I celebrated the New Year in New
York which was really a fun thing to do.
It was cold but a great time of year to be there. Skating at Rockefeller Center, visiting Ellis
Island and walking up to the building that my ancestors approached so many
years ago, riding in a horse and carriage through Central Park, plus the
museums, the store window displays, and walking all over town – we did it all
in the seven days we were there.
We stayed
with a friend who lives only two blocks from the Empire State Building so we
were in a great location. And….we got out of town the day the snow arrived and
closed down the airport and the city for the next week or so. We laughed so
much trying to get the photo of the four of us in our 2014 sunglasses with the
Empire State Building.
.
The next big event was when our
Seahawks won the Super Bowl and the whole city went nuts. My friend Kate and I went to the Parade and
stood in the freezing cold for a couple of hours to cheer them as they went
by. Supposedly we have a population of
600,000 people in the city of Seattle but there were 700,000 at the parade they
said. Kids stayed home from school,
people missed work, it was amazing. A
real city event that brought people together.
A couple of my friends had major
surgeries so I stayed pretty close to home and didn’t travel in January,
February and March so I could help out but by May I was ready to go somewhere. And, the place I decided to go was to East
Africa. My friend Kate and I went on
safari in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Our safari took us to Uganda first where the highlight was the day we
trekked through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to spend some time with the
Mountain Gorillas. It was amazing to be
so close, look them in the eye, and follow them through the rain forest as they
went about their daily lives.
In Kenya we had such a variety of
experiences. We visited a Flip Flop
Factory where they are recycling the flip flops and other plastic junk that
washes up on the sandy beaches and transforming the old flip flops into
colorful toys, animals, jewelry and other interesting products. They aim to recycle 400,000 flip
flops per year and have orders for their products from all over the world. It was such a creative idea and amazing to
see the beautiful things they make out of something that was basically trash.
At the Kazuri Bead Factory we saw the process of making hand-made beads from molding the clay into the bead, then creating the designs, firing them in the ovens and then hand-painting them. They employ 350 people from nearby slums who are grateful for the jobs that the factory has created and they have orders to ship their beautiful beads all over the world.
It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking when we visited an orphanage that
cares for 200 children that have been abandoned or abused. The woman who runs it pulled herself up from
the depths of poverty and abuse, and together with her husband they have been
able to create a loving environment for these children. They seem to be happy and well cared for and
are being given a chance to make something of their lives.
Also, before we left Nairobi, we
went to see the farm where Karen Blixen lived.
Who can forget the movie Out Of Africa with Meryl Streep and Robert
Redford. Just being there made the whole
movie come alive again. She was so well
thought of that the whole area is named after her. Karen is a suburb of Nairobi and the impact
of her life on the community is everywhere.
Although we went several places in Kenya, the
highlight was our time in the Maasai Mara on safari with our guide Robert. He was so patient in showing us the animals. For instance, we would stop and spend time with a lion family instead of
like the other tours where they just drove up, counted how many lions there
were and then left for the next place. By spending some time with the family we
got to see the mother calling her cubs, the father coming to make sure we
weren’t too close to his family, and the little ones getting lessons on how to
behave. It was great.
We also did a hot air balloon ride over the Mara and lucky for us we saw the wildebeest migration just like you see on National Geographic where they swim across the river and climb the steep hillside to safety on the other side…….or sometimes not, as we saw one poor wildebeest get caught by a lion.
Another highlight was our visit to a Maasai Village where the warriors danced for us, the ladies sang for us and we learned about their customs and toured their village.
Finally we had to say goodbye to Robert after he drove us to Tanzania to meet up with the next guide and a cook that took us on our game drives in the Serengeti Wild Life Park.
Again we saw an abundance of animals and birds and amazing scenery and spent two days at the Ngorongoro Crater. We saw the grey-crowned crane is each country but it is on the coat of arms of Uganda. The Lesser Flamingos feed on the spirulina algae which grows only in very alkaline lakes. Although blue-green in colour, the algae contains the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their pink colour. A family of baboons were grooming one another. The black rhino is critically endangered and there are only 25 in the park so when the word goes out that one has been cited everyone rushed to the area to see it.
Next stop was Zanzibar where we spent a couple of days seeing the sights, went out into the countryside to a spice farm where you see all the spices you normally see in powder form actually growing as plants.
Finally a few days R and R at the beach before coming home.
Photo by Kate Carmell
But all in all my brother is great about looking out for her and Krista and the girls will be over to decorate her room for Christmas and everyone will go to her Christmas Party. It was good that we moved her to Invermere when we did as she has enjoyed all the activities and the senior choir for the last few years even though now she seems to be wanting to do less.
Finally a few days R and R at the beach before coming home.
It was a great trip, wonderful people, interesting and diverse
experiences and we survived three weeks of camping and living in a tent. Being outside 24/7 is wonderful and it is the
second time I have traveled with the African Trails Company. Both times have been full of amazing
experiences.
Needless to say I spent a great
deal of the summer making my travel videos.
It takes a lot of time because I research the things I have seen, find
the right music and edit it so it is an interesting presentation. I enjoy reliving it all again and it really
helps to solidify my experiences. It is
a fun way to cap off a great trip.
I made a couple of trips to see my mom who
turned 96 this summer. Her main
challenge is her short term memory and she also gets anxious about things which
is too bad because then they give her something to help calm her down and I
think that muddles up her thinking more.
But all in all my brother is great about looking out for her and Krista and the girls will be over to decorate her room for Christmas and everyone will go to her Christmas Party. It was good that we moved her to Invermere when we did as she has enjoyed all the activities and the senior choir for the last few years even though now she seems to be wanting to do less.
I’m still dancing in my Zumba class
three times a week which I hate to miss.
It is really a fun way to stay in shape. I still go to Vancouver several
times a year to keep up with my friends.
My roommates and I spent an overnight at the Hotel Vancouver for our yearly
girls’ get-together which is always fun.
It brought back a lot of memories for me having worked at the hotel.
I enjoy spending time with my
little friends, Robert and Ana Lilia.
Robert is 10 now and Ana Lilia, the ballet dancer is 7.
They went to Mexico for three weeks in the
summer to visit Lilia Elena’s family.
The kids do so well there as Lilia Elena has spoken Spanish to them
since they were small so they are fluent and can interact with their cousins
and all the relatives.
We have had some
fun outings, Ana Lilia and I went ice skating which was challenging after not
being on skates for so many years plus it was the first time for her. But, it is amazing how it comes back to you
after a few times around the rink. We
also go to the Children’s Theater productions sometimes and a couple of times a
year we do a trade where their mom and dad come to my house for the weekend and I
go there. Lilia Elena and Kevin love the
get-away and we all have fun.
For Thanksgiving I went to California for 10
days. It was nice to soak up some
sunshine now that we are into the winter rains in Seattle. I spent two days in Laguna Nigel with my
friend Marie, who lives in Spain and was visiting her sister, Susie whom I also
know.
I met Marie in Morocco several years ago and we have managed to visit
several times since then, in Spain, in Laguna Nigel and once we met in Jordan
when we were both traveling.
Then I spent two days with my
friend Kate who has just recently moved to Laguna Beach. I will certainly miss her as she is my main
travel buddy but hopefully she will be coming back and forth to Seattle
often. Since she is retired from Alaska
Airlines it is easy for her to come up for a visit.
From Laguna I drove to Pasadena for Thanksgiving at my cousin Kathleen’s home. Her
brother, Michael and his family also came and everyone stayed overnight on Wednesday. There was two days of cooking
and about an hour of feasting on all the amazing cuisine. It is always fun to spend time with them. Since Kathleen is an interior designer it was great to see the amazing things she doing to their home which they are
renovating.
So all in all it has been a great
year. I am happy, healthy and enjoying
my friends, family and most importantly good health. I wish you health and happiness in the coming
year and look forward to keeping in touch.
P.S. If you
haven’t seen enough photos and you have access to Facebook I have more albums
of my travels on Facebook.
