Bittersweet day—our last safari day in Africa.  We are lucky to see Mt. Kenya at dawn.  As the sun rises, the clouds quickly roll in, obliterating the view.

We take a walking tour in the forest around the lodge.  We see colobus, waterbuck, and one huge chui print.  H’mmmm.  Leopards nearby? Makes a good tourist story, anyway.

We pass many of the Maasai- Urtica massaica- nettle plant the nettle plant that (I can personally attest) cause significant pain if you rub against it.  (Bottom line: Bewre of wearing sandals in the grass!  The good news-- it only lasts a few hours.)

Walking in the forest, we stop for mid-morning tea.  This was pretty cool.  We each have a seat and a small stump-table and enjoy hot tea and cookies in the wild.

Back at the lodge, one group shot before we leave.

We make it back to big-city Nairobi,

And have time for a brief stop at the Nairobi Museum.

Where we see part of the Richard Leakey human fossil collection.

Tomorrow we head for home—the end of a wonderful month long journey.

Check back for my next posting of our January trip: traveling to Santiago, the Falklands, scientific cruising with geologist/ecologists to St. George Island and Elephant Island (beaucoup animals and the Shackelton adventure), Antarctica, Cape Horn, Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego, Buenos Aries, and ending at an estancia in the Argentinian pampas.  Wheee!