After months and months of hard work - the CARE campaign has officially launched.  We're still putting the finishing touches on the installations which will go live November 25th but, we were officially on stands in two publications as of Tuesday.  And, we got some great press from the New York Times that I wanted to document here. Stuart Elliot wrote a great story.  Excited to see where it all will go and hope that the work will generate donations so the people we got to see in Kenya will get the help they need. Below is the finished Village scene that we generated with the overhead shots in Nanyuki.  It turned out beautifully! So very proud!

Prayers and Thoughts for Kenya

This post will be brief but, I don't think I can conclude this blog without mentioning the insanity that happened in Nairobi since I've left (just one week ago today).  Last Saturday, 9/21, The Westgate Mall in Nairobi was attacked.  Several people were shot, grenades were thrown, hostages were taken.  The death toll went up over the course of the days after the attack was initiated.  This evening (9/24) Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the siege over, giving a death toll of 61 civilians and six security officers.

In this lifetime, I will never understand how people can kill in the name of their religion.  It will never make sense to me.  Rather than waste my energy on that, I will focus it toward thinking about the families of the victims who's lives were taken senselessly and prematurely.  

Another reminder of how precious life is.  I hope that I never allow myself to forget.

There's No Place Like Home

The most stressful part of the trip home was the drive to the airport.  Thankfully, we gave ourselves plenty of time because a ride that should have taken 30 minutes at most took almost 3x longer.  The team that left the night before said it took 2 hours to get through the queue.  Luckily, that wasn't the case for us.  We got through check-in and customs quickly and made it to our gate.

We had a brief stop in Amsterdam and another in London and, when I say brief, we really just got off one plane and went to the gate of the next.  This is the view I got of Amsterdam before I left:

Very quick and painless.  In all, it was about a 24 hour process.  I was able to upgrade my seat to Economy Comfort for the last leg of the flight which made a HUGE difference.  After a few hours of sleep, I vowed to remain awake so I could get myself back on EST.

The worst part of the trip home was that Mary Kate's bag got lost.  They told us (after waiting for 30 minutes or so) that it was on the next flight.  As far as I know, it still hasn't made it.  Damn it, Delta.  You were doing so well!

When I got home, I got showered up and then pampered myself a bit (mani/pedi, baby!) before picking Vincent up from school.  I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his sweet face when he saw me.  11 days of being away from this guy was NOT easy...

I challenged myself to stay up as late as I could last night.  My husband and I started watching the most recent episodes of Breaking Bad.  I made it 15 minutes in (it was about 8pm) and I started dozing off.  Of course, Michael nudged me saying "you have to watch this...it's so good!"  I think he quickly realized that wasn't going to happen.  I made it to my bed in time to fall into an 10 (or so) hour coma.  A much needed one.  

And, because life is never dull, the other thing I had to make sure I did when I got home? 

Call the Dekalb County Courthouse to see if I had to report for jury duty.  Let me give you a hint...(this was for you, Ken!)

I showed up, bright and early at 8:15.  And, after waiting for 3 hours, I was free to go...until I am summoned again (12 to 18 months from now).  Believe it or not, I ended up working a full day my first official day back. I was beat by the end of the day but, relaxing at home would have been a challenge with so much going on.  

All in all, an adventure-filled couple of weeks.  I have to say, it was definitely one of the most productive shoots I have ever been a part of.  I WAS IN AFRICA! And I got way more than a lousy t-shirt.

Baby Tembos

Monday morning started off with a bit of sleeping in (first time in a while) before our last breakfast at the hotel.  We were able to extend checkout until 2pm so, that gave us some time to get organized, pack and take what would be our last shower before getting home.

Some of you asked to see some pics of the Fairview which is where we stayed for about 4 of our 9 nights.  I was going to post some of mine but, stumbled upon this video and realize now that there are several parts of the hotel I never got to see!  

Anyway, after a late lunch, we checked out and met our driver out front - bound for the Karen Blixen Museum. Well known for her books "Out of Africa" and "Babette's Feast" (none of which I have read...yet) among others, it was fascinating to see her home and hear about her history.  

The tour kicked off with a briefing and then a walk through the house and the surrounding grounds.  We learned a lot about the history of Blixen's life in Kenya and saw some of the equipment she used to get her coffee business started.  

1922 Fordson Tractor Model F

Her coffee plantation failed due to the soil being to acidic.  As a result, she was forced to abandon her home there. I had no idea what a coffee tree looked like but now I do.  And so do you...

After the failure of her coffee business, Blixen returned to Denmark where she lived the rest of her life.  The Nairobi suburb that stands on the land she once owned is now named "Karen".  It's a beautiful suburb of Nairobi.  If I had to live in Nairobi, it would be in that area (assuming, of course, that I could afford it).  Since we had time to kill before going to adopt our elephants, we went to the Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens for a coffee and a snack.

Next stop, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  You need to sign up in advance to see the animals and, if interested, you can adopt a baby elephant for $50.  As part of signing up, you pick an elephant, adopt them, get an amazing packet of information about your elephant and then monthly updates on how your elephant is doing.  

During our visit, we also saw a sweet, sweet rhino named Max.  He's a 4 year-old rhino who is vision impaired.  I've never really thought of rhinos as cute but, let's face it.  Could you really resist kissing this sweet face?

Everyone was crowing around the limited space to see him so, I wasn't able to get much footage of him at first.  I snuck back over once the elephants came out.  

Oh yes.  The elephants.  

Essentially this program works to protect and rehabilitate two animals who are poached for their ivory and horns.  The little ones are sent out to pasture during the day and brought back in at a specific time to feed and rest inside their stables.  There's a very clear process that's followed.

The reserve is open from 5 to 6 each day and you have to make an appt. After meeting Max, we were ushered over to the back "wall" of Max's pen and were told to wait.  So, we stood in anticipation of what would happen next.  

First, these little elephants came running down the path toward us (the picture will right itself after a few seconds, sorry!)...

followed by these guys...

and then these little guys.  

And, this is the last of them. Note the particularly, um, determined one that runs by at the end.  He was literally two feet from us.  WARNING - You might want to turn the volume down before watching this one.   

As each one ran by, their names were called out.  And, I knew immediately, which one was meant to be mine.  Well, ours...I did it as a gift for my Michaels - my husband and my son (Michael) Vincent.  Here name is:

I'm not sure why she stood out to me but, she did.  And, when all the little elephants were in their spots, everyone sort of scattered to get a closer look and, I looked for her and when I found here, there wasn't anyone else there.  We bonded.  She ate.  She drank.  And, she even farted.  Which made me laugh.  

Isn't she beautiful?  Sweet Lima Lima.

After I spent some quality time with my girl, I went to fill out the paperwork and make it official.  Then, I was off to find Mary Kate and see her little beauty.  I couldn't help but get this video of the elephant next to hers.  I think it was drinking and blowing its nose, all at the same time - blowing bubbles.

And then, I had some alone time with Max and got to get some video of him before we left to head to the airport.  

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!

The shoot was complete yesterday and I am finally caught up on the blog.  As it turns out, we had a day or two of fun before returning home.  Today was always meant to be a "safety" incase of weather or some other issue beyond our control.  Vincent, Jonathan and Derek are leaving tonight.  Mary Kate and I will be heading out tomorrow night.  

Since we got all of our shopping in, we wanted to visit some of the local sights and the Nairobi National Park was high on our list.  We left the hotel around 5:45am to make it to the park gates right when it opened at 6:15.  To give you an idea of how large the park is, it covers 117km (72 miles).  It took us 4 hours.  Yes, I said "4 hours", to cover it.

Below are some quick facts about the park:

• It's the only wildlife park in the world that is so close to the city

• Home to the black rhinoceros: which is an endangered species

• The first park to be gazetted in Kenya on December 16, 1946

• Major rhino sanctuary for breeding and restocking other parks

• Has over 400 bird species. At least 20 of which are seasonal European migrants.

• Home to over 100 mammal species, four of the Big Five (lion, buffalo, leopard and  rhino)

• Has a spectacular wildebeest and zebra migration

Finding some of the animals was like a real life game of Where's Waldo. And, I must say, we were pretty good at finding them.  I took as many pics as I could but, given that it was with my iPhone and in many cases they were far away, you're going to have to bear with me. The black rhino was particularly hard to capture but, I had to note it someplace.  I wish we'd seen one closer up but...I am thrilled that we saw everything we did.  And, yes, I did have to look up some of the animal names online.  If you knew what a Dassie Rat was then...you watch too much National Geographic.  Just sayin'.  

We got George (our favorite driver) back and he came to pick us up in a van where you could pop the top up so we could ride along like this:

It was a truly amazing experience. In an effort to address my video embedding issues, I went ahead and created a YouTube channel so I could link to some of the footage caught. I got some great covered at the entrance of the park when we happened upon a large group of baboons.   The first baboon video is innocent enough.  The second video is, shall we say "NSFW"?  Enjoy.   

We were lucky enough to see:

Baboons

Lions

More Lions

Eland

Cape Buffalo

Dassie Rat

Monkeys

Antelope

Impala

(Reticulated) Giraffe

Ostrich

Wildebeest

Gazelles

Hippos

Zebras

Marabou Storks

Crocodile

Spider Monkeys

Black Rhinoceros (Circled in Red)

Our first encounter (past the entrance) was with some female lions and their cubs and they were beautiful.  I also got videos of some eland, the one black rhino we saw from a distance (like the picture you'll have to look very hard at that one but should see him moving), impala, zebras, ostrich, and giraffes. 

At one point as we drove around, we happened upon a spot for you to park and get out - AKA the Hippo pools.  We were required to wait until the guide came to get us and walk us down the path to the river.  He pointed out several things along the way, including the type of dung we saw (and sometimes stepped in).  And we saw A LOT.  Our guide happened to be a leader in the Masaai tribe whose village backs right up to the park.  

He pointed out different plant types along the way too, including a sand paper plant - which, after researching, I found is actually called ficus exasperata and has been/is used for many things - mainly to help shape and smooth wood.  

We then got to a man made bridge which was built 3 years ago.  As you can see in the picture below, the water isn't visible but, in the rainy season, he said it goes up to the base of the walkway.  

What I found interesting was that lions and monkeys and other animals without hooves are the only ones that use the bridge.  Because it's made of metal, animals' hooves made a very loud knocking sound that they don't like so, they tend to avoid the bridge. Fascinating.

He told us more about the animals in the park, their habits, patterns, etc. The crocodile we were able to get a picture was perched on the edge of the water in a place that we wouldn't have been able to see on our own.  He looked over the edge of the drop-off to the river and pointed it out to us.  I wondered how he knew to look for it there so, I asked.  During that part of the day, the sun shines on that particular side of the water so, the crocs typically sun on that side.  When the sun moves, they migrate over to the opposite (more visable) side.  

This park was so amazing and if you make it to Nairobi, make time to see it.  Find an experienced driver, in a 4WD vehicle and go for it.  OH!  And, bring some binoculars and an adult camera if you have one.  

Once we left the park, it was back to the hotel for lunch and some R&R.  The guys had to pack up and check out.  We regrouped for our "last supper" at a nice restaurant in town called The Talisman.  Then, the guys and Flora headed to the airport and Mary Kate and I headed back to the hotel.  We check out tomorrow and have the day to spend in town before our late evening flight home to Atlanta - by way of Amsterdam and London.  

Tomorrow we plan to hit the Karen Blixen Museum and the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage where I plan to adopt a baby elephant.  I'll be sure to share pics and stories.  

Unsolved Mystery

5:30 am Saturday arrived VERY quickly.  Especially after a late night trying to keep this blog updated with very dodgy wifi.  It showed four bars but it was giving me LOTS of attitude. Yes, this is where someone might say "1st world problems" and it would be 100% true.

This particular shot required rubble which we were thankfully able to find very close to the hotel.  In an effort to make sure we caught everything, we planned to shoot both at dawn and dusk. In preparation for the morning shoot, Derek worked hard to get the CARE box placed just right.

The talent was great and our morning session was wrapped up within 2 hours.  This left us with some free time so, after breakfast, we went off our own.  I promptly returned to my room, shut the curtains, armed myself with my sleep mask and took a long nap to catch up on the sleep I didn't get the night before.  

Our new driver arrived (George had been our driver and we LOVED him so) and was kind enough to take the scenic route to our destination, so we could drive by the President's house (taking pictures was prohibited) as well as an overlook where we could get a shot of the Nairobi skyline as seen below (and slightly distorted - I'm still trying to get this whole "panoramic" thing down).  

Because we weren't going to shoot again until late afternoon, we had some time to do one of my favorite things.  Shop.  We went to a great store/market called Spinners Web where I did round two of purchasing items for friends, family and colleagues.  The current exchange here is 85 shillings to the dollar so, things are actually more affordable than they would be at home.  

After shopping, we had a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant and then returned to the hotel to prepare for the afternoon portion of the shoot.

So - you may be wondering "why did Ginger title this entry 'Unsolved Mystery'?"  Well, when we returned to our location, (which was supposedly locked up and secure while we were gone) we found that the flat platform of concrete that we'd shot on in the morning had been destroyed.  And, it was ONLY that particular spot.  Nothing else seemed to have been touched.  We couldn't (and still can't) think of a reason why someone would do that.  

Was it a coincidence?  Perhaps it had been untouched all week because whoever was working on it had another job M-F and they had some time to work on it on Saturday?

OR

Was it the guys who owned the lot who did it?  Perhaps thinking that since we'd left that morning without paying them (because we knew were coming back) that they were going to take it out on us by messing with the scene?   Not sure about this thought either - they would have needed some serious equipment to break up the concrete like that.

We'll likely never know (most of us assume it was the latter of the two).  Thankfully, this was the worst thing to happen to us all week and to say "worst" is an overstatement.  We shuffled around the rubble to create another flat spot to set up the shot and went from there.  Derek and Vincent carried on in their usual loving way.  

After another couple of hours shooting as the sun descended, and Vincent said those well known words..."it's a wrap" bringing our amazing shoot week to a successful end.  We went back to the hotel for a quiet dinner at the pool side restaurant and called it an early night.  

No shooting on Sunday but, we had plans to go to Nairobi National Park and if you really want to see the animals, you need to get there as soon as it opens (6:15am).  

Random notes from Saturday:

• Our driver was very sure to tell us that, if we had our windows open, anything of value (cameras, purses, etc.) should be kept out of sight.  He then said "that's why people call this city Nai-robby."  I'd been here a week before hearing anyone say that.  
• Vincent (our photographer) relayed to us the origin of toasting (that it came from a fear of being poisoned) which I found interesting but, when I looked it up, I was told a different story.  The true origin for any history buffs, can be found here (and I am assuming that this site is accurate).

Holy Cow!

Thursday's shoot was amazing (just like Wednesday) but, we needed one more thing before we could leave Kajiado.  We needed to find a cow that we could photograph to complete this particular story.  We had a few options - but wanted to check with the owner of the lodge to see if he had any cows we could use.  Fitting in perfectly with the "everything falling into place" theme of the shoot, he did.  And, better yet, they were right in his back yard. 

So, Friday morning, we were up at the crack of dawn to 1) get that great light and 2) get the cows prior to their going out to pasture.  There were several cows to choose from but, we selected our "winner" pretty easily.  And, she was a pro (Mary Kate referred to her as Naomi but, because she was so sweet, she switched it to Christy Turlington or just Christy). Check her out!

Christy literally did everything we needed her to and after about an hour of shooting, we were done.  Because we weren't in a rush, we had some time to walk the grounds before having a delicious breakfast at the lodge.  On a clear day, you can see Mt. Kilimanjaro.  And now you can too!  We were told that the snow cap is typically much bigger but it's gotten smaller and smaller over time.

I also took some nice pictures of the grounds.  I think I mentioned before how great this place was.  I've included one below but you can see others on this travel site.  Each building had 3 bedrooms - each with their own bathrooms.  There was also a common area with a small kitchen (which we didn't need because they cooked our meals and they were delicious!).

After we finished breakfast and got the car packed up, it was time to head back into town. Our shoot location for Saturday is actually right around the corner from our original hotel - the Fairview Kenya.  So, we headed back there and back to the land of traffic and technology and wifi.  We settled in for a nice lunch poolside and then Mary Kate and I got some more work done before calling it a day.

Friday night, we enjoyed a meat-filled meal at a restaurant in town called Carnivore which was recommended by a few people who knew I was coming to Nairobi.

Think Fogo de Chao - Nairobi style. It was a bit of a tourist trap but, it was fun and we got our fill of protein.  Here's a pic of Derek enjoying Ox Testicle.  You'll have to talk to him about a description of what it tasted like.  I stuck to the more common place proteins.

After sharing some desserts and coffee, we headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep in preparation for an early call time on Saturday morning.

Just a couple notes from the day:

• The owner of the lodge (I really wish I could remember his name) referred to Nairobi as "The Grey Forest".  He couldn't be more dead on with that.  
• In Kenya (and I would assume all of Africa?) Diet Coke is Coke Light.