Banquet in the Bush

Tuesday, July 8, 2014  Borana Lodge

Most of us are tired!  We decided that this morning’s game drive would be optional, and only Gil, Ellen and Josh got up for a 6:30 AM departure, but they had an extraordinary experience!  There is a wild dog which is a distinct species, and there was a sighting of a pack!  I missed it, but enjoyed sleeping in.  After breakfast the day was spent relaxing until the late afternoon game drive and once again it was: delightful.  Highlights included elephants with a baby:

And Oryx:

We came upon a baboon family with a very young baby:

Then came one of the most extraordinary experiences of our trip, and a complete surprise.  Our guide, Andy, had arranged for our last bush dinner to be something really unbelievable.  We came to a clearing where the Borana staff had set up our banquet.  There were multiple torches and a bonfire:

  

There was a beautifully set table:

We sat around the bonfire drinking our sundowners:

And we then had the most extraordinary barbeque dinner with three meats, multiple salads, vegetables, wines, and a delicious dessert of crepes with chocolate sauce.  We toasted our appreciation to Andy and began planning for the celebration of our 60^th anniversary ten years from now.  Some suggested that we plan our 51^st one year from now, but…

Tomorrow we begin the day with a horseback safari, then we fly to Nairobi where we’ll take an 11:30 PM flight to Zurich, connect to Newark and then Rochester, arriving home at dinner time Thursday night.