The mystery of the missing tusk

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the information on the books. I actually read several chapters of the Nancy Drew book that I discoveed on the bookshelf. You know what? After how many years? I still found the book fascinating and mostly still relevant today. Ok -- so they don't have cell phones and other cool gadgets, but this is Nancy Drew!!!!

We had a great chat about all those books and how they are still classics. At least I think they are and you know what? I found several in Libby. Audo and ebooks so I got an audiobook for fun. It's a three hour listen and I can't wait to hear the narrator. Its on hold. YES --- all the Nancy Drew books were out!!!!

And I managed to find the very first one!!! How cool is that? 

And yes --- I know that elephant refuge is near the park we were at. But from our experience and the information gathered from the locals, each park is conducive to seeing certain animals You want wildebeasts, you go to Maasia Mara or the Serengeti. You want elephants, you go to Tsavo East. You want rhinos -- they are somewhere else, even though they all exist in each park. Well, not the wildebeasts, but you get my drift.

When we first arrived in Africa, we met up with one of DH's second counsin once removed and his wife.Wonderful people and I feel blessed that we were able to  spend some time to get to know them better. And also to learn about REAL life in Africa and other countries since they have done quite a bit of travaling and lived in various countries. 

Anyway, we had a couple of days at the end of our trip with nothing planned, so they offered to take us around. I had spotted that the equator wasn't that far from Nairobi and perhaps we could go there. They said yes and so that plan was hatched. We settled on the 27th to make the trip. 

NOW, I have learnd a very valuable lesson. 150 KM in Canada is nothing. We get in the car and an hour or two later and you are arrived. Not so here. Oh my ---- it was a very LONG trip. Which I'll tell you in one second. 

First -- the story about the missing tusk. Initially we were not going to buy many sourvenirs due to lack of space an we don't need anything. However, as time went on, we discovered that there were a few things we wanted. We wanted to get a carved elephant after our visit to Tsavo East. We had stopped at the tourist shop BEFORE the park, so we had no idea what we would want. There was no chance after to go back. 

On our travels with Maria and Jerry (I do not know how to spell his proper name, but his nickname is Jerry), as we went over The Great Rift, we got an elephant. I think I told you that yesterday. 

Anyway, as we were packing up yesterday morning, we brought the bag with the elephant into the house so they could be packed in our carry on luggage. DH had remoed the tusks so they wouldn't get broken and put them loose in the bags. And as you can imagine, when I unpacked them, I couldn't find ONE of the tusks. Great!!!!

There was a hole in the big bag they were in, so I thought it might have fallen out in the car. No luck. I searched everywhere and even pulled the bag out of the garbage after the coffee grounds were thrown on top but no luck. 

It's a small white tusk made from wood, it'll be easy to replicate with FIMO or something similiar. 

When we were at the equator DH was trying to get a replacement from another vendor. He thought he could just get one for free. Sigh...... After some fierce bargaining, for several other things, we got two brand new tusks. 

We were in the car for a good part of the day. But we had gotten out on several occasions, and I had a stone in my shoe. How the heck did I get a stone in my shoe. Well, when we sat down for lunch on a plank foor that was open to the ground below, imagine my surprise to find that my stone was in fact the missing tusk. 

Lady luck was on my side because as I emptied my shoe, that tusk could have easily slipped between the boards and been totally gone. The mystery is solved and my shoe felt empty for the rest of the day. And now we have an extra set of tusks!!!! I put the tusks in a small plastic bag of pills and inserted it into my vitamin bottle, so there is no danger of it going missing again!!!!

You have heard some of the stories of driving that I've shared, but I'm not sure if I can really explain what happened yesterday. So Jerry recently got a new car - bigger so all his kids can travel with them. Maria drives, but well it's a classic case of the husband knows best, so she doesn't drive much. 

Remember that the roads are not always the best, there could be potholes, mounds of dirt in some instances, and lets not forget those speed bumps which will do serious damage to your body and your car. They are NOT just on the small roads, but on the major roads as well. They are EVERYWHERE!!!! And they work, I did NOT see a single car that flew over them, everyone slows down. But then they speed like mad from speedbump to speedbump. 

In order to pass, you must just zip out and go like mad to pass and you must do a lot of passing if you want to get anywhere. There are loads of trucks, motorcycles, buses, etc. If you are not an agressive driver, then your four hours will take eight!!!

Here's another thing about the passing. When there is no oncoming traftic, then you will find that not only one, but two, three, four, five or more will move to the right lane (remember -- they drive on the opposite side of the road here) and everyone goes like mad to advance their position in the line of traffic. It's like a dance. And no one has issues with creating new lanes. Let's just say that you need to understand the EXACT width and length of your vehicle. 

I swear there are many times yesterday where I wondered if we were going to survive the trip. You could be pulling out immediately behind another car or bus and not know what's ahead,  but simply trusting the person in front of you. 

Then you need to brake hard to get behind the vehicles on the left because a car or truck is coming towards you. There were several instances of frantically flashing lights as we just inserted ourselves back into the left lane before we passed the oncoming traffic. 

It was EXHAUSTING!!!  I can only imagine how Jerry felt at the end of the day, he would have been wiped. I am quite proud of myself as I didn't flinch once. What was the point --- I wasn't driving and my fate was in fate's hands. I trusted Jerry and so all I did was sit back and enjoy the ride. 

I think at the end of the day, they said we had one close call, but I'm pretty sure there were way more than everyone admited to. But we arrived safe and sound, and that's all that counts!!!!!

I have to say I felt a wee bit guilty as I really wanted to go to the Equator and we drove a LONG way to get there and it was a bit of a letdown. Just a sign and of course, many vendors. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was a long way to go just for a picure by a sign. BUT, we enjoyed the scenery, got a feel for how the crazy drivrs drive on the highways and had a good visit. 

The other thing we had to be very aware of was the time. We needed to get to the airport about 8 PM and time wasn't going to wait. There was a geocache at the equator, but I didn't dare ask to get it. And I'm OK with that. If we had more time, I would have but we were strapped for time. 

Besides Jerry wanted to test out his new car to see if it had enough pep and to see how it performed in the crazy art of passing - in other words did it have enough power to accelerate fast. And let's say that it had plenty of power. At one time I swear we were going 140 KM and then we would brake for speed bumps. And he wonders why his gas (diesel) consumption isn't great. All you can do is laugh!!!!

It was a fun day and we ended up at a restaurant in downtown Nairobi, although I certainly wasn't hungry and I don't think anyone was either, but we had a drink and some snacks 

Then they left to get home (it was 7:30 PM ) by this time and we got an Uber to the airport. That entire process went smoothly and we had zero issues with anything. There is definitely a need to go through those Xray machines multiple times!!!!! 

We decided to check our luggage so we wouldn't have to deal with it on the plane and during our long layover. I'm glad we did, although they didn't have a plastic bag for my backpack, so let's hope the straps don't get caught on something. 

Boarding the plane was an interesting process. OH --- we were in the lounge while we waited to board as we had a bit of time to kill, see --- I can get to the airport early!!!

The boarding time was listed at 90 minutes before we were to take off, which seemed excessive, but we went with that. More security!!! More document checking. Swabbing our bags and all kinds of stuff. After verifying our documents, we got to sit down. The priority people in the red chairs and everyone else in the blue!!!

Then they started calling the groups for boarding and it was a pretty fast process. Group one, OK - group two, without much waiting. We had to climb down several flights of stairs and then walk across the tarmac to the plane. Two sets of stairs (front and back) to get into the plane and it all seemed to go very quickly and next thing we knew, we were pushing back --5 minutes early!!!! 

So what I thought was quite chaotic, turned out to be very civilized boarding. 

We settled into our business Class seats with the lie flat bed. OK -- I know it costs a bit more money, but I swear, that everyone should fly business class at least once in your life. I had dinner on the plane and then lay out my seat and went to sleep. I think I slept for 6 hours. I did wake up a couple of times, but all in all, it was a really good sleep. You get a nice cushy pillow and a blanket and all is good!!!! Just like home!!!!

And that about wraps up that part of the trip We are now in Frankfurt, and I'll tell you the rest of the story when I get home. 

WAIT --- I have to tell you this. There is a man sitting across from me at this table and he is on a call with his wife. I can't hear her, but I can hear him, although he is trying to be very discreet and quiet. Oh boy --- it doesn't sound like a good relationship. She is NOT listening to him by the sound of it and every second (ok -- tenth word is a swear word!!!). They have now agreed to deal with their upcoming travel plans when he is home in 8 hours. thank god!!!!!!

There is good news  because there is a virtual retreat this weekend!!!! Oh my!!!! I dont have the links handy  but it'll be the usual schedule --- Saturday night starts at 6 PM and 

sunday, starts at 3 PM. I have loads to prep and pack for the buckhorn quilt show which is next weekend, so I hope you all have that on your calendars!!!! I'll be showing my quilts where I've used some form of machine embroidery to create or finish them. Some of them are NEW!!!!!! It'll be a great place to see some amazing stuff and how you can get more use of your embroidery machine or if you are thinking of buying an embroidery machine, it's the place to come and ask questions. I hope to see many of you there!!!!! I am NOT selling anything -- I am there as an independant, so don't be shy!!!!

And on that note, I'm out of here. I'm in the Air Canada lounge at the frankfurt airport and it seems to have gotten busy at the moment. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!