Life's a Stitch

(Feb. 24)

Chuck, Rika and I were up early for our 6:15 pick up time, Mack dedicating another day to travel recovery. 

The first stop was Nairobi National Park, a 117,00 square meter area located in the outskirts of the city, complete with natural wildlife. It is possible, at the edge of the park, to see safari animals with the city skyline in the background. It is an unfenced area and animals have been known to wander into town. You can spot buildings behind the giraffes:

We reserved this tour as an additional opportunity to see safari animals, in case our nine scheduled game drives yielded disappointing results as the weather didn’t look promising. This was an example of reality far exceeding expectations. It’s hard to believe that ten kilometres from a major city we saw:

Lions

Zebras

Rhinos

Hippos, baboons, impalas, wildebeest…I’m sure I’m missing some. As we left the park Chuck joked “OK we’ve seen it all we can go home now.”

The second stop was the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, a non-profit rescue and rehabilitation centre for orphaned animals. Currently there is a tiny rhino, whose mother died when she fell off a cliff, a baby zebra rescued at weeks old, and 12 elephants. Most are young enough to require bottle feeding with human baby formula. It was a very interesting and engaging experience.

There was a typical tour stop for a lunch break with a warehouse sized store featuring overpriced locally made items and souvenirs.

Next was a visit to Kobetough bead factory, an organization the employs woman in financial need to craft beaded jewelry and leather items. The proceeds support Maasai women and girls.

The final stop was the Giraffe Center, another non-profit dedicated to bringing back the Rothschild giraffe from near extinction. In 1979 there were 130. Through their efforts there are now over 300. The facility serves as an education centre for school children and tourists.

We used our limited time to meet and feed the giraffes. 

Rika got an unexpected kiss.

What a day!

Tomorrow is the start of the real tour, first stop: Maasai Mara.

(Feb. 23)

Given the considerable amount of travel to get here, we added two days in Nairobi to tackle the jet lag prior to starting the official tour. 

The plan was a walk to a grocery store located less than a kilometre away. Sounds easy. Nairobi experienced drenching rains this week resulting in local flooding and a muddy walk. Following Google Maps we crossed a busy major ring road using our strategy of following a local who knows how to manoeuvre through five lanes of chaotic traffic.

On our list was drinking water, wine for our group pre-dinner glass, 

and my new favourite low cost souvenir – grocery store bags to be used at home. These featured the big five Safari animals. Not bad for 39 cents.

We had lunch on the top floor of the hotel with a good Nairobi view.

It was a low key day as we had a nine hour tour booked for 6:15 am the next morning.

(Feb. 22)

Part one – seating strategy

Travelling with Mack and Rika, our partners from our Egypt/Jordan trip and numerous camping experiences, began with two flights, 9.5 and 8.5hours each. Vancouver to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Nairobi.

As we are not getting any younger, it was time for a photo safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I emphasize photo because someone asked if we would be eating what we hunted.

Pre-trip planning included a consult with the travel clinic and updated typhoid and cholera vaccines and a prescription for anti-malarials. 

This was not a must do on my travel list, but again, the bargain hunter I am found an offer we couldn’t refuse. 

We met at YVR to begin the journey. 

The flights were surprisingly easy due to seating configuration, always a risk with economy tickets. Lufthansa lets you reserve a seat in advance for a fee with the warning that the actual booked seat isn’t guaranteed. Upon selecting a paid seat you are only assured of one in the same category area. Despite being a frequent flyer, this kind of policy was new to me. The alternative is letting them assign you a seat and paying for any change at check-in.

Given the length of the flights we elected to book ahead. The first plane had my favourite seating configuration in economy: two, four, two across. We booked the aisle/window seats together and were happy when nothing was changed.

Second flight – we played seat roulette in the more traditional three, four three set up. We reserved an aisle and a window hoping nobody would be placed between us. This has backfired in the past, but is optimal if it works – the free middle seat available for under seat storage and the freedom of nobody next to you. We strategically chose closer to the back, in the middle of the cabin, not too near the bathrooms, where there appeared to be many available choices. Now the nerve wracking part: having boarded and waiting for the roll of your seating dice. It was a packed flight and I wasn’t optimistic. This time we won and all went well.

Note to self: we have been loyal Westjet flyers, but increasingly it’s become an unpleasant experience. The staff seem stressed from check-in to onboard, the food is less than adequate, the cabin space has shrunk. This experience with Lufthansa was a refreshing change on all counts. 

Up next: free days in Nairobi

I don’t know how many out there stop by still hoping for some yarn content, but just in case, here’s some. 

I reported for my volunteer shift at the Art Society’s fall show and the woman whose shift I was replacing was wearing a colourful work of yarn art. I asked if she crocheted it and she happily shared the pattern link for the Double Crochet All The Way Cardigan. 

It was my vacation project which presented a dilemma: I hadn’t quite finished it in time for our flight home and it was too bulky for my baggage. So I wore it anyway, still in need of front and neck bands and cuff ribbing. I figured it was OK and hopefully nobody noticed the markers holding my stitches in place until another skein of Sirdar Jewelspun arrives from the UK.

Didn’t want to order it while we were in the US and have to pay their blasted tariffs. We noticed many things more expensive than in Canada because after all, who pays for the tariff? The consumer.

I use Instagram solely for the promotion of my art business and rarely do I post the same item here. Today will be an exception. 

I just had the pleasure of painting these beautiful kitties when SIL Ellen commissioned the portrait for a dear friend.

As has happened recently when I’ve put paintings in the mail, it was delayed due to severe weather. There’s always a bit of trepidation handing that package to the post office. Where possible I insure them, but the thought of having to repeat the portrait is intimidating as they are impossible to duplicate. It will look different. 

I have paintings in seven countries and when mailing to some, tracking and insurance is exorbitant. It was explained that some countries have a higher chance of missing parcels, hence the pricing. I’ve only had one wayward painting, in the US, never to be seen again. That was before I insured my North American deliveries.

Back to these sweet painting subjects, their owner commented “you have captured the souls of both cats perfectly.” I am happy to be part of illustrating Murray’s personality while preserving the memory of Marvin.

There is no universal scale of trail ratings. What’s considered moderate in one guide is easy in another. It’s totally subjective. I sorted through all the “easy” ones in the book “140 Great Hikes in and near Palm Springs,” and am generally finding them underrated. 

Recently we hiked the Bear Creek Canyon/Boo Hoff Loop Trail, rated easy: 4.5 miles, 2 hours, elevation gain of only 400 ft (123 meters). Piece of cake, right? Maybe, if you remembered your hiking poles.

We started out on even ground and quickly came to the realization that the trail was too flat. 

We looked up to see the ridge where we should have been. We always add in “lost time” so we were on schedule. Not far back we had missed the turn, but in all fairness there were no trail markers; we were following written directions from the guide. Actually there were three more instances of questioning our location. Luckily each time a hiker approached from the opposite direction to reassure us.

It was unusually green given the recent strong rains that hit the desert.

It’s when you hit an inclined surface like this that you seriously consider your lack of poles:

Elevation has all to do the trail’s surface, this one being rocky shale. Up we went anyway. It was good for the adrenaline especially when combined with thoughts of the possibility of insufficient water and rescue helicopters. 

The trail wrapped around the mountain as promised and right on schedule we saw the view of La Quinta again.

We were back in the parking lot in reasonable time for lunch at Stuft Pizza. Total time: a reasonable 2hrs 40 minutes including lost time.

A few more photos from Bryant and Sammy’s Las Vegas ceremony. They want to reiterate, as they assured us, that this was purely a legal ceremony and the real wedding is yet to come, one where they can say their own vows in front of friends and family. 

Thanks to all of you who responded to the news. I wanted a creative way to share your good wishes. Consulting with Elina, who is good at such things, we came up with origami hearts containing a strip of paper with each of your messages.

It reminded me of fortune cookies. Rhinestones were the finishing touch, perfect for Sammy.

They were presented in a bag we found Daiso: clear with tiny red hearts, and “Full of hearts” printed on the front. Perfect! There’s room for more as we hear from additional people.

Samantha Wilson and Bryant Boesen 

Married January 3rd, 2026

A Little White Wedding Chapel

Las Vegas, Nevada

We look forward to a larger celebration next year.

Sammy and Bryant have formally entered the Wilboe clan. All three of our Boesen children have married a Williams or Wilsons.

Geocaching was introduced to me 19.5 years ago on the weekend of my first daughter’s wedding. Flying in for the celebrations BIL Greg read about it in an airline magazine, and considering my love of walking in the woods, thought I would like it. We bought a gps that evening and immediately started geocaching. 

I’ve cached in 36 countries, 18 US states, 6 Canadian provinces and every continent except Antarctica. It’s a wonderful way to learn interesting, sometimes offbeat facts about the places you visit.

My favourites include one in Tenerife where the coordinates took us to the middle of a large fountain with the advice not to get wet. Turns out the cache was underground, in a museum beneath the fountain.

Another was with my sister and kids in NH. The coordinates took us to a large boulder. Inspecting every hollow at the bottom edge of it, we were surprised to have a porcupine staring back at us.

On this late December day our hike on the Indio Badlands Trail started with an unexpected treat – seeing a group of maybe 50 beautiful Lusitano or Andalusian horses riding by.

The geocache registered as being 1.5k away, but that was as the crow flies. 

Up we went. I wasn’t pleased that the cache appeared to be considerably more off the trail than described (as a couple of feet away). I was grateful for Bryant’s scouting, determining the safest approach. 

Success:

It was challenging, but parts of our Portuguese hike were worse.

We celebrated with a visit to Handel’s Ice Cream, which has been around since 1945.

Mari with her brownie dough cone and KC’s two scoop: strawberry cheesecake and Buckeye – peanut butter ice cream,  fudge ripple and buckeye candy pieces(chocolate-covered peanut butter) that looked like Reese’s pieces. 

The rest of us had NY Cheesecake, coconut/pineapple and orange/pineapple. Have I given you the ice cream version of an ear worm?

We had a nice California visit with all three kids and two partners until the week prior to Christmas. E went home to be with her family and the actual day was shared with M&KC, B&S. 

Gifts were fun. This is what happens when both the purchaser and Amazon make a mistake:

4lbs of giant Reese’s peanut butter cups.

B&S spoiled me with a glimmery set of Iuile watercolours. 

We had been watching the weather after the state was hit with torrential rain, planning a picnic brunch for Christmas Day. The morning’s weather report:

What it actually looked like:

Alas, it burned off by late morning and off to the lake we went.

Dinner was turkey and a veggie Wellington made by S. Poor girl cooked her own vegetarian main course, but there were plenty of sides and we all were suitably impressed by her effort.

It was a full and enjoyable day.