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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
THE BEST MASAI MARA LUXURY TENT-CABINS AVAILABLE….
Just in case it’s necessary, the above is OUR opinion, and although other points of view may be out there, we’re not making room for them here! 
If you want the MARA TIMBO COMPANY LINE (and lots more information than you’ll get here), then you know where to go….and you should go there and get educated. Just for the record, the Mara Timbo website is the first one we’ve found that not only doesn’t exaggerate the wonderfulness of their place, but where the reality is actually better than the photos. But, this blog is personal to us, and so we’ll be telling you what WE think about it.
Maybe YOU could be critical of this
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but we couldn’t be…....
Sunday, July 26, 2009
“I’M REALLY HERE—THIS *IS* THE MASAI MARA!“
Those were my thoughts as we drove along the edge of the riverine forest, looking for leopards…..and not finding any. But, it didn’t matter - after 50+ years of looking at coffee-table books, National Geographic specials, and all the rest, I was actually THERE…..in the northern extension of Tanzania’s Serengeti Plain. It was even better than I’d imagined…...
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Monday, July 06, 2009
A TRIP TO LAKE NAKURU
If you *do* come to East Africa, you would be well advised to take at least a day for LAKE NAKURU. A day trip from Nairobi is quite a marathon - we left the MAXWELL ADVENTIST ACADEMY campus about 4:15 a.m., and returned that night at 10:15 p.m. A loooooooooooooooooooooooong day in a Land Cruiser, but worth every minute - especially since Kent was driving…and over here, that means a lot more than it does at home.
Lake Nakuru is well-known for the Lesser Flamingo, which feeds on the various algae that thrive in the alkaline waters of this very shallow lake. From up on the ridge, we could easily see concentrations of flamingos at various locations all around the lakeshore,
but with binoculars it became plain that the ENTIRE lake was dotted with innumerable flamingos….there were easily hundreds of thousands, and perhaps the million that someone promised us. It’s an incredible sight. The photograph also highlights the challenge for Kenya in the next decades - how to accommodate a growing population while simultaneously protecting the wildlife (meaning the habitat on which it is so totally dependent) that is her patrimony, and the source of a LOT of funds for the nation. A propos of that last, the non-resident admission to Nakuru for 24 hours is US$60.00 each, payable in cash at time of entry. Worth it, folks! Right now, the town of Nakuru provides the effluent from its sewage plant to the lake—something immensely valuable in the dry season, so long as proper treatment is assured…which is something that Kenya needs to see to.
THE ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE….and a RHINO ALERT!
The DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST rescues orphaned elephants and rhinos, and also runs a veterinary service for Kenya’s national parks. It’s the brainchild of David Sheldrick’s widow, founded the year after his untimely death in 1976. Since that time, Daphne Sheldrick has been working out the methods used by the Trust to rescue and rehabilitate almost 100 orphaned elephants that would surely have died without their intervention - more than 40 elephants are now part of wild herds in TSAVO (EAST) NATIONAL PARK, perhaps the last place in Eastern Africa large enough to allow for the natural ecological cycle of elephants and the land and vegetation that sustains them. Please go to the Sheldrick Trust site - they are worthy of your support, and a little bit will go a long way for the elephants, and offer you a wonderful experience with your own adopted orphan, or in giving a gift to someone else. CHECK IT OUT
OK…the commercial is over (mostly)....and here comes the story of our visit:
A TRIP BACK TO THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ‘60s…...THE GLASS FACTORY
Anyone of a certain age, who lived in or near Mendocino County - or even someone who still does - is going to recognize a lot of what we saw at the glass factory. It’s quite near Nairobi, at the end of five kilometers or so of horrendous road (or more easily across a very scary swinging bridge). Here’s what greets you as you exit your car and start into the grounds…..
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Somehow, that makes me think of all the Benny Bufano sculpture and paintings that used to be seen in San Francisco….I guess he’s out of fashion, now, but here in one tiny part of Nairobi, they appear to be remembering him. Let’s go on in, now—here’s the entrance court….
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Thursday, July 02, 2009
REPORT FROM NAIROBI…..
I know that I’ve been remiss in updating our trip here….I have good excuses, of course. A new class is taking the usual amount of time - I’m going to bed near midnight each day, and have to be up by 6:45 in order to be in class at quarter to eight. Further, the Internet feed in our guest house has quit, so it’s only down the hill at the Academy computer lab that I have access at this point, and there are a number of things to do after class before lunch is served, so…...you get the idea.
Last weekend, we spent the entire day on the Nairobi National Park with our former youth pastor (now chaplain at Maxwell Adventist Academy), Kent Crutcher and his family. We had a GREAT day! It didn’t rain, but most of the time the clouds prevented the sun from cooking us….plus, we saw lots and lots of animals, because the grass is still green and there’s lots of food and water. Here’s a few photos from the small camera - mostly we have videos from it, and some are just terrific. I’m happier and happier with that machine. The major share of pictures I took with my Nikon SLR, but I simply don’t have the time to deal with them right now.
More photos, and other excursions are below…...
Reading
- BlogsForDummies :)
Web resources
- Arts & Letters Daily
- Ravi Zacharias
- Southern Adventist University
- The SAU Biology Deptartment - where I work with a bunch of very neat people.
- Venezuelan news—FROM Venezuela