eaten her fill and turned her attention to dragging the carcass further into the grass. A second, younger, lioness appeared. She ate her fill, then dragged the remainder even further into the grass. A third lioness appeared . . . It was a pretty amazing show but unfortunately, it didn't come out so well on my camera. You'll have to wait to see Mike's video!

And then, there was Brenna's now famous quote. After all the incredible sights we've seen, all the animals we've photographed, she walks into one of the Amboseli lodges and comes to a screeching halt in front of a poster pinned to a bulletin board. "Dude!" she says to Kristin. "Do you see the picture of that hamburger?" )This, you understand, is a reflection of how sick we are of Kenyan stew . . . )

This afternoon we ate lunch (no hamburgers, unfortunately) at one of the lodges inside Amboseli. After eating, I wandered around the grounds and came upon one of the Maasai employees. He took one look at the string of beads I've worn around my wrist for the last 6 years and said, "Are you a white Maasai?" I took the bait and we started an animated conversation. At some point he asked what state I was from and I replied Washington state, assuming that--like others here--I meant Washington D.C. But no! "Oh!" he says. "Seattle!" Realize, please, that he is completely decked out in his traditional Maasai warrior garb--red shuka, beads and beads and beads around his neck, scarification of his cheeks, sword at his side. Turns out, back in 2007 Sokoine was chosen as the Amboseli District representative to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo Maasai Partnership Program. For 6 months, he lived only blocks from our house!! He knew Green Lake, went up the Space Needle, climbed to 10,000 feet on Mt. Rainier and prowled Pike Place Market, among other things. Of course, he complained about how cold it was in Seattle (even though he was there from April to September) but he loved the city (of course :-) We got his email (!) address and hope to keep in touch.

Travel is truly amazing.

Oh. I almost forgot. At the very end of the day, on the way back to Loitokitok, Mt. Kilimanjaro finally cleared . . .

Photos: obvious wildlife in Amboseli; hyena in his den; Sokione and us, Amboseli; Mt. Kilimanjaro.