Our next part of the Kenyan journey was to fly from Nairobi to Dinai. Dinai is a resort town on the Indian Ocean perhaps 50 kms south of Mombasa. Dinai is beautiful. No doubt about that. It is one of several resort towns along the coast. The town is essentially a single road that parallels the coast. Lots of shacks and lean-tos and the same three-wheeled scooters that were all over India. Did Someone Say, "Tourist?" Let's start with the animals. This guy is one of many wh

There were many birds that we saw. This "couple" caught my eye. These two are busy collecting nest material. They are long-term mates, so they must be getting ready for the next generation. Now it's time for us to fly back to Nairobi. Cheers, Brio

These elegant animals love to browse the trees and are the reason why the Masai trees are of such a particular shape. This mother and child are beautiful. The baby is about a week old and is still unsteady on its feet. Those hooves are lethal weapons to protect against lions. Cheers, Brio

From big cats to funny little (and fierce) muskrats. They like to live in old ant hills. Checking us out. We're no threat. Cheers, Brio

Let's check out some big cats! This pride loves to hang out in the bushes! Then this lioness came across the field. Fortunately, these cats decided not to come into the truck with us! Cheers, Brio

There are so many animals to show you! Maybe its easier to just show them by category? We'll go with elephants first. Elephants eat more than just grass and tree tops. This Elephant Is Digging Up Dirt to Eat Here's a female elephant with her two-month old baby. And a one-year old. And a 40-year old using the tree as a stretching point. And then he considers whether he might atytck the truck! Glad we're heavy! Cheers, Brio

Another day in the bush. Sunrise Animals of a Different Kind The Toyota "Land Rover" Breakfast on the Savannah Back to the animals: This is a lioness in the bushes. Cheetahs Cheers, Brio

We have three nights at our Masai lodge. Our tour guide's name is almost like Kissimmee, so that's what we call him. He is very gentle and he can mimmick the calls of birds and animals. He can take the truck to places I never thought we could go. It's called off-roading, but it's beyond that! That is where we find the animals. These giraffe are a few hundard yards away. We drove right through this herd of zebras. They groom each other. Wilderbeest are grazing by the sid

The Land Rover was replaced by a Toyota vehicle of similar design about 30 years ago. It really is a masterful craft. It holds perhaps 8 people, is four-wheel drive with tires that seem immune to the rocks and bushes littering the countryside. Our driver, whose name seems to come close to Kissimmee, is charming, has a bouyant spirit and an infectious smile. There are shorts under the skirt. Kissimmee is our driver for the time we are here. This is Nari's second time visit

After a day of addressing jet lag, we make our jump to the Kenya - Tanzania border and the Masai region. It is 250 kms and an almost 6 hour drive. Time is important, so we will fly. This will be our three-day safari to see the native animals in their wild state. WE fly on a single-prop plane. We sit right behind the pilots. En route, we fly over the Rift Valley. Ours is the third stop. These are airfields in the best sense of the term. The runways are dirt and are cut in

It's been more than 50 years since I have been to East Africa. This time I am fortunate to visit friends from Columbia Business School. Marco and Nari and I were part of a study group that was formed for us when we were taking Intro Accounting (nicknamed Baby Accounting) in 1989. We are missing a fourth member, Oscar, who was not able to get away from his business dealings in Panama. Marco came from Guatemala. Nari was originally from India. (Oscar was from Panama.) Ou

The DK Eyewitness Series on India has been a good source of tourist information for this trip. Of course, Chris's friend, Nari, has put the entire trip together and for this I am grateful. Along the way, we have encountered many friendly smiles and offers to assist. Here, at our last hotel, we were made an edible memento of our trip by one of the kitchen staff. This kind attention has been the norm, not the exception, for the Oberoi Hotel chain we've enjoyed. A gift in pan

Moving at a pace faster than any elephant ... ... we drive from Ranthambhore and its tiger preserve to Agra and its most-famous Taj Mahal. It is about a 5 or 6 hour drive. Much of the drive is on new 6-lane and 8-lane superhighway. The Taj Mahal is iconic. It is a monument in honor of romantic love, a "jewel box in marble." In 1631, the wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's most beloved wife, dies. In 1632, the Emperor orders a mausoleum to be built along the banks of the

We are now in Ranthambhore, staying at an Oberoi Hotel. It was "only" a 3 hour drive from Jaipur. There are only 28 units here, each one a free-standing house, capped by a tent structure. The hotel is on a 20-acre parcel of land contiguous to the Tiger preserve. It is beautiful. We got up at 4 am to meet the tour "bus" at 5 am for a 30-minute drive into the Preserve. Here's the bus. At 5:30 am, at 30 mph, it is chilly when riding in this set-up. Fortunately, there were

After we left the Amber Palace, we went to a shop with all sorts of crafts and art work on display, including just a few elephants. On the top floor, we were ushered into a room, seated, given tea, and shown some beautiful carpets. There were many more, all of varying dimensions. It takes about a year to make the larger ones (10x15, for example). The prices are about half of what one pays in Boston. These would be a tight fit on Brio! Cheers, Brio

Meet our driver and elephant. Based on the pachy's performance, he seemed younger than his brothers and sisters. We passed at least one other, slower-moving elephant on the steep climb up the hill to the Amber Palace. Up we go, the elephant doing the hard work of carrying us on the platform to the Palace. The Amber Palace is huge. It is surrounded by the Great Wall, as our guide told us. The wall is some 11 miles long and it snakes up and down steep hills. But let's go in

These elephants are in the entrance courtyard for the City Palace. These are figures created to display a "friendly" battle between two elephants to develop the elephants' abilities and their strength as well as to train their handlers. The City Palace is huge. It must be almost a mile long.??. The current royal family lives at one end. The dynasty is over 1800 years old. So, earlier generations have occupied the middle of the Palace or the nearer end where these elephan

Elephants symbolize "good luck." Yesterday (Monday, April 7) we flew an hour south from Delhi to Udaipur. Udaipur is on the southern border of Rajasthan State (green color), about halfway from Delhi to the coastal province of Gujarat. While it is hard to read the smaller print, Udaipur is below the word Rajasthan. Jaipur (our next stop on Tuesday and Wednesday) is above Rajasthan. Agra is below Delhi and is where the Taj Mahal is located. It is nestled in a geologically

Here is another beautiful elephant from the lobby of the Imperial Hotel. Today was the first day of exploration. We hired a driver to take us to several landmarks in Delhi, including The Red Fort and India Gate. We have been very careful to avoid exposure to the famed microbes of the Third World. So far, success! But it's only been a day! What we have experienced is the incredible density of p-e-o-p-l-e. Everywhere. Masses. And as we walk through crowds, everyone is cl

Greetings from India. Elephants are important in many ways. This fellow is one of several beautiful castings in the main hallway of the Imperial Hotel, where we are staying for 2 days. When Nari and I entered the hotel last night (at around midnight, we were greeted by two women who applied red dots to our foreheads. Hindu tradition says this protects us. So, we unpacked and then went to the bar for a beer and wine. Everything is polished and gleaming. Tomorrow we will st