KENYA - IMPRESSIVE, ESPECIALLY CLOSE UP

Mare and I were the only passengers in the six-person tour van in Kenya last February. The other four canceled because of the threat of war.

After we spent one night at Hotel Inter-Continental Nairobi, our driver-guide Malik drove us through coffee and tea plantations on rough roads. Our destination was the Serena Mountain Lodge, 7,200 feet up Mount Kenya in dense rain forest.

The window and bunker view of an ancient water hole and natural salt lick allowed us to see elephants, waterbucks, Cape buffaloes, hyenas, monkeys and wildcats. At Serena, the animals came to us. However, I left a window open in our Serena room, and monkeys ransacked it. They ate all our candy, leaving nothing but empty wrappers. The next day, we went to the animals.

After stopping at the Equator for pictures, we arrived at Lake Nakuru Lodge for a game drive. On our way to see more than 1 million pink flamingos in the huge but shallow soda lake, we saw giraffes, rhinos, baboons, antelopes, gazelles and a leopard. All were within 20 feet of the van.

We were housed in luxury tents on the Masai Mara the next two nights. In this region, visitors see creatures in the same abundance as they existed centuries ago. On game drives, we saw jackals, crowned cranes, lions, cheetahs, eagles, zebras, wart hogs, wildebeests and hippos, again from 20 feet away.

After a hot-air-balloon ride viewing the vast Masai Mara, we met with a Masai warrior, who gave us a tour of his village. Living in huts made from cow dung and sticks, the Masai are among the few African peoples who have clung to their culture and traditions.

Our trip ended with a drive through the Great Rift Valley, and an evening meal at the restaurant Carnivore, where game meat is carved from sizzling skewers onto your plate. (There is a vegetarian section also.)

This photo safari gave us a lifetime impression of Africa as beautiful, lush and wild.

(Ron Mitchell is a free lance author. His articles appear in many national publications. This article was previously published in the Arizona Republic. Ron and Marilyn enjoy life and travel and have way too much fun for any one couple. You will meet them on our trip to Egypt.)