03-30-23

 

Loving my new hot water bottle routine.  We had hot water bottles at our feet each night by the staff from Africa, and I decided I wanted to keep the cozy routine going.  I shopped a ton of handmade bottle covers on Etsy and thispensive but cute cat from Latvia kept calling my name.

I'm thinking about naming him.  Mustard?  Buterscotch?  Toast?

03-29-23

 

Giggling at how out of focus this photo is, but I guess that is what happens after a few drinks at Happy Hour.

03-28-23

 

Tonight Ankit, Vijay, and Sid, from Boston, Florida, and Michigan, hung out.  They are our on-site Deloitte team for our new planning tool.  They loved the view from Viktoria and we had fun talking about Africa.

03-27-23

 

Monday is Amazon day, waiting for Mom to walk.  Love the chalk art on the stairs.

03-26-23

 

A quiet Sunday.

We went to the aquarium to visit the seaotters.

Stumbled on the cherry blossoms at Harbor Steps.

03-25-23

 

We enjoyed free day by enjoying 10 tickets worth of small bites at the Taste of Georgetown.  It was a nice walk and fun to try some new places.

03-24-23

 

This mroning I get to enjoy Viktoria coffee in my new gnome mug from Xander & Madeline.  And all is right with the world again...

03-23-23

 

The chalk art and trivia questions are really fun, but I really really really wanted to add a rude question about how often the coffee machine isn't working.  On my birthday, really?  Off to Starbucks I go...

03-22-23

 

Celebrated my birthday early with the fam tonight.  When I ordered the fairy drink, I was not expecting it to arrive on a fairy cart with snacks!  Perfect splurge!

03-20-23

 

Off to the Sphere's to discuss our MAVen book club book.  To read or not to read is never a question.

03-18-23

 

We walk by Retro Lounge and Bar all the time, and we finally went today.  A darn good burger.

03-17-23

 

Second hockey game this week.

Thunderbirds in Kent this time, and a suite.  Loved it!

03-16-23

 

Had dinner with Xander tonight before the Dragons game.

03-15-23

 

Spring has sprung!  After my hair cut it was still light and warmer than normal and I wasn't starved, so I walked home from Capitol Hill.  Loving this warm streak!

03-14-23

 

Back to marriage class after a three week hiatus.

03-13-23

 

Finally made it to a Kraken game, woot-woot!

03-12-23

 

We headed to the Paramount to see Dear Evan Hansen this afternoon.

03-11-23

 

Bruce heading to the Dragons game as a dragon.

03-08-23

 

Unpacking a few minutes each day.  I took this box all the way to Africa and all the way back, finally ready to part with it.  Not sure if the carton of bracelets for all of us worked, but they were easy enough to wear.

03-07-23

 

Two letters, on the same day, two doctors leaving Polyclinic.  Change is constant...

03-06-23

Back home, back to work, back into routines like walking to visit doggy daycare in the morning.  Tired but functioning.

03-05-23

A day we would rather blot out of our memory.  We left Kenya close to midnight the night before, flew to Dubai for a 4 hour layover, then 14 more hours to home, with a long wait for luggage and concerns about a long customs line.  Finally home!

Even without a window seat, the new cameras to the front and below the aircraft are a fun way to monitor the flight.  This photo was our shadow.

03-04-23

Our last day in Africa, time to face the long ride back home and reentry.  But first we got to do some sightseeing and shopping in Nairobi.  Bruce asked to see a middle class/working class neighborhood and this is where we landed.  We didn't want to take a lot of photos and call attention to ourselves, so we missed photos of cooking in a tire, laundry hanging on balconies, and stores in small shipping containers.  A very different vibe than our luxury tourist experience.

03-03-23

 

What a day!  Lion cubs, village visit, a special sundowner experience.  Always so hard to choose one representive photo for the blog.  But we started our safari adventure with rhinos and ended with hippos.  I wasn't even expecting hippos!

03-02-23

 

Today was our day to get up at o'dark thirty and drive an hour to our sunrise hot air balloon ride.

I was so looking forward to this, and it was a bit of a disappointment.  We were so packed in that I couldn't move at all.  It was as gentle and smooth as I remembered, but I think flying over more urban areas is more to look at.  Take off and landing were way less scary with us sitting down inside the balloon, but it took away from the experience to stand up and already be in the air.  Past hangry for breakfast and the bees had found our food.

Glad we did it, torn on whether I could have skipped it.

03-01-23

 

On to our final lodge.

Masai Mara, the famous safari destination.  The location of the annual wildebeest migration.  One our way from the landing strip we saw a lone wildebeest, our first.  The guide was surprised.  They aren't common this time of year and rarely solo.

Masai Mara is right above the serengeti in Tanzania.  Animals are spread out on the serengeti, but are more concentrated as they travel to the mara in search of short grass.

The wildebeest is part of the Ugly Five, it looks like random parts from other animals were thrown together.