Squeekie ready to leave on her safari into “Darkest Africa.”

Flying out of Mombasa’s airport, headed into the interior of Kenya.

Flying past Mount Kilimanjaro, which is a dormant volcano.

As her plane came in for a landing, Squeekie got her first view of African wild animals.

A baboon . . .

. . . and an unidentified bird are the first to be captured by Squeekie’s camera.

Squeekie at Governor’s Camp in the Masai Mara National Park in southern Kenya.

Going for a game drive in a Land Rover.

The giraffe who posed for Squeekie’s camera.

Hippos cooling off in the Mara River.

A baboon mommy and her little one.

A cape buffalo male sporting his massive horns.

Squeekie’s tent six—very comfortable for the outback!

The shower in Squeekie’s tent.

The blue monkey who begged for food from a comfortable venue.

Animals photographed on the afternoon game drive—a gazelle . . .

. . . a “dazzle” of zebras . . .

. . . and topis . . .

. . . an observant cheetah . . .

. . . a cautious warthog . . .

. . . and some hungry vultures.

A pride of lions listened to the cow bells . . .

. . . while the male stood watch.

An exciting day concluded with a nice dinner . . .

. . . while some of the camp staff guarded against nighttime prowlers.

Sunrise on the Mara . . .

. . . finds many animals already awake and feeding.

A mother hyena watched over her cubs . . .

. . . while one of the curious cubs looked at the camera-toting humans.

Crocodiles sunned themselves in the Mara River . . .

. . . and one fractious hippo challenged intrusions by other males.

This stork-style bird enjoyed standing on one leg.

A mother zebra nuzzled her little colt.

Maasai men greeted their visitors with the traditional jumping dance.

Maasai women proudly show their young babies . . .

. . . while older children look after the younger ones.

Children the world around wave at visitors . . .

. . . but Maasai adults and children routinely stand barefooted in manure.

Squeekie posed with some of the Maasai in their Mara River village.

This Maasai couple showed their handicrafts to the visitors . . .

. . . and Squeekie posed beside her Land Rover . . .

. . . until it was time to fly back to Mombasa.

The airplane flew out over the veldt that sported so much game.

Landing at Mombasa was a return to civilization.


Wood carvers at work in Mombasa.

The inside of Mombasa’s Hindu Temple.

The Eleven Commandments of Hinduism.

The giant elephant tusks created to honour Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Mombasa in 1952.

Fort Jesus—once a formidable symbol of power.

A British Carronade looks out over Mombasa’s harbour.

Skeleton of a prisoner.

Architecture of Mombasa’s old town.

A tailor at work outdoors in old town.

The waterfront of Mombasa’s Old Town.


[Because Squeekie was on her own for this marvelous safari into the heart of East Africa’s animal kingdom, just like her earlier tour to the Taj Mahal, I thought it would be best to have her tell, in her own words, what she saw and what she thought about it. So once again she has kindly permitted me to borrow her journal entries verbatim.]


Eightieth Day (Thursday, April 9, 2009)-- Excitement woke me before the alarm this morning. At last, my dream of going on safari was finally coming true. After a hearty breakfast of my usual oatmeal and fruit eaten on the back deck while overlooking the Port of Mombassa, I joined the other 105 passengers taking the overland excursion to the Maasai Mara. I already knew a lot of people taking this trip and had previously arranged with Dan and Maryann Gessner to travel with them since we knew we would eventually be divided into groups of 6. Neither of us wanted to get matched with any “challenging” people.

A bus took us from the port through a little bit of Mombassa on our way to the airport. I had expected to see scenes reminiscent of Mumbai, but what I actually saw was not nearly as bad. Granted, poverty was still evident, and trash accumulated in some places; but I also saw clean laundry hanging to dry and people sweeping sidewalks. I did not see people living in the streets.

The check-in at the airport went quickly and smoothly, and before long I boarded a small airplane, choosing a window seat on the left side of the plane. It was a beautiful and clear day, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was in Kenya and not merely flying over the California desert since the view from my window seemed so familiar. The flight to Maasai Mara was projected to take an hour and twenty minutes, and I recalled that Mount Kilimanjaro was approximately at the halfway point, so I kept my eyes peeled on the horizon in hopes of catching sight of it. I could not see any mountains out the window though, but then I caught a glimpse of something big on the horizon. Sure enough, the pilot confirmed my suspicion. I had expected that it would be a peak in a chain of mountains, but Mount Kilimanjaro stood apart from the surrounding land. What an awesome sight.

A woman named Bonnie was sitting next to me, and we talked non-stop the rest of the flight. She is married to Wayne Anderson, and before they retired to Wisconsin, they lived in Palos Verdes. She invited me to join their traveling group, but I said I had already made arrangements with the Gessners.

The flight to Maasai Mara was very smooth. I don’t know the details of the plane we were on, but it was clean and cozy. It held most of the people from our group although two other smaller planes also carried about a third of the group. A male flight attendant named Maurice served coffee, tea, or soft drinks during the flight, and a very small bathroom was available if needed. Both Bonnie and I decided to use the bathroom at the airport after we landed however.

Before long, our plane was dropping in altitude and we could see groups of animals dotting the landscape. I was so excited to finally be here and see the animals in their natural habitat. The plane landed and we taxied to a stop, right on the plain in the middle of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Bonnie and I looked at each other and just laughed—no bathroom!

Four-wheel drive Land Rovers and their drivers were waiting to take our little groups on our first game drive which would end at the Governors’ Camp. The Gessners and I paired up with another couple, and shortly we were off into the bush. We saw baboons and birds, and even a hyena. Wow, this was so exciting and I actually had to tell myself not to take too many pictures since the late afternoon game drive promising more animal activity was yet to come.

When we arrived at the camp, I learned much to my dismay that I was assigned to stay at a Private Camp, a sister camp to the one where most of the group was staying. But Leslie, the man from Shore Excursions who was the escort for this excursion, said under his breath so that only I could hear that I should feel very fortunate to be staying at that alternate camp. Reluctantly, I retrieved my bag and climbed into a vehicle to be taken to the Private Camp; but when I arrived there, none of the other passengers was there yet. I patiently stood around, not really knowing what to do when my driver asked if I wanted to go out on a game drive until the others arrived. Needless to say, I said yes!

The vehicle we used was a small Land Rover and the canvas roof was rolled back enabling me to stand up and absorb the full game drive experience. We bumped and bounced through mud and ruts in the make-shift road through the grassland, and I was having a ball just with the ride, but then I saw a giraffe sitting there enjoying the late morning sun. We stopped and I took a bunch of pictures while the giraffe posed as if knowing that he was having a photo session.

My driver also took me to a place on the Mara River where I saw at least a dozen hippos keeping cool in the muddy river. I saw more baboons and birds, taking pictures of the animals as they munched on seeds and grass. I even was able to get up close and personal with a cape buffalo basking in the midday sun which looked like a Revolutionary War statue sporting a periwig and the distinctive hat that soldiers of that era wore.

Returning to the Private Camp, I met the other 10 people who were going to be staying there, and was glad to find that Bonnie and Wayne were among them. The man who seemed to be in charge at this camp walked us through the registration process and gave out tent assignments, and then another man escorted me to my tent number six and explained how everything inside worked.

Since I traveled alone, I had a tent all to myself, but this tent was unlike any other I have slept in. It sits on a raised platform and has three separate rooms—a bedroom/living area with two twin beds, desk, night table, rugs and hardwood floor; a bathroom with two basins to hold fresh water from the bucket sitting next to the sink and a flush toilet; and a shower room with two bucket showers. This camp has no electricity, but each tent has two gas lanterns the staff would light for us after dark, an electric lantern and a candle with matches. This excursion was already proving to be quite an adventure.

Once settled, I joined the rest of my group for our al fresco lunch. The camp chef prepared a lovely gourmet meal served in copper chafing dishes and china platters. We had gazpacho soup, cashew nut potato bread, salad, vegetable lasagne, grilled turkey, steamed vegetables, rice, cappuccino cake, mango crumble, and lychee sorbet. While we were enjoying our lunch, several little mongooses entertained us with their antics while a blue monkey begged for handouts from a safe spot overhead.

After lunch, our two drivers drove us to the other camp where the rest of the group was staying so that we could visit the camp’s gift shop. I wanted to get something as a memento of my trip here, but they didn’t have any shirts or even t-shirts in my size. I would even have purchased a book on the animals of the Maasai Mara, but nothing like that was available either. I did, however, buy a patch which I can sew on a shirt later.

In the late afternoon, we took another, more extensive game drive through the bush. The 11 of us fit comfortably in two safari vehicles and everyone had a “window” seat. I got to sit in front with our driver, Joseph who proved to be an excellent guide for our time in the reserve. We saw so many varieties of animals grazing on the plains. Wildebeests, zebras, topis, gazelles, impalas, hyenas, baboons, vultures, other kinds of birds, and warthogs went about their daily lives hardly paying any attention to us as we intruded into their environment. Joseph was continuously on the lookout for more animals for us to see. He spotted a lone cheetah far off in the distance through his powerful binoculars but none of us could see it. Joseph drove our vehicle over to the location he had pointed out to us; and sure enough, there was a cheetah lying in the bush. We stopped about 20 feet from the beast; and when it noticed us, it sat up seemingly posing for the camera.

Continuing on our safari drive, Joseph took us to the bank of the Mara River where we saw more hippos relaxing in the water. Later, dark clouds started coming over the land and a wind came up, drastically reducing the temperature. Joseph provided each of us with a Maasai blanket to keep us warm. The animals sensed the change in weather too and started to herd closer together. I had expected to see them stay segregated; but in fact, zebras, wildebeests, and topis congregated into one large herd. A gentle rain started to fall, but the animals did not seem to notice.

We came upon a herd of cattle grazing upon the grass which seems to grow everywhere in the Mara. Joseph told us that these cattle belong to the Maasai people and despite rules to the contrary, that the Maasai allow their cattle to graze within the reserve. Shortly thereafter, we found a small pride of lions almost sitting at attention listening intently to the sound of the bells which the Maasai had placed around the necks of their cows. Were they contemplating their next meal or were they merely curious about this unfamiliar sound in the bush? I even was able to see the mighty black-maned male, leader of this pride, and was fortunate to have enough sunlight left to take a few pictures of him.

By now it was raining too heavily to be out in the bush in an open vehicle, so we had to drop the side curtains which made viewing animals difficult. But we had already been on this drive for three hours so it was time to return to our camp anyway. What an awesome afternoon this had been, seeing these beautiful animals in their natural habitat. But, the day’s adventure was not nearly over.

When we arrived back at the camp, we were met by staff that provided large umbrellas for us to use to get to our tents. My bed was already turned down for the night and my two gas lanterns were already lit, one on the porch of my tent and the other one in the bathroom providing plenty of light for me to see while inside. I freshened up for dinner and then went back to the central area of the camp where our hosts had set up a bar in one of the two open-sided tents so we could enjoy cocktails before dinner. I had Captain Morgans spiced rum and Sprite, while others tried Tusker beer, martinis, and wine. We all speculated about how and why we had been chosen to stay at this camp rather than at the larger facility where everyone else stayed. Whatever the real reason may have been, we all realized how fortunate we were to have been chosen to stay at this unique camp.

This group bonded so well and before long we all seemed like old friends. The couples making up the group were Janet and John Neal from Arizona, Manford and Marymargaret Mainer formerly from Southern California but now living in Texas, Vincent and Carol Messina from New Hampshire, John Lawrence and Karen Cunningham from Maryland, and Wayne and Bonnie Anderson. I was clearly the youngest one, but they all accepted me. All of us could easily climb in and out of our safari vehicles, and not one person voiced any complaints.

As we were talking over dinner, Manford, who always had something interesting to say, mentioned that he had graduated from Whittier College. Before I could open my mouth to say that I had graduated from the University of Redlands, Marymargaret said that she graduated from the UofR. I let out a little scream and said I did too and we both broke into the Och Tamale. Surely the rest of the group must have thought we were crazy, but that didn’t matter to us. We even had our picture taken together to send to the alumni newsletter. It really is a small world afterall.

We couldn’t eat outside under the stars because of the rain, although it had stopped by the time we were eating, so we ate inside one of the open-sided tents. The cloth-covered table was set with china, silver, crystal, and fancy-folded napkins just like on the ship. The meal the chef prepared for us was delicious, and we enjoyed a nice Australian wine with our food. It really was quite an enjoyable evening.

I was pretty tired after this exciting day, as was the rest of the group, so one of the guards escorted me to my tent. The guards are always on watch for our protection in case any of the animals stray into the camp. I felt safe and snug in my tent and nice warm bed and before long I fell sound asleep.


Eighty-first Day (Friday, April 10, 2009)-- I awoke before my alarm this morning and laid in bed listening to all the sounds on the Mara. Birds were already chirping even though the sun wouldn’t be up for a couple of hours, and in the distance I could hear some animals talking to each other in their own way. I had asked to be awakened at 5:15 AM; and a few minutes before that time, I heard one of the camp helpers open the zipper to my shower room to fill my bucket shower with hot water before coming to the entrance to my tent to wake me up at the requested time. I had no difficulty getting up because I was so excited to take an early morning game drive and see the sun rise over the plain.

It was still quite dark inside my tent, although I did let the lantern in my bathroom burn all night, so I lit my candle and brought that into the shower room with me. Apprehensively, I pulled the chain on the bucket and let a little hot water sprinkle my body before soaping up. When it was time to rinse off, I pulled the chain again and let the water gently caress my body as I stood in the candlelit shower watching the stars still twinkling in the sky and listening to the animals in the distance.

Since I had taken so much time enjoying my shower, I had to hurry to finish getting ready for the day by 6:00 AM. Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate was already waiting for us to drink before leaving on our game drive. Most everyone slept quite well and enjoyed listening to the animal sounds as they awoke. Three people from our group had already left the camp to take a ride in a hot air balloon over the Mara, so only eight of us would be going on the drive this morning.

It was still dark when we left the camp, but the horizon already glowed with the promise of the sun. Joseph stopped our vehicle at a lovely spot where we could fully experience the beauty and peace of the sunrise on the Mara.

We heard the sound of the fire jets and shortly could see the two colorful hot air balloons carrying people from our tour group rise above the treetops. The animals were already out in the plains feeding on the grasses and seeds that they could find. Some distance away, Joseph spotted a hippopotamus out of the water for a morning stroll and drove our Land Rover nearer to it so we could get a better view. We found a little group of hyenas and watched the little cubs play while their mothers relaxed in the warm sun. One cub was so curious that it came right up to our vehicle with such an inquisitive look in its eyes that you could almost hear it wondering who we were. I had to remind myself that these creatures are still wild and dangerous so I wouldn’t reach out to cuddle it. We saw many more of the same animals we saw on yesterday’s game drives, including several giraffes near a grove of trees. Joseph stopped at the Mara River where we all climbed out of our vehicles to get a better view of crocodiles lazing there. Further down the river, we stopped again and got out of the vehicles to watch the hippos soaking there. They were much more animated than yesterday, and one male hippo was picking fights with anyone who would dare. We saw more birds as well, but elephants were eluding us today.

We returned to the camp after three hours and sat down to a sumptuous English breakfast under the trees overlooking the river. When we were finished, we drove to a Maasai village outside the reserve area to see how these primitive people live. When we arrived, we were greeted by a young Maasai man dressed in the traditional red cloth and elaborate beaded necklaces who escorted us into the open area within the circle of mud huts that define the boundary of their village. Other young Maasai men entertained us with their form of dance. One at a time, each man would step forward from the rest and, starting from a standstill, jump a good two feet off the ground without bending his knees. How they can do that is a mystery to me. The village women wore brightly colored costumes and beaded necklaces. Older children tended the babies and toddlers, and young children played together just like their counterparts in developed countries.

The Maasai raise cattle, sheep, and goats. The baby animals sleep in separate rooms inside the mud houses, apart from the humans. Outside the huts, the ground isn’t dirt but fresh manure from all the animals. Consequently flies were everywhere. Yet the people themselves seemed clean although I could smell a faint scent of body odor whenever one was nearby, but even that is understandable given today’s warm temperature and speculation that they don’t use deodorant.

Outside the circle of huts, a craft market was set up where the village’s women were selling some of the things they made. I purchased a carving of a Maasai elder dressed in the bright red and blue cloth that I saw the men wearing and beads.

After seeing how these people live and knowing that the young are educated and have radios, I wonder why they remain in the villages after they grow up rather than search for a better life elsewhere. Is it a sense of duty to their elders or had it never occurred to them that living in another place was an option? I wonder how they would react to visiting Disneyland?

Joseph took us on a small game drive on our way back to the camp. We had yet to see any elephants, and he tried as best he could to find some for us, but they continued to elude us today. Those that took the balloon ride had seen many from their lofty position, but apparently all the elephants were on the other side of the river today.

Back at the camp, we were served lunch although none of us seemed too hungry, and then we packed up for the return trip to the air field. Joseph still wanted to find some elephants for us to see, so he took us on one more game drive to a different area on the plain with the specific intent to find us even one elephant, but none could be found.

Once at the air field, I reluctantly said goodbye to Joseph and he invited us to come back to the Governors’ Camp at a later date and request that he be our guide. He really was a very good driver and willingly shared his extensive knowledge of the animals with us.

The flight back to Mombassa was very similar to the outbound trip. I had hoped to get another glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro but the sky was filled with big puffy clouds which hid the mountain from sight.

When I returned to the ship, Sheryl had left a note on my door and a message on my phone that she was available to have dinner with me tonight in the dining room. After a very welcomed hot shower, I got myself dressed up for the evening and met Sheryl for drinks in the Ocean Bar. I brought my camera along to show her most of the 900 and some pictures I’d taken while on safari. She enjoyed looking at them so much and hearing all about my experience that she decided to sign up for the crew’s safari excursion in one of the upcoming ports. I had two mango Champagne Dreams and could still walk in a straight line to the dining room!

We ate dinner at my regular table 22 in the La Fontaine, and afterwards we went to the show. The entertainer was a man named Gary Arbuthnot from Ireland who played the flute and the Irish hornpipe. He played mostly popular music rather than classical and sprinkled his show with some Irish folk tunes as well. I enjoyed his performance very much.

After the show, Sheryl and I returned to the Ocean Bar and had some soft drinks until the musicians stopped playing and were the last ones to leave the bar right around midnight. We had a wonderfully fun Girls’ Night Out on the ship and I was reminded how much I missed having girl-time with Leslee now that she has moved so far away.


Eighty-second Day (Saturday, April 11, 2009)-- Since the Rotterdam stayed an extra day in Mombasa and Moss was not going to be back from his train trip to Nairobi until later today, I booked a shore excursion so I could see what Mombasa has to offer.

The tour started at the Akamba Woodcarving cooperative. We were lead through the labyrinth of corrugated steel-covered work areas where the craftsmen created a myriad of wooden objects. African animals of all sizes, masks, bowls, walking sticks, and statues carved from ebony, mahogany, teak, and sandalwood were just some of their wares. I spoke with several of the men as I walked through and admired the intricate details of their carvings. Many sat directly on the ground while others had created stubby-legged chairs for themselves. Each man’s work area was quite small, only 10 square feet, if that. The only light for them was from the sun. Yet despite these horrible working conditions, the men were very proud of their work and anxious to have us purchase one of their pieces. I did purchase a teak bowl and an ebony hippo as well as two necklaces and a bracelet in the coop’s shop. Our guide told us that 80% of the price paid goes to the individual craftsman who created the piece and the other 20% goes to the coop. I’m glad they received something for their handiwork.

Continuing on the drive through the newer area of Mombassa, I noticed lots of building which appeared to be occupied but also seemed to be incomplete, especially the second floors. Our guide told us that construction stops when the money runs out because apparently the concept of a mortgage loan has not yet been accepted in Kenya. Once grown, it is often the children who complete the construction. Why anyone would even start on a project that is greater than the available funds is beyond my comprehension.

We stopped to visit a Hindu temple with its colorful relief murals depicting scenes from their bible. I learned that this particular sect, Shikshapatri, has eleven commandments rather than ten. Some of their commandments are similar to ours but others are quite different. Do not eat meat or unclean food. Do not drink alcohol. Do not smoke tobacco or opium and bhang (I don’t have a clue what bhang is though). Never insult a widow or touch her. Never insult anyone. Never hear preachings from one who censures the Almighty. Never criticize any religion or their deities. They also seem to revere more animals than at other Hindu temples we visited on this cruise. In Africa, one would expect the elephant to have primary importance, and that animal was precisely the one taking center stage on the altar in the main prayer room.

Our tour bus stopped to let us out to take photographs of the enormous elephant tusks spanning the main street in the city. They were created in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Mombassa in 1952.

The next stop was at Fort Jesus, built by Portuguese forces at the end of the 16th century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to Mombassa in 1498, but left shortly when they couldn’t get along with the citizens, establishing a base further south in Malindi. The Turks arrived in 1589 and built a fort in Mombassa. Fearing that such settlement might hamper their route to and from Portugal, the Portuguese attacked Mombassa and took it back in 1593. After that, they started building Fort Jesus to guard the entrance to the natural harbor. Interestingly, the Portuguese considered themselves to be representatives of Christendom rather than Portugal, so naming their new fort Jesus was an obvious decision. At various times during its history as an active fort, it was also occupied by local, British, and Omani troops. In more recent times, it was used as a prison; but today it is mostly a museum housing some Omani artifacts, Portuguese paintings, and a collection of carved wooden doors. Even a skeleton of one of the former prisoners was on display.

Our guide led us on a walking tour through the narrow streets of Old Town, the center of life in Mombassa in former times. Once beautiful buildings with balconies and elaborately carved wooden and brass studded doors located here are badly in need of repair, but with a little money and effort could surely be restored to their former condition. I felt like I was walking through a real live Adventurers’ Club. Little children joined our parade and amused us with silly antics just like their American counterparts. A tailor had even set up his sewing machine on a table outside his shop right on the street.

When I got back to the ship, Moss had just finished getting cleaned up from his two-day train ride to Nairobi. . . .