By far one of the most incredible experiances of my young life. To be less than 10 feet from animals I never could even imagine seeing....my mind is blown. It was animal after animal after animal....we saw all of the animals of "the big 5" which includes the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino. I saw hippos by the herd lounging in the sunny water of the Masi River, I watched lazy lions grooming each other as the sun rose over the park, I watched the native Masi people with their big drooping earlobes and bright red cloth herding their cattle across the land, I gazed into the eyes of the prowling cheetahs as they stared me down in the safety of our car. Absolutely mind blowing. I worried about doing such a short safari of only 3 days thinking I may be missing out but after the second day I could have left...successful in viewing everything I could ever hope to see and so much more.
On the way back to Nairobi, the pain kicked in....I actually woke up to the all familiar rumble in my stomach in the middle of the night the previous night but hoped it was only a dream...but this was no dream it was the same pain I have felt both in Bolivia and then Spain...backpackers belly....great. This time it was accompanied by a fantastically high fever and chills as we made the 5 hour drive back from the Masi Mara. So what do you do when you have no travelers insurance, can't keep food down, haven't been on Malaria tablets, and have been bit by a few mosquitoes and have one of the highest fevers that you can remember? You sweat it out and hope for the best. This is your option. This is what I did and woke up early Saturday morning feeling like 100 times better. Close call.
So on the bus 8 hours and headed to Diani beach....The saga with the the hostel continues as I decide not to go to the backpackers hostel that screwed me over before I came. I decided that I don't need it, don't want it, not gonna deal with it. The only thing is the bit of fear that I had not doing it...this means traveling around, spending money, dealing with big decisions....adrenaline.
I was a little nervous before I came here I will admit, its been a while since I traveled around a 3rd world country alone and plus Africa is a completely different world than South America and I knew that. Its been over a week now and my confidence is coming back and I have decided to travel around seeing the sites, trekking the hills, and doing whatever comes my way...taking it one day at a time, trusting myself again.
After spending a couple of days relaxing at Diani beach....far from the backpackers I was meant to be...I realized that this wasn't the kind of place I really would enjoy spending the next few months...Sure its beautiful... but its very touristy. So this morning I got on another good old matatu and headed 3 hours up the coast to a town called Melindi. Where I am now, I will spend the night here then head up to a place called Lamu. That's as far as I have for plans but the rough idea may include rafting the Nile in Uganda, gorilla tracking in Rwanda, it may include Tanzania where I would love to climb Kilimanjaro, only time will tell where the wind (and the tiny bit of money I managed to save this summer) takes me. I will keep you posted. One love.
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