Why write about our safari in Kenya in 1999? Well, Cathy and I are physically isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping Toronto and the world. Global travel is shut-down. We have just canceled our spring trip to Hilton Head Island.  It seems like a good time to write about some of our past favorite trips.
Twenty years ago, Cathy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with three must-do’s. See the pyramids and temples of Egypt, safari in Kenya, and return to Canada via Southampton to New York City on the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. Over the next while, I will write about each as I digitize the old photographic prints. (I am doing this by simply taking a picture of each print with my smartphone. I am amazed at the quality.)
Our safari spanned Kenya
So first, our safari in Kenya in 1999. We spanned Kenya, from Sudan in the north to the southern border with Tanzania. We went with a small group and 3 Toyota Land Cruisers, organized by GAP Adventures, now called G Adventures . This is one of the times when a guided tour makes sense .
Our safari stories
Cathy and I watched the great wildebeest migration at the famous river crossing where the crocodiles line up for their feast. National Geographic and other crews were there to film their Maasai Mara documentaries.
We had our ‘Out of Africa’ experience in a tent camp guarded by Maasai warriors. That did not prevent a sleepless night as a cheetah visited the personal latrines attached to each of our tents.
We spent time in the unprotected zone between Sudan and Kenya and visited an isolated village of dung covered huts where each night the cattle herd was brought into the ring of huts to shelter from lion attacks.
We stayed in a lodge where our evening was punctuated by shotgun fire into the air to ward off the elephants from coming into resort grounds.
And we overnighted in Treetops, where then Princess Elizabeth was told that her father had died and she was now Queen.
Animal sightings
The landscape and animal sightings are amazing. Cathy and I were lucky to see 4 of the big 5 in the wild – lion, leopard, elephant and rhino. No Cape Buffalo, however we did see cheetah.
