| You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: day7 
so day 2 started with meeting my friends amit, shai and tali which were in some state of shock due to the unexpected day in Turkey and lack of sleep. i got out of the bus to greet them and got swarmed by the trinket sellers.
we went to a super market to get some pad locks and more supplies (water and snacks) then went to a local coffee shop where i tried some local pastry that the guide recommended the previous night, it was not bad but i forgot its , the rest had coffee. we got on the bus after i got a Masai necklace and an African music CD which i still have not heard and we headed for lake navasha. we reached the lake at around noon and had a basic lunch that met brunu.
Bruno is a local guide in charge of our lake navasha options and he explained about all our wonderful options, i will try to repeat his explanation the best i can lake navasha is very interesting, you can take a boat ride which will take an hour where you can see lots of Flamingos, millions of them and hippos, then you can walk with the animals, we have lots of animals , no cats, or you can just take a boat ride which will take you to see lots of Flamingos, millions of them and Hippos, like i said you can go and watch the hippos and Flaminogs in a boat then walk with the animals, no cats or you can just take a boat to see the hippos and flamingos, so you can pay 40$ for a boat ride to see the flamingos and the hippos, then walk with the animals, no cats . so on the right stand the people that want to go for a boat ride on the lake to see the hippos and millions of flamingo then go walk with the animals, no cats and on the left please stand those just wanting to go for a boat ride to see the flamingos and the hippos.
when bruno was done we got confused on how many options we have and what they entailed, some were sleeping by then, we all preferred the movie Bruno to this guy. in the end we all chose to see the boa ride with the .... enough already.
3 vans came to pick us up and we reached a small lake which is no lake Natasha but had lots of flamingos, we boarded 3 small crafts and headed for the lake where large flocks of flamingos flew overhead in wonderful sights. we also seen some Giraffes, Zebras, various antelopes, a fish eagle atop a tall tree and finally hippos, lots of hippos, we brought the boats over till about 20 meters away from the huge submerged beasts and sat in amazement. more flamingos flew over and we returned to shore.
as promised, we that went to a near by animal reserved and started walking and right away seen several Masai giraffes which snuck away from us and lots of these tall necks on the hill just above. Herds of zebras followed the Giraffes for protection and small pumba (wart hogs) ran close by in a cute funny way, we started to follow the herds, snicking in for better shots and trying to be as close as zebraly possible. we passed a bee hive, some unusual trees and all of a sudden a tiny impala stood there. this was an open park and you are not guaranteed to see the animals and seeing a rare impala is nice. this impala is as tall as a medium dog, it is also shy and a fast runner so it was challenging to get a shot of it, but we managed we walked around this park for about 2 hours and this was our only real walk the entire trip.
we returned to camp for some small pink cattle steaks and went to sleep after few hour in the pub where most people drank Tusker beer and i drank my usual coke.
day 6 was not that amazing, nice views and lake Victoria, but not a single lion | You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: Day6 | | Day6 Aug 17, 2011
by gil.even | | |
give or take 2 weeks ago i headed for Detroit fro my flight to Africa, this was 5 days after returning from Europe, hearing about my company going bankrupt and very unclear future. in short, perfect time for vacation.
nothing unusual at the flight , just watched several movies which i cannot recall a single one, most memorable, and purchasing a camera in Holand on the lay over. why another camera?
well i never wrote on the last days of the previous trip or sent any photos. on the last night of the trip in helsinki, we went to the movies, not deciding which one to go. o wanter harry potter and Alla preferred anything but harry potter, so after long debates that included walking to another cinema to see what they have and walking back, i went to harry potter and Alla went to unknown. Harry potter part 2 is much better that the prequel. I loved it so much that i left my fancy new camera behind at the cinema. we returned later that night but they closed. we flew out the following morning and called and emailed the cinema, but somehow, the camera was not found, very surprising not to find a new camera. luckily we uploaded most of the photos we lack photos of Tallinn and Helsinki. when we landed, one bag decide to remain in Europe and managed to finally arrive the day after I left, that bag had my cell and my spear simple camera. so had no choice but to get a new camera. I got a simple one which i feel is a mistake since the quality of the SLR is amazing, but i hastily chose the regular.
i filled my water bottle after the security check point at the airport knowing that kenia water were not recommended even for kenians and boarded. the flight was remarkable, it was a day flight with clear skies and i got to see splendid alps views followed by the Adriatic, Greece, the med sea and the Egyptian dessert, very nice changing views but it became dark soon so i went to sleep a bit.
I landed in Nairobi and i had to wait for my friends to land 5 hours later. the Visa line took me 2 hours, i chose the wrong line, since some of the other 'for kenians only' and similar only doubled for regular tourists, but i had to wait either way. I passed customs and immateriality felt uncomfortable with the many requests for my destination, cab suggestions etc. i prefer going to them. so i crashed for an hour at a book store, reading, then when they closed at midnight, i went to the cafeteria and sat next to a big Spanish group so I would appear not alone. 2 am came and went and my friends didn't make it and a tourist trapper\ local guide persuaded me to take them as drivers once my friends land. after 3 Am, the last passengers left the terminal, and it was clear something was wrong, so i went to Turkish airways office and learned that my friends missed the flight. i had no reply for my emergency contacts for the tour group and no idea where we booked the night. so they took me to our starting point which is also an emergency contact point, but the night clerk look like she doesn't know who to call. i left a voice mail with the tour group and went to the hostel, which is also my guides home. i crashed at 4.30 asking for a 6 am wake up.
I woke at 7:30 (the tour group leaves at 8) and was much annoyed, but we finally managed to contact the group and told we were late and i rushed them to drive me fast in the impossibly slow Nairobi traffic. i was quite nervous on the way. but suddenly the driver's cell rang and it was Jerusalem of gold song. not what I expected to hear so i asked and turns out the driver is Kenyan Jew. i didn't know such exists. so during the 1 hour drive he explained about his congregation and we also drove by important tourist sites such as the Nairobi synagogue and the site of the US embassy bombing 20 years ago.
we finely reached the group which left a few minutes after i came and at that point i had no clue when my friends will make it. we stopped soon after for provisions such as water and snacks and i met some of the fellow travelers in the back sit (you know, the cool people area, not sure what i was doing there..:))
one of them, which later will be known as blondi Justin immediately guessed my accent, which never happens! so i tried to guess the others and basically failed. i was super tired from lack of sleep and tension, but that is no excuse. we hit the road and reached our 1st view point over the too cloudy rift valley. this stop was for nature break + souvenir shops and i disliked the locals hovering too closed to get me to see their wares and especially one for pulling me to his store, i was in a total resist mode, i wouldn't likely by a camera at this mood. we soon returned to the road, passing small villages in certain levels of decay till we hit the lake Nakuro game preserve.
very soon we so big deer like beast and flamingos at the lake and lots of monkeys which was awesome and also a very pretty blue bird (bob sterling) which i liked, we stopped for lunch while taking shots of monkeys and seeing them steal bananas. one big monkey got in through an open window and found my extra dry lemon cake i purchased earlier and stole it. he tried to bring it to the three but this crummy crumbly cake did not withstand such forces and broke apart. so this Alpha velvet monkey (or vervet) started to devour my cake while the rest of the smaller monkeys sneak in grab crumbs and run away, back and forth right in front of our camera happy fingers. after lunch we reached the lake and discovered water bucks and too many to count flamingos, both pink lesser and white greater species and also Courmurants, Storks, seagulls and pelicans in large numbers. a very impressive sight to see especially when some took flight.
we went on and began to see lots of wild life from Zebras and baboons, to Thompson and Grant gazelles. we found some Elands which is the largest Impala in (Kenia or Africa, not sure), a rare Rothschild girrafe (on the extinction list) white and black rhinos + babies (also on the extinct list), buffalos, rock hyrex sitting on a rock, a super cute running pumba (wart hog) and 2 lions, one sitting the other laying on its back in a regular cat style nap, so cute. since i was half a sleep that day, with my extra enthusiasim for wild life- it was funny for the fellow traveler since i would perk up with every animal but as soon as we left the park, i crashed.
in the evening we built our tents on a grass filled camp trying to hurry since the rain began (rain, in the dry season, everyone were surprised), then helped with cutting onions which were completely un felt (which is very good) in the curry rice dish. we sat getting to know the group, but i didn't stay for long and went to sleep in my just a bit leaky tent.
next morning we broke camp had decent breakfast and drove to Nakuro town where i finally seen my friends , but more on that in the next blog
HERE is day 4 which included tipping | You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: day4 | | day4 Aug 16, 2011
by gil.even | | |
hey all, day 3 from wilder beasts and cheetas to Lions at the Masai Mara game reserve | You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: day3 | | day3 Aug 14, 2011
by gil.even | | |
photos of day 2 at lake nawash in kenya
| You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: day2 | | day2 Aug 13, 2011
by gil.even | | |
hey all
as you may or may not know, MDG has gone bankrupt, so i have to switch to another email well, this is it.
enjoy some Africa photos, a blog will follow today or tomorrow, and more photos will follow with amazing wild life photos day 1 is Nairobi to lake nakuru cheers | You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: day1 | | day1 Aug 13, 2011
by gil.even | | |
Close to 11 pm we reached Trakai castle, we got out of the car to take a stunning view at this medieval castle in the brilliant night light. But it was closed at this time so we headed for a nearby camp and settled in for the night. We woke early morning and went into lake Trakai for an early morning swim, we were the 1st and only people there and it felt great, just the ducks kept us company. After the refreshing swim we made our way to the castle, ran in to reach it before a tour bus, then recalled we don’t have enough cash so we raced back and pulled out some money, only to come after the tour bus. On the way Alla got some Burekas type thing with too much onion for my taste. The castle is really nice, the best we have seen this trip and its situated on a small island in the lake, it’s the former capital of Lithuania and was brilliantly restored. We went in and went to the inner castle with an archery field so we tried using a bow and arrow, I managed to hit the target but not the center, I need to work on my technique but it’s really fun to unleash the arrows, and we tried some crossbow, you get to reload it and do it all yourself, this was much easier with something to look into to aim and I got 4/5 inside the middle ring of the target, bull’s-eye. Feeling more medieval than ever we explored the castle with its ancient armor, coins and manuscripts. This is the best kept castle in Lithuania. After the enjoyable visit we hurried back to camp to pay, then hurried back to Vilnius to return the car, we made it on time but then met Pavil, the car rental dude who decided to be extra Russian. Before the rental they told us that if we don’t wash the car ourselves it will cost 20 (litas) , now he says 20 for the inside 20 for the outside. He went to check all the scratches , and I mean really check. This is a local car rental and we were already in the mood that we are about to get hassled somehow and Alla decided to get into an argument with this guy. We went to wash the car in a nearby self wash center and returned back paying 8.80 (better then 40) and now the guy “found” more scratches than the original guy found (Alla thinks it’s the same guy which makes this sham worse, I disagree, one of us is delirious), under the car… he called this “crash” a crash and I was in my , ok, a** what will it be, how much. And then some other guy came and said that under the car scratch is ok and let us go. We don’t know if this was a scam that went bad or for real but we left without paying extra with a bad taste, it was already after 1 pm and we didn’t have breakfast yet so we went for the super market and got bad food, other than the milk chocolate (so good here, it’s like Israeli Dani but in liquid form) the rest were bad. One roll with seeds that was dry as a dry desert, another something with unclear stuff inside and another roll with a cold hotdog inside! We threw it all out. We headed for the bus station and Tried to find a bus for Tallinn, the next one would be at 9 PM so we had another day in Vilnius, so we placed our bags in storage and headed back for the city. Right after passing the gates to the city we came across a salon that we know said 14 Litas for men’s haircut and you have seen the photos and know I need one bad. So we went in and it was the best hair cut ever. Not the quality of cutting but the 5 types of wash on my hair (which was in lake water earlier today) than cut, than another wash and shampoo, then more types of product, results are in another email, meanwhile Alla noticed a pedicure and got a treatment for herself. And when we came to pay my 14 became 40 (still cheaper then US, and well worth it but feels less since we thought it 14). Feeling cleaner and more stylish we went to breakfast at 4 pm and I had another Zeppelini (stuffed potatoes) which are my top Lithuanian Dish and Alla beet soup with chicken and mashed potatoes, which hit the hungry spot, we passed more shops and climbed the Gamenidis hill (city founder) and reach the top castle 10 minutes before closing but they wouldn’t let us in, but it was still a high hill with nice city views. We went back down and got ice cream than walked slowly through town to the bus station. We used our last litas on provisions for the night (water, milk chocolate and yummy yogurt) and hopped on the 9 hr and 40 minutes bus ride to Tallinn. Never been on a night bus before, not a totally bad experience but not really recommended, the seats recline all the way but only if the person behind you reclines as well, ours did not and talked all the time. So what is better, bus or train? Bus- you have breaks every 2 hours and walk a bit while on the plain its hard to step off. You get food on the plain or the option to buy food on the closed stores outside. There is no middle seat on the night bus and the urinals are not the best in both. The plain reaches another continent in 9 hours, bus only 2 borders. Not sure which is better. In Estonia Stalin looking border patrolman checked our passports at about 4 am (does not happen on planes) and at 6:40 we were in Tallin, Estonia which is now my 50th country!!!!!!!! We walked to our hostel which is an interesting service hostel, I think it’s a training school for hostel employees or a tech school dormitories , and the nice thing about it was the hot shower with the strong water flow, so nice after a night on the bus. We walked to Old town Tallinn and did the free walk (and gave donations later), the tour is nice but unlike the one in Riga, it focuses on the old city which makes it a regular tour (just free and not alternative as it aimed to be) but it is still a very nice tour, after that we went back to the hostel, Alla felt sick from my yummy yogurt which we drank now instead of the night before, after a few hours she was fine again and after that we did the self tour from our guide book which went back on almost the same tour as the free one but slowly with more meandering( meaning more shops, shops and looking at more shops). Tallinn is very pretty , and well kept medieval town but is somehow less impressive after our saturation with Riga and Vilnius, and with its too many tourists (more than the other cities) its feels too much. I tried some Schnapps in a Medieval looking place and Alla tried so way way too sweet( like syrup) black current juice and threw it away (it’s not our food shopping day). We were happy to discover a Lido (our place from Riga) with a branch here, the food was not as good, but still good (and more expensive with the euro). Today we place our stuff in storage at the hostel and walked to town to catch the funky bike tour, but it was full, so we walked to the oldest pharmacy in Europe that still works (Boring even for Alla) and to the marzipan place (I dislike marzipan) , then we headed for the beach. We have been on the Baltic sea for the entire trip but we have not swam in it. We came to a nice windswept beach. Nice long wide starch of sand, sunny day but windy. The water were strangely yellowish, brownish, reddish kind of color, not sure from what. Very few people went in and those who did didn’t stay for long, so we stayed next to it taking a beach nap. At some point I went it. This beach is very shallow so you walk for more than a minute in the cold water below knee level till you reach well over knee level. I stayed at that level trying to adjust and waves kept hitting points of interest and making me shiver. I decided to plunge at the next wave, it came and went and I had several more of these “now” decision till I finally did it and came right out, went in again for 3.2 seconds and out again. That’s it I swam in the Baltic, I went quickly out back on the 1 minute shallow walk pass the algae. Alla stayed out but tomorrow she will plunge in Helsinki or bare the shame forever. We walked back for 2 hours to town and had dinner at Lido once more. I enjoyed my spicy carrot salad and fries while Alla had some salads. We both had drinks, Alla with 3 berry kompots and me with 3 Kefirs (some yogurts with strawberries which I like very much, hence the 3) so now with belly full of yogurts we got our bags and began walking to the ferry, this is where we are now, on the ferry to Helsinki, we already see the city lights and we recently witnessed a sea sun set at close to 10 PM. Last day it tomorrow L , well it was great and time for the big Finnish Cheers from the ship superstar in Finnish international waters…
Last day in Tallinn, we leave for Helsinki tonight by ferry god mother, for now, here are some Lithuania country side photos | | | 2011-08-01 lithuenia - Ignalina and trakai | These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.
Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/ 
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Today we leave vilnius for tallinn,, for now here are some Vilnius part 1 | | | 2011-07-29 vilnius and the banias | These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.
Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/
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Today we leave vilnius for tallinn,, for now here are some Vilnius part 1 | | | 2011-07-29 vilnius and the banias | These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.
Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/
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After a 4.30 bus ride to Vilnius with the most unclean toilet possible at the 10 minute break point (why are all paid toilets always in the worse possible conditions?) we reached Vilnius. Other travelers on the bus let us read their lonely planet so we can learn some things about the city. We walked passed 2 hostels, one was full, the other too smelly but the 3rd was ok. We got the last double room, but later we learned that the room has beds one to the head of the other, not a double room, we should just tent. After a refreshing shower we hit the streets passing the gates of dawn into the old town. This city has more churches then people, in baroque style mostly, very nice looking. We did a walking tour and souvenirs window shopping, we passed the presidents house and the university with its many intertwined inner courtyards. We walked for a few hours and headed for dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hostel owner , we asked her where would you go to eat good cheap Lithuanian food, “home” she replied but then pointed us to this place which was closed by the time we got there, so we consulted the guide and went to some fancy local cuisine that is situated in the center of the main shopping street, and therefore expansive. The lamps were made of beer bottles and the menu resembled an old paper. I had great Zeppelini (mince meat stuff potatoes and duck while alla had fish Boolean soup (Ucha) and chicken pate with apples inside. This was the only time we ate in a restaurant requiring a tip. After burning our food budget for the week we walked back to the hostel. In the morning we found a nice car rental place and headed north towards Moletai. Why Moletai? Well let me tell you. When Alla was 6, they went with the family to Moletai for the summer and she has fond memories of the place and faint recollections on the specific , since Moletai is a region we don’t know exactly where they went, this area is full of the tiniest of hills with trees and lots of lakes. We stopped at one of the camps sites and went for a water bike in the lake around 2 islands and on the way stopping at some pier and jumping many times off it to the cool water. Later we drove around looking for the specific spot, we found similar unique triangular houses where the roof reaches the ground. We returned to the camp and went for the Bania (sauna), this is how its done, you go to the hot boiling Bania, you seat there while they place water on the hot rocks then use a towel or other devices to spread wind across the room, and that is so hot, I think I know what hot flashes feels like now. I saw the devil head out of the room at some point. After a few minutes you leave the room and jump into the lake, swim a bit , cool down then go back to the Bania. Its so hot, I had to hold my nose and breath only from the mouth, but locals and my co bania partner felt at home. We did about 5 of these bania- lake round trips and called in a night. Today we began with a long lake swim in the refreshing water, and now we stopped at a cute place to have pancakes with real tiny strawberries and cream for me, and Jam and sour cream for alla who also had some pelimini with meat. There is a stork nest just above us with 2 storks. We are headed for ignalina national parks We drove in the park and headed to a small bee making museum. This place is like an open air museum, but small with actual live working beehives. We strolled around the museum and saw some bee and hornets hives. Next to the place a man stood with a bucket of bees net to a booth of honey. The guy told us not to be scared and explained about working with bees, so we both a small honey jar from him. From there we went to a small village with a tiny water fall, lake with water lilies and people splashing in the water, we passed it and headed for lakaminidas, an ancient fort long destroyed, we climb the hill known as ice hill from which you can see 7 lakes (I counted four). We hike the small hill for an hour or so then headed for the village again where a couple of swans were accompanying they ugly duckling, so we fed them some bread and alla approached to closed and received a series of hisses and threatening poses from the swan. From there we returned to Ignalina and searched for a nuclear power plant that the lonely planet book says resembles Springfield. Of course I had no choice but finding it. It wasn’t in this city but another 30 minutes out of the way, so we headed there and reached close to the station and it looks nothing like Springfield. The book was written 4-5 years ago and the reactors seem covered in some structure, so we gave up and headed back. We stopped for dinner at a small place where I had goof fried bread with cheese and lots of garlic, with bad potato latkes (they had no Zeppelini) and all had the country herring dish. We kept heading west, then south and pulled over at a unique point. The center of Europe. Some French geologist or something found that this point is the absolute center of geographical Europe, so we took some extra cheesy (with garlic) shots
Now we go back passed vilnus to the castle of Trakai for our last night in Lithuania.
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