tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329590402024-03-13T03:16:59.048-07:00Linda's travelsOff to the MaldivesLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-65186858027282184842009-12-15T19:06:00.000-08:002009-12-15T19:40:49.274-08:00Manta rays and a whale sharkThe following videos are courtesy of Robin Lippy. The whale shark video is of the one Linda would have gotten if she had remembered to take her macro lens off.... uhhhhhhhhhgggggg! (I took the liberty to combine four short video's into one. Then added a little music.)<br /><br />Hope you enjoy it.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UZz-lW6o6OY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UZz-lW6o6OY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13800250303246135935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-60074499763637908472009-12-13T16:17:00.000-08:002009-12-13T17:02:32.635-08:00Maldives slide show<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="420" height="420" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Flgbake%2Falbumid%2F5414866263289934321%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-40399768211578528362009-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:002009-12-12T09:03:22.777-08:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPMsRbKvQI/AAAAAAAAAEo/SrZMOzcddwE/s1600-h/Glorious+Flatworm+adjusted.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPMsRbKvQI/AAAAAAAAAEo/SrZMOzcddwE/s320/Glorious+Flatworm+adjusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414396237993131266" /></a><br />Friday Nov 6 <br />We have been looking for the Whalesharks since we boarded. Last week we were told that they were down South so we headed towards there. When we got there they were no where to be found. Then we were told that they had headed North. We headed North. Still no Whalesharks. We carried on diving to take a break from the search. This week the Dive Crew heard that they were down South again. That was two days ago. It has taken us two days to get back South and this time we are even further South than last time. <br /><br />We knew that the crew were on the hunt today for them today. We did our first dive which was a very nice dive. Hey, what dive isn’t. We got back had breakfast and then got ready for our next dive. We were originally going to do our second dive then look for the Whaleshark. Well, when we hit the dive boat things changed. We switched that around and went hunting first. <br /><br />The seas were really rough. I would say that the swells were about 6 ft/ 2 meters high. As the crew was searching we were all chatting and trying to stay I our seats without falling down. Water was breaking over the bow of the boat. You could see that some were turning green and wishing that the search would end and that we just could get into the water. We should have been ready to get into the water but like me….I am sure that nobody really thought we would see it. I am not sure how long it took the crew to locate one. They were on the roof of the boat. All of a sudden we could heard banging. They spotted one. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In our excitement we grabbed our snorkel gear and hit the water. <br /><br />Lily was first in which is amazing as she is not a great swimmer and was afraid of getting into seas that rough. It took me awhile to get my camera and lens ready. When I got in I remembered…….DO NOT TAKE PHOTO’S………..TAKE VIDEO. I was so proud of myself for remembering that. I was shooting for about a minute. The Whaleshark was just under me. As the shark was moving deeper and away from me I realized that I forgot to take off my macro lens……UGHHHHHHHHHHHH. Boo Hoo. The fortunate thing is that my friend Robin was right beside me the entire time. She took video as well so we would have had the same footage and even better yet…..she has a better camera than me. The video is awesome and I will put it on this blog when I get home.<br /><br />That is not the end of this dive either. I have no idea why but I had told my buddies that I was going to stay with the guides today. Normally I am at the back of the pack and last on the boat. <br />Today I wanted to be up front. Well, that did not happen as my group got separated. When we regrouped the current changed and everybody had turned around. I now was waiting for one of my buddies to catch up to me. Not long after I was got everyone back in order I could hear a rattle being shaken like crazy. I knew that the others had seen the whaleshark underwater. I missed it. I was very happy for the others as I have seen 4 whalesharks underwater and this was their very first one. <br /><br />Needless to say everyone is exhausted and very happy. As I write this piece we are in a storm. The boat is rocking and rolling. All of my seasick people are in bed…or at least I hope that they are as walking around on the boat is a challenge. I think I will grab my book and do exactly the same thing. <br /><br />Sat Nov. 7<br />Did a night dive in the pouring rain. It was a strong current and because of the storm I wanted to stay with the group. They were flying down the reef. It was not my cup of tea but the Brit’s loved it. We did see a lobster and two huge rays.<br />Today we did a 4 ½ hr crossing in a storm. It was rough but due able. Again it poured rain for our two dives. Robin found an amazing nudibranch today. We were meant to do a bar-ba-que tonight but the rain stopped us. We were going to do a night dive but the crew are exhausted but driving that boat in the stormy weather. At last the storm has ended. I am back outside on the upper deck writing this.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-32673644449087505492009-11-05T07:42:00.000-08:002009-12-12T09:01:02.667-08:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPMSACswdI/AAAAAAAAAEg/SHl4PAZurII/s1600-h/whitetip+reef+shark+adjusted.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPMSACswdI/AAAAAAAAAEg/SHl4PAZurII/s320/whitetip+reef+shark+adjusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414395786650501586" /></a><br />Thursday Nov 5th<br /><br />I cannot believe how many of my people are getting sick. It started with one just after we got here. He had a nasty cold. He was down for about 3 days. Then his wife got it. She was only down for 2 days. Yesterday, another guy went down with the flu and my roommate has a nasty GI problem. We are hoping that they are not down to long. It is nasty to be sick in a island, worse when it is your on your vacation but on vacation on a boat. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />We are still in search of the allusive whale shark. I have decided that someone here had bad karma. HAHAHAH<br /><br />So far this week the complaints are way down. Thank god. It is so much nicer.. I knew it was going to be tough to keep everyone happy but I did not expect that much pickiness. Even with that said, this has been an amazing learning experience. The biggest question I have is ………why did I wait so dang long to do it. <br /><br />I am checking with Alex…who at the young age of 27 has been diving around Asia/Indonesia etc.alot. He had a shop in Malaysia before this boat Anyway, after chatting with him tons, he is going to set me up with destinations and dive operations where I can book a group and get in the 1 ½ hr dives that we are looking for as well as the small stuff. Of course we like the big stuff but we just do not want to waste our time looking for it.<br /><br />I am pretty sure that I have not mentioned it or not but……I love being on the boat. At least this one as it is big enough to find hiding places to read or to write. One would have to be really careful about getting sun burnt on the boat is the breeze is amazing so you never feel hot when on the upper decks. <br /><br />Dang…It just dawned on me….not everyone has seen photo’s of this boat. Go to www.mvorion.com or search mv Orion Maldives. This boat is amazing.<br /><br />This afternoons late dive was amazing. Not only did it have some wonderful corals but we had a frogfish on steroids and a leaf fish. Here they call it a paper scorpion fish. The problem with the dives right now is that we are being followed by a boat of Italians and a boat of Spaniards. There are about 60 or more divers on the same reef. UGH. Hate it.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-7381180369242792812009-11-04T09:01:00.000-08:002009-12-12T08:59:24.840-08:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPLy4kyHqI/AAAAAAAAAEY/91vvr8BxIW8/s1600-h/butterflies+adjusted.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPLy4kyHqI/AAAAAAAAAEY/91vvr8BxIW8/s320/butterflies+adjusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414395252070031010" /></a><br />Monday Nov 2 2009<br />At last everybody is extremely happy. We finally got our Manta Ray dive today. Not one, not two but 11 of them. . One of them had at least 10 remora’s on it. They danced, barrel rolled and dive bombed. The vis was not great. About 50 ft, which was fine by us. We were with the Manta’s for about 45 min maybe longer. They were not the little guys either. They were about 15 feet wide and at a cleaning station. They were so awesome that we went back the next day. Well, we went back because we have new people on the boat and they wanted to see them as well. The next day we had 6 Manta’s. After that dive we did a 6 hr corssing so we all read or slept. <br /><br />Today we did a shark dive. We had a bout 5 grey reef sharks as well as about 10 white tip reef sharks. The full moon has been causing high tides and much stronger currents. Serena and I are usually the last ones on the boat. Not only because we are good on our air but because we hardly move even with the strong currents. It takes the boat awhile to pick up everybody then they have to back track to get us and the owner. Thank god the owner is with us. HAHHAHA<br /><br />We have been finding a few nudi’s but not many. I am kicking my butt today as on of my people found an amazing one. It was just a baby. <br />About ¼ inch long. I only managed 3 photo’s as I wanted others to see it. Needless to say…….they were not in focux. UGH. OH well. I have gotten some amazing shots along the way.<br /><br />Tonight is a beautifully clear night. I am sitton on the upper deck typing this………<br /><br />Well, off to bed………….mone later……….when we find the whalesharkLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-26788113454311437552009-11-01T08:21:00.000-08:002009-12-12T08:56:40.366-08:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPLNYFId7I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/OkhLUg21lIM/s1600-h/bigger+anemonefish+adjusted.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 167px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPLNYFId7I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/OkhLUg21lIM/s320/bigger+anemonefish+adjusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414394607692183474" /></a><br />Now..where was I……..Friday…….If I remember correctly I left off with my Friday morning dive. We went to Fish Head and then after that we did a dive to Rahdigga Thila. Again there were loads of fish. Nothing to brag about as yet.<br /><br />Now, back to the boat. There are 17 crew. The majority of them are Maldivian. Most do not speak English. The cook is directly from Thailand as is her helper/massage person. Needless to say the food is amazing. As you all know…..when your meals are made for you, you eat. I am going to be as big as house when I get off this thing. Thank God I am going to NYC and my friend is going to share her membership with me. I will also be running a 5km race in Queens a few days after I get there. One of the owners is all of 27. Not sure how old his partner is but he is at a dive show so we will not be able to meet him Alex (the young owner) has is parents onboard to assist him. They are so sweet. Oh, they are brits. So I am loving their accents.<br /><br />On this ship there is a sauna and two hot tubs. They are not used as hot tubs but as a jet pool as the hot water would not be such a good idea for divers. Yes, everythings is expensive here. It is a luxury boat after all but like Bonaire…everything has to be brought in. Such is life. Make for much less drinking. HAHAHAH<br /><br />Today is now officially Halloween. Guess it is snowing in most places. Giggle. Today so far we have done two dives. We will be doing 3 dives a day till the next Group arrives. Anyway, This morning we went to Bulalhohi Fahru. It had the most current so far. We would slip under a ledge to get out of it. The dive was beautiful but uneventful. After breakfast we went in search of the Manta’s at one of their cleaning stations. Not luck.. OHG I have been forgetting to mention the Napoleon Wrasses. They are truly amazing. <br /> <br />I have to say that all in all things are working out pretty well. It took a few days to get people to settle down and stop bitching cause the boat is not exactly as they would have built it. Such things as storage, wasted space, proper coffee mugs etc.<br /><br />Today we had an amazing dive. The corals were how I expected them to be. Wonderful colors, tons of fish as well. I want more of that. We will go back there in a few days. Right now it is time for the Brits to leave. We were meant to have a bar-ba-que tonight but the weather turned again. Another big storm came flying in so we had dinner inside. The locals were singing and dancing tonight for everyone. The brit’s did joined in and did their own dances. The locals loved it.<br /><br />Tomorrow we get a serious sleep in………wake up at 7am. YEAHHHHHHHH.. Not sure when everybody is leaving but a new crew is ooming in. A couple from Spain, Two young Brit chicks and a 54 year old single man……he is special for me. HAHAHA We will be heading to a dive site where the Manta Rays get cleaned. Another boat saw 4 of them there today. I am looking forward to that. <br /><br />I sure wish that I could sernd some photo’s but I have no idea how to shrink them to send them out. I am very proud of some that I have taken.. I am already thinking of entering them in a contest if I can find the right one.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-60277503080223599012009-10-30T06:36:00.000-07:002009-12-12T08:54:28.766-08:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPIv2B-tYI/AAAAAAAAAEI/90Mnq6jM-v4/s1600-h/anemonefish+orange+adjusted.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Cf6lA7pO2sk/SyPIv2B-tYI/AAAAAAAAAEI/90Mnq6jM-v4/s320/anemonefish+orange+adjusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414391901312693634" /></a><br />PLEASE forgive the delay. Internet is not easy to get everyday. Also, please forgive any spelling errors. I am sending this without proofing it. Sorry, no photo's till I get back as there is no way they will go through with this internet.<br /><br />Thursday Oct 30<br /><br />Today was the first day of diving. I have not had internet as much as I thought which is why I am a wee bit behind. I am now going to try to catch up. At least now I can write when there is no internet and copy and paste it when I do have internet.<br /><br />So….let me see if I can remember everything. <br /><br />The flight down here was nasty. I got up at 5am and was at the airport at 5:30am. The first flight was to Houston via Cont. A 4 ½ hr flight. I then had a 8 hr layover. My next leg was to Dubai with Enriates . This flight was 15 hrs. I was to meet my friend Robin there. I waited and waited for her to arrive. I was worried as I never saw her. I had a 9 hr wait before I was to depart for Male. Emirates has a lounge for it’s customers where you can eat. It was a very nice way to pass time. <br /><br />The Dubai airport is more like a shopping mall than an airport. You can buy anything. It is a very international airport as it is a hub for the middle east. <br /><br />After the 9 hrs. wait I got on my last flight to Male. It was another 4 ½ hr flight. I saw Diane and Jim as I was boarding this flight but still no Robin. When we got to the airport I told the people picking us up that Robin was missing. They got me a internet card and I go online but could not locate her on skype. I unfortunately did not take her phone numbers with me. I checked my email and saw a message from her saying that her first flight out of Boston was cancelled and she would be arriving in the afternoon with a bunch of the others. Whew….I could now breath again.<br /><br />We found out that there were going to be 7 Brits joining us on this trip. So now instead of 14 of us there are 21. This is totally not a problem as the boat is hugh and beautiful. Ya, the boat is as beautiful as the photo’s. <br /><br />The Brit’s are upset as they did not know that the first day of arrival was for us to stay on the boat instead of at a hotel. We were not meant to dive. Our first dive was not meant to be till Tuesday. I explained that to them but as they said…….their travel agent should have let them know. <br /><br />On Tuesday the last of our crew arrived. We went out on our first dive to a site called Kiki Reef where we saw all the usual Indian Ocean fish. It was amazing. The currents were no where near as bad as I had expected them to be. We were suppose to do a afternoon dive but there was a problem with the compressor so no air. They did a night dive that night but I bowed out as I was not comfortable doing a night dive with only one dive under my belt here. <br /><br />On Wed. we did a dive to where we Rasdhoo Madivaru saw a grey shark and 3 eagle Rays. We also got to snorkel with our first Manta Ray. It was doing the summersault feeding thing. It was amazing. My first encounter with a Manta that actually stuck around. I was thrilled. The next dive was to Gangehi Kandhu where we saw more sharks. This dive had a bit more current and the vis was not great. We had a seperation issue. Everybody had a buddy but me. I keep holding back in hopes that someone would come up behind me Found out later that they all went deep and I did not.……… last dive was to…………….. Still not much in the way of currents. On our 3 dive we went to Gangehi House Reef. Some of us saw a Manta Ray down deep.<br /> <br />On Thursday we did our first 4 day dive. It was up at the crack of dawn. Eat a bit, get a briefing, dive, eat, rest, briefing, dive, eat, rest, briefing, dive, eat rest briefing, dive, eat. First dive was to Beryu where we saw giant stingray, Manta Ray passing by and turtle along with all the major beautifully colored fish. Second dive was to Haffusha Thila. Thila means Pinnacale in the Maldivian language. Loads of juv. Whitetip sharks. Third dive was to Maaya Thila where we had 2 turtles, nudi’s, blennies and gobies. We did this as a prep dive for the night dive. The last dive was again Maaya Thila for the night dive. Awesome. 2 juv. Lionfish, nudi’s, juv. Whitetip reef sharks hunting for dinner. <br />Wow!!!!!!! It is friggin Friday. Where is the time going? The Brits are wonderful and a nice add on to the group. I have already done 2 dives today. I am hoping to get internet long enough tonight to actually send this off. <br /><br />So the first dive today was to a site called Batala Maaga Kan Thila. Two Neopolian Wrasse’s, Eagle Ray, amazing overhangs. Found my first jawfish. I hate that I do not know the names of all the fish. I know most of the families which is nice but there are no extensive books to look up the fish names and even worse….no nudi book. UGH…………or creature book I guerss I should say. The next dive was to Fish Head. Richard found me a beautiful nudi and I found a stick like one. I love it when I can stay down longer but still not long enough. Longest dive so far was 76 mins. But I am thrilled that they are allowing us to do that.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1169825880763428372007-01-26T07:11:00.000-08:002007-01-26T07:38:00.776-08:00Nov 3<br /><br />Today is the last day. I finally slept really well last night. Yup, sleeping at altitude is definately the problem and not the hard ground. Maybe it was because I was totally exhausted after all the trekking. I can honestly say that I am very excited to see a hot shower and a real bed.<br /><br />This day was not a good one for my knees. I got up at about 6am. Packed up and had breakfast. Was up way to early as usual so I needed to hang around waiting for the guys to get ready. Finally at 7:30 we were off. <br /><br />Of course the whole trek is downhill complete with steps. My left knee was screaming mimi. Even with all of the steps to slow me down I made it in 2 1/2 hrs. Charles ( the first guide) was there to meet us. He needed to be there to fill out the paper work. <br /><br />While getting my paper work done I saw the French guy that I thought was blind. He looked a zillion times better and I noticed that he was not blind at all. I was shocked. It was all altitude sickness. This made me upset cause that meant that they pushed him up to the top risking his life. I walked up to him and asked him is the spoke English. That is when he told me he was French but his wife was Canadian. I told him that I was thrilled to see that he was doing way better and that he scared alot of people up there. I also told him that I thought he was blind. He told me that all he could see was like looking through a tunnel. <br /><br />I got my paperwork (certifiate proving I made it to the summit) and got in the van to head back to the hotel. When I got to the hotel I saw that the French group was in the driveway ahead of me. Seems like they we are staying at he same hotel. We all went to our rooms to get the hot showers and have lunch. At lunch I was going to sit alone but the French group was already there and asked if I would like to join them. YA!!!! I was so tried of being alone by this time that even sitting with people who could hardly speak English was a very warm welcome. As it turns out there were two people who could speak English very well and two who desperately wanted to speak it better so they want to practise with me. I loved it.<br /><br />It was at lunch that I learned that thier group was 10 and that they had hired a French guide who climbs the Alps all the time. It was the uncles 64th birthday and this was his dream. Not one of them in the group had ever climbed a mountain before. I am shocked to hear just how many people do this climb as their very first. I also found out that the path we took down is used to get things up very quickly. They even brought a birthday cake up to them at the camp just before the summit. <br /><br />After lunch they invited me to join them for dinner as well. We all hit the swimming pool or bed to rest. At dinner all of their guides joined us. They were young and sweet. There was alot of drinking and singing going on. We have a wonderful time.<br /><br />While all of this is going on I am patiently waiting for Robin to arrive. Robin is from Boston. I meet her here on Bonaire. She had come here for a vacation and we just hit if off. She of course if late arriving but that is okay as I am totally being entertained.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1168821520076626062007-01-14T14:54:00.000-08:002007-01-14T16:38:40.090-08:00I'm back<br /><br />Nov 2<br /><br />Well actually it is still the 1st. I was woken up at 11pm to get ready for the last leg of this trek on the up side. During the night I thought it has been raining. As I got ready I decided to put on my raining pants just in case. Well it had not rained at all...........it was SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!! It snowed all night and is still snowing. Deep in my heart I wanted to call this part of the trek but dug deep. I knew I had great cloths from Mountain Hardware. I so should not be cold. <br /><br />I have 5 layers of cloths one. I feel like the Dough boy. The only thing I am missing is my belaclava. I have my touche from Peru but I would have been much happer with the bel. Oh well.<br /><br />We start up at 11:30pm. Yes that is PM and not am. The winds are howling and the snow is flying. We trudge on. My guide and I are breaking trail. There was another person ahead of me but I have already passed them. This is really hard work for a island girl who has not been in the snow for a very, very long time. I would say that we were about 1/2 way up before another group meets up with me. I stop to let them by. They stop with me. UGH!!!!!!! We carry on as I so do not want to stop. My wool gloves are covered with a 1/4 inch of ice. I cannot eat my chocolate so my guide is feeding me. He is also readjusting my head lamp. It keeps moving on me as I try to keep the snow out of my face. My guide does not wear gloves or mittens for that matter. He just pulls his hands up under his coat sleeves. Oh, I remember doing that as a kid. What was I thinking back then. Silly girl.<br /><br />The group that caught up to me is now trying to pass. I am not stopping again for them. The route is really wide and they can go around. Yes, I am cold and bitchy. They keep on trying to push pass us but we hold our ground. At last they go around. I no longer have to break ground. This makes me happy but I am already exhausted. I am starting to wonder if I will make it. <br /><br />The snow lets up for a few minutes. I look behind and see the town of Moshi all lit up as well as all of the other trekkers that are coming up behind us. There is a snake of lights all heading to the top. More trudging. Now it is hailing. GRRRRR.. What next? This is taking me way longer than I had expected but then again I did not expect fresh snow either. <br /><br />The sun is raising but I am to tired to enjoy it. What I am enjoying is that the snow is now letting up again. Each step is a chore still. I have totally slowed down. I just keep putting one foot in front of the other in hopes to make it to the top soon. I love my guide. He has the patients of a saint. <br /><br />I am now nearing the first plateau. Stellar point I think it is called. I can now see that point but I cannot get there. We are in shale. I take a step up and slide back down. I am expending alot of useless energy that I no longer have. People are starting to breath down my neck. I try and try to make some headway. Nothing. As I get to this part of the mountain I see a guide leading a man who looks like he is blind. I am thinking.....great...even the blind guy is going to beat me to the top. UGH!!!!!!!!! I am getting so frustrated. People behind me are getting pissed off. Like I can do something about moving ahead. They have not idea how I wish I could get my footing. I have never been on this stuff before. The my angels arrive. A few of the other guides see that I am struggling. Two of them push my ass up (literally) and my guide pulls me. At last I am at the plateau. <br /><br />I see the blind guy again. He looks sick. I am thinking that he and I will be heading down soon as he is sick and I am done. The winds are still blowing but the sun is shining. All the sitting rocks are taken. I finally fine one that is available and sit. I know it is to cold to sit for long. I sit for maybe 5 mins. when my guide says...come we go. Ok, I start to head down. He says.....NO. You go up. He says.....you make it. Poley, Poley he says. Slowly, slowly is what it means. It is 1 to 1 1/2 hrs to the summit. You make it....he says. Not being a quitter.....off I go. I am totally exhausted but I may never be back to off I go. I go very slowly and stop alot to catch my breath. I see the blind guy again. I pass him and he passes me the whole way to the top. He is in way worse shape than I am. I have to ask....why are they pushing him? <br /><br />I trudge on and on and on and on and on........as I get closer and closer to the summit I can see that there are a lot of people up there. The people are coming up from all the different trails. I did not expect to see that many people up there. As I arrive the blind guy is just behind me and he falls to the ground when he arrives. I can now hear that he is French. <br /><br />It has to be at least -30. Maybe -40 with the wind chill. All I want to do is get my photo and head back to the warmth. It is now 7:30 am and I am at the summit. It usually take 5 - 6 hrs to make it to the top. It took me 8 hrs.. The sign is covered in snow. We need to knock off the ice more than once. It is all I can do to open up my jacket to get my camera out. I need to get the copy of the reporter as well for the paper here. My hands feel like they are freezing already. I wait and wait for the sign to become empty enought so I can have it to myself as who wants others in your victory photo. I am so cold. There is a group of French that are taking turns with thier photo's. I cannot wait any longer and ask if I might get my photo so I can get out of there. I am bummed that I cannot get a photo of my guide and I but after he takes 3 shots I am done. As I am leaving the French guys are pushing the blind guy to get a photo. He does not want it but they pull him up and drag him. He has not choice.<br /><br />I am so blessed to have had the guide I did. Without him I am not so sure if I would have made it. He pushed me just enough. As I leave I finally can look around. Wow! The glaciers are beautiful. I manage to get my camera out again to get a couple more photo's. They are the only photo's I get. As we head back to the plateau I get to thinking.....oh my gosh, my dream is now over. I did a 3 in one. I made it to Africa after talking about it for 15 or more years. I made it up Kilimanjaro after talking about it for 10 years or more and I made it around the world. This brings happy and sad tears to my eyes. <br /><br />On the way down I meet some heading up. I see the Brits as they are just as exhausted as I was. I tell them....just go slowly and take a ton of breaks. As my guide and I reach the plateau we see the blind guy one more time. This time he is on oxygen. I am thinking.....what the hell were they thinking to push him up like they did. He so could have died. They are having problems with his oxygen bottle. The hose keeps letting lose and he keeps on falling. Then we hear a boom. He took a fall and the oxygen bottle hit a rock and exploded. I was heading towards him when I saw that there were enough people there so I said to my guide. Let's go. <br /><br />On the way down we are skiing without ski's. The trail is snow, much and loose gravel most of the way down. Needless to say we are moving much faster on the way down then heading up. It takes 2 hrs to get back to the tent. I also notice just how steep the trail was on the way up. Good thing it was dark......HAHAHAHA. It is now 10:30 am. Total time out......11 hrs. I am told to crash for an hour so we can break up camp and head down to the next camp site. I fall asleep instantly<br /><br />At 11:30 am I am once again woken up. I am given breakfast and tea. I can only eat the veggies and fruit. I just cannot manage to eat the fried omelet. I have had enough fried food. At 12:30 we were packed up and heading down. As I got dressed this time around I could put my knee braces on. I am thrilled as the next part down is stepping and my knees hate this stuff. Stepping down the whole way. On the way down I watch a group of Swiss. The of course do this way more than me and look like they are cruzing down with ease. I am pleased with myself as I am moving pretty well considering. I am expecting a 7 hr trip down but I am pleasently surprized that it only took 3 hrs. I also find out that it is only 3 hrs to a bed and hot shower. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />We are camped at Mweka camp. We all looking a wee bit happier. Dang. Here comes the rain. More time alone in a tent. Good thing I have books to keep me entertained.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1168304147817108612007-01-08T16:17:00.000-08:002007-01-08T16:55:47.830-08:00Sorry once again........I so cannot believe that this is taking me so long. I sure hope to keep up now. SOOOOOOOOOOOO.......................<br /><br />Nov 1st<br /><br />Thank god the weather has been beautiful. Today we left at 8:15 am. The beginning of the trekwas sort of nasty. Rock climbing again. We did alot of up and down on this part of the trail. Do not get me wrong. It is still an easy trek. Just a little bit more work than earlier.<br /><br />Seeing as I cannot do much talking.........remember.....my new guide cannot speak much English...but my new guide is amazing. This part of the trail only takes us 3 1/2 hrs then we break for lunch. I met a few more people at the lunch break which was nice. We stopped for an hour......again we were waiting for the porters to catch up. I am always ready way to early and they need time to break up camp. <br /><br />Well, I have definately lost my princess title here. Here they all call me "mama" . UGH!!!!!!! It makes me laugh as I seem to here this new name alot. That is how the other porters identify me. They are all surprised at how fast I am on the trail. I hardly ever see anybody else on the trail but I know that there are tons behind me and a few ahead of me. I am so proud of myself for this.<br /><br />The Brit's arrive at 4:30 which was an hour and a half after me. Seems like only 1/2 of them are there. The others are still on the trail. <br /><br />Back to the trail. The second half of this part of the trail is pretty much all up hill. I meet and talk to another guide who also has a solo client. We talk about the weather and he says it is looking pretty good. He and his client head off about 20 mins before me. At one point I catch up to them. The guide says........."NO way I can let mama pass me." This makes all of us laugh really hard. He of course speeds up. Now, they move pretty fast and I lose them again. Later I catch up with him again. He starts to run which makes us laugh really hard again. It sure feels great to be laughing this hard when working this hard. We get to the camp site at 3pm. This entire part of the trek took us 6 3/4 hrs. to complete. I was told that most people do it in 7. Guess I am normal. <br /><br />Camp is at Bakaku huts but there are not huts in site. We only have out tents. This camp site it at 4900 m. A little less than a 1000 m to go. I am very happy and sad at the same time. My dream is almost over. Just one more sleep. <br /><br />I think of Dad and Maria alot on this trip which brings me to tears. Tonight I will see Maria's star. I should feel like I can touch her as I am so close to the stars here. (for those of you that do not know....Maria is Rofino's youngest sister that passed away with ovarian cancer in Sept. She was only 28. I bought a star in her name for their family to keep her alive.) I am also sad as I am about to finish my dream alone. This is something I have also come to terms with. Yup! I am starting to think that I am suppose to be single so.......I will just enjoy it and carry on doing what I do best.........traveling.<br /><br />I have also been thinking that trekking to altitude like this is about over for me. I will still trek as I love it but going really high??????? Been there. Would I do this trek again.......if someone wanted a partner.......sure.......alone.........nope.<br /><br />Enough of this. My face is seriously starting to feel wind burnt. I do not have anything I can put on it. Sure hope that it does not get worse as I go higher. <br /><br />I need to be gettin up at 11 tonight to head to the summit. I am sure that I will not get much sleep but I need to try.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1165678412393188932006-12-09T07:05:00.000-08:002006-12-09T07:33:32.406-08:00Oct 31<br /><br />Well Happy Anniversary to me. Today would be my 17th year on Bonaire. <br /><br />This morning was not a good one. I woke up with running. Literally running as fast as I could to the potty. I can honestly say this morning that I was thrilled to have the potty. I took drugs straight away as this is no place for this mess. Thank god for cipro and pepto. I was actually looking for me imodium but could not find it and decided that if I had a bug the cipro would take care of it.<br /><br />Needless to say I did not get much sleep again last night. This morning was a beautiful morning. The sun is shining and I feel great. In case I have not mentioned it..........this trek is really easy compared to most of the climbs I have done. I am quite suprised. <br /><br />Good news for me. My guide is heading back down. I will be with the assistant guide now. Of course just as he was leaving he needed to bring up the tip one more time. UGH!!!!!! GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />My new guide does not speak much English and my Swhaili is not great either. We head off at 7:30. We go for an hr and then stop for water. It has cooled off a bit. I needed to add a layer of clothing. Not 5 mins later we need to put on our rain gear. It is pouring rain today. I am pretty warm and I have on my woolen gloves for my hands. I am shocked to see just how warm woolen gloves can keep you when they are soaken wet. <br /><br />AT 11:30 we reached what is called Luna tower. This is meant to be our lunch spot but it is still pouring rain. My guide has hot tea with him. We each take 2 cups and call it. We go back to trekking. No point in eating as we are only going to cool off and our food will get soaked as well. I think this spot is amazing but I cannot see it well.<br /><br />Ok............nobody but nobody told me that we were to descend down the faxe of a friggin waterfall. Some of you know me to be a clutz. Well, climbing down rocks covered with water and algae is not a good palce for me. I knew I could do it but needed to go slow and be extra careful not to slip. Yes, it is still pouring rain. I was also wondering if my boots were really water proof. This was the way to find out. Thank god for gortex. My feet totally remained dry.<br /><br />Anyway, down we go. It now starts to hail as well. It rains and hails one more time just for good measure. I am sure that the terraine is amazing but I can only see my feet and what is under it. I go from being scared to death that I will fall and/or break an ankle to a walk in the park. As soon as we get off the waterfall face then the path smooths out. Once I get into that we have more rocks. I am actually very proud of myself. I have never done this type of terraine so easily. Maybe I am getting better balance after all. I am also without my glasses as they are so covered with water that I can see better without them than I can with them.<br /><br />The rain lets up for awhile so I say...let's take a rest and eat. My guide says "OK". Then he say.......but we are only about 15 mins away from the camp. WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I of course had no idea. I was thinking we had at least 1 - 2 hrs to go. I took this oppertunity to take a few photo's as it looked like it was going to start to rain again any minute.<br /><br />We arrive camp at 1:30. The porters (now 3 of them) were there already and had my tent up. I had my hot water wash, tea and popcorn waiting for me. It has stopped raining so I decide to get my tent ready. It is a good thing that I am alone today as I spread all of my stuff out. The tent actually had a leak last night so I wanted to try out my sleeping bag and mat. As I do this the rain starts again. Great time to pick up my book and read. I hope and pray for better weather over the next two days.<br /><br />We are at Barranco camp tonight. Not sure of the altitude but it is close to 4000m.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1165623043757927842006-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:002006-12-08T16:10:43.770-08:00Oct 30<br /><br />This is the second day on Mt. Kilimanjaro. My guide is still harrassing me. I am done with him already. Just so you know what he was expecting.......$15 a day for the guide.......for 6 days is $80. The porters are expecting $7 a day each. There are 5 of them for 6 days.....that is $210. In total it would cost me $300 in tips alone. Now I know how hard they work but I do not have that kind of cash to hand out.<br /><br />Ok, enough of that. Dinner last night was great. They make the best homeade soups. It was really weird to be having dinner in a tent c/w tables and chairs on a trek. I am getting alot of reading is as I have nobody to talk to but my guide. Seems like when I am in the mountains I do not sleep well. It could also be that the ground is pretty hard and my hips are getting sore. The good thing is that I am up at the crack of dawn packed up and ready to go. <br /><br />Today we left at 7:40am. We were not meant to leave till 8:30 but I was up and ready to go so we went. At 10:30 we stopped for lunch. I was so far ahead of the porters that we needed to wait 45 minutes for them to catch up. I would have prefered to get to the destination spot to wait but the guide did not want to do that. Guess he had nobody to chat with as I do not have much to say. With this wait everybody else was catching up with me and then passing me. That also sucked. <br /><br />I did get to actually meet some people. Yup! A group of 7 British men and one women. She is one of the first females I have seen so far accept at the gate. <br /><br />Good news. Well for me. Guess that is not very nice but my guide is coming down with altitude sickness. He is dizzy and has a really bad headache. He really does not look well. He is talking about heading back down. He is talking it over with the assistant guide who's English is not very good. Hey, what so I care. We will manage. He says that this is the first time ever for him getting sick on the mountian. <br /><br />It rained on us today. Not for very long thank god. I am go glad that I got my rain gear this year from Mountain Hardware. It was awesome. I also learned a lesson from this. Always and I mean always, carry the rain bag for the backpack. I have it for the big back pack but did not have one for my day pack. Needless to say I will transfer that one tonight so that it is with me at all times.<br /><br />At 12:30 we arrive at the camp. This camp is called Shira camp. The first camp was Machame camp. I am sure that I forgot to mention that. This camp site is at 3900 m. I spend the rest of the day reading, eating and waiting to crash. Needless to say it was yet another early night. Good thing I brought two books. I almost did not cause of the weight.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1165010245087319912006-12-01T12:55:00.000-08:002006-12-01T13:57:25.100-08:00So...........for those of you who have been patiently waiting. I am back and will see how much I can get done. Well I know I can only post 20 photo's a day and seeing as I have almost 1000 of them.............this is going to take awhile just to post some of them.<br /><br />Let me take you back to Oct 29. This is the day that I was suppose to run the marathon. It is also the day I am booked to climb Kili. Well, as you all know........Killi won. I met someone who did the half marathon and he told me that there were 3000 participants. OUCH! That is amazing<br /><br />Off I go..........the first leg of my trip up the highest mountian I will ever attain. I have a guide and 6 porters. All of this just for me. One of the porters is the cook and another one is the spare guide. Yup....I am again on my own. I sure would have liked it if I could have joined another group but that was not meant to be.<br /><br />We left the hotel at 9am. Drove off to the gate for the Machame trek. That is where we picked up the porters. After getting all signed in and the porters all organized we started up at 10:30. The path is totally groomed. We walked for 2 hrs and them took a 15 min break for lunch. My lunch was huge. I am thinking that it was for both my porter and I as he had no lunch but he says no. I make him eat more than half of it anyway as it is way to much food for me. In this food box are 2 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of bread, 3 cookies, an egg, bottle of juice, 2 baby bananas, a orange and a chocolate bar.<br /><br />Off we go again. I pass two young guys (younger than me that is) who started out about 15 mins before me. This always shocks me. An hour and 45 mins later we are at the first but we must wait for the porters as I left them in the dust. The porters arrive and camp is set up in a jiffy. It is a wee bit chilly out and I need to add a few layers. I am a princess again. HAHAHAH Here is what the porters are carrying up the mountian to make me feel like a princess. A dinner tent c/w a table and 2 folding chairs. Ohhhhhhh it gets better............They also have a port-a-potty and tent for that potty. Oh my god.....no wonder there are so many porters. I do not keed this stuff. Of course I will use it......they packed it. How could I not use it.<br /><br />The guide is starting to get on my nerves. Right after lunch he started to talk about his tip. WRONG! What the hell is he thinking? He does not let up. It is on going even after I told him to stop. Then the icing on the cake. I know....some of you think that this should have been a nice thing but I hated it. He started to hit on me. Insisting that I needed a warm body to keep me warm at night. He actually said.........I have been waiting my whole life (31 years) for you. Yes, this was on the very first night. I know that I said that I was going to meet my hubby on Kili but not like this. I took to my tent by myself and read to get away from him.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1164109249496588592006-11-21T03:31:00.000-08:002006-11-21T03:40:49.510-08:00At a computer again. It feels like forever since I wrote last. We did 10 dives at Matemwe<br />Beach. It was wonderful. My air consumption sucked. Could barely get an hour on most dives using an 80 cu. ft. tank. What was up with that? The water was a bit cooler and a wee bit of current but that in not a very good excuse.<br /><br />Anyway, I saw turtles, a shark (baby), leaf fish, nemo's (clown fish), scarface (Morish idols) , turtles, alagator fish. etc etc etc. It was way different than home. Way for fish but the vis was not that great. I did get some photo's but not so many. I totally could not figure out the macro. Chuckie---------------HELP??????? I did get a few nudibranches.<br /><br />Right now we are at the Mtoni hotel which is only 5km out of Stone Town. I was upset at first to see how far away we were but now that it is raining we would be stuck in our room where here we can still be outside. Both of the places we stayed in on Zanzibar have been awesome. This is a beautiful island.<br /><br />Well tomorrow we head back to Nairobi. I cannot belive that my holiday is almost over. Two days in Nairobi and then I start my 3 day trip back home. It has been a totally awesome time. <br /><br />More once I get to Nairobi.<br /><br />HugsLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1163440803505330512006-11-13T09:45:00.000-08:002006-11-13T10:00:03.516-08:00Sorry that this has taken me so long. You all need to know that I am just fine. I have not had a computer for 9 days and I got some devestating news on the one day I was on. <br /><br /> I did make it to the top of Kili. That was awesome. On the 4th of Nov. was the first time I could reach my email. I found out the my totally favorite kitty Rembrandt got out of the house around the same time I was going for the top of Kili. He was hit by a car a killed. I cried for two days solid. All we were looking for on Safari were the cats. Lions, Lepoards and Cheeta's. Needess to say I did even more crying when I saw them. The worst was a few days ago when we found a pride of lions with 3 cubs.<br /><br />I have written this message a zillion times in my head. Each and everytime I wrote it differently. Now that I am doing it in person I have changed it again. I just cannot believe that my baby is gone. The worst part is going to be when I get home and he is not there to meet me. This was the highest price I could have ever paid to have my dream come true.<br /><br />As for keeping up on my blog.....well mostly it will depend on if I have access to a computer or not. I can honestly say that I am not as into it as I started. What I am thinking of doing now is to just catch you all up when I get home. That way I can do the photo's easier and I will relive it all over again. Time will tell.<br /><br />Till when ever...............again.......I am so sorry for the delay. I hope that I have not dissapointed anybody.<br /><br />Lots of love to you all<br />LindaLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1162030870307600132006-10-28T03:20:00.000-07:002006-11-13T10:00:51.710-08:00Yesterday Denlo took me to the Massi market here in Nairobi. I went crazy hopping. I got 2 handbags, 5 woven bowls, 12 braclets for the kids, a mask and a batik. We were shopping way longer then I had planned but Delno is a great wheeler dealer so we stuck around for more deals.<br /><br />In the afternoon we joined Nikos for lunch and then came home to rest. I started to get organized for the next leg of my trip. I need to take just about everything with me as I will not be back here till the 22 of Nov.<br /><br />We were invited for supper at Delno's neighbors. She is from Ireland and is a wonderful cook. Did not stay out to late and had another great sleep.<br /><br />Today we went to the orphanage. This amazing Kenyian women has taken in 150 kids. Twenty of these kids have HIV. It is amazing how this place works. I bought them 40 blankes, toilet paper, cookies and a few toys.<br /><br />We then went out for breakfast and now home to get ready. I do not fly to Tanz till 5:30 this evening and I am already packed. I will kill the rest of the day reading. I cannot believe it but I have already read 4 books. I am so loving this vacation. LLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1161955154471911212006-10-27T05:29:00.000-07:002006-10-27T06:19:14.490-07:00Soooooooooooo, Let me try this again. Earlier this morning I had my entire posting done. When I went to hit the send button I lost it all as the internet was down. UGH!!!!!!<br /><br />Oct 21<br /><br />This is travel day. I leave here at 9am. Nikos from Africa Calling takes me to Bushtrekers as he only has me. Here I meet up with 5 more people. Emma (Brit), Derek (Scott), Seta and Anna (Belgium) and Maryana (Mexico). We all pile into this huge truck. We are taking a huge truck as we are to pick up 6 more people in 2 days for Massi Mara. We drive to Lake Baringo. We are meant to go for a boat ride on the lake but it is late when we get there and soon after it begins to rain. We eat dinner and crash.<br /><br />Oct 22<br /><br />We get up at 6am and go for our boat ride to see the Hippos and birds. It is on the boring side. We get back, have breakfast and head out to Lake Bagloria. This is a much nicer lake. Here we see a zillion flamingos. White ones and pink ones. Further on we get to the hot springs. They are great. I wanted to get into them but they are natural and are not made for people to enter. As wel, they are serioulsy hot. You can hard boil an egg in it after just 5 mins. <br /><br />From here we drive on to Lake Nakuru. When we arrive at the campsite it is raining. I had booked a room for the night before I got there as I was warned that it was cold up there. The rest of the people also took a room. We were all glad that we did as not only did we have elect. but soft beds and shelter. Yup! It rained most of the night.<br /><br />Now this lake is beautiful but drying up. More flamingos, white Rhinos, Giraffes, Hyhinas, Impallas, Buffallok, monkeys and Eland zebra, which is the largest Antelope in the world if I understood it correctly.<br /><br />Oct 23<br /><br />Now we head back towards Nairobi to pick up the other people. Oh, the roads are not the best roads in the world. They are seriously bummpy and with a big truck it makes it even worse. The driver has been worried about the wheel since yesterday. We leave at 7:30 and arrive at 11:30. The driver decides that he wants to get another truck as he does not trust this one. We have lunch while waiting but the whole time takes 3 hrs. We pick up 7 people and they are cranky alreadty. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 2:30 we head off again. After hrs and hrs of driving we fianlly reach Massi Mara at 8:30. On our way to the camp we see Elephants. At this very moment I have a realization. OH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I did not transfer my sleeping bag. I can only hope that someone eles did. I am not worried about the rest of this trip but I am worried that I may not have ti for Kili.<br /><br />As soon as we get to the camp I let everybody else off the truck. I as the driver and he says that he double checked the truck and did not see anything on it. I find the guide and he tells me that he saw it and transfer it for me. WHEW!!!!!!!!! <br /><br />Now we are all assigned to little huts. They are so quaint. Maryana is my roommate again. She is so sweet and we totally get along. She is all of 24 but we have some amazing conversations. Maryana and Emma both work with disabled children. Emma is a speach therapest and Maryana a special eds teacher. Needless to say we have a ton in common and it is so refreshing talking to people who are doing what I so wanted to do. <br /><br />Anyway, our hut has a single bed and a bunk. I give Maryana the bunk. All the huts have elect which is huge. Way more than I ever expected. Eat a late dinner and crash.<br /><br />Oct 24<br /><br />Today we did two game drives. One early in the morning and one in the late afternoon. We see tons of Zebra, Elephants, Giraffes, Lions (YEAH!!!!!!!!!! and a male to boot), Impala, Gazzels, Topis, Elands, Hippo's and mongoose. The only thing we are missing is the Leopard of the big 5. We also get to see the Wilderbeast migration. They are coming back from Serengti in Tanz. We go the the place where they cross the river to safety. In the river are a bunch of Crocs. We see on open it's mouth but it is not hunger. They are all corssing very safetly while we were watching anyway.<br /><br />We are meant to go to the Massi village today but be put it off till tomorrow. Game drives are exhauting. You spend all of your energy looking for things that your eyes get sore. You never, ever leave the truck to see anything. You are seat bound the entire time. <br /><br />Tonight we are blessed with a serious lightening and thunder show but now rain. This is good for alot of people as it is hot out. <br /><br />Oct 25<br /><br />Today we do two more game drives. Inbetween the game drives we got to the Massi village. On the game drives we see a cheeta which was the highlight of the day till we came upon a moma lion and her 1 year old babies. We did not see it but mom had killed a wilderbeast and dragged it down to the river bed. The cubs (3 of them) were so not interested. They were playing and having fun. Mom was eating but we could not see her. What we did see was the blood on her face. <br /><br />The village is interesting but way to touristy for me. The Massi warriors did two dances for us and the women followed by doing two dances as well. They were selling their wares. I should have bought something but I knew that when I got back I would be at a Massi market and would get a way better price.<br /><br />Oct 26<br /><br />Wow! We had alot of excitement last night. At about 1am the Elephants decided to come to our camp. They were just passing by.....so we thought. At 4:30am we hear the Elephant blow it horn and a lion roar. This wakes up most of us. I hear the Massi Warriors tell someone to go back into their room as it is not safe. I can see them sneaking around the cabin next to ours. After an hour of this we are given the okay to come out again. I run into Emma and she is scared The Elephants were right next her rooom. She could hear them eating. Before you could not see the river for the bushes now it is totally clear. Thsi was the conversation of the day. Oh ya, Maryana slept through the whole thing.<br /><br />So, today is anohter travel day. We are on our way back to Nairoi. We leave at 8am and get back at 5pm. Everybody quickly splits up afer a fast and furious good bye.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1161884426784305762006-10-26T08:31:00.000-07:002006-10-26T10:40:26.796-07:00I am now back from safari. Who knew that it could be so exhauting sitting in a truck for hrs watching for hrs on end for animals. Exhausting it was. I need to shower and rest. I will post more tomorrow when I am fresh.<br /><br />Do know that posting photo's this time around is going to really suck. I took over 400 of them. I will try to pick 20 of my better shots. I am starting to get the hang of the camera so I hope that they will be good.<br /><br />Some of you are wondering how I am posting this. NO, I do not have a computer/laptop with me. If I did I would be posting a wee bit more often. I use my friends computer when I get back to his house. I leave for Tanz. in a couple of days. I will be using the computers at the hotel there.<br /><br />Bob, I will not start my trek up Kili till Oct 29th. I am thinking of doing the Magaru route only cause I can take the extra day I need. I am not so sure I can make it up the Machame route without the extra day. I need to pounder this a wee bit more. I am told that you do 7 hrs. then 2 hrs rest then 5 hrs with a hour rest then 6 more hrs. If that is the case there is no physical way I will make it to the top and the top is where I want to be.<br /><br />Later guysLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1161369302802446132006-10-20T11:24:00.000-07:002006-10-20T11:35:02.816-07:00Ok, it is official. I have a cold. I kept on thinking it was only allergies as I was sneezing so much but it is definately a sinus cold. It will be gone along with my blister before I head up Mt. Kilimanjaro. <br /><br />Today was a rest day. I slept in.......did laundry.....went to this majorly weird glass place. Very excentric. When we got back I worked on my photo's. I learned two things. The photo's were way to big and that was why I could not send them. I fixed that problem and set up my Orchid photo's as an experimant. Well when I saw that that worked I then moved on to the Giraffe photo's only to learn that I can only post photo's once a day. UGH!!!!!!!! I was on such a roll.<br /><br />I still am not happy with most of my photo's. They are so dark. Chuckie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are you? What do I do? I will have to play with it on my own during the safari. My bag is packed. and I am ready to go. This time instead of a 20k pack I have a 5k day pack. I am totally loving that. I leave tomorrow for 6 days. <br /><br />Happy travelsLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1161329011289590122006-10-19T22:54:00.000-07:002006-10-20T00:23:31.303-07:00So let me take you back a few days.<br /><br />Oct 15<br />This is the first day of my Mt. Kenya trip. We did a 4 hr drive to the campsite. The country side is amazing. You can see that many of the people do not have much but what they do have they work very hard for. Lots of different plantations along the way. People are walking everywhere. There are alot of bikes being used as well. At the campsite there are two groups there. A group of 9 tents (all Dutch) and one of 8 tents. My tent stands alone. <br /><br />Oct. 16<br />We get up and have breakfast. While eating this lady from the Dutch group comes to me and say's " Are you alone? Yes. With these two men? Yes. You are a very lucky lady. I know, I say and I will be picking up two more this morning. My guide was laughing really hard. He says, she is jealous of you. <br /><br />We head off to get the porters. On the way we pass the Equator. Of course this is a major tourist trap and we needed to stop. I get the photo and move on. The next stop it in town for more food and the porters. On again to the entrance gate for Mt. kenya. <br /><br />As we arrive we can see that there is a huge group getting ready to climb as well. There are 28 Kenyians doing a fundraising trek. I have no idea how many porters/guides/cooks they have but there are a ton of people involved. I alter find out that it is a drug company that is sponsering this trek.<br /><br />At around 11am we head out. This part of the trek is alone a road. The huge group have an ambulance and landrover with a huge trailer ahead of them. They also have camera's as they are documenting this trek. I manage to get into some of their filming. The ambulance gets stuck and needs to be rescued. I find out later that it too 8 guys to push it out.<br /><br />This part of the trek is about 9km and took me 6 hrs to get there. I carried my own bag which I am guessing weights about 20k. Old Moses is at 3400 meters<br /><br />The place that we arrive at is called Old Moses. I meet Mark (France) and Ana (Angora) who are on their way down. The are mountaineers and were saying that they conditions were not good enought to make it to their peak. There are 3 peaks in all. Then I meet Peter (Sweden) who is not really prepared for this trek as he decided to do it on a whim. Then there is Kevin (Kenya) who is a total sweety. Last was Krish (Mauritias) who askes me if he can interview me. They are all in there 30's accept for Mark who would be in his 40's. As they night goes on we get to know each other better. Later there is a group of 8 older men (50's) and a young man who are all over weight and loud. <br /><br />At dinner time my guide puts down a table cloth. Everyone is jealous and ask how I rate. I say jokingly......I am a princess. From then on I was dubed the princess. Not only did I have a table cloth on my table but I had a room to myself. The food is great. The company is amazing and the night is over.<br /><br />Oct 17<br />I did not get much sleep last night. The brits were loud till late and then they snored loudly. I could hear them 3 rooms down. We were all up early to head off to our next site. It had rained that night which was great as the weather was beautiful this morning. We can see the peak of Mt. Kenya today.<br /><br />We are heading up to Chimpton which is about 14 km away and at 4200 m. This trek is nasty. It is up and up and up. There is no plateau for hrs. We get to a peak and think we are almost there. NOT! We walk along a vally that is still climbing but not as steap. I am still with my back pack. I have passed the Brit's and the Kenyians took up the rear as they left later. <br /><br />Along the way some porters pass me. One is carrying a chair. I say....that is for the queen. Then there is anohter chair and I say that is for the King. Then more chairs, tables and dinner tents. This is all for the drug company trek. Yikes. This is scary. Kevin tells me later that even he is embarassed when he sees what they are carrying.<br /><br />At about 4 hrs I tell my guide that I desperately need to eat. I am losing energy. He says it is a good time as there is a great spot along a stream for us. After we finish eating the Kenyians arrrive and stop for lunch as well and we continue on. At about 7 hrs we come to yet another nasty climb. I decide that it is time to give up some of my backpack. I take out two small bags and give them to the porters. They want to take it all but I will not give it up as yet. <br /><br />I finally arrive at the top and there is Peter. He was first up and I find out that I am second up. About 20 mins later the Kenyians start to arrive. We cheer them in. They tell us that alot of there people are hurting and that the brits are even furthere behind. The Brits had to do the nasty part in the dark as they did not arrive till about 8. That was 4 hrs after us.<br /><br />As the evening passes I find out that Peter, Krish and some of the Brit's and Kenyians have altitude sickness. I am mostly worried about Krish as he is to mountianeer to the peak with three others. He is so mad as he wants to go. He tells me that he will go no matter what. A mans ego! I tell him to go ahead and push himself but not to put anybody in danger. I wait to hear if he made it or not. Oh, by the way, that is a 14 hr climb.<br /><br />This evening I have everybody around my table. Not just to chat as that they would have done anyway but cause I am the princess my guide has made a can of charcoal to put under my table to keep me warm. I feel so special. <br /><br />Down side.....my guide keeps telling me I have to eat more. I will need the energy for the climb in the morning. I keep telling him I am full and cannot. I push a little bit more down. I am totally stuffed.<br /><br />We head off to bed early as we need to be up at 2:30 am.<br /><br /><br />Oct 18<br /><br />We get up at 2:30 and I am shocked to see Peter and 3 of the Brits up and getting ready to climb. I did not sleep well again as the Brits chatted loudly for an hr after we crashed and started snoring immediately when they did crash. As well, a few of them were pucking their guts out most of the night. Oh I forgot. This night we all shaed a room. My guide has breakfast out for me. I say........I cannot eat another bite. He is not happy so I try some bread with peanut butter. I will pay for this later<br /><br />The Brits head out first then Peter and I leave together at 3:45am but he gets way ahead of me fast. I give up my pack to the porters as I know this will be a nasty climb. I have on 4 layers of clothing and do not feel the cold much. The stars are out and the sky is clear. It is amazing. About 45 mins into the climb I start to feel sick. I totally lose it. I puc my guts out for about 10 mins. At least that is how long it felt. Now on an empty stomache and feeling a zillion times better and I carry on. I walk slowly and surely. I know that I will make the top but it will be hard. <br /><br />I finally get to a point where I see the Brits. They are heading back. They did not make it to the top. Then Peter is comming down. He made it to the top but is freezing as he does not have enough clothes on. He says that he missed sunraise by 3 mins. I am thinking.....to hell with the sunrise.....just get there. We part ways again and I continue on. I am taking alot of breaks to get my breath and part of me is thinking that I will not make it but I know that I have to as we are heading down on the back side of the mountain. Did I whine? Hell ya. I was about 20 mins to the top. I so wanted to quit. I was exhausted but I pushed on. A total of 4 hrs later I arrive at the top. This peak is Lanana Point and is at 4991m. I can see Mt. Kilimanjaro. The sky not clear but the moutanin raises about the clouds. I take my photo's with the reporter and start down as it is cold and windy up there.<br /><br />To get to our next point we need to crawn along the ridge of the mountain. It is scary and I am thinking.........what was I thinking.......HAHAHA..........Actually I am loving this part. The sun is shining upon us. I am so glad the weather is good. There is no way in hell I would have made this trek if the wearther was bad. Anyway, an hour or so later we get to the Teliki huts and take a 10 min rest. Next we have a long way to go walking on loose gravel. We are slipping and sliding most of the way. This stuff is really hard on the knees. This whole way down takes me 3 hrs. We arrive at Mailind's hut (4300m) at 11am. There we have breakfast. Finally I get some food back into me. All I want to do is crash. NOT!!!!!!!!!!! I still have another 4 or 5 hrs ahead of me. I take an hour nap and carry on. Now I am digging deep. I am exhausted but know that I need to get to the next huts before I can call it a day. <br /><br />This part of the journey takes me into bog. It is dryish but still very hard to walk in. We are in this for about 2 hrs. It is beautiful but I cannot enjoy it much as I need to concentrate on my feet. When we finally get out of that we hit the jungle. This means waking down rocks and roots. Not my favorate conditions. I trudge on. My knee is starting to hurt. I find out my guides toes are killing him. Again this area is seriously beautiful but still I cannot enjoy it as we need to keep on moving. On and on we go. 5 1/2 hrs later we finally arrive at The Road House. What a charming place. I have a room to myself again. I am desperately trying to keep awake for dinner. I am really to tried to eat but will try my best. I get some dinner down and then give up. It is now 9pm. This trek took me about 14 hrs. This is my longest trek ever. I know that I should be proud of myself but I am way to tired.<br /><br />Oct 19<br />I had the best sleep ever since I arrived here. I was told by the porters that the buffalo were in the camp and asked if I saw them. Nope I said. I was out like a light and heard nothing. The blue monkeys were there to meet me this morning. That was nice of them. <br /><br />I eat breakfast and get ready for my last trek. I am told it is 26 km and Megway (my guide) thinks it will take 4 hrs. I am so refreshed after a good nights sleep and food in my belly that I am back to myself. We head off . The guide and porters are shocked to see how strong I am again. Hey......I say..........see what a good nights sleep will get me. This part only takes us 1 3/4 hrs. Now that we are early we must wait for a few hrs for the driver to arrive. <br /><br />As I sit and wait for him I am starting to feel very proud of myself. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! One down and one more climb to go.<br /><br />I am still working on attaching photo's. Last night I waited till midnight for them to process. I finally had to shut the computer down and go to bed. I hope to get some on tonight.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1161291115007266972006-10-19T13:47:00.000-07:002006-10-19T13:51:55.023-07:00I have just gotten back from Mt. Kenya today. I tried desperately to post some photo's but the internet here is slow as molasses. UGH!!!! It is almost midnight and I am totally exhausted. Ray, If you are reading this. You are so right. This was the hardest climb I have ever done. I so had to dig deep to finish it but make it to the top I did.<br /><br />I will log much more tomorrow as it is a holiday here and so there is not much else to do.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1160808326337038272006-10-13T23:37:00.000-07:002006-10-13T23:45:26.346-07:00I arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />It has been a very long flight. No problems at all which was great. It went very smoothly. I got to Kenya and expected to see Delno outside waiting for me. Well he was told the plane would not get in till 8:50 so he went out to eat. Needless to say I was not sure what to do but being the cleaver traveler that I am, I had is cell phone number with me and called him. He was there in minutes. Whew!<br /><br />Driveing at night the traffic was not so bad. Delno's house is awesome. Exactly what I pictured a house in Africa to look like. <br /><br />It rained last night. That kept me awake a wee bit longer than I wanted to so I did not get up till 9am. Now we will go for breakfast and then off to the giraffe orphanage place. <br /><br />More later. Just feel my beaming face. I have not been this excited about anything in a very, very long time.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1160625345208402342006-10-11T20:53:00.000-07:002006-10-11T20:55:45.216-07:00Ok......It is now 11:46 here. I have finally finised packing, dishes, laundry and answering email. I am going to try to get some sleep. HAHAHA..............ya right. I need to be up at 4:30 am so I am hoping to get in a couple of zzzzzzzzzzz's before I head out on my adventure.<br /><br />Wish me luckLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1159633257444690752006-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:002006-09-30T10:38:22.560-07:00After doing a ton of reasearch myself I have finally gotten this trip booked. I have found two wonderful people....James at ATR (Africa Travel Resource) and Heidi at International Ventures Ltd. If you can afford to add a middle person into your travels they are the ones. I unfortunately could not so on my own......with help from them........I searched.<br /><br />For Kenya........climbing Mt. Kenya for 5 days and doing a 6 day safari in Masai Mara I will be using Nikos at Africa Calling.<br /><br />For Tanz........climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro 6 days and Safari in Tanz for 10 days I will be using Zara Travel. Zara Travel was totally reccommended to me by a friend who used them when he did his trek up Mt. Kili.<br /><br />For Zanzibar........diving I will be staying at Matemwe Beach village and diving with <a href="http://www.zanziearoneoncean.com">one ocean</a>. In stone town we will be staying at Mtoni Marine Centre. These two places were reccommended to me from <a href="http://www.zanziearoneoncean.com">one ocean</a> (where they have offices out of) and I found <a href="http://www.zanziearoneoncean.com">one ocean</a> on the net.<br /><br />Now for a really funny story. On Thursday I was checking in some guests for diving. I looked at their cards and saw that they were certified in Zanzibar with <a href="http://www.zanziearoneoncean.com">one ocean</a>. I talked to them a wee bit more and found out that they stayed at the same place as I will be staying at. To sweeten up the pot the young lady lives in Sherwood Park which is a city next to Edmonton which is where I am from. She works at the University Of Alberta Hospital. I can hardly wait to get back to work tomorrow to ask a zillion questions to them.Linda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959040.post-1155922401465329182006-08-18T10:26:00.000-07:002006-09-30T09:43:11.243-07:00Ok, I am going to give this a go. What I want to do is make this my travel blog so that each and everyone of you who follow my travels will be able to do so on your own time and if you are not interested.....then just shut it down or never come to this site at all.<br /><br />So. I am not sure if everybody knows this or not but my next adventure is off to Africa. Yup! I am finally going. Those of you who know me really well will know just how excited I am.<br /><br />I am off on Oct 12.........I will go via AA to San Juan, JFK, Brussels, Nairobi. Ya, hind site.....I should have taken the KLM flights and gone from here to Amsterdam to Nairobi but I thought it would be nice to get off the plane to stretch, use a real bathroom and eat food. Well with the events happening in London has sure put a mess into that now hasn't it. Oh well. On the way back I go Nairobi, London, JFK, San Juan - over night there- then home.<br /><br />My friend Bob will be staying here for a month and then my buddy Joe and his family will stay for the last two weeks. I hope that they have the best dives ever.<br /><br />In preperation for this trip I finally broke down and bought a digital camera. I will be practising with it soon. Well, I have taken a few shots up in Washington park but I need to take way more. I am also trying to take better care of my back. I was at the Chiropractor today. He rest me and now I am resting and learning how to move differently. I know.......this is seriously close to my departure time, 0nly two more months, and I should be hiking up Seru Largo and I will again as soon as the Dr. gives me the big OK.<br /><br />Ok then...........with that out of the way.......Here is what my itinary is looking.<br /><br />Oct 12 - depart Bonaire<br />Oct 13 - Arrive in Nairobi to visit with my friend Delno who I will be staying with.<br />Oct 16 -18 I leave to hike up Mt. Kenya<br />Oct 18 - 23 I will be on safari in the Masai Mara park area<br />Oct 23 - 27 I will rest up and maybe go whitewater rafting<br />Oct 26 I take the bus to Moshi in Tanzinia<br />Oct 27 - Nov 3 I will be climbing Mt. Killimanjaro<br />Nov 4 - is a rest day and the day I meet up with my buddy Robin<br />Nov 5 - 13 Robin and I will be off on our safari to places like Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater<br />Nov 14 - is a rest day.....time to get cleaned up<br />Nov 15 - 21 we fly to Zanzibar for 6 days of diving<br />Nov 22 - we fly back to Nairobi<br />Nov 23 - At 11 pm Robin heads back to Boston and I back to Bonaire.<br />Nov 25 - unpack and prepare to go back to work<br /><br />Now to see just how close I will be with my dates. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHLinda bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08502794442162046693noreply@blogger.com0