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IN THIS ISSUE

• Zvonko Springer comes to the end of his first Kenyan safari
• We get letters from Betty Audet and Carol Hansen
• Geoff Goodship sends an update on his progress
• Bruce Galway´s story recommends bartenders over psychiatrists
• Pat Moore speculates on the results of men ruling the world
• The editor writes about her relatively new companion
• Sites are suggested by Barbara Wear, Bruce Galway, Carol, Pat, and Tom Williamson

Zvonko Springer concludes his account of their

FIRST KENYA SAFARI

The distances in Ngurdoto Crater Park were short compared to the other parks we had visited before. Thus we arrived after a short but steep climb through a "tunnel" cleared in the tropical forest at a small outlook point on the crater´s edge. The crater had an area of 53k square kilometers and its floor some 200m below had a small lake that was not accessible. The crater walls were covered with thick forest in which many animals were moving around. Vesna looked through binoculars and started recording the animals: herds of buffalos, many zebras, several elephants, and a rhino taking a mud bath in the lake. We had a wonderful view in all directions, including majestic Kilimanjaro, where only small clouds whisked by. The nearby mighty Meru was in the rear of us, so both mountains loomed above in full midday sun. Why was it that the view of Kilimanjaro stirred such emotions in me, I wondered. Was it that in my mind´s eye I linked it with the small photo of Kilimanjaro printed in my geographic schoolbook? Yes, I was deeply impressed by that view!

Ljiljana´s statement woke out me out of my reverie: "I am so happy that we came here!"

Truly the visit to the Ngurdoto Crater Park was to be the crown of our long safari in the summer of 1965. We sat there at the crater´s edge in the shade of tall trees, looking around at a chain of small lakes whose water shimmered in the midday sunshine. Looking at a map, we read the names: Sanijo, Longil, Ilkekotoito, Small and Big Momella, Lulusia, Lekandiro, and the last one, Kasare. We stayed there in the tranquility that was disturbed only by birds singing, insects buzzing, and vultures´ exclaiming. The quietness was overwhelming. What blessed moments those were!

Before leaving this attractive place, Ljiljana and Vesna went looking for plants that could be transplanted to the garden in Bamburi. This was Ljiljana´s favorite passion - she was a true Taurus woman by birth and by nature.

I saw some monkey moving through the nearby trees and went to see what they were doing. To my amazement, the monkeys had white tail and face markings that were characteristic of a Colobus monkey. When I went after them, trying to take pictures, the monkeys disappeared in the trees down in the crater interior. Those Colobus monkeys differed in a few details from those we had seen at the Coast, but they were of the same species.

It was lunch time and the drive downhill was easy, so in no time we were at the Jamara entrance. We met the Sachses, who had taken another way to the crater´s edge. It was steep and the outlook point was at a lower level, but they could not see into the crater due to thick branches. Nor could they see the mountains because they were shrouded in clouds. Who gets up early grubs two lucks, as the Croatians say … and is sleepy all day.

After lunch with a repeat menu, we took the last chance to get into the pool as we had done in all previous lodges. It was a little bit strange bathing as the water contained a lot of diluted caustic soda, which gave the water a soapy feeling.

At 4:00 PM we went out to tour around all the lakes we could. We did not meet many animals in the park because they had been decimated in the past. We saw one hippo in Lake Lekandiro. We decided to go down to Lake Ilkekotoito to wait for darkness, expecting animals to come to their watering place. At dusk they arrived: bushbucks, reedbucks, duikers, and graceful woodland giraffes. In the trees rattled velvet and Sykes monkeys; zillions of crickets chirped. Then a loud "prfpuff prfpuff hoo-hah hoo-hah" cut through the darkness. The lake surface rippled and nine hippos started their evening rite some 50m from our place. I made my last sound recording and it was high time to leave the place. These last 45 minutes were the peak of our journey on this long safari and of the day we spent in this small jewel between national parks.

Wednesday, September 8, 1965 was the last day of our holiday. At 9:30 we left Ol Balbal (Masai word for Momella) and Ol Rigirik (the lodge place) after Vesna said goodbye to all five dogs. I had rushed my folks as the journey was long - some 435km - so we said farewell to the Sachses, who intended to travel a different route anyway.

We returned to the main road Arusha-Moshi, passing through thick forest and cultivated fields for the first 15km. We got to Moshi before 11:00 and stopped for Ljiljana to purchase some fresh fruit for our lunch. Vesna bought a book and put postcards with stamps in a nearby postbox. After a short respite, I pushed Pony at 110km/h on the good tarmac towards Voi, and at Taveta, we crossed the border into Kenya. At once we noticed a larger number of policemen and armed soldiers along the road. We had to make several meandering rides between spiked boards. It was a strange feeling because in Tanganyika we had seen hardly any policeman along our route.

The road surface varied so I have to adjust the speed accordingly, particularly when at Mbuyuni Gate I had to pass through Tsavo West N. P. At Maktau we left the park and after Bura Mwatate, continued a winding and steep road with the interesting Taita Hills on our left. Pleased with Pony´s performance, I decided on a short stop at Voi, where we arrived at 3:00. Half an hour later we started the final leg to Mombasa. I pushed the car to its maximum speed of 115km/h on the good tarmac road, mostly descending, when at Mazeras everybody in the car exclaimed, "Sea in front!"

It was about 17:30 when we passed through Mombasa and over the Nyali pontoon bridge. Before going home I went to the factory to pick up the accumulated post, but somebody had taken it so there was nothing else to do but GO HOME FAST! Would Knocker be waiting?

We returned home safely at 5:45 and found everything in good order but Knocker was not there. I believe you will understand what followed after so there is no need for further description. Knocker would come later because he was on a love safari somewhere in the neighborhood.

Here are some statistics about our journey across Kenya in 1965: In 20 days we travelled a total of 3,877km without any defects on the tires or the engine, but had some obscure mechanical problems. We used a total of 415lt of normal or super fuel for an average of 10.7lt per 100km. That was about 13% more than I had anticipated due to the use of first and second gears on certain sections and the choked filter and carburetor on extreme dusty roads. Our VW car - aka Pony - had more than 80,000km on its odometer already. I was unkind to the garage supervisor by installing items that were not VW original parts.

The end.

Ed. Note: To see pictures of Zvonko´s first Kenyan safari, go to:

CORRESPONDENCE

Betty Audet writes: I would like to invite the man [Tom Kyle] who has never seen a Leprechaun to visit me on March 17. Every year Maurice Audet becomes Morris O´Day and is dressed in green from head to foot. For many years he has accompanied me to the Royal Terrace nursing home to serve the St. Patrick´s Day smorgasbord. In fact, the year my leg did not let me work, he went on his own.

Carol Hansen writes: I had to chuckle when I read about your eyebrows. I´ve always worn brown eyebrow pencil, and you know how that goes ... you feel naked without it. I know I did.

But last Thanksgiving when we went to my son´s house for the weekend, I got up one morning and lo and behold, I´d forgotten my eyebrow pencil. I nearly panicked. Then I figured what the heck, not much I can do about it now. They live quite some distance from stores and besides, it was Thanksgiving Day.

I went downstairs fully expecting SOMEONE, if not noticing specifically, would mention that I looked "different." Nary a word! Not even from my husband! I was a bit surprised.

Since then, the only pencil I use is at the heaviest part of the brow as it is a bit sparse there. I use a very light touch just to fill in. No one has ever said a word about the change. I´m even thinking I look better this way!

There´s more A good e-friend, recently widowed, has been sprucing things up. She started with an eyelid lift, and last week she had her eyebrows tattooed on! I´m not sure why ... I should ask as I know she will tell me. She is blonde, but not naturally blonde, not at age 71. It was a big mistake. She says they look terrible and evidently there is nothing she can do about it now. Someone suggested small claims court in an effort to get her $600 back, but she´s reluctant to do that. She says vanity got the best of her in more ways than one.

ED. NOTE: Carol later wrote: The friend I mentioned who was upset about her new tattooed eyebrows is now sublimely happy and says it was well worth the $$. Evidently it took a few days for the brows to "lighten up" in color.

She says they are semi-permanent ... will last three to five years.

Geoff Goodship forwards this

PROGRESS REPORT

Home for 30 days now. Progress is there but seems much slower than anticipated. I know it was foolish, but somehow I expected things to improve rapidly after coming home. It´s as if getting out of hospital meant being all better.

Much of the problem remains on my right side. Right leg doesn´t follow precisely. It still feels a bit clunky. Unless I concentrate, the right toe occasionally drags when I walk. Right shoulder is still very weak. I have regained some range of movement but little strength there. Right hand and wrist remain swollen and sore. Fingers move independently but not very accurately on this keyboard.

I´m going to physio three times a week and following an exercise program twice each day. I try to get outside for a 15-minute walk each day. I peddle an exercise bike for 15 minutes twice each day. The highlight for the week ahead is that I have a doctor´s appointment to get the G tube taken out on Tuesday. Looking forward to that.

Sometime within the next month I want to reapply for my driver´s license. Yes, that´s right. The hospital told me and the Motor Vehicle Department of my neurological impairment. I´m a little concerned about it, but it´s just another challenge. Fred has been very good about driving me to and from physio. The broader truth is that she has been more than good about many other things as well. My only complaint is that she continually reminds me that I tend to carry my right shoulder higher than the left. I can´t get a hug or an embrace or walk around the house without her reminding me to "straighten up."

Food has begun to have some attraction again, mostly due to Fred´s fine cooking. I´m still about 18 pounds lighter than I was before the fall. E-mail from friends is a daily pleasure.

Spring is on its way so I´ve begun to think about gardening. It will be a different challenge this year. Beyond regaining my driver´s license, I don´t seem to have many specific goals. I´m disappointed that this recovery seems to occupy so much of my attention. My biggest complaint with this injury and the recovery process is that they make me quite selfish, for I find it occupies far too much of my attention. It´s hard to concentrate for an extended period on anything else.

It will soon be three months since the accident. How far can I get in the next three?

Bruce Galway forwards this story:

PSYCHIATRISTS VS BARTENDERS

Ever since I was a child, I´ve had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him, "I´ve got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there´s somebody under it. I´m scared. I think I´m going crazy."

"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink. "Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears...."

"How much do you charge?"

"Eighty dollars per visit," replied the doctor.

"I´ll sleep on it," I said.

Six months later the doctor met me on the street. "Why didn´t you come to see me about those fears you were having?" he asked.

"Well, eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot of money! A bartender cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought me a new pickup!"

"Is that so!" With a bit of an attitude he said, "And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"

"He told me to cut the legs off the bed! - Ain´t nobody under there now"

Forget the shrinks ... have a drink and talk to a bartender!

Pat Moore imagines what it would be like

IF MEN RULED THE WORLD

Any fake phone number a girl gave you would automatically forward your call to her real number.

Nodding and looking at your watch would be deemed an acceptable response to "I love you."

Hallmark would make "Sorry, what was your name again?" cards.

When your girlfriend really needed to talk to you during the game, she´d appear in a little box in the corner of the screen during a time-out.

Breaking up would be a lot easier. A smack to the backside and a, "Nice hustle. You´ll get ´em next time!" would pretty much do it.

Birth control would come in ale or lager.

Each year, your raise would be pegged to the fortunes of the NFL Team of your choice.

The funniest guy in the office would get to be CEO.

At the end of the workday, a whistle would blow and you´d jump out your window and slide down the tail of a brontosaurus and right into your car like Fred Flintstone.

It´d be considered harmless fun to gather 30 friends, put on horned helmets, and go pillage a nearby town.

Lifeguards could remove citizens from beaches for violating the "public ugliness" ordinance.

Tanks would be far easier to rent.

Garbage would take itself out.

Instead of beer belly, you´d get "beer biceps."

ED. NOTE: Dream on, guys!

FROM THE EDITOR´S DESK

On thinking over the fact that pets are now filling a new role - that of companion, comforter, family - it occurred to me that with the fragmentation of families and neighbourhoods and the loss of personal contact, pets play the same role that religion offers. It can be a comfort to belong to a group, to have someone (or something) to turn to in times of need, to look to for companionship and comfort.

The internet also serves much the same purpose. E-mail, newsletters, blogs, YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter are the result of people reaching out for contact and association.

I used to turn to the net and my online friends for companionship. I wrote letters, edited a newsletter, read news groups and their comments, and played games. Or I read books. The library is just across the street and I am a regular visitor there. Or I volunteered at a home for veterans, or lunched with friends.

That was then. Now I have a cat, as I told you.

Not only do I do all those things I used to - I now have help with many of them. Every time I sit at the computer I can count on having "Happy" join me, sitting on my knee so that I cannot use my keyboard. I am reduced to playing games with one hand, but it is easy to play Scrabble or FreeCell or Luxor like that. When he finally gets tired of sitting still, I can get on with what I should have been doing in the first place. I write letters, edit the Spinner, and read articles and online newspapers between visits.

Happy is also helpful when I read, and he keeps me company while I do chores. He sleeps on my feet at night - mostly because I have a foot- warmer which he shares.

He loves being brushed, and I made the mistake of brushing him once when I was on his level in the loo. Ever since, he paws the door open and paces back and forth, pointedly examining his brush, as if to say, "Here I am - there´s my brush. Why aren´t you brushing me?" He has to be content with one brushing just before bedtime, but he never gives up trying.

I often wonder how I got along without him....

THIS WEEK´S SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Barbara Wear forwards the URL for a totally amazing waste of time, a modern-day Rube Goldberg contraption, which opens living room blinds automatically:

Bruce Galway challenges you to complete this map of the Middle East. We´ve tried it before, and if you are like me, you still can´t put all the countries in their proper places:

Pat Moore quotes from a note from a friend who works for Oceans and Fisheries, Government of Canada:I would like to share a link with you for a website called Pristine

It discusses how it is difficult to know what is natural or normal in our oceans because of how much humans have changed them over the years, primarily from over-fishing but also from habitat destruction and alteration. There are many parallels that fisheries managers are facing in freshwater ecosystems as well, and trying to determine what baseline is appropriate for our management goals. This website can provide some interesting food for thought, and some ideas that are likely applicable to our fresh waters.

Tom Williamson suggests this video of the youngest surgeon from India:

By taking an ordinary bicycle and rigging it up to a motor and battery, anyone can generate enough power to charge a cell phone, light a room, or if you feel like riding for a bit longer, cool a refrigerator. So what if people had bicycles that they could use for transportation and then attach to a stand at home and ride to charge a battery that they could then use to supply power at night? And looking past that, what if the batteries and motor were built into the bicycle so that as you were riding about your daily doings, the charge was being stored. Head home, change out the batts in your home power unit and the next day charge up the next batteries.