After the trade show in Las Vegas, we went to seek an appointment to see Dr. Gross and thank him personally for his kind and generous contribution to the Pre-school project back in Kenya. When Evie introduced me to his secretary, she informed her that she should make sure that I see the butterfly farm before I leave. She then checked the doctor’s calendar and told us that the following day would be ideal to see him in between patients.

We then took the opportunity to visit the farm before attending the appointment and it was incredible. The butterflies are kept in this enclosure with beautiful tress and flowers where they fly freely as they feed on the melon and orange fruits cut and placed in strategic places. A pond with a fountain where by they take sips of water added to the natural beauty of it all.

 

I have never seen so many species of butterflies as I saw them at this farm and it was beyond my imagination. Even Evie was awed as she had never visited the farm prior to this visit. The butterflies were flying so freely and were not afraid of the tourist who had came to see them and if you stood still, they would mistake you for being part of their environment and would land on you. In fact your way, there is a section where by you need to check yourself first with the assistance of the butterflies' keeper so that you do not take a butterfly out without knowing that one has landed on you. A sign on your way out says “check yourself and others for “hitchhiking” butterflies before you leave”

 

There are over 80 species of butterflies in the farm and I was able to identify some with the help of a very colorful brochures handed over to us on our way in. I will mention the ones which looked like the few I have seen back in Kenya . The monarch, Gulf Fritillary, the Painted Lady and Hackberry Emperor. Others had very interesting names like California sister, Queen, White Peacock, Cabbage White, Red Admiral and Zebra longwing. Some species like California Dogface, Fiery Skipper and Marine Blue have different colors according to their gender. Will post the photos we took at a later date so watch this space.

 

 

I believe that I traveled the furthest to see Dallas Cowboys play against the New England Patriots in Dallas City. All the way from Kenya, 12,000 miles plus, to watch my first American football game.

 

The invitation had been extended to me back in Kenya on 1^st August 2007 during a business matching making event organized between American business man and women and their Kenyans counterpart.

 

I was not able to make it to the first match which was being played on September 8^th as I was in Las Vegas participating at THE TRADE SHOW. I though that I had missed to ever see a live American football match but when we arrived in Dallas on Friday 12^th October to follow up on my business contact, the first question he asked Alex was “do you watch American football? When Alex said that he is a fan, my business contact told us that the cowboys were playing on Sunday afternoon and we would go there as his guests. From the expression of Alex’s face, I knew that this is something out of the extra-ordinary.

 

We got late leaving to the match and at that moment I wanted to feed someone to the lions but unfortunately there are none in Dallas like there are in our Masai Mara. Despite the heavy traffic jam to the stadium and earlier taking the wrong direction, we managed to arrive when the game was at its first quarter. We were invited for lunch by our host Nick but I did not have an appetite as I was so tensed up for arriving late. I soon got up with the game and started praying that the cowboys win.

 

Earlier on in the morning, I had been given some lessons by the sons of my host in Dallas, another Alex and Jimmy who were very excited to hear that I was going to watch the match. They asked me whether I knew how lucky I was to get that privilege and I told them that I know nothing about American football as in Kenya, we play what they call here soccer so the lessons started and boy, was it complicated. After two hours going through previous reviews in the internet, I was able to know about the quarterback the defense line and I can’t remember what else but at least I was able to understand why I always see the players not moving much on television. I used to wonder why they never seem to move from one end to another. Why did the players seem to like to lie on top of the other instead of taking the ball to wherever it is supposed to be taken but now I know why.

 

The game was taking places at the Texas stadium which is owned by the Dallas Cowboys. Earlier on while still in Oklahoma City , Alex had told me about this magnificent stadium and while we were driving into Dallas City, he pointed out to me with lots of excitement. Little did we know that we will have ourselves inside that stadium and yes, that is when I started feeling how lucky I was to have been given that privilege to watch a live match at this state of the art stadium.

 

The Texas stadium is 36 years old but you will not believe it that old as it looks very new to me. Below is some information from their website.

 http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/nfc/texasmain.jpg

“Texas Stadium became one of the NFL's most unique stadiums upon opening. The stadium is partially domed. A hole is in the center of the roof which allows fans to stay dry but leaves the field open to the elements outside. Over 65,000 blue seats in two tiers extend around the gridiron. Two Diamond Vision scoreboard/video-boards are located inside Texas Stadium. The stadium has many amenities that include 381 luxury suites, a stadium club where fans gather for parties and banquets, and The Corral, which provides food, beverages, entertainment and large screen televisions for fans before, during and after all Cowboys games. Flags commemorating the Cowboys five Super Bowl championships are hung from the roof. Texas Stadium remains one of the best stadiums.”

We were privileged to be seated at the stadium club which is like 2 floors from the playing field but with glass finish which we could watch the game from and this was very unique.

The highlights of the game came during half time when Jerry Jones the owner and manager of the Dallas Cowboys re- represented Michael Irvin to the Dallas fans. Michael Irvin who played No 88 between the years off 1988 and 1999 got in to the class of the Football Hall of Fame this year. During Michael football career, The Dallas Cowboys won world championship in 1992, 1993 and 1995. Below are some newspaper captions telling it all.

“CANTON, Ohio - Where to begin with Michael Irvin, a subject as expansive as his charisma and smile?

No one just waltzes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where this Dallas Cowboys receiver will become the 10th member of the organization, but first receiver, to be enshrined here within the hallowed halls on Saturday evening, joining the likes of Tom Landry and Bob Lilly and Tony Dorsett and Randy White and Troy Aikman to be remembered for eternity.

RVING, Texas - The long-standing bond between Michael Irvin and Cowboys owner-general manager Jerry Jones was evident the day of Irvin's election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February, when Jones shared a long congratulatory embrace with the flamboyant former Cowboys receiver.

Those emotions will surface again this August in Canton, Ohio, when Irvin is officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2007. He'll have Jones there by his side - not just as a friend and former boss, but as his presenter.

"Just a real honor," Jones said Friday, "and for that reason as much as anything because I think I said I've got a big responsibility here. I welcome it because Michael means a lot of really positive things to people who coached him and people who have been around him."

Irvin gained election in his third year of eligibility and will join five other inductees: Guard Gene Hickerson, offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, tight end Charlie Sanders, running back Thurman Thomas and defensive back Roger Wehrli.

Irvin played 12 seasons for the Cowboys and finished his career as the club's all-time leader in receptions (750) and receiving yards (11,904) and ranked second, behind only Bob Hayes, with his 65 touchdown catches.

He's the second member of the Cowboys' famed "Triplets" to reach Canton, joining quarterback Troy Aikman. Running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, is a virtual lock once he becomes eligible in three more years.

But when deciding who would present him for the greatest individual achievement of his football life, Irvin chose Jones, who supported him ever since taking ownership of the Cowboys in 1989.

"He means a lot, and to try to reflect that in a presentation for him

 http://www.dallascowboys.com/images/Jones-Irvin_330.jpg

 

One of the activities lined up for me and Evie while at Boulder Creek was a re-union of the Lee safaris whose three participants are residence of Boulder Creek. We all met at Lee’s house. Present was the host Lee, Karin, Erika and her son Jessie. The reunion was full of hugs and shouts of Jambo and lots of laughter.

 

Before we would settle down, Karin and Erika started showering me with gifts and the most touching one was a donation to the community projects which Woni Safaris undertakes in conjunction with its clients. More touching was the fact that they even remembered Eunice whom they had met during the village tour. Eunice had had her leg amputee due to some illness which no one was able to explain to us and her mother’s illiteracy did not help much. Unfortunately we gave them the sad news that Eunice had scamped to the illness.

 

During the 18 days Lee Safari tour to Kenya and Tanzania, one of the activities they undertook was one day Eco Tour to Lukenya and Machakos town which is about 70km from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. They started by visiting a quarry mine and saw how building stones are mined and shaped ready for the booming construction industry in Kenya . Next they visited Marietta and Joseph’s farm where they learned how this young couple has adapted organic farming methods for maximum utilization of the local available resources. They also got to see and learn about the miracle trees of Africa, The Moringa and The Neem trees. They visited Nzoiani primary school where one of the clients, Sandy and her daughter Michele gave out soccer uniforms which had been donated by U2U of Santa Ynez, California. Evie also distributed school books which she does every time she visits this and other schools en-route her safari. She also took this opportunity to inspect the trees she had assisted in planting a year ago in June 2006.The funds to purchase the tree seedlings had been donated by some friends in Santa Barbara. She was also very impressed by the efforts that the school children and their teachers had undertaken to take care of the trees as none had died despite that area being semi-arid and water to water the young trees being fetched about three miles away from the school. The efforts that the parents of the school had done by re-enforcing the fence pools and planting a live fence made that school Evie’s favorite as she had a year ago, June 2006 donated 4 rolls of barbered wire to have the school fenced in order to protect the young trees from being destroyed by the local domestic animals.

 

Next visit was Muthwani School and the ritual of Nzoaini was repeated again. We then proceeded to the baby project of all our projects. A pre-school which had been started by the local women so that their young ones who are not able to walk up to 10 miles to the nearest school would have a place to start their kindergarden. The women had held a fund raising in April 2007 and were able to lay down the foundation of the school before the funds run out. Evie in her generosity had talked about it to one of her doctors who had given a donation of $500. She presented these donations together with hers, Bev and Jeff, Carole and Jack during the tour. It must have been here where Karin and Erika were prompted to do so something. Their donation of $500 will therefore go towards the pre-school and I hereby quote their kind and encouraging words from the card they wrote on: “Erika & I are so impressed by the wonderful work you are doing in the community. We hope this small donation helps in your efforts to increase the standard of living in your community. Its an honor to know you.”

Much later after we had left, Karin and Erika called Evie and suggested that we plant a tree in honor of Eunice and this I assure them will be done when I go back to the village to present the donation.

After the gifts and sharing the sad news about Eunice, a lavish Chinese dinner prepared by Lee herself was served. This raised our spirits once more and those who know how to use chop sticks went ahead to impress the others. I was told that it only takes three days of practice to learn how to use them and because I did not know when I was likely to come across another Chinese dinner, I opted out of day one in class.

 

After dinner, Erika brought out her laptop and showed us the photos she had taken while on safari but most impressive was the way she had taken time to arrange them and give tittles of the places they had been. Karin, who would not be outdone also brought out her lap top and together we all went back to memory lane with shouts of “tusker time” here and there. Erika and Karin informed us that they had showed these photos to people at their place of work and had encouraged them to take a safari with Woni Safaris and experience the true Africa Dream Safari.

 

The sharing of these photos made me realize the kind of memorize our clients take back home. No wonder they keep on coming back again and again bringing along their loved ones and friends. Erika and Karin are sisters and Lee is a very good friend of Bev. Bev preaches to people who care to listen about safaris in Kenya which her precious auntie Evie contacts and escorts. She also ensures that she hosts Evie’s African family whenever they get a chance to visit California. She is a wonder lady and one in a million. Thank you Bev.

 

During my adventurous weekend at Boulder Creek, I had the opportunity to be united with Lee. Those who have been following this site closely will remember that Lee came on a Kenya and Tanzania safari with Woni Safaris under the banner of Lee special safari.

 

She picked me up from Bev and Jeff’s place to show me the pride of California as a reciprocation of what we had shown her back in Kenya . Just like the way we protect our wildlife in Kenya from extinction, the Americans have also protected their forests from the same menace.

 

The red woods of California are the tallest and oldest trees in the world with heights of between 14 – 18 feet. It takes 25 adults to put a ring using their outstretched hands around the mother tree of the park which is over 2000 years old. This park which we visited is called Big Basins Redwood.California and I belief other States of America, have a history of wild fires which burn up to even two months and there are uncontrollable. Lee informed me that they have fires in major forest like every once in hundred years and because of the way they conserve their forests, the fires are out of the ordinary and very difficult to put out. The last time that there was fire in this particular park was 96 years ago. The most amazing phenomena with the red wood tree are that it can burn a hole inside the tree and yet the tree does not die. One of the trees had been burned up to the end and you can even go inside as there is an opening cause by the fire and see the sky through and yet the tree has green branches in it. Another tree was burned and was left with a cave like structure where old explorers could hide and sleep at night shielding themselves from the severe cold and the fierce mountain lions.

 

This part of California has so many tree forest as opposed to the central which is a desert with bear mountains. Such a contrast. Earlier on as we were driving with Evie, I had these urge to ask her to stop so that I may view this beautiful forest with such tall trees. Little did I know that I will take an entire morning being taken on a forest walk and enjoy the site of all these trees? Being in this particular park makes you really appreciate the efforts that governments take to ensure that natural resources are conversed not only as tourist attractions but as just letting nature being.

 

Before starting the walk, Lee had taken me to the forest museum to see the kind of animals found in the park but are not seen like our wildlife either because the forest are so huge or most of them have been killed. A forest like that would attract many birdwatchers in Kenya but I did not see any bird as per say. Either because they would be flying on top of the high trees where eyes could not reach or else there were deep in the forests away form the common walking trails.

 

You may not understand the wonders of the red wood trees until you get see them for real.

 

When I arrived in California, Evie went out of her way to truly spoil me. She had been given strict instruction from Kenya that she should not abandon her day to day work to be with me. This was because my main purpose of coming to the States was to attend the trade show in Las Vegas but I had arrived earlier than my scheduled time due to the fact that flights with Swiss Air were fully booked.

 

Evie worked only the week prior to the trade show and even then, she would take a day off duty now and then so that we could be together. After the trade show she did not go back to work and a call had to come from Nairobi to give her orders to let me proceed to Oklahoma City which was my next destination but she had other plans. She had earlier on taken me to see her friends notable Craig and Marca, Helen and Kevin and her Chinese family, Paullina and Frank and their beautiful daughter and her grandmother. All these people were so nice to me and went out of their way to make me feel very comfortable. I need not mention that when coming from the African Continent, one has that fear of not being accepted in this awesome society of very civilized people. When I mentioned these fears much later to Evie, she told me that she does not associate herself with people who look down on others.

 

Evie took me shopping, ensured that I had more than enough to eat and when I complained that there was so much food, she told me that she does not want me to starve. She took me along with her everywhere, the sister city meeting, sightseeing, the yacht club of Santa Barbara where I got to learn quite a bit about the commercial diving world. It is at the yacht club where I drew some attention as everyone there had some connection with the diving world and majority of those present were over 70 years and they were wondering what I was doing there. Those who could not hold on to their curiosity had to ask me and when I mentioned that I am there with a wife of one of the pioneers in the diving world of Santa Barbara, they really got impressed.

 

We visited her sister Carole and her husband in Bakersfield on our way back from Las Vegas but that is another story on its own.

 

I thought Evie had given me all the works but that was before she took me to spend a weekend with her niece Beverly and her husband Jeff up way north to the Santa Cruz country in Boulder Creek. Boulder Creek is the home of the world famous red woods trees of California, the tallest and oldest trees in the world.

 

 

Upon arrival, Bev showered us with gifts some of them very personal which was more than I could handle emotionally. As if these was not enough, she hosted us to a lavish dinner of really sea food like the ones we see in the adverts of the Tamarind restaurant in Mombasa. After dinner, we were spoiled with a body message by Sarah, Bev and Jeff’s daughter. Thinking this was enough for one night, Jeff gave me 3 hard cover business books, one of which I had read its review in our local newspapers back home in Kenya and wanted to buy it but it was very expensive. And now I did not only have that particular one but two others by the same author and another one by a different author.

 

In this part of the world, many people are collectors of various things which they are very passionate about. Jeff collects first edition of very famous books on a wide variety of topics. He shared these collections with me and of very notable interest, one book written by Albert Einstein, a first edition of the year 1879' in a very perfect condition. I was very surprise to see such an old book but done so beautiful and so well. Jeff handles his books what we call TLC and to even allow me touch and feel them with my clumsy hands was more than I could handle. World religion is a pet topic for him and he is very knowledgeable about the fundamentals of various religions. I learned quite a lot from him on this very sensitive topic.

 

Unlike Santa Barbara and Las Vegas where it was very hot both day and night, Boulder Creek was cold especially in the evenings. These particular Saturday, it had rained and was quite cold and so I was given the royal treatment which we only read about, and is
enjoyed by who is who in our society and notable well known kings and queens, prince and princess. Getting a Jacuzzi bath, my first time ever and wow! did it feel good? The following Sunday, Jeff took me mountain hiking. Leaving Bev and Jeff was the most difficult part of that weekend.

 

My last weekend in California, my lovely host, Evie Treen took me to the Santa Cruz country in a small country town called Boulder Creek on the northern side of California.

 

One of the most interesting activities during this weekend was my first hiking experience. After staying for almost a month in Santa Barbara and with a very busy schedule, I looked forward to any outdoor activity and when our host in Boulder Creek asked me whether I have ever done mountain hiking, I responded with “Is it something like climbing hills”? When he said that it was something similar, I told him that in Kenya, and more so in the district I was born which is Machakos on the eastern side of Kenya, “we climb hills not to exercise but as a means of reaching our destination”. In my mind,  was the Kalanzoni hills which we dread climbing but have little choice especially when using public means of transport.

 

We drove to this 900 acres of private property which also houses a water company whose source of water was from the mountains we were going to climb. Jeff informed me that we were going to use a less steep mountain as he could not climb the tougher one as he had earlier on strained his foot. We started off doing more talking than walking as I was very curious to learn more from Jeff on various topics of our small world, the major one being world of religion and of course business. Just before reaching the steep side of the mountain, a jogger passed us and Jeff stopped him for introduction and surprise of surprises, when he heard that I was from Kenya, it was jambo and habari gani? and the rest is a long story. Jeff was very interested to see the man run up the mountain and at that point I did not know what was in store for me.

 

Earlier on, before leaving the house, Jeff had asked me whether I needed some climbing sticks and I said no as I did not understand why I would want some climbing sticks. When we started climbing this steep mountain, I understood then what the climbing sticks were for as I was almost now using my hands to climb up and looking at Jeff I saw how the walking sticks came into handy. And to imagine that this was a lesser steep mountain. I thanked God that we had not taken the tougher one because I doubt if I would ever have made it.

 

We reached the top after stopping severally times to take our breath. By this time I had removed my sweater and pullover which I had worn before leaving the house as it had been cold. We started going down stream and my mind was busy thinking “how am going back and the images of my rolling down in to the mountain kept crippling in my mind. My fear of going back was temporary forgotten when we reached this beautifully stream which is one of the sources of water for the water company. So clean and so natural. No pollution, no plastic papers and it looked so unreal as if it is a scene in the movies. This stream reminded me of one in our village back in 1960’s which was then our source of water which is no more now. Jeff told me that the water was clean and pure and I did not need any more prompting as I went ahead, scooping water with my hands and drinking this cool water from these precious mountains  far away from home which were so reserved that it was unbelievable in this world of pollution.

 

When I had my feel of the water, I sat down on a log and Jeff sat opposite. We started sharing our own experiences of the beauty of nature but this was short lived as I had sat near a nest of some yellow junks who need not like their territory being invented by some excited humans beings talking on top of their excited voices. Before I realized, two stung me and boy, was it painfully. I washed off the pain with the cold spring water and it felt much better after a while. This did not go without Jeff scaring me by asking me whether I was allergy to yellow junks and I told him that I wouldn’t know as we do not have them in Africa but if there are in the family of bees, then I am not allergic. He told me I better not be as with his bad foot, he could not be able to carry me back and I would definitely die. He does have a sense of humor even in scaring circumstance.

 

The yellow junks ended our enjoyment of nature and we started our journey back which was about time as we had overstayed without noticing it. My luck going down hill came due to the fact that it had rained the previous day so the grounds were more firm and the soil not lose. All the same it was not easy and again I saw the main use of the climbing sticks. Jeff pointed out to me some poisonous plants which I can not remember the names now but he told me that they all had some three leaves on the them  but he warned me that touching me could lead to instant death.He gave me the saying of “three leaves, leave thee”. I then remembered that I had been informed that in these part of California, there were mountain lions and I asked Jeff whether one or more was likely to bounce on us. He told me that they are rarely seen. Still I was very happy and relieved when we reached where we had parked the car and when Jeff told how they usually hug the car with his daughter Sarah after coming down the mountains, I went ahead and did the same.

 

Woni Safaris was one of the exhibitors at the trade show under the umbrella of the Kenyan stand which they shared with nine other tour operators from Kenya. The Kenyan exhibitors were put together by ASTA Kenya chapter in collaboration with the Kenyan ministry of tourism and wildlife.

 
The second day of the trade show which was Monday 9th was the busiest and we were kept on our toes all day long with no tea or lunch break. Travel agents moved from one stand to another collecting brochures, business cards and other promotional materials. Those with DVDs  as their promotional materials drew more agents in their stand than those who did not have any DVDs. The major attraction at the Woni stand was the two photos of two different Maasai women. One we called the "mystery lady" while the other one was Agnes with her baby strapped on her back. These photos were taken by Evie in the Amboseli village in Kenya in one of her many trips there and this really drew a crowd as she was there to tell it all and this created lots of interest.

 
At the trade show, Woni Safaris came out differently from other tour operators due to the fact that our tours include more of local communities' interaction.  Our participation on the various community projects undertaken by us in conjunction with our clients was a crowd puller in itself. This made us re-evaluate our marketing strategy in a different way after the trade show.

 
Other exhibitors who were of great interest to Woni safaris were the internet marketing companies and soft ware providers whom we intend to follow up closely in view of once more re-evaluating our marketing strategy. A seminar on "Maximize your Marketing" was also a great asset

 
All in all, the trade show was an eye opener to us on the trends in the travel World

 

We left Goleta, Santa Barbara for our trip to Les Vegas on the morning of 7^th September at around 9.20 am. Initially, we had planned to leave as early as 6.30 am but due to unavoidable circumstances, we left two hours late. Needless to say, my anxiety to the trip was raising more and more to the hour and more so, after learning that that it  will now take us six hours to drive there as opposed to the two hours that I was made to believe or what I assumed (presumed) before I left Nairobi, Kenya.

 

Before this trip, I had not noticed the famous freeways of America, what we call back home highways. The previous day when we went to pick the empty cartons from the Sheriff’s Department where Evie works, we had been informed by Paullina, Evie’s colleague that we should take115 instead 126 as the later has more traffic. I noticed that the freeway we had started our trip on was No. 101 and gathered from Evie and the map she handed me that I was supposed to be on the look out very keenly so that we do not miss the next exit No. 210. It then dawned on me all the stories we hear about the American Freeways, that if you miss the exit that you are supposed to turn to on either sides of the road, you are done. My anxiety level started rising once more.

 

Before leaving Kenya, I was never a keen road map reader as road maps are for tourist who visits our beautiful country, so I presumed. Now I had to master all my skills of reading the road map while looking for our exit. Thank God that the map we were using was also giving us distances from one exit to the other but these distances were in miles and as Evie put it, not always right. Back home in Kenya, am used to distances in kilometers and am not very good in quick conversion of things, a problem I have been having here in America as most of their measurements are opposite ours. When you hear them talking about the weather in Las Vegas being 100 plus, Kenya we would be saying it is about 40. This was really confusing me initially and I am yet to get used to it and many others things which will come under a separate blog page.

 

When we passed exit 126, I remembered Paullina’s advice and asked Evie whether that was the exit she was talking about and she told that was the one she has used before but that was a long time ago. After driving for about 30 miles from this exit and following the direction on the map, we started feeling that  maybe we had missed the right turning and tension started building between us. I remember asking Evie whether she trust her instincts and she told me many a times she is right but these time, she was not sure. We therefore decided to stop at the next exit and ask for the direction and also stretch our legs.

 

The good thing about these American Freeways is that there are marked and numbered very clearly but one needs to be very keen so as not to miss an exit more so because the roads are very good and although one is driving at the required average spend limit which is about 65 on the freeway, you still feel that one is driving too fast and you again wonder whether their speedometer reading also requires further conversion.  

 

We stop at a restaurant and are told that we are on the right direction and are not lost. You should have seen our faces of relieve as I did not want to imagine Evie driving back all that way. She now confirms that her instincts were right at this time as she was sure that we had not missed the turning we were supposed to enter exit 115. Evie also confirmed that the Google direction of 1.18 miles was wrong. We hit the road once more with more confidence minus the high tension.

 

We eventually turn to 115 and we kind of relax even more but not for very long as the traffic on the road is too much and I keep on asking Evie, “I though that when we hit 115, the traffic would thin off” and she said no. I asked her “where are all these cars going to”? and she says they are all going to Las Vegas and I asked to do what? She answers, to gamble and I do not believe her until I arrive in Las Vegas and see it for myself.

 

We stopped on our way somewhere to add on Gas which back at home we call fuel then headed to a restaurant to have our lunch. As we are getting out of the car, there is this lady who upon seeing the sign of Vision Adventure Safaris on Evie’s car, wants know to more about our safaris and Evie spends close to half an hour telling her all about it. A potential Client.

 

After lunch, we hit the road again and the heat is unbearable. We can not have the luxury of putting on the air condition as this will heat the car and can easily make the car engine cease, Evie educates me on this  and tells me, if you put the air condition on throughout that long drive, the car will definitely straw so we have no choice but drive in that heat.

 

We make a coffee stop in a town called Jeans just before reaching Las Vegas. Back home, I can hear William telling our clients, “and this is just an appetizer”. In Jeans, I get my first experience of the gambling world. The slot machines greet you as you enter the hotel and the are the entire hotel lobby is full of this machines. My earlier imagination was that the machines are kept in othe rooms out of the eyesight of good hotel guests like me. Earlier on, I had imagined that gambling was for the bad guys and is done in dark rooms full of cigarette smoke but I was totally wrong. I learned that gambling in Las Vegas is the way of life and it is fun. That is why all the cars were driving to Las Vegas to have fun and I was yet to experience the true impact of this upon our arrival in Las Vegas.

 

We arrived in Las Vegas at around 5 pm. Our plan upon arrival was to visit the Las Vegas Convention Centre so that we have our bearing for the following day. We take the wrong turning and drive for about a mile before realizing that we are on the wrong direction. We turn back with little problem and drive to the south hall of the convention centre and are told that THETRADESHOW is taking place at the north hall and we are not amused as it is not indicated anywhere in our tons of paper work. We drive to the north hall and the sign of THETRADESHOW greet us and we say “yes, we are here at last”. We are allowed in and managed to locate our Kenya booth. We go out to start locating the Riveria hotel where we are booked to stay and find that it just a walking distance from the convention centre. Day one of our trip to Las Vegas

 

 

In the midst of our packing to go Las Vegas for THETRADESHOW, we realized that we needed cartons to put the promotional materials. Though Evie had taken the day off work in order to attend to last minute preparation, getting the car washed, picking the Woni Banner, going to the bank and many other small last minutes things, she called her place of work to find out whether we would get some empty cartons.

 

Evie decided to take me along with her so that I can get to meet her colleagues and more so those who have been on safari with us and those who has given their donation on the tree planting project.

 

When we got to meet Pam, one of those who had first came on safari with Evie, she expressed the wish of having a kind of a reunion for all those people who have been on safari with Woni. We all agreed that it was a good idea and so after THETRADESHOW and the Omar concert we will see which suitable day we can meet.

 In the afternoon, we attended a celebration of life of one the pioneer commercial divers here in Santa Barbara at the Yacht Club but that is another story all together so watch this space. 

I was privileged to be invited to attend a monthly meeting of The Sister Cities of Santa Barbara and Puerto Vallarta by my host Evie Treen. Evie has been a member of the Santa Barbara Puerto Vallarta  sister cities for close to over thirty years and has been their president for three different years.

 

The meeting was attended by about 80 (eighty) members and few guests. One of the highlight of the meeting was to have the host members introduce their guest.  The fact that I came all the way from Kenya made it more exciting but more was yet to come.

 

First on the agenda of the meeting was the announcement of a concert of Omar Arreola which was going to take place on September 16^th. Evie was among those who were selling the tickets and she was busy convincing members to purchase the tickets. For those who know more about Woni Safaris and their marketing initiatives, Omar has played a very big role in assisting us by making a 10 minute DVD on some of the tourist attractions in Kenya. Am therefore honored to be here to attend that concert.

 

Next in the agenda was the introduction of guest who had been invited by the members. The host  doing the introduction mentioned the name of their guest and where they are from. Needless to say, I was the only one from  the entire continent of Africa in that meeting.

 

Some members had traveled to Mexico and they were given an opportunity to talk about their experience which was  all glowing with goodness of the trip.

  The guest speaker of the day by the name of Bob Burton, a bounty hunter took the floor. He spoke of what a bounty hunter does and the experience he has had over the years in the business and the kind of challenges they came across.

It was like a story from the movies only this time it was for really. Bob has written 8 books so far on his many experiences in different countries working hard to catch those who had jumped bail in different states of America 

 

Before Bob left the floor the President of  Sister Cities Mr. Craig Neilson showed members a 1975 newsletter where Bob was one of the board members. Such is history of the  sister cities.

The highlight of the meeting was drawing of the raffle tickets and I was given the honor to pick the winners but before doing so, the president gave a brief speech of  Kenya, how beautiful it is and why people should make it a point of visiting. He mentioned that Mrs. Treen arranges for these tours and introduced Michele who was standing right next to me as true witness of the trips being for real. I wanted to declare the president Kenyan’s ambassador to Santa Barbara there and then, that is, If I had the powers. Out of his speech, am sure we shall get more members of twin sister’s cities wishing to come to Kenya.

 

In between the draws, I was given an opportunity to tell members why they should visit Kenya and though I was least expecting it, I did make a very brief speech of the beauty of our country Kenya and that fact it is one of the safest holiday destination despite the negative publicity it sometimes gets in the media and Michele and her mother Sandy would bear witness to that fact. They had been on an 18day Kenya and Tanzania safari in July/August this year.

 

I felt so thrilled for getting the opportunity to speak in front of all those people and the president being kind enough to draw so much attention to me that I put an extra goal to achieve while in Santa Barbara, that is of meeting the president in one to one meeting and convincing him to come to Kenya as he needs to see the country he spoke so well about.

 

I am happy to say that I had the privilege of visiting the President and his wife, Marsha a few days upon my arrival here in Santa Barbara and Marsha expressed the wish to come to Kenya and I can proudly say that I have made some contacts that I can recruit as friends of Kenya.