Memories of Kenya -

"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky" 

Kahlil Gibran

FRICA awaited. . . . . . . 

September 2016 - a safari in beautiful Kenya.

This time, five years ago, we were readying today for another trip to the African continent. 

Our first time to Kenya, and sadly our last most likely, it was another fantastic safari to remember.

The animals were unbelievable, however I was also struck by the trees. 

So few scattered across the plain, so little shade provided, but sometimes

 a home to birds who wove incredible colonies of hanging nests; whose trunk

 hid a sleek cheetah waiting to make that lightning speed run to grab its meal

 for the day; and a place for the leopard to climb and hang its prey across

 a branch out of the reach of other predators, then returning and climbing

 the tree for several days to eat.

This was one of several Maasai Mara 'desert date' trees (Balanites aegyptiaca) 

 I photographed. Here you get the true feeling of how few trees there are across

the vast Maasai Mara plain.

Today I'm looking out at our trees here in the cottage garden.

Still green and beautiful but soon to change color as autumn weather

arrives. Leaves will fall, carpet the garden in gold, orange, rust and red.

There will be few hiding places in the bare branches for the visiting hawk;

beloved garden birds will be more visible coming to the feeders; 

squirrels, unimpeded, will perform gymnastics, gather acorns, and

 fatten up for winter.

Maasai Mara - Kenya 2016

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a

 singing bird will come"

Chinese proverb

Wonderful Women. . . . . .

I've met all these women during my travels and I'm betting not a single one of them is losing sleep or pulling out her hair because of NEW Blogger!  Each is a special woman of the world. Their countries, Japan, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Zambia etc. may be different in many ways, but beautiful ladies working hard, smiling big, enjoying life, are probably not sitting around for hours wondering about how to post on a blog, right? Hopefully they are well, happy, and getting on with their lives.

Now I'm beginning to wonder myself as to why I'm doing just that. . . . . . .sitting here frustrated, wasting time, angry, and wondering why there are people out there, somewhere, making decisions to change what has been so easy and successful for millions of people for so long.

They even call the old and apparently doomed version, 'LEGACY Blogger' - shouldn't a legacy

 remain, be always available?

This was an eye opener when I looked up the meanings of 'legacy' this morning - enough said!

      adjective : COMPUTING 

                                                      denoting or relating to software or hardware that has been superseded

                                        but is difficult to replace because of its wide use.           

                           

For me, blogging used to be because I thought my family would some day enjoy reading what their mother/grandma/great grandma got up to in her later years. That they would gasp or grin over her travels and adventures, enjoy seeing her photos - some of which are quite good - and many from far off wild places around the globe where most people don't visit. I thought they would have a giggle over me being tossed by a rogue wave into the bottom of a Zodiac boat. . . . . while my ship had to up anchor and sail away to calmer waters before picking me up again. I hoped they'd stare in awe at me standing on Antarctic ice surrounded by half a million penguins - after all I was in awe myself and brought to tears by such an experience. Washing an elephant then riding it bareback into a Thai river; sipping afternoon tea in Dubai at the top of the tallest building in the world; photographing the 'big five' in Africa; being picked up by a helicopter (one mode of transport I said I'd never do!) then flying over the amazing Okavango Delta in Botswana because our little plane couldn't land on the flooded runway near our safari camp; standing on the very edge of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, clinging to Bob, while the Zambezi River flowed around us.  Now I wonder if they will ever really find any of that interesting with life changing so drastically.

There is so much more, so many wonderful memories, so little time left. . . . . and now perhaps compromised to the point where I may never travel on an expedition again. My wild wandering days may be over. I can't even get home to England this year unless things really change by Autumn. 

          

But I do have you, my always kind and gracious blog friends.

You keep me going - ladies and gentlemen - I like sharing
 life with you.
I have loved meeting many of you in person, and hope
 to do more of that if/when possible. 

Meanwhile, let's struggle along together - thanks so much
 to all of you who've offered to assist with New Blogger issues. 
I'm still toggling between legacy and new - hoping
 the powers that be will get it right soon.

With love -

Let's fly away. . . . . .

Flying is really on my mind right now.

In my email this morning there's a lengthy detailed missive

from American Airlines regarding their plan for future flying.

It caught my eye with the promise of earning many extra points -

only thing is when will we ever be able to use them!

Following were reams of information detailing what the airline will

be doing to keep us safe from the virus, both in flight and at the airports

they serve. Goodness me, just getting onto a plane had become hard enough

 prior to COVID-19, now it appears it will be much, much more difficult. . . . and

then one will still sit in that seat and remain afraid both during and after the 

flight is long completed.

Personally I don't think I can fly anywhere yet - especially overseas which is

where I want to go!

I snapped this photo in Kenya in 2016 as our plane came in - and yes, that is the 

runway! - to the Mara to fly us back to Nairobi.  

 I also recall many other wonderful flights in very small planes when visiting African 

countries - it's the main transportation to get about.  

I wonder how those little airlines will cope in the months ahead.

The safari business is suffering just like all other forms of tourism.

All these photos were taken by me during that Kenyan visit.  

The beautiful animals are still there I'm sure, perhaps living life a little quieter

 without Range Rovers and camera-laden tourists bothering them.

Night time curfew has been lifted here but we'll still remain at home. 

Visiting and eating in a restaurant would be a real treat, but staying

 healthy is more important!

Heavy cloud cover, very hot, no rain due today - thinking of baking, 

soup making, with garden watering later.

Anything exciting planned for your day?

Arriving in Venice - A Memory. . . . . .

No, sadly I'm not back in one of my favorite places - Venice, Italy.

I've been looking at, and trying to organize, my thousands of photos

 from places visited in the past years. Taking a virtual journey which

 is full of fabulous memories is the only way to travel these days!

Now and then I may just add a post, such as this one, with a few 

photos, some fond memories of a special place. . . . . . . just something

 which will be a change from the garden and flowers posts which seem

 to be prevalent during the COVID-19 lock down!

"The vaporetti/waterbus plied its way slowly across

 the lagoon. The number of craft around us in the cool

 morning air were many. Traffic lanes are well marked by

 these wooden pilings, often punctuated by large seagulls...

...............some speedboats zoomed by, higher

 priced private water taxis passed quickly, whereas

 we enjoyed the slower, cheaper ride awed by the scenery

 which appeared out of the mist as we got closer to our 

hotel disembarkation point, the Madonna dell'Orto Pier."

~ October 2012 - Venice to Istanbul ~

Venetian life on the smaller canals.

The Grand Canal 2012 - before Social Distancing.

"Although there isn’t data to indicate that water quality

 in Venice has improved significantly due to COVID-19, air pollution

 is a different matter. Due to the temporary closures of factories in

 northern Italy, and fewer water taxis and cruise ships emitting

 exhaust and causing pollution, air quality in the region has 

significantly improved—so much so that the European Space Agency

 has been able to capture the vanishing pollution from satellites

 monitoring Italy."

Will the world and its waters truly benefit from a changed

lifestyle?

Despite the great sadness the virus has brought, it would

be nice to think something good might come from it.