Africa

Bye Madagascar

September 22, 2013 Meeta Vu Madagascar, People, Reflections

Bye Madagascar As we sit at the Antananarivo airport to catch our plane to Nairobi I am filled with mixed emotions as I reflect on our stay here. If I am perfectly honest with myself, I am ready…in fact relieved, to be leaving. I am also not sure that I ever want to come back. Madagascar is a place of amazing and breathtaking natural beauty, but it has one of the worst infrastructures to allow outsiders to enjoy it. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we decided to come here. There are no short cuts[…]

Madagascar

September 15, 2013 Meeta Vu Madagascar

Madagascar It’s our 3rd day in Madagascar and we finally have seen Lemurs. A relief from what has been a rough start of our visit to this remote and wild area of the world. Before coming here we all had the romantic visions of stepping off the plane and having a lemur greet you by jumping on your shoulder and welcoming you to their island paradise. We probably have some cartoon movie to thank for that image. Landing in Antananarivo was the farthest thing from that idyllic welcome. Tana, as the locals refer to their capital city, is a gritty[…]

Ants in our Pants

September 15, 2013 Meeta Vu Kenya

Ants in Our Pants It was our last night at Sala’s camp in Masai Mara. We just had the excitement of the elephant and hippo encounter the night before and we were slightly anxious about getting back to our tent. This time, the 3 of us left together with only 2 other guests. The warrior informed us that our elephant friend was close by and we had seen the hippo on our way into camp after our evening game drive so we know it was probably close too. We all walked single file and with purpose. Then suddenly the Masai[…]

Cheetah Chase

September 15, 2013 Meeta Vu Kenya

Cheetah Chase On our second day at Sala’s camp we started bright and early with a 5:45am wakeup to start what ended up being an almost 8 hour game drive. Between the drive the day before and the successful evening drive we already felt contented in our sightings and felt anything more would only be bonus. Our spotter for our game drives was a Masai Elder named Mreku. He was born in a village not far from our camp and knew the area well. a kind of knowledge one would have if only they had spent every day of their[…]

Africa: The Greatest Show on Earth

September 15, 2013 Meeta Vu Kenya

Africa: The Greatest Show on Earth As Avinash sat in the bush plane seat next to me puking into the sick bag I couldn’t help but wonder what we were getting ourselves into as we were flying into the Masai Mara. For the past few days we have enjoyed being spoiled at one of the most luxurious places we have ever stayed at, the Solio Lodge in the Lakipia area of Kenya. This lodge was ridiculous by any standards, let alone what I thought safari standards should be. As over the top as it was I can’t complain. I experienced[…]

September 7, 2013 Meeta Vu Kenya

Africa In the past 5 days I have: Relieved an armpit itch of a Senegal bush baby monkey Had the two most memorable breakfasts of my life, one sharing our table with giraffes as they loomed overhead eating from our plates and the other sitting in camp chairs in the bush while looking out over the savannah watching rhinos graze and bring served freshly made omelets made in the back of a land rover. Watched my son ‘mark’ his out in the bush right next to a rhinos droppings Marked my own territory as zebras, water bucks and impalas watched[…]