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Written by Randall Wood
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Sunday, 18 January 2009 |
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It's been two hours since the sun set over Kenya's Masai Mara, and deep in the African savannah our little group of safari goers is settling into our tents, shaking out our sleeping bags, and looking over our gear. Other than the rattle of crickets in the underbrush, there is practically no sound at all, with the exception of ...
the 10,000W diesel generator blasting dark, acrid smoke across the camp site and pumping desperately coveted electrical current into a set of surge protectors and the unbelievable diversity of chargers, battery packs, and electronic devices that needed charging. We don't travel the way we used to.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 January 2009 )
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Written by Randall Wood
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Friday, 16 January 2009 |
 Interesting and worthwhile opportunities to get to know big game animals abound just on the outskirts of Nairobi. We had visited Kenya in 2007 and enjoyed the Masai Mara, Samburu, and Lake Nakuru. Just over a year later we were passing through Kenya on the way to the Seychelle Islands and took advantage to visit some friends. We were only off the plane for two hours before we found ourselves at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the AFEW Giraffe Center and Valentina was eye to eye with both baby elephants and full-grown giraffes.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 January 2009 )
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Written by Randall Wood
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Friday, 07 December 2007 |
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Kenya ni Yetu ("Kenya is our country"): We saw these bumper stickers everywhere, and I saw it at least once painted on the side of a roadside shop. Kenyans clearly have a great love for their nation and with pride comes the essential drive to improve, something many nations wallowing in misery could clearly stand to gain. We enjoyed Kenya as well. Here's why.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 )
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Written by Randall Wood
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Wednesday, 15 August 2007 |
Day breaks over the Samburu National Park in an auburn glow that seeps up over the mountain tops, a broad lumpy landscape the colors of fire. Shortly after we begin the temperature soars and the grass crackles in the dry equatorial sunlight. The dry grasslands are punctuated only by the occasional green spot of shrubbery under which we find the game resting or nibbling on the softer leaves. The tiny dik-dik are the most sensitive to our presence, scampering away on tiny legs, almost rabbit-like. By mid-morning we have come across a group of female lions hunting. Their silence and their rippling muscles are terrifying; they pad by us silently, acutely aware of our presence but intensely uninterested. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 18 August 2007 )
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Written by Randall Wood
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Tuesday, 14 August 2007 |
We reach the Masai Mara just before nightfall, a phenomenal backdrop for its exotic and amazing denizens. The color of the grass is fluid as the sun slides from one horizon overhead to the other, slipping through myriad shades of yellow, green, and gold. The horizons are broad and open, and the sky overhead is immense. From our vehicle we can see for kilometers and yet we only perceive a fraction of the life that surrounds us. Still, it is there: velvet monkeys in the treetops, gorgeous sapphire-colored birds flitting from the branches, gazelles bounding across the hillsides. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 August 2007 )
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