by Jim Hughes
"Good Morning, good morning" rang the sweet voice of a young lady just outside the door to our tent; 5:45 AM just as requested. She brought a thermos of hot coffee and a few biscuits, the Kenyan coffee is superb!
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The last Safari of our wilderness experience began sharply at 6:30 AM. Like the previous 3 trips into the bush our up close and personal (in most cases only a few feet away) with wildlife we hadn't seen or been next to yet. The highlights of the morning were batches of elephants; our first sighting of hyena's of the trip (one of the few animals that isn't eaten by anyone else, they are really bad characters) and a python in a water hole, our guide estimated to be about 10 feet long. Despite the miserably rough ride- the scenery and animal life is fantastic!!!
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Back to camp for a fast clean up and hearty breakfast then it was off to the airport. The Camp brought out the airport limousine and we requested Terminal 3, please see photos. Our plane arrived on time as scheduled, we landed on another dirt strip 15 minutes after departure and then on to Nairobi. Two vans took us immediately to the World famous 'Carnivore' Restaurant. Apparently no good Western Tourist would come to Nairobi and not dine at the Carnivore. See photo of today’s lunch meats.
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40 minute ride across town to the International Airport and on to Mombassa, Kenya's 2nd largest City, population unknown. 8 Rotarians were there to meet us, we were a team of 9 originally but shrunk to 8. The 9 included a PDG, the 'Country Chairman', 2 Club Presidents and at least 2 FDG's (Future District Governors). We have been treated as VIP’s from the day we arrived in Africa and this was a message that Mombassa Rotary was going to go all out for our team.
The temperature was hot and humid, I believe about 90 degrees and 90% humidity: but for the first time of the trip we were provided with a air conditioned bus, we were told there are only a few in the Country with working air conditioning. The hotel sent along two staffers for our luggage, kind of a tour guide and ice cold towels to freshen us up , only thing missing was cocktails! About 50 minutes drive to our beachfront hotel, a gorgeous property, get rid of the humidity and we were in paradise. We got the VIP reception, a plumeria Leigh for each of us, a fresh coconut and straw and naturally another ice cold towel. Had I not been tired I would have guessed we were in for a time share presentation, we soon found out that the GM of the Hotel was a Rotarian. We didn’t even check in, our room keys were waiting for us.
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Fast shower and selection of my least dirty clothes and it was on to a dinner reception at the Country Chair’s home (each of the 5 countries in D9200 have a Country Chair to assist the DG). 60-70 members and spouses greeted us with about as warm a welcome as one could ask for, we got back to the Hotel somewhere around midnight. Some days I ask myself if this day was worth a day of my life; this day may have been worth two in my book.
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