Life is either a daring adventure or nothing...

Hey kids. Its been awhile. I have missed some important events and want to acknowledge them before I begin to blog about whats been going on over here. Happy Birthday to my most amazing baby bro, Anthony!!!! Sending you tons of hugs and kisses from Africa and promises to make you Blue Moon cupcakes and a four course dinner upon my return. To my dear Cheryl, aka "Cherbear", I wish I could have been celebrating your bridal shower with you. Love to you and Bradley as your special day approaches. To my beautiful nephew MJ, I wish you a fast and safe recovery from your eye surgery, you are our little fighter.

Since I last wrote I've been on quite a daring adventure. Luckily I've had wonderful friends new and old to join me on the ride.

Our safari group with "Action" Jackson

I spent four days on Safari. Three days in Masaai Mara Game Reserve and one in Lake Nakuru National Park. I felt like I was in a dream. I stayed in a tent that resembled a house, had my own bed and a shower and toilet with running water. Pretty swanky for here. I finally shaved my legs after almost two weeks. The things we take for granted.

Dinner is served

On our first run through the reserve we spotted a lion eating a wildebeest. You could actually smell the blood of a fresh kill. We also spotted zebras, buffalo and gazelles. It was sick, in a good way and made me a little sick in a bad way. The animals were within inches of our open aired van. Our driver, Jackson, was the fastest and most aggressive driver out there and would get us into spots I never would have imagined the van could fit in. On day two of the safari we spotted more zebras and lions. The highlight was when we drove to the very edge of cliff and witnessed the Great Migration of the wildebeest, one of the seven natural wonders of the world! Scary and amazing! We had hoped to complete the "Big Five" sightings but the rhino and leopard were nowhere to be found. I also spotted elephants as our van was almost charged by one and hippos in the Mara River. A completely unreal experience and the foil of New York City. The land seems to span to eternity. At Lake Nakuru National Park we were able to get up close and personal with some flamingos and spotted the rhinos we had been hoping to catch in Maasai Mara. Sadly, we never spotted that bastard of a Leopard. My camera is busted so I will rely on Claire, Karen and Marc to post and link for me. 4 out of 5 of the Big 5 is cool with me.

. . . mad ups . . .

We also had an opportunity to visit a Maasai village. The Maasai tribe rejects westernization and is oddly similar to the Amish in the US. I was able to ask many questions and members of the tribe had many questions for me as well. While there I participated in a traditional welcome dance with the women members of the tribe and learned how to make fire from friction. I also was taken on a tour of a manyatta (a small home built out of mud and wood with no running watter). The Maasai are very self sufficient and seldom leave the tribe. The people I met there seemed incredibly happy. Sammy, our Maasai guide took us to observe a ritual of drinking cow blood. An arrow is shot into the jugular vein of a cow and blood spurts out into the air and is collected into a bucket. The bucket of cow blood is then passed around to drink. Marc, of course, drank from the bucket. I nearly passed out and am reconsidering vegetarianism due to this event and other things I have witnessed here. While not tasting the blood I did dabble in the yummy honey beer brewed on premises. I guess the lesson to be learned is that no way of life is necessarily better than another. We are all doing the best we can with what we have where we are.


A pretty kick ass adventure but I must admit I was so happy to return to the children today. Could not help but talk about them to everyone I met during my time away. I guess I now understand more than ever what being a mom must be like.