Karibu Kenya

I love to travel and I love animals so how cool was it to spend almost 10 days in Kenya on a safari with Lion Trails Safari and one of my childhood best friends and her sister?  Incredible!  It was an amazing trip filled with some of the coolest adventures.  Below are the ABC's of the highlights of our Kenya portion of the trip!

A - for Animals

As an animal lover who always watched Wild Kingdom growing up it was really spectacular to see the full diversity of animals interacting with each other up close and personal.  This was the number one reason why we went to Kenya and it did not disappoint!  I won't bore you with all the pictures and every animal we saw (although I have more posted on TrekkingTrego Public Gallery) but we did see everything! In fact, to keep with the theme it was from Antelope to Zebra and everything in the middle including the Big 5 (and their babies) and unique species like the Gerenuk.

One of my big wish list items was to see the great Wildebeest migration across the Mara river.  Guess what...I didn't see it just once but twice on my trip!  It was definitely a highlight.

B - Big Smiles
Okay, so this B is a little of stretch but my friends and I did have lots of fun creating crazy memories to last a lifetime. Our guides were fun, knowledgeable and survived my millions of questions (always a feat, I know).

Straddling the Equator

Chege, our awesome guide of the North

Notice how I have my friends closest to that horn!

Straddling the Tanzania/Kenya border

Jackson, our guide for the south when we weren't actually racing to some animal (that's a story in and of itself!)

C - Culture
It was also great to take some time to experience the cultural aspects of Kenya.  We visited the Samburu and Maasai Mara villages.  It was interesting to learn about how they live, celebrate life and interact with the modern world.  I wish I had these guys "hops" still (ha, okay never had it) but sure glad I don't have to live in those huts (which the women build, btw-Girl Power!).

The tribe let us dance with them (guess who was the worst dancer?)

The kids sang us some songs 

The house of a school teacher, she built it herself - she should be an engineer! 

The Medicine woman of the village - those wrinkles have stories to tell. 

The word that comes to mind...Boing!

It was a trip of a lifetime.  If you want to see some other pictures please visit my photo album at TrekkingTrego Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.  And, stay tuned for the last part of our trip - South Africa!

Dabbling in Dubai - A Dubai Cheat Sheet

One of the cool factors about flying Emirates from the US to Africa is that you have the chance for a free layover.  Depending on the ticket Emirates will provide you with a hotel, hotel transfer and even meals!  Who can pass up an opportunity like that?  Certainly not TrekkingTrego!

So, what do you do with 20 hours in Dubai?

Burj Khalifa - Worlds Tallest Building

First, you better go see Burj Khalifa.  Being the tallest building in the world it is pretty amazing.  What's even more amazing is that you take a single elevator up 124 floors in 90 seconds and the ride is as smooth as a cadillac!  Yes, I know I'm an engineer but it is pretty amazing.  The view down to the ground gives you a good perspective on things! Of course, all you see are tall buildings and sand!  If you look hard enough, you can see where the latest Star Trek movie was filmed.

Notice how hazy it is, and that's at 830am!

Second, the fountains are nice to see if you are there in the evenings.  We got in just before dark so after checking into the hotel we quickly headed out to the Dubai Mall (largest by size in the world - not that I care for shopping but google said so <g>) and watched the fountain shows.  They range in timing from about 3 minutes and not super spectacular to 7 minutes of wow. After the show go walk around the mall and eat an expensive bowl of cereal (two flavors for 3$).

Watch out Vegas, here comes Dubai

Inside Dubai Mall was an ice rink

My favorite store - buy a bowl of cereal!  

Third, see a lot of other really tall and fancy buildings around the marina area.  They have twisted buildings, they have the famous Al Arab building, and a lot of other buildings still under construction.  It is a growing place with a lot of hustle and bustle.

Burj Al Arab

Lastly, go old school and take an abra wooden boat across the Dubai Creek for a little nostalgic ride.  It only takes about 15 minutes and 1 AED.

Cruising down the river...well, putting down the river.

It was definitely a blitzkrieg of a trip through Dubai, and with the heat so crazy (110F with 80% humidity and blowing dust) we didn't explore much more.  In fact, we were a little bit like the Wicked Witch of the West as we were melting as we quickly visited the Persian Gulf.  Nonetheless, we were able to see a majority of the tourist spots and have a little adventure in the process.  Dubai - check!

Stay tuned for a post about the rest of the trip!  You can view additional pictures in my Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.

Diamonds Are Forever - or at least 60 years of marriage

I celebrated, with many of my family members, my parents 60th wedding anniversary in Yellowstone National Park.  Yes, 60 years!  Yellowstone was fitting because my parents not only went their for their honeymoon but they go just about every year.  It was certainly the genesis for my love of the outdoors.  While there was more silver (or grey hair) than diamonds it was a lot of fun.

Our most dependable yearly activity is taking a family picture at Artist Point with the Lower Yellowstone Falls in the background.  Here's the whole passel of family that came (4 generations represented) - and we even all had our eyes opened and smiles sparkling like diamonds!

That's Us!

Of course we needed to do some fishing.  Our fish ranged from over 100 little gems to some big lunkers:

Little Brookie

My brother with a big cutthroat

Animals are always abundant and even though the weather was hot for early July we did manage to see a wide variety of animals, even a coy grizzly bear - all looking stronger than ever.

Grizzly

Fox

Okay, this mountain goat may not look strong but she is - she's just shedding!

I took my nieces and nephews up Mt. Washburn which showed just how durable they all were.  It was fun to see baby mountain goats and a fox walking right beside us!

On Top Of Yellowstone

View of Grand Canyon and Hayden Valley

And, I had the chance to stop and take some pictures of a few sparkling waterfalls:

 Gibbon Falls

Big Falls (now Upper Mesa Falls)

All in all it was an amazing trip and I'm so thankful to both my family for helping celebrate this major milestone to my parents for creating such a good example for me.  I'm not sure there will be 60 more (eek!) but, Mom and Dad, may the rest of your years continue to be happy and adventurous!

Great Fountain Geyser

Mom and Dad watching Old Faithful

You can view additional pictures in my Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.

I found the Far Side - at the Manhattan Project

I grew up in Richland, Washington which is where part of the Manhattan Project occurred.  In fact, the world's first nuclear reactor was built here.  And before you ask...no, I don't glow in the dark (at least not that much! HA).

The NPS started having tours out to "the site" as it is locally called.  I was especially interested because my father worked out at "the site" for decades and I was never able to go see where he worked or even hear about much of what he did. This reactor was long defunct before we arrived in Richland but it still gave me an idea of what my Dad worked on.  

The B-Reactor

My Mom and I at the reactor front

After a 45 minute drive out into the desert we arrived at the B-Reactor.  The reactor was developed by Dr. Fermi in Chicago.  Materials came from Oakridge, Tennessee to Richland and then once the uranium was made in plutonium it was delivered to Los Alamos, New Mexico.

I wonder what this knob does?!

This made me laugh - one of my favorite finds.  A hacksaw with a serious extender.  

As a female engineer I was looking for the female influence for developing this technology.  Well, of the 40,000 employees only 4,000 were women.  They were mostly used for safety parades where managers would pick a "Queen of Safety" and the guys would attend to see who was selected.  I'll admit this sounds (is) sexist.  That being said a really cool thing I learned was that the second in line for the technology development was a woman physicist - Leona Woods Marshall who was Dr. Fermi's grad student.  In fact, when they built the reactor there wasn't even a woman's restroom but the men respected her so much they took the last stall and made a bathroom just for her.  While it doesn't negate the Queen of Safety, it did make me proud of Leona and her technical input and fortitude  to working with all those men back in the 1940's.  

Queen of Safety

The same people who built the reactor wrote this sign...makes you think twice?!

It was really neat to see the wall where the uranium was loaded with all of the cooling piping, the control room and the complexity of this big technical advancement.  It certainly wasn't optimized but the fact that it worked was amazing.  And, while there I found "the far side." Sorry Mr. Larsen! 

For more information on the tour you can go to the national park service Manhattan Project.

Kanab Hiking Cheat Sheet - cuz I'm just not that lucky!

Hiking is one of my passions, and hiking slot canyons is definitely high on my list.  For spring break my friend Mark and I hit the trails near Kanab, Utah.  Most people go to the famous hike "the Wave."  Ever since Microsoft put it as a screensaver it is so popular that the BLM limits entry to just a handful of lucky people who win a lottery system.  As someone who has never won anything in a drawing - EVER - I figured my chances were slim to none.  I was right on that account - 4 days straight with no luck.  But, knowing my lack of luck we had planned other opportunities.  My favorites are below.

Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch
This is by far one of the most spectacular slot canyons.  It is touted to be the longest slot canyon in the world.  It is about an hour east of Kanab.  A few years back I hiked Wire Pass and at the confluence of Buckskin Gulch I turned left (Slots - and I'm not talkin' bout Vegas).  This year I turned right and this is a much better option with more crevices twisting and turning through tight and tiny passages.  There are times of the year where wading through water is required but with no rain for the past week we walked about 2.5 miles past the confluence with no wading required.

We started at Wire Pass, awe-inspiring with the height of the walls, the tightness and the twists of rock.  Within a few feet of entry there is a large 12-15' drop.  Many people bring ropes to shimmy down.  That's the hard way.  Actually, just at the entrance of the slot canyon there is a small goat trail on the right side which allows you to rock scramble around.  This is an easy scramble and you are back into the slot in only 10 minutes.  It is way worth the scramble to not have to carry rope with you!  The other thing I like about this little bypass is that you get to see into one area of the slot canyon from above.

View into Wire Pass

With such narrow passage ways it is quite cold in the slot but about every half mile or so there are some bigger openings where sun filters down to the bottom and you can warm up.  I love this hike!

I hope I'm skinny enough to fit!

I'm glad I wasn't around when that logged jammed up there - high water!

After a long hike my favorite restaurant to refuel in Kanab is Escobar's.  Just be warned...it isn't open on Saturday or Tuesday of all weird days to be closed!

Paria History
There are a couple of short hikes in the Paria area which are fun and have some pretty cool sights.  Right off of 89 are the Toadstools.  The fun part about these hoodoos is you can walk right up and around them without being on a guided pathway.  Except for the electrical poles and freeway sounds you feel like you are in the wild (okay, not really). 

Next is a small hike to the Nautilus.  After walking up a dry riverbed for about a mile you come to this crazy rock formation that is in the shape of a nautilus.  Apparently the top fell down a few years back but it still interesting and bigger than you think as you walk through it. 

Swirly Whirly! (Thanks to Mark for the pict on the left)

Finally, the painted hills create a unique backdrop to some pioneer ruins.  Many of the painted hills can be seen right from the dirt road.  This is what I would advise.  Mark and I decided to be adventurous and trek over to get a closer look.  This wasn't a very good decision it turns out.  Let's just say that its a good thing that I know how to get out of a sink hole...the rest of the hike was a little squishy and muddy for some reason!? 

 

 

Coral Pink Sand Dunes
The sand dunes allow you to feel like your in a desert...wait...you are in a desert!  It is a few miles of large dunes as high as 100 feet high.  I brought a sled and some folks had snowboards, just make sure to wax them so you actually slide.  I didn't slide.

Red Canyon - Peek A Boo Slot
Timing couldn't have been better to hit Red Canyon, just a few miles north of Kanab.  This slot canyon requires you to hike (or drive if you can handle it) 3 miles through seriously deep sand to the mouth of the slot canyon.  By the time we got to the mouth of the canyon the sun was just at the perfect angle to filter down into the canyon and create some amazing colors.  The slot isn't very long and it isn't nearly as deep as Wire Pass but that allows the sun to beam in a give you the rich red coloration southern Utah is famous for.

We were also lucky enough to run into a really nice local who gave us a ride back in her jeep (Thanks Denise).  The 15 minute better than Disneyland ride vs. 120 minutes of hiking in the hot sand made our day!

My friend Mark taking some pictures - yes, this is the true color!

 

No, we didn't hike the wave but it wasn't for lack of trying.  In the end, these other options provided beautiful hikes which I'm sure I'll do again while I wait to find my luck.

You can view these and additional pictures in my Public Gallery or by clicking on the Photo Gallery Tabs above. All pictures are available for purchase.