Kenya and Tanzania -- Oct 2012 -- Part III of III

There was an airstrip adjacent to the Serena Lodge in Tsavo. However, for reasons that were never made exactly clear, we had to drive for almost an hour to a different airstrip in the park in order to board our flight to Nairobi.. We took a brief bathroom break in the tent camp near this airstirp. It was very top-$, which was likely the reason we drove to their airstrip, rather than them driving to the airstrip near the Serena lodge.

However, on the way to the other airstrip, we passed two giraffes who posed for great photos with a sunlit Mt Kilimanjaro in the background.

The jeep is parked at the edge of the airstrip.

Note the gravel runway.

This is one of the driver guides.

As the plane began to taxi, I could see animal hoofprints in the gravel runway. It didn't notice at the time, but here may also be hoofprints in airstrip surface in this shot, in the background.

There is no separation between the pilot and passengers in these planes (except his seat back). Also, no co-pilot on this flight.

The pilot had a great GPS display built into his control panel. It seemed to give step by step instructions for the entire flight.

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the air.

This photo and the next one appear to be villages with animal corrals built of tree limbs. If these are Maasai villages, they are laid out differently (more complex) than the one we visited in Tanzania. They also SEEM more complex than the ones we saw from the road while driving toward Amboseli (but I did not get a really good look at any of those drived-by ones).

Almost certainly an old volcanic cinder cone Note the areole-like plateau around it. I'm not sure if that was formed by ejecta from the original eruption or if it has been formed by erosion from the main cone after the eruption.

The triangular dark area is a a forested region, with surprisingly sharp boundaries. Looks to me lke the trees are growing on an eroded lava flow coming out of the group of (similarly dark) cinder cones in the distance. I suspect the trees are there because the "lava flow" (if it is indeed what I suspect it is) has eroded into richer soil than the surroundings, or else into soil that is better at retaining moisture (or both).

We spent part of the day at some tourist/shopping stops in Nairobi. Had lunch at one of them (kind of a craftsey souvenir shop). These are some plants in a garden at that place. All of the remaining photos (except the final one) are from that same place.

Weaver bird. This one definitely had the Pittsburgh Steeler colors.

Note the long tail. This might be Pin-tailed Whydah.

Feeder next to the outdoor-but-covered dining area. Not sure what these guys are -- but there seems to be at least two different types here.

Heinz ketchup.

But made in Egypt!

We spent much of the afternoon at a lounge area that was clearly made for travelers who had relatively long layovers. It had shower rooms, internet (but a very slow connection) etc. I'd never been in a place like that, but, thinking about it, there must be places like it at every major airport, if you know how to find them (and get access to them).

Later we went to this "Brazillian" restaurant near the airport. OIt served meat that had been cooked on skewers and (for large peices) stainless steel swords, brings the meat selections out one at a time.

There were 12 or 15 different kinds of meat. I'd thought they were listed on this photo, but apparently not. Let's see: goat, camel, croc, chicken, pork (maybe 2-3 different cuts), beef (maybe 2-3 different cuts), No game animals though (no lion, elephqnt, zebra, giraffe, etc.). We apparently filled up before they went thru the entire list. As I left, I looked at a sign just outside and realized they were supposed to have had ostrich. Either I missed it or we gave up before they got to that one. I wish I'd seen the sign earlier, because I would have tried that.