Xmas, Amboseli, Mandy's bday, New Years and the rest

The day after we got back from Mt Kenya was Christmas eve, so time to get merry! We introduced Mandy to our local supermarkets and shopping centres... she was amazed at their good standard and couldn’t believe we’d asked her to bring so many supplies with her. I guess we were just spoilt for choice in SA and pined for all the things we couldn’t get here. Mandy and Collin had bought us marmite, protein bars, (affordable) wine, sushi equipment, an ipod, books, magazines... We even got them to bring us a set of Thule roof racks for the prado, poor overloaded travellers!
We went to Mike that afternoon to pick up his bike that we were borrowing for Collin and stayed for some Rosé and stollen. Then to Ashe and Kiran for sundowners, followed by a fun Christmas eve dinner at Mathaiga Club. So plenty of Christmas cheer was had by all! Mandy was on TOP form (and in her element being at the Muthaiga Club) and entertained our table of 12 all night. The best joke of the evening was when the topic of the full moon over new years was being discussed and Collin asked Mandy if she gets affected by the moon. She threw her head back and answered ‘NOooooooooooooooooooooooooo’!!
On Christmas day the four of us went for a really cool bike ride with Danny and Mike. Mandy and Collin were impressed by our never ending beautiful bike trails we have on our doorstep. Then it was present time!!! Yipppee! The best part of Christmas! We all got loads of stuff, our stockings were full and the tree was gift laden. For our Christmas dinner we did raclette with all the fine meat and cheese and various trimmings. It was a feast of note. That evening we watched Benedikt’s xmas dvd, Bruno, possibly not the best choice for a family day!
On the 26th we left for Amboseli, shocking Mandy and Collin with the ‘national highway’ mess as you leave Nairobi. Actually the entire journey shocked them.... have I mentioned how diabolical the roads are here?!! Kenya is just so stuck in the sixties...1963 to be exact. Thats when the country gained independence from the brits and all development ceased!
On arrival in Amboseli we saw lions, elephants, hyenas, warthogs, giraffes, hippos, buffalo, zebra and loads of different birds and that was all on our way to our accommodation. Which was a good thing because our accommodation was disappointing- it turned out to be simple (ugly)brick buildings which were basically cordoned off staff quarters. Oh well, we got out the whiskey and the wine and played poker and braaied up a storm. The following day we did an early morning game drive where again, we saw loads of animals. Even though it rained a little while we were there, Amboseli is still severely drought ravaged, and, like the last time we were there we saw plenty of carcasses. That side of it is quite depressing. But it didn’t stop our excellent game viewing and bird spotting mission... I think Mandy and Collins bird count went up by 15 or so? We also went to see a lady who runs the baboon research centre at Amboseli which was very interesting. She has been studying baboons for 30 years! On our third day there we went to Ol tukai, a supposedly 5 star lodge before leaving to come home. We had tea and coffee there, played some table tennis and sat by the pool for a couple of hours, totally making ourselves at home as only us Wielopolski’s can!
After Amboseli Mandy and Collin still had just under a week left, so we did all the Nairobi sights. We went for a really cool Ethipian dinner that evening at an authentic Ethiopian (would you believe) restaurant. We made a ton of sushi the next night with all of my new goodies which was very exciting. We had our neighbours round to share it with us, and it even past Naoko’s japenese stamp of approval!
On the 30th, Mandy’s birthday, we went on a Nature Kenya bird walk in the morning which was just brilliant. (Benedikt was glad he was working that day!) The lady who took it knew every bird, plant, insect and animal and all the bird calls... she made the walk so worthwhile. Again, Mandy and Collin raised their bird tally by about 20 birds. Which is ALOT. Then we went to the Karen Bixem (!) Restaurant for a divine lunch, followed by a visit to Karen Blixem’s house. This was a REAL highlight for Mandy. You will never meet a bigger ‘Out of Africa’ fan than her. She knows the movie backwards and says all the lines before Robert and Meryl do! She’s read lots of Karen’s books too and knows her history so well, I learnt a lot going there with her. Mandy was amazed at how the house looks just like it did in the movie. We took loads of photos of course and had a nice sit down in the beautiful expansive garden.
The next evening was New Years Eve. We had some friends around for a ‘party’ most of whom were (older) couples from our compound as many of our friends were away at the coast still. There were about 20 people in the end and it was a pretty tame evening really. Even with Mandy and Collins dodgy attempts at opening up the dance floor!
Next up was Magadi. A salt lake about 100kms away which has natural hot springs. It borders Lake Natron which is in Tanzania and the change in scenery on the drive down was very interesting. Mahindi battled a bit with the salty water but enjoyed chasing the birds down. Boz and Collin wallowed in the (very) hot bubbling pools.
In between of all this we played some excellent tennis and squash matches and chilled at the pool, all at Muthaiga Club. We definitely got value out of our new membership there! And Mandy and I of course stole the stage with our impressive tennis match, what a display of skill and professionalism. We also got some yoga done, more bike riding and some running in the forest which Mahindi loved of course.
On our last night we were invited to Naoko and Roland for Shabu Shabu. Another real highlight for everyone. Excellent company and excellent food – Shabu Shabu is a japenese style dinner where you all share a hot pot of water in the middle of the table and dip your food in to cook it. It’s a lot more glamorous and tasty than what it sounds! And of course Naoko’s trimmings and style always create a special experience.
On our last day I took Mandy and Collin to Kiambethu Tea Farm where drank tea (naturally) and had a tour of the farm and forest and listened to a very interesting Tea Talk.
Then they bloody left. And I cried.