Finally - an update! Our circuitous tour of East Africa brought us back to Nairobi this morning, after 16 days of witnessing herds of hundreds of elephants, thousands of wildebeest and zebra, and a variety of antelopes and gazelles day after day on the plains, plus prides of lions eating - and playing - within ten feet of our vehicle. Then there were the rhino at Lake Nakuru, the baobab trees at Tarangire, and baboons - well, everywhere.

Africa is sublime! I was not happy to get on the plane this morning, leaving Zanzibar and its white sandy beaches behind. With its unique history combining so many cultures and of course, its abundant spices, the food there is some of the best we've had on this trip. Cardamom, cloves, ginger and lime are used along with fresh fish, vegetables, pineapple and mango. Delish! We took a spice tour yesterday and discovered that cinnamon is a tree, and so is cocoa. Also saw cardamom and vanilla growing, cloves, tasted chickoo, jackfruit and grapefruit off the tree, and met some other tourists - one who knows some friends of ours in L.A. We went swimming off the beach by our hotel yesterday afternoon and had an unbelievable view of Kilimanjaro on the flight here today, but that wasn't enough for me - I could've spent another week there.

At the start of our safari, on our way out of Nairobi we did see the birthplace of Akhil - the Aga Khan hospital. We also got our driver to take us to what we believe is Mina's childhood home. Once out in the "bush," somehow we got very lucky with our accommodations, from the Ark to the Mara Serena to the Tarangire Safari Lodge. I had one bout with stomach trauma otherwise we've been well fed and had an incredible time.

Two more days in Africa before we head to London, continuing on this tour of the former British empire! We stop in Boston on Feb. 9 for a week to complete the circuit and reconnect with bitter winter weather. We hope to post some photos from there.

Jambo! We're in Nairobi! A breath of fresh air that was greatly needed. Bombay was actually a very cool place - we saw Akhil's parents' medical schools and dorms, and the Gate of India on our brief city tour before leaving the country Friday morning.

We arrived in Kenya last night, toured around Nairobi a little and then arrived at the Fairview Hotel. Very nice! We had pizza and a beer, a good night's sleep and showers this morning! Plus, a great breakfast, and now a few last minute emails - not sure when we'll have access again. We're off on our safari in 1/2 hour. We hope to stop by the Aga Khan hospital (where Akhil was born) and maybe even his Mom's old house, as it is on the way to the Aberderes, our first stop. A quick itinerary: Aberderes (The Ark), Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, on to Tanzania to Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Arusha. Then three days in Zanzibar before returning to Nairobi and heading to London!

See you after Safari!

Another Akhil post... We're back in Ahmedabad, preparing for Uttran (the big kite festival). Well, actually, my Mom is doing some last minute sari binge shopping, and Shannon and I are trying to prepare for Kenya/Tanzania. Have I mentioned that I've eaten enough ghee (clarified butter) and sugar to supply the energy needs of NYC for a year? More soon!

Technical note from Shannon: If the archives have disappeared from your view of this blog, that's because they have been pushed down to the bottom of the page (we have to make our sidebar wider somehow...) So, if you want to get to the archives to see the new photos we added for NZ, Australia and Bangkok, just scroll on down and you'll see the links on the left. Also, you can try viewing the text on "Small" or "Smallest" font size in your "View" menu.

Just when I was getting adept at the art of the bucket bath, suddenly I realize, our India experience is nearing its end! Today is Monday and we depart early Friday for Nairobi from Bombay. We've reached Ahmedebad and it was a little sad to leave Jamnagar after nearly two weeks there - enough time to almost feel like a local. I don't even notice the cows in the median anymore...

After our farewell dinner out with the family last night, Akhil and "the guys" had paan -a betel leaf stuffed with any combination of candy sweets, tobacco, calcium carbonate and coconut paste. It's an acquired taste, I think. I haven't quite acquired it yet. I have acquired a taste for mustard-chilis and 4 p.m. masala chai though. Akhil and I complain about the chaos and the caste system, the corruption and the filth, and the confusing, seemingly hypocritical treatment of various unfortunate animals (if you're a dog, STAY AWAY from India!), yet we're both very sad at the thought of departing so soon, when there's so much left to see. Maybe next time we'll come for Diwali.

Here is another India photo from Jaipur, where we rode an elephant to this palace gate. We're adding some old photos today from Glenorchy, Bangkok and Sydney in some of the archival posts, in case you're interested!

Can't get the theme song to "Kal Ho Naa Ho" out of my head....

For the most part, we've been lazy bums the last couple of days, doing nothing more than shopping around town, playing with Akhil's entertaining 10-month old, 3-year old, and 6-year old cousins Simeron, Rushali and Isha, and ingesting way too much very tasty Gujerati food, including this millet-flour tortilla type of bread called rotla that you top with ghee (clarified butter) -yum! And this vegetable and potato mash you eat with grilled buns called pao baji (sp?) - Akhil was able to consume no less than 8 buns himself. Needless to say you may not recognize us when we see you next! Please be kind... We're planning to leave Jamnagar tomorrow afternoon for Ahmedabad for the kite festival, Utteran.

Jamnagar is known for its tie-dye, or "bandhani" textiles. Apparently much of the work is done by women who work from home, tying thousands of tiny knots in cotton and silk fabric, and dying it in stages, one color at a time. We bought so much stuff, Akhil's parents were forced to stuff an extra suitcase that they're graciously taking home to the U.S. for us. Akhil's aunt Aruna Foi also took us to the teaching hospital where she is a professor in the OB/GYN wing. I got masked up and peered into the O/R, and visited the maternity ward and labor rooms. There is a sign on the wall near the entrance to the hospital that says "First two deliveries free." They encourage tubal ligations after that.

I know this is out of sequence, but here is a photo from our days in Rajasthan - of the palace in Udaipur.

Another quick note. We did a day trip from Jamnager to Dwarka to visit a temple, day before yesterday. There are many priests who live there - something like 30 according to different castes. They each keep a book with signatures from visitors. We found the priest for our caste and found the signature of my great grandfather, from 1928. The books are well kept. My father wrote our names in the book. The funniest comment was from the priest who, upon finding that Shannon and I were married, quietly asked my father "is she of the same caste?" My father replied "not quite!"

Oh yes, in case you were wondering, India transvestites DO wear saris. That one even threw my parents a little.

Yesterday, we went to Junagadh, the site of Mt. Girnar. There are thousands of steps constructed to a series of temples on this mountain. Another site for pilgrimages. Apparently, at one temple, 1108 saddhus go each year and magically dissappear. My father asked if there was a trap door someplace - they didn't think that was funny.

We climbed 5500 steps today to the third peak, where some holy men were smoking weed and asking for money. We gave 5 rupees for a photograph and came back down. Took about 5 hours total - finally some exercise!

We have received such an education here in Jamnagar. I can't even go into it all. This house has so much history. The fourth generation of Madhani's are living here now. My father was born in a room downstairs, along with most (if not all?) of his nine siblings. We visited cousins in Rajkot yesterday as well. More Madhani's (who knew?)
We're here for a few more days, then off to Ahmedabad on Monday for the big kite festival, Uttran (sp?), before heading to Mumbai (Bombay).

All over Ahmedabad, they are winding kite string onto spools for the festival. They make a mixture of powdered glass, glue and coloring, and run the string through it before winding the spools. They can then have kite fights, trying to cut each others string. I'm told they sell a lot of band-aids this time of year, seriously.

Just as an update - we are now in Jamnagar, seeing the town where Akhil's father spent his formative years! Many stories to tell... more soon.

Okay, here goes, we're going to attempt to post a few photos from India! Below I hope you'll see an image of the Taj Mahal. More to come...