On Safari

Hello,

Who would believe that this little farm girl from Illinois (I almost said Iowa since I have lived here so long.) could write that statement, “on safari” and talk about herself? Do you realize that I was never more than a days travel from home until I was 18 years old and my class went on a senior class trip to New Orleans? What a difference forty years can make!

Leroy and I were up and ready on time for this trek out into the unknown. Our driver was a little early because he had to explain some things to us. The camp had been inside the national park and now it was outside. The place that we had to buy the pass was a longer drive away so he thought it best to get the passes at the national park in Nairobi, did we agree?

We, of course, agreed since we did not have a clue and trusted his judgment. We then headed off into city rush hour to the largest game park in a major city in the world. Actually traffic was not too bad at first since we were going in the unpopular direction.

At the game park the driver said, “You need to give me $240 to pay the park fee.

“Oh do you have enough?” I wonderingly asked Leroy. We had been told that we needed to bring $160 in newer bills supposedly the fee was $40 per night for Americans.

Our guide explained that on January 1 the fees had gone up to $60 per person per night. Perhaps because he has been in the business for a while he brought a brochure and verified his claim. Luckily we had brought some extra dollars just in case, leaving us just enough for the fee to visit a Maasai village at $50. Then we had some old ratty dollar bills that we expected to use to get on the city bus in MN, but no more.

We were grateful to cover the cost because it would be difficult to find more crisp dollars at that moment. As we headed out of the city I was excited to see a baboon running next to a hedge. There were some people walking there as well. Not something I see everyday in the city.

Paula