• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

We will not go back.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

When we show up, we win.

In my day, never was longer.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Hot air and ill-informed banter

T R E 4 5 O N

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – way2blue – TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8]

On The Road – way2blue – TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8]

by WaterGirl|  October 21, 20225:00 am| 7 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

way2blue

[Last OTR submission of a 10-day trek along the Tsavo & Galana Rivers in southern Kenya.  Whew.]

We began to feel the influence of the Indian Ocean in the change of vegetation during the final days of our walking safari.  The mornig after we finished our last walk, we drove to Malindi.  Driving out, the landscape shifted from open land, to small huts, to small farms, to villages, solar panels…  Graceful women in lovely colorful skirts walking along the side of the road to fetch water, with yellow, 5-gallon containers balanced on their heads (~40 lbs when full).  From Malindi we flew to Lamu Island in the Indian Ocean.  An OTR for another day… 

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 7
MORNING CATTLE.

As we moved further east, we saw evidence of (illegal) cattle grazing in the park.  Given the dryness of the terrain and the sparsity of grass, the cattle were competing with wildlife for food.  And wherever they grazed, the fragile soil turned to sand.  Desertification.  Alas.

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 6
CATTLE.
On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 5
LAJORI SYLING.

Lajori posing for a photo at an afternoon rest stop.  We hiked all day our last day (16.8 miles).  Stopping for a picnic lunch and a very brief siesta (too windy)…

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 4
RESTING.

Washii, Ekutan, and Chui.  Washii was the spotter who held my hand during river crossings so I wouldn’t lose my footing, and also helped me along one hairy, canyon traverse (narrow uneven ledge, impressive drop to the river…  )

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 3
RESTING.

Lokori before the final river crossing.

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 2
ELEPHANTS.

Across the river.  A few miles later, we spotted a group of lioness with cubs lounging by a fallen tree.  We spooked them—since they didn’t know what we were—and they moved away.  But our guide said if they’d spent some time observing us, we’d have shifted from being classified as potential predators to prey.  And they’d have moved closer… 

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8] 1
ELEPHANTS.

Two guys on the left have spotted us…

On The Road - way2blue - TSAVO NAT’L PARKS, KENYA IN JULY [8 of 8]
TSAVO EAST GATE.

Our last full day of hiking, we crossed the river four times.  First in the morning to start the trek, then back again for lunch at a temporary camp, then back across the river to continue the trek, and finally back again for another few miles to the park gate.  I made the mistake of keeping my Tevas on after the last river crossing rather than taking time to switch back to boots.  

We covered 110 miles in 10 days of hiking.  After a soda pop break at the gate, we climbed in the field vehicle and headed back to camp.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Late Night Open Thread: Pour One Out for ‘Vox Day’ and His ‘Rabid Puppies’
Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Oct. 20-21 »

Reader Interactions

7Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    October 21, 2022 at 6:40 am

    So interesting!

  2. 2.

    Benw

    October 21, 2022 at 6:51 am

    This whole series has been riveting!

  3. 3.

    JanieM

    October 21, 2022 at 8:38 am

    Thanks again for sharing this adventure. You’ve brought something very far away (in distance *and* in imagination) right to my living room.

  4. 4.

    eclare

    October 21, 2022 at 11:55 am

    What an amazing trip!

  5. 5.

    way2blue

    October 21, 2022 at 1:10 pm

    Thanks to all.  It was a trip that I’d been pondering for about 10 years.  Ever since a geology friend from undergrad years had urged me to go.  He & his wife had undertaken the ‘great walk’ twice.  Just took a while for me to find a space to pull it off…

    So unique to walk through the park for days—becoming part of the landscape in a region where animals rarely see humans.  Tuning into the animals (& geology) around you in a way that’s not possible sitting in a land rover.

  6. 6.

    J R in WV

    October 21, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    I’m curious about the rifles some of the guides carry, what caliber round, specifically. Pretty obviously bolt-action, which is probably a good thing.

  7. 7.

    way2blue

    October 21, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    @J R in WV: I’m not the right person to ask.  The guide simply called them ‘elephant’ rifles.  Although he said if he ever had to shoot an elephant he would quit these safaris.  (His rifle was custom, with a hollow stock to lighten its load.)

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - frosty - 2020 Coronavirus Road Trip – Part 8: Birds 4
Image by frosty (6/22/25)

Recent Comments

  • Jay on The Horrors (Open Thread) (Jun 22, 2025 @ 1:50pm)
  • Spanky on The Horrors (Open Thread) (Jun 22, 2025 @ 1:49pm)
  • Harrison Wesley on So I Guess We’re At War With Iran, Now (Jun 22, 2025 @ 1:49pm)
  • Suzanne on So I Guess We’re At War With Iran, Now (Jun 22, 2025 @ 1:49pm)
  • Baud on So I Guess We’re At War With Iran, Now (Jun 22, 2025 @ 1:49pm)

Personality Crisis Podcast (Cole, DougJ, mistermix)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!