Tuesday, September 27, 2022
guess what I'm alive, yeah, guess I'm still alive, yeah I thought you should know it
if you're missing me a lot then I guess that you're in luck 'cause here I am
Guess What - Evergreen
Last post about the trip. Day 8 was when I was leaving Kenya. Flight was in the evening, so I had to fill time. Initially I thought the check out time at the hotel was 10 AM which made me a bit at a lost of what to do, so when I found out it's at 11 AM instead, I was like super relieved. I had time to do things slowly. I checked out like 15 minutes before the time's up. I purposely chose the hotel I stayed in because there were some places that can be visited by walking, but still due to the fact that it seems it might not be all safe, I felt not that excited. It felt daunting. Okay, I don't know if the concern is real or I was just being paranoid, but basically I walked out of the hotel with prayers. Since on the day I arrived I already visited the Nairobi Gallery, there were just only 2 places I was going to that day - The Kenya National Archives and The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). The well-prepared me had googled directions to get to these places back before I even stepped foot in Kenya. This is like standard operating procedure for me which was cultivated after getting lost and wasting times in the early days of my travel. Well you improve with mistakes. I dare say some people who have travelled with me were like impressed (even my mom), but I could still get lost because I am dumb sometime and stubbornly didn't refer to the screenshot of maps I saved in my phone. So anyways, I had directions. First stop was to the National Archives and I memorized the steps so that I don't have to take out my phone and check for direction. I try not to do that anywhere actually, not just in Nairobi, because I don't want to appear like an obvious tourist. My last day being a Monday, it was way more crowded than on a Sunday. I wasn't wearing a mask because I thought again it would indicate you're a foreigner. I know based on my look alone I couldn't blend, but one need to try. Anyways, the mask would have actually been useful because of the exhaust gas from some vehicles.
The good thing about being in Singapore, I have developed the ability of walking fast and the good thing about being an Indonesian is that I can cross a street like an Indonesian and this would come in helpful. So I arrived safely at the National Archives. Paid for the ticket, but the guy said he would return me the change when I leave. I had to give them my backpack too and I was told I could only take pictures with my phone - okay. The National Archives is not very big and I'm suprised at people writing they could spend more than 1 hour. The exhibition area covers 2 floors and because I had to kill time, I pretty much went through them 2 or 3 times. There were some artifacts here, some paintings, stamps collection (very interesting), but the thing that was super weird for me was the section showing the list of their police commisioners. Weird because as Indonesians, do we care? I think in Indonesia, we just don't care much about political figures or military generals post-independence? The ones before independence are written in the history as heroes and we learn about them, but after that who cares, most of them also may have some stain throughout their career anyway. The most interesting thing about seeing those photos was perhaps seeing when it changed from white people to black people. Another weird thing was that they were playing a radio on speaker throughout. I guess it's perhaps because it's not a museum per se, there are actually rooms where people are doing research, but still I found it strange but before I comment on this much, I guess I need to go back to museums in Jakarta and see how they're being run. One of the topic from that radio show that morning was about why it's still a big deal when men get vasectomy. The radio DJ was a woman and she was asking why it can't be normalized, like do women just need to give birth over and over without any say. I had a smile hearing this, some issues are just global which shows we're just all the same wherever we are. Below is a picture of one of the paintings inside.
When I exited, I collected my bag and almost forgot to get my change because a newly arrived visitor was guessing where I was from. His guesses moved south from Japan, South Korea, and ended up in Vietnam. He's funny when he kept on guessing when I said no. Again we need more Indonesians out there. Outside the National Archives, there was a crowd hearing someone speak. I was actually quite intrigued, was the man selling something or was it related to the presidential election, but I couldn't put myself in that situation watching among the crowd so I kept moving. The way to KICC was more complex for my slow brain and though I tried my best to memorize it, at some point I realized I was not following what Google maps was saying. I realized it when somehow I found myself in front of the compound. In this case Google maps wasn't giving the best direction, my dumb luck was actually more straightforward. I saw a few people getting in through a small gate so I crossed the street and followed suit. There's a security check after that small gate and there's an open area from that main gate to the building. What I noticed upon entering the compound was that somehow the noise from the streets outside quieted down and it made you feel calm. In front of the door of the building, there's a security guard who will take your ID (in my case it's my passport) and write your info in a book. Then I went in to get the ticket for the rooftop and was told they don't accept cash - aarrgh!!! The lady told me I could go to one of the counter there where they could do an M-Pesa transfer. I was charged a bit for this, but okay whatever. The lady verified the transfer and wrote some thing in a little piece of paper and told me to give it to the staff upstairs. She then pointed me to the lifts. The lifts were unusual, I never use something like this before. There's a machine by the lifts and you key in your floor and it will tell you which lift to take and I found out later on, inside the lifts there's no button to specify a floor to stop. There were quite a number of people because the I think there's a lot of offices there so I missed like the first two lifts. Then thinking it's not gonna get better, I squeezed in when a lift arrived and I'm still in a COVID mode so I didn't enjoy being in too close proximity with people, even now. This also happened on the way down later *sigh* Anyways, arrived at the 27'th floor (if I'm not mistaken), gave the staff there the piece of paper, and she showed me the stairs I had to take. It's not a very long climb up. I have written much about how I'm not actually that interested anymore to visit high towers / buildings or what have you to see a city, but I thought this was something I needed to do because I really didn't have a good sense of how Nairobi is, even the area where my hotel is, so I did want to see the city from up high even though KICC is not very tall and see what it's like. There's a helipad on a raised platform and there were some locals visiting too that day.
The thing that made my heart smile there was that there was this boy, a toddler who's still woobly when he walked on the helipad. He took notice of me and started to just look at me. I waved at him when his mother wasn't looking, because I do think it's creepy when a stranger just get too friendly with little kids, but he didn't wave back. He didn't stop looking at me though and when his mother realized he was doing that and saw I was looking back, I just waved openly and then the mother came closer to me and encouraged him to come say hi. He finally came and I held my hand to shake his, but my hand is too big for him and so he just wrapped one of my finger with his whole hand. It was so cute :) His name is Nolan (very nice name I thought) and his mother's name is Priscilla. I have their picture and I contemplated about posting it, but I decided not to. They're with his grandmother sitting at the other end of the helipad. Priscilla was nice and friendly and Nolan was just like hypnotized with me. He just looked, no smile, in fact there could be a tiny bit of concern in his face. I let him hold my finger for as long as he wanted and eventually I felt he was loosening up his grip. Then he let go and that was it. It may not be much, but I loved that experience. After that, I tried to orientate myself with the streets below, making sure I know which way back. After I figured it out, I said good bye to them all. Collected my passport, then proceeded to go to the cafe which I had been frequenting all my time in Nairobi, sitting at the same place all the time, and had zucchini soup for lunch. Arriving at this cafe, I think there's quite a relief, thankful to God for His protection that I walked around Nairobi a bit and was safe. Everything was good. For pictures from Nairobi, you can go here.
After the meal, I went back to the hotel to get my luggage and I was picked up by J2 to take me to the airport. A recap, J2 is the younger brother of J1 who I liased with to book my safari. They had another younger brother whose name starts with A. When I said that A is not in the bible, J2 said yeah I don't know why my father named him A, but we have cousin J (who was driving the car) here :D So J2 took me to the car and he told me that his cousin was settling something at one of the shop nearby so we needed to wait a bit. At one point, I realized he was making sure that the car was locked and I saw there were some guys around. Then he said, even he was scared. He said they were Nigerians and their eyes were a bit weird like they're on drugs. I asked if he could differentiate them just by looking. He said yes and also he heard them speak. I know it's like ignorance on my part thinking all black people look the same, but honestly because I'm not exposed much in this part of the world, I don't have the ability yet to differentiate their finer details so what J2 said next was comforting. He said it's the same for them, Asian people look the same. If I see K like a little brother, I see J2 as a kid. In fact I do call people his age as kids, which if they find out they may think it's insulting, but really even for me, looking back when I was a university student, I really didn't know shit. In fact I often think if back then I was as independent and mentally older as I am now, then things might turn out differently. However, it's just part of life being young and clueless that everyone has to go through. Your struggles and failures are what suppose to form you. As the song from Nina Zilli, Schiacciacuore, which was in my Kenya playlist says, è l'anima che piange, ormai sono grande (my translation: it's the soul that cries, by now it is big). Anyways, talked quite a bit with J2 on the way to the airport. He's been helping his brother in the business, he likes the work and wants it to grow, quite a guy with a mission I would say. In his stream of consciousness, he just suddenly blurted out that he thought getting married at 40 is the right age and that was quite funny. In addition to that he also talked about how girls were just focused on the romantic gestures and he didn't see a point in it. I get what he's saying. I think it's just he has a different vision and mission and girls his age tend not to get it because they just want to have fun and there's nothing wrong with that. When you're young, you should have fun. Maybe later when he reaches his goal and is ready to settle down, he'll find a more mature girl who would understand his outlook in life.
There was one strange part about getting to the airport. Before reaching, at some highway we had to get out of the car and go through a small building where we need to pass an aiport metal detector but only the passengers. So cousin J continued driving pass the building and me and J2 get off and he said to make it faster, just bring your phone. That was so weird. I don't know what that's about. Then we continued on driving to the actual airport and they dropped me off. It's the standard checking in and passing immigration at the airport. I had issue getting my fingerprints scanned, arrrghh my usual problem. I think the staff also gave up and he let me off. Nothing much to say about the airport. It's not very big and it doesn't have many shops. On the flight out, the sky outside the window was beautiful with the different colours.
I arrived in Doha for my transit close to midnight and it was like Holy God, why is it so crowded with people?!? Many people were landing at the same time. I didn't enjoy the crowd and the queue for the security check, so much so that after I got out of it and was looking to buy water, I couldn't help but get gelato too. It was 3 scoops, I don't know why 3 scoops was the minimal amount. It was so so :( I was quite tired, but lucky for me the flight to Singapore was on time, thank God! It was a concern for me because when I transitted in Doha on my way to Nairobi, I saw that the flight to Singapore was delayed for 2 hours. So I was worried and really thank God, it's on time. I was so tired that I dozed off quite a lot during the flight, really a sign that I am getting older and have less energy. Arriving in Singapore, one big thing annoyed me. Since COVID time, we have to fill in the SG arrival card before arriving and one of the question would be were you in some countries in Africa or South America which I answered truthfully. Due to this and the requirement to present a yellow fever vaccination proof, I kinda knew I couldn't pass the automated gate, but I tried anyway. That failed, so I queued at the manual counter. The system is so freaking weird that the staff's computer just don't allow me to pass but didn't tell the staff what's wrong. So the staff had to call another staff who took me to the other manual counter with more checks at the side. At this point, I should have just opened my mouth and said I think I just need to show you my yellow fever vaccination card, but I didn't and I ended up waiting for 1 hour plus while all the different staffs sorted out other problematic people. I was darn annoyed and the irony of it all. I was vaccinated for yellow fever because of the trip to Peru pre-COVID and at that time when arriving in Singapore, no one asked and checked for it. So it's almost a waste getting vaccinated, but now they checked because you are asked about it in the SG arrival card which exists because of COVID. Side note: because I was already vaccinated for yellow fever, that's also one reason of going to Kenya - to so called get some mileage / value for money out of that vaccination. I kinda cooled down a bit when the staff who processed me said sorry for the inconvenience.
So that was the trip. All and all, gratitude. It's always where I end a journey, gratitude to God. I'm not the bravest person there is and I really could make it through it all only because I was holding to God for dear life. He's taken care of me throughout and the people He let me meet and talk to in this journey have been interesting and kind. How fast was it for me to return to being depressed in real life? Pretty much less than 2 days after I landed back in Singapore. I don't want to talk about it. Let me end with something that I haven't done in previous travel posts. So there's quite a number of songs in the playlist, but I could only choose a few to start the post because sometime there are not many posts to write and sometimes it's hard to find lyrics that somehow fit outside the song's context. So now, I'm going to list some of the songs in the playlist that I really love but didn't choose to start my travel posts:
- Island by Bow Anderson - I just love the line, I am an island, baby :D
- Run by Eamon - very catchy song, I love the line, you better run girl, and this one, we don't got a phony cover up, what you see is how we do, so God bless if you treat me right but if you don't, I'm scared for you.
- Strange by Celeste - kinda a sad song lyrically and melodically; the lyric is deep and it was sung so beautifully.
- Wicked Streets by J. Bernardt - I love the song composition.
- New York by Jake Isaac - it should be in a New York playlist but I don't know when I get to go there again and it's so lovely, so I put it in this playlist.
- Ragu Semesta by Isyana Sarasvati - The only song in Indonesian in the playlist. I think I only really like it after hearing it the second time. I love everything about it - the lyric, the melody, and the composition. She sings it beautifully too. Sometime when I listen to it closely, I find new parts to love.
:) eKa @ 8:50:00 PM • 0 comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
resta qui ancora un minuto
se l'inverno è soltanto un'estate che non ti ha conosciuto
Fiamme Negli Occhi - Coma_Cose
Day 7 was when we're going back to Nairobi. Was I ready for vacation to be over? I guess. It's been a really different week and I think it's just time to go. I remember telling K that morning that I was excited for him to see his family again :D But before that, I had one more thing to do which was to visit a Maasai village. I was really on the fence about doing this, but in the end I thought I should because if you only have one chance to do something, I do think you better do it all out. That being said, I was still nervous about it that I admitted that to K. I couldn't quite put into words why then and maybe now, but it's more like these are people, they are not objects to be looked at or observed at, so I feel very uneasy. K said they're happy you're there. It's still awkward though. There were other tourists but we got our own person to walk us around. So I was assigned this guy, P. He first sat me down under a tree and introduced himself a bit and showed me a horn which I forget was from which animal and a hat made of a lion head. He told me about how one of their practice was sending a group boys of the same age out to the savanna for days and learn how to fend for themselves. That is super daunting for me because I wouldn't survive, so it's really cool that they have this skill set. Then P got his villagers to perform a dance. This was one of the most awkward thing about this visit as I knew it would since I have read about it before. Awkward, because for me it's like no, you don't have to do this, but it's part of the programme, so I just sat there and tried to be cool.
After that, P brought me to enter his family compound. The compound is surrounded by a fence made of pretty tall tree branches. There were a few houses and they're all one big family there. The Maasai practice polygamy which is not radical at all in Kenya because it's quite common for everyone. So in the compound, everyone are related to one another. The houses are almost like in a circle and their cattles will stay in the center of the circle at night. During the day, they're taken out to go grazing, except for the baby cattles which was in a separate area. P showed me that and told me that some nights before some cheetahs broke in and managed to kill some baby cattles, but they had since cut a tree nearby and installed steel wires on top of the enclosure. Then a few of them showed me and other tourists how they would make fire and it was interesting. P also showed me some plants that had medicinal property, like the one they use to repel mosquitos. For someone who has zero survival skill, these kinda things really impress me :D
Then P took me to visit his house. Houses are build by the women and it's made by cow dung, mud, sticks and he said the house may last like 10 over years. If the houses are showing signs of damage, they may move the whole compound to another area. The fact that the women build the houses are just amazing. Again, I will not be able to do this. Upon entering the house, P told me it's going to be dark, so he said I may want to have my phone's torchlight as light. The house is small and there's like a small hallway. I could already hear my mom saying why have this, just make it open concept. The hallway then opened up to a small area. There's a place for fire, that morning it's just ember, and they could cook what they need there. There's a small storage room kinda thing where they store the firewood. On the left and right of this small open area, there are rooms, totalling 3 rooms in total. The fact that the women could build this house on their own and it does not collapse is just amazing. The women are also in charge of collecting water some distance away. I kept on thinking I wouldn't survive living like that. P and me sat there a while talking. Only much later I thought, wait I just sat with a guy alone in a dark room for some time, somehow that did not feel proper, but there's nothing unbecoming and I enjoyed the conversation. P allowed me to ask anything I wanted which now thinking about it, I actually have more questions, but then I guess it was a combination of feeling awkward and sensory overload that I did not ask as much as the questions in my head now. I did say one obnoxious thing, which was he speaks good English. I know! The moment I heard that coming out of my mouth, my head was like, what the fuck?!? You have had people telling you yourself that, didn't you want to roll your eyes then? Now you're doing the same. I think it came from me feeling like sometime I don't even speak such good English. He was gracious about it though, saying thank you and maybe he had good teacher. There's no electricity in the compound but for young people like him, he does have a mobile phone so he has access to information out there, but he has to charge the phone in one of the lodge nearby or at a store in the market. We talked about food. The cattles are precious for them and selling the cows is a slippery slope because you sell one today, you may sell two tomorrow. They drink the blood of the cows and have the milk. They have chicken which they trade off for grains and P said, they do not like chicken and fish, which is the opposite of me because I don't eat beef often. Their diet seems so limited and unhealthy, but I'm pretty sure they're healthier than me. The kids go to school but it's some walk away. I mean for the lazy me, it's a distance but he said it's fine for them all. I asked if education is free and it's not, they still have to pay something. P values education and he has some ideas to better the lives of his people and I think that is cool for a young person to feel that way. Talking with him was the best part of the visit I think because it allowed me to get to know someone and their world.
Here are some pictures from the visit. There's the cows that were going out that day, the welcome dance, and also after talking with P, I saw some other tourists dancing and singing with the women.
After the visit, we made our way back to Nairobi. Nothing of note to say in the journey, aside for the fact that maybe K realizing we only had a few hours left that he suddenly just asked me questions regarding my lack of love life. I couldn't remember the first question being asked, but I remember thinking, wow, okaaay :D You know what, I respect the boldness. He had taken so many questions and comments from me about his personal life, he has earned the right to fire back :D I also think the fact that he felt he could do that also kinda signified that he's comfortable enough with me to grill me. So that's good, we're friends or for me I really see K as this little brother. He asked me about the kind of guy I want and then insisted I should make an effort *sigh* I am sighing because as I told him, so many people have told me that. I make an effort for a number of things in my life, but I do have to say that that is the one thing I don't make an effort in. There were some honest truths that I told him in that journey back. We talked a lot which was not really what we did on long drive the days before. I guess really it's because we only had a few hours left, so it's almost like the last moment to ask questions that we're curious about or just to talk about stuff :D I am really glad and thankful that the time spent with K had been all good. Thank God really. Nearing my hotel, he told me J1, who was his boss and the person who I liased with when booking this, was there because he wanted to meet me. I initialed it as J1 because his brother's name also starts with J, so he'll be J2. When J1 opened the door for me, I was stunned because he's so young, even younger than K and I have to say I am very impressed. Again young people doing big things do make you wonder what you have been doing with your life. Good for him though and I do hope business will be good for him. There was a bit of chit chat and then it's good bye to all.
So I arrived back not too late in the evening. I decided to have dinner not at the hotel, but at the cafe nearby. Before going there, I explored the hotel a bit. Went up to see where the swimming pool is, but didn't go there. Instead I took a picture of the area below which I'm still not sure which part of the hotel this was. I have to say, I rarely explore what the hotels I stay in have to offer. I mostly just stay in my room, so that's perhaps quite a waste? Anyways, there was a sense of accomplishment for having completed that week (praise be to God), but there was still a challenge that I had to conquer the next day and I had to do it alone.
:) eKa @ 5:46:00 PM • 0 comments
Thursday, September 15, 2022
I'm throwing caution, what's it gonna be?
tonight the winds of change are blowing wild and free
if I don't get out, out of this town
I just might be the one who finally burns it down
Caution - The Killers
This is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures. Day 6 started super early because I was doing the hot air balloon. Okay how I came to that decision may not be that interesting, but I'm just going to just write it all. At 450 USD, the hot air balloon is expensive and initially I was like, okay maybe skip this since you have done it before, like how many times in your life do you need to do hot air balloon. If some thing is once in a lifetime thing, well that means once right? But then when talking to mom ahead of her trip to Turkey back in April and I was encouraging her to do the hot air balloon when she wasn't sure and also because she thought it's expensive (side note: it's way cheaper in Cappadocia and she thought it was the most memorable thing of her trip), it got me all excited and that got me reading what I wrote that time when I was doing it. I actually had the audacity to write that I hope God let me do it again - what?!? So that became a thing that got stuck in my head and when things get stuck in my head, oh darn. The hot air balloon in Cappadocia was like my 30th birthday present, so this year when I turn 40, I rationalized that I could get another one? Then another thing that kinda made me think it might be a good idea was when I wanted to have a change of lodge in Mara because reviews are not that favorable for this place I was staying in. The new place being suggested would require me to pay an extra 450 USD and I thought the money would be well spent for a hot air balloon instead and I could rough it out for 2 nights so that's how the decision making went down. I'm not the most logical person out there, or am I? :D
Pick up time for me was 04:15 AM, arrggghh that's early for me but I made it. The day before the staff at the lodge told me there wouldn't be electricity all the time but that day there was electricity so it's good that I could get ready and put lenses into my eyes with light. The guy picking me up was David and he was the closest in guessing where I'm from. He guessed Thailand :D No one got it right, we need more Indonesians out in the world. I was the first to be picked up and we were going to another lodge to pick the other people. I don't know how he knew his way in the dark. We talked all the way there. He was telling me stories about stuff, like difficult tourist. Surprise! They're not from China :D Side note: though the world may have complains about Chinese tourists but let's face it, people working in the tourism industry do need them and hope they could get out soon and travel. I did witness the difficult tourists from the country he mentioned behaving rather unkindly during breakfast after the balloon ride and it really bothered me :( David also told me other stories like when a couple was having a bad fight that the guy left the girl to do the hot air balloon alone and the girl pretty much cried throughout, gosh! I think that would made the whole experience bad for everyone. Anyways, the other people to be picked were an american couple and an Indian family. When we have collected all of them, off we went to the take-off place. Along the way we saw a group of hyenas eating an elephant carcass. One of the young hyena was sleepy and it kinda was fighting sleep, very cute.
In the take-off area, there were quite a number of balloons being lined up. While waiting, I took pictures of the orange glow of early sunlight. It turned the sky purple-ish as the day broke, very very pretty. Despite of having done this before, I kinda forgot and was reminded that the first step of setting the balloon was having a fan to blow inside it and getting the shape first before firing.
David's job was not just to drive us, he also got us all assembled and took us to meet the pilot which upon hearing him speak, I guessed he was Turkish and I was right. He got his experience in Cappadocia. The kind David was like telling me, get in the basket last so that you get to be in the corner :) which I did. I was in the same compartment as a french family - daughter Leila, mother Magalie (very nice unique name), and I didn't catch the son's name. The process is a bit different than in Cappadocia, there's actually like a bench and they asked us to sit down first as we took off. By the way we're also allowed to bring backpack here. Then once we floated a few metres up, we could stand up. Leila was pretty brave that she sometime stood on the bench. For me, I just kept movement to the minimum.
I think in terms of what you'll see is depending on luck. I wouldn't say I saw many animals from up there. I saw an ostrich running really fast and that was interesting and made me wonder why and what it was running from. There was one part where we were nearing a group of elephants and I think many balloons tried to go down and get as close as possible and that and the sound of the balloon's fire were distressing for the elephants, to the point that I did see one of them running and actually making sound. Looking at my pictures, I feel sadder because it's evident that they're distressed and were trying to get all the elephants in the group especially young ones close. So that part wasn't good, it's bad tourism *sigh* I think the zebras that we saw were also trying to get away from us.
Landing was another thing that I didn't enjoy. You may think of it as being exciting, but I just didn't like it. Unlike in Turkey where you land upright, somehow over here the basket is tilted. They would ask you to sit down again closer to landing time and somehow the basket is tilted so that you ended up on your back and then you made the awkward climb out. I guess luckily my compartment ended up on top. Then David drove us to the breakfast place and he was like let me get you quick so that you don't have to queue long. The breakfast was perhaps another great thing about this hot air balloon experience in Kenya. Somehow they have gotten trucks with all the equipments that you have proper tables with place settings and chefs who would cook your eggs for you. Not only that, there were 2 temporary toilets. I saw the lady of the American couple using it and when I saw the guy standing alone, I asked him which table David assigned us to and told him let me tag myself with you guys. They were really nice. The guy is B and the lady is C and they're married - I would rather use their initial instead of their names. I asked C about the toilet situation and she reassured me it's fine. So I used it after breakfast. There's a sitting toilet, it flushes, and the most important thing for me was that I could wash my hands. Seriously, I'm just glad there's like a decent toilet to use :D B has a really cool job and I told him I was impressed. First impression was that he's a bit nerdy and when he told me the reason that one time he almost went to Bali, it kinda solidified that perhaps there's something there :D C was laughing with me when I heard the whole story because she's more in my wavelength. Maybe it's a bit bad of me laughing at him because sometime you gotta do what you need to do for your sanity. I wonder if characterizing him like Richard Splett in Veep would be on point ;) It was really nice talking with B & C. Sometime you kinda never know what would make an experience great and I would say having that good conversation made this whole hot air experience greater. Before we said goodbye that day as we were dropping them back, I told B to please do the fun things when he eventually goes to Bali, like river rafting just like what Obama did :D Last thought about this hot air experience - I did one when I was 30, then 40, it's only logical that I do another one when I turn 50 right? I need to be looking for a place to do it then :)
So David dropped everyone back in their lodge, but for me he was driving me to meet K. Again I don't know how they coordinated where to meet, somehow he made it happen and delivered me to K :) Back with K, among the first thing we saw was a lion eating then drinking and then there were these cheetahs. Back in Amboseli, the cheetahs were far off and these ones were nearer. They're cute just lazing around as they normally do.
Then there was this group of Wildebeest running in a group and when they're reaching this ditch, they kinda stopped. There's actually no water in the ditch, but I don't know if they knew. One of them (the one of the right) was really taking aim and making an effort to cross quickly which he did. We kinda waited for the rest to follow suit, but they didn't.
K heard of a leopard sighting so we went there. This leopard was hard to see. It's kinda in a ditch below us and I was having a hard time seeing it and I really couldn't get a good look which I thought well okay, not meant to be. I was telling K that I could see it, but can't really take its pictures. It was more like glimpses. Then it moved and K was like quickly get the pictures - ah this boy. Not a good picture, but there you go. Some things are just beyond your control, but God the great had other blessings for us that day, just wait.
Next was this lion who was taking shelters from the hot sun by the different jeeps / vans. People were kinda playing with it, moving the cars around as it came close. It was panting and I asked K if it's okay, like was it going to pass out? He said it's normal for lion to breathe heavily.
After that was lunch. Okay, I've been with K for a few days and by then I would say we're close enough that we can talk about stuff, but still this time lunch alone with him, I was thinking if it's going to be awkward. He found a tree and laid out cloth and took out our lunch boxes. I'll admit that perhaps I'm a busybody, but for some people (generally the ones I like) I am interested in getting to know their lives, so I just shot out questions at him. I asked him to show me photo of his wife and kid. My line of questioning was perhaps too personal that I'm thankful he just accepted them. It was going to grow to even better conversation (like I haven't told him about B & C), but 2 different groups decided to have lunch at our same tree that I had to kinda stop. I was thinking there are other trees in the savanna and you guys chose this one, but then K was saved from further interrogation by me, so good for him I guess :D Really it was another good conversation of the day. What defines a good conversation? Perhaps some good conversations are the ones that make you laugh together, some are when you learn something and when people are willing to be open with you. I truly am thankful for the many good conversations that day that I tweeted this below.
Had around 13-hour day today, did and saw marvellous things but the things I also treasure are the good conversations which unfortunately were too short - turns out I have interest in human after all pic.twitter.com/69HX7GWllg
— Eka (@ekabuntoro) August 20, 2022
After lunch, it was to Mara River where there were quite a number of hippopotamus and there were also crocodiles. I wondered, since the hippos are big and it doesn't look easy to get out of the river, how do the hippos get out to eat grass. K said they could do it.
Then we saw this giraffe drinking water. K had actually given me a bit of a lesson in giraffe and one of the things he said was when a giraffe drinks, it's funny looking because they would stretch out its legs. I thought it was only the front 2 legs but apparently all 4. Kinda lucky that we actually saw this. He also told me that the giraffes are quiet, even when they're being eaten, there's no sound. It's very interesting.
Then K took me to a borderland area between Kenya and Tanzania and he said we could get out, yay! There's a marker, one side is Kenya and the other side is Tanzania. Looking at the direction of Tanzania, I was actually looking at Serengeti. Tanzania's Serengeti and Kenya's Maasai Mara is actually just one big savanna land; they're just named differently depending which country you're in. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but being there is its own special experience for me :) I'm glad K took us there. Now this is a picture of rocks which I found to be super interesting because it looks like ornamental rocks. I've been seeing it since the day before and I found it fascinating which perhaps K found weird because they're just rocks. He told me maybe you should take one. I was like, no, better leave them like corals on the beach.
When we saw the leopard earlier, K was telling me that leopard could climb trees and sometime they would chill there. Lo and behold, God let us see that. This time the leopard was easier to see. I think we're both excited when we saw it :D K said this completed the big 5 list (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, buffalo) and so this trip was a success. I told him it's his list, not mine :D He said that leopards sometime also bring its kill up the trees so that the hyenas don't eat them. I told him that's one thing he still needs to show me :D Seriously though, I have just a very basic goal going to Kenya, which was to get in and get out okay (which is pretty much my goal everytime I travel alone); all the other things I get to see would be like blessings and I did see quite a number of wonderful things. God has been great. He has taken care of me through and through, through every trips I have ever done everywhere. It's all God. So I'm just thankful. Anywho, so many people were watching this leopard that I felt bad for it. It most probably just wanted to chill in its tree - why are all these humans making so much commotions all around me :( When it finally got down the tree and went away, we all scattered away too. I have to say, its spots are cool.
Below are some of the last things we saw that day. The sky was getting darker which strangely kinda made my pictures to be properly lighted, well at least I like how they turned out. Pictures below are of a male impala and his group of female impalas and children. Before we saw this group, we actually saw a group of male impalas with no female, so they're just grouping together :D Then below the impala is a picture of a group of wildebeest and then another lion. I forgot that I saw another lion that day and was only reminded when I saw the pictures. I asked K if he's ever been there when it rained and he said yep and it made driving more difficult. As God would have it, it started to drizzle when we were leaving. It's like God was saying, experience this :D I remember the smell changed. It might be interesting to see the animals in the rain, but being stuck wouldn't be good. It was a long day that day, but a really good one and I managed to hold my pee for the whole day :D For pictures from Maasai Mara, please go here.
:) eKa @ 9:22:00 PM • 0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2022
Day 5 - Leaving Lake Nakuru and to Maasai Mara
they say it's healthy you know to get a little alone time
responsibility, it's a bit too early for that, you see
'cause I've got things I must fight for and places to be, there's no caging me (no-no-no)
Free Spirit - Josef Salvat
Heard that song when I was watching Moominvalley, the animated TV series. Before watching that, I didn't know what the Moomins are, like when Uniqlo was selling shirts with their images, I didn't know what it was about. When I started watching the cartoon, I was still a bit confused about the target audience, like I wonder if kids would like it. As I watched more episodes, I kinda like it a lot. Favorite character is perhaps Little My, just because she's snarky :D I like her the way I like Oscar the Grouch the most in Sesame Street. Moomintroll is perhaps my second favorite character, he has such a soft heart and it makes you kinda want to just pat him in the shoulder kinda thing :D
Anyways, back to the trip. Day 5, we were leaving Lake Nakuru and were going to Maasai Mara which was the last leg of my trip. As I was getting ready that morning, I suddenly realized that the sun was rising when I saw orange light seeping from below the curtain of my room. My window was overlooking part of the lake and I caught a bit of that sunrise.
On the way out, K drove a little bit around the park again and we saw a number of rhinoceros. It made me happy because the day before K pointed a few to me, but they were so far out that I couldn't really see them clearly and I am super amazed that K could always spot these different animals. In fact his eyesight was one topic of conversation. Anyways, there were quite a number of rhino that morning and really it made me happy to see them in their groups. There were also baby / smaller rhinos. I am stunned at myself for being stunned that the rhino's horn was like longer than I imagined them to be.
We passed the lake with the flamingos again; I kinda regretted not asking K to stop so that I could take pictures, but oh well. For pictures from Lake Nakuru, you can go here. It's quite a drive to Mara and again the drive to the lodge was bumpy, but we made it. It was the same schedule of arriving by lunch and meeting later to explore the reserve. This lodge in Mara is the one I dislike the most *sigh* but again it's me being difficult. Other people would say it's fine. The wall is thin that later that night when I had to really sleep because I had to get up super early, I kinda knocked on the wall because I could hear music from the next room. Luckily the french couple next door took the hint.
On the afternoon drive to the park, the entry process wasn't as chaotic as in Amboseli. The reason why I chose to go in August is because it's migration season. Does that make things more special? I don't know because it's my first time doing this, so I can't make a comparison. One thing for sure though, I think the next time if I am fortunate enough to have a chance to do this again, I don't think I will do it during peak season because it's just way more expensive. What I can compare is the landscape between Amboseli and Mara. It's quite different, less arid in Mara, no sandspout flying around, and I do feel like you see more animals in Mara, but again I don't know if it's the season.
Below is a picture of two topis. The name is cute for Indonesian, topi. K didn't think much of it, but I was like, we don't have that in the zoo! It looks pretty unique with its colouring. Wikipedia just told me that it's vulnerable, aaww that's sad :(
One of the ignorant things I asked K is that if the locals eat the animals. I was even more curious for buffalo because for Asians in this part of the world, at least in Indonesia, this will be seen as food. I guess because it's seen as food, in Asia they can be domesticated. While with the ones in Africa, it is perhaps not possible. Just like the elephants, K said it's interesting that people can ride the elephants in Thailand while African elephants can never be tamed. Look at this buffalo below, it looks quite majestic with its horn curving up. By the way, I did read in a sign back in Amboseli during the lunch in the viewing point that the Maasai do not hunt the animals in the wildlife for food, unless in really severe drought and they do not have food.
At one point, K got us stuck, gosh! What was amazing was other people nearby quickly stopped and helped, without even being asked. They were so kind. It took awhile to get unstuck and it was quite embarrassing for me, but I guess it's one of those things in which I told myself to be cool, everything is fine, chill. It took some effort and as usual my mind quickly ran all over the place, like I was thinking someone would surely give me a ride if it came to that, but then K would have to stay until he's rescued? That's not good. Luckily it didn't come to that, we managed to get free. Anyways, let me end this post with a picture of elephants and a hippo. Looking back at the hippo picture, I wondered where it wandered from.
:) eKa @ 10:00:00 PM • 0 comments
Sunday, September 04, 2022
Day 4 - Lake Naivasha, Crescent Island, and Lake Nakuru
I don't know what you've been told, but time is running out, no need to take it slow
I'm stepping to you toe-to-toe, I should be scared honey, maybe so
but I ain't worried 'bout it right now, keeping dreams alive, 1999, heroes
I Ain't Worried - OneRepublic
Heard that song in Top Gun: Maverick which was really really good, as good as all the reviews say. I love it a lot. As for the song, I still cannot figure out what 1999 heroes is. Anyways, on day 4, we were were going to Lake Nakuru, but first I was to explore Lake Naivasha and Crescent Island. So K handed me over to the boat guy, David, to take me around the lake. The lake is a freshwater lake and it looks big. I saw 1-2 people fishing in it and it was interesting because they were not in a boat, instead they were in this small floating platform. I guess someone will pick them up later.
There were a lot of hippos in the lake nearer to the shore. Again David was saying they're quite aggressive and may charge if they're unhappy, but not to worry because the boat is faster. I think it will be very interesting to see baby hippo but because they're inside the water, you can't really see their whole body. In fact, it's perhaps one of the frustrating thing about hippo, kinda hard to see their whole body when they're in water. I saw one of them blowing water and it reminded me of a whale.
Then David showed me eceng gondok, I needed to google what that is in English and it's common water hyacinth. He told me that it is also a problem there. Anyways, why he's pointing it is because he's going to stuff that into a little fish he had with him and it will cause the fish to float and we'll see if an eagle would eat it. He whistled before he threw the fish and at first it seemed no bird was interested, but after a while and eagle did swoop in. He told me to quickly get the picture, but I don't think I did very well :D It was still cool though seeing that.
There were many other birds in the lake, like there were cormorants, pelicans, and many otehrs which I have forgotten the names. Most surprising was there were flamingoes too and I feel sad that I forgot if it's the greater or lesser flamingo :( They were actually quite far off and I recall they're being more white from where I was seeing them, but then when I saw my pictures and zoom in, they do have some pink in them and they're very pretty. Look at those long thin legs, they look like sticks :D Anyways, for photos from Lake Naivasha, you can go here. Many of the pictures there were taken from the lodge I stayed in.
So the boat docked at Crescent Island and David handed me to the guide, Sam, who would take me walking around the island. I would say this activity is kinda nice because in a safari, you sit the whole time, and this chance to walk around is good. That being said I don't know how big the island is, we were talking and walking and we didn't go to every corner of the island. Animals seen are giraffes, zebras, impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, and perhaps some other that I forgot.
The conversation with Sam wasn't just about nature. It's wide-ranging to things like politics, things like Chinese investment, how the approach is different than America, how there are lands in Kenya being own by foreign entity (that was so shocking to me!). His knowledge of Indonesia was of a place that produces shirt, so that's funny. He seemed to be quite well-informed and it was quite an interesting change of conversation. I don't know how long we walked while talking about these things but then he received a call and it seemed it's been long enough and we should go back. Before we leave, he showed me these holes which were aardvark holes. He told me aardvark eat ants and the dumb me had no clue what aardvark looks like so I pictured a pangolin but now that I have googled it, they're so different :D He told me, hyenas might be using the holes now and there could be hyenas sleeping inside the hole. All of this is very interesting. For photos from the island, you can go here.
When I was back reunited with K for our drive to Lake Nakuru, I reported back to him that Sam was disappointed with the election result and he had a good laugh about it. Context: the week I left for Kenya, Kenya was having a presidential election. I found out about it from a CNN article and it was projected to be close and being the Indonesian that I am, it was a source of concern if things were going to be okay, if there's going to be a riot. Mom said maybe it'd be fine, but even in America riot happened too. Luckily all seemed peaceful despite of the result being contested and claims of cheating happening. The thing with the CNN article where it tries to be impartial, I do not know which one is the better candidate. So talking with an actual Kenyan like Sam who felt strongly the wrong person won and how disappointed he was, was very refreshing and running it back with K and hearing him told me the latest news was also really good. In fact I think this conversation might be like the start of us talking just about everything :D Two jobs that K disdains are polticians and policeman. He doesn't have high regard for them in Kenya which many Indonesians can nod in agreement too though perhaps our cops are getting better? I don't know :D There were many laughters talking about this, but the point is it's encouraging that there's no violent riot and that is the most important thing. We all can agree it's not worth dying or get hurt for politicians who tend to forget their promises and not care for us at all when they're in power. Side note: I think in an election where the votes are counted on the spot at the polling stations and ordinary citizens can watch them being verified and counted, then there should be a system like the Indonesian Kawal Pemilu where ordinary citizens can upload the result in their own polling station and these can be checked and confirmed by others. So if you are a bit suspicious of the officials and the government, this impartial non-profit system can be an extra step to make sure the results are as what you see in your own polling stations, an extra guard as the name suggests. Seriously, it's a massive undertaking to have an election in Indonesia, but I am pretty proud at how the whole thing is conducted and I appreciate how hard all the people who work in it. I think it's kinda the best process I have seen so far, it's very transparent, it feels festive and also our voting day discount is pretty much institutionalized by now, so what's not to like :D
Anyways, back to the trip. The drive to Lake Nakuru is not very far. On the way to the lodge, we saw some lions. Unlike in Amboseli where I saw one, this was a group so that was quite something, but what's more amazing was what happened later in the day.
Arrived in the lodge for lunch, then a bit of a break which I used to call mom then later in the afternoon we set out to explore the park. There are more trees in this park. Saw the Rothschild's giraffes (its leg is white from the knee down), impalas, another lions, warthog, zebras, but the main draw is perhaps the flamingoes and that's the reason I was quite excited about visiting this place. There was quite a number of them and it looked so cool, but K said it's only a handful :D They used to have more. Kinda a shame that there's no way we could get closer and that my camera couldn't zoom even more that I don't have details of individual flamingo :( Other birds by the lake include ducks and pelicans.
Then on our way back to the lodge, the lions from earlier in the day were actually getting nearer to the road and one of them started walking down towards us. It was quite a sight. It was also interesting to see the rest of the lions were watching this lion making its way down.
When the lion was crossing the road in front of us and came really close to us, I asked K if he's scared. He said no and maybe he thought if I was so he asked me back. No, it was fine really. Thinking about it later, I would be scared if he's scared :D Side note: the first people I told about this trip was my BFFs when I finally made it home last May, in that dinner where I had the really good red velvet cake. It was rather uncharacteristic of me to tell them when my cousin asked me about my travel plan, because though I had the idea but nothing was firmed out and I usually don't like to tell people when nothing is firmed out because I believe it will jinx it and it has happened before, but somehow that dinner I just told them. They were like, what?!? NO! It's funny that their main concern was this exact thing that I would get too close to the animals and it would be dangerous. That was the main concern, not about me going to a country so unknown alone. They were like, you can go to the safari park outside Jakarta to see the animals. I had to tell them it's gonna be fine and it was fine really. After crossing the road, the lion settled not so far from me, it was so cool. There were zebras at a far distance. I'm not sure if it was stalking it, but it's pretty much not a good time, there were so many humans watching them and sometime things like this do make me think, perhaps they would rather be left alone with peace and quiet. The other lions started making their way down as well. When they were reunited, it's nice seeing them snuggling and acknowledging each other.
We left when they finally made their way back up to the trees. I think the too many humans made it uncomfortable for them. Seeing them made the whole day really. I came to Lake Nakuru feeling so excited about seeing flamingoes but seeing those lions that up close was really something. Sometime you get lucky in a safari I guess and somehow with me, it seems most of the interesting things I got to see was closer to when we're about to leave. The last thing we saw that day was a group of baboons. Many of them have baby baboons and baby baboons really have a good grip, they could really hang on to their mothers.
:) eKa @ 3:03:00 PM • 0 comments
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