Saturday/Sunday, February 15-16, 2025

Welcome back everyone, or anyone.  I haven’t had a Kenyan blog entry since 2019, so imagine some  may’ve lost interest, but I’m hoping that you’ll be pleasantly surprised that there’s another Kenyan journey about to begin.

First, I need to point out the elephant int he room.  Actually, there’s two of them, but you’ll only hear about one for now.  The sad part is that my telling you doesn’t make the elephant go away… he’ll be with me for the entire trip.  No reminder needed.

Andrea and I booked this trip with Katie and MIke, her (then) new husband.  Our dear friend Isaac attended their wedding and presented them with an extraordinary gift.  An all expense paid, 4 day/3 night stay at Entumoto Safari Camp.  Those that need a refresher on Isaac - he’s the GM of the camp, and the lead guide.  He, and his family, are also a part of ours.  But I digress…

Excitement for this trip continued to grow as we got closer to the New Year.  Mike has never been to Kenya, and it always makes these trips that much more special when new eyes join us.  It reminds us of each of our first trips, and the memories just cascade all over us.  Katie was actually the first family member to join me in-country.  

Here comes the elephant.

Shortly before Christmas, Andrea suffered a heart attack.  It was terrifying for all of us, and in many ways, it still is.  She is without a doubt the healthiest of us all.  She does everything your general practitioner wants you to do - daily exercise, good diet, lots of fluids.  On December 21st, none of that mattered.  We would later learn that it was due to SCAD - Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.  You’ve probably never heard of it,(we certainly didn’t) and then’s because while there are thousands of studies on plaque and clogged arteries, there is one on SCAD.  The easiest way to describe it would to say that her heart was pumping so hard that it caused a tear in the arterial wall which then collapses, causing the blockage, resulting in a heart attack.  It’s been close to two months, and it’s still difficult to talk about.  Even as I type this, I’m wiping away tears.  The good news that she has no plaque anywhere.  None.  Not even a hint.  The only evidence is the stent that was inserted on 12/22/2024 where the spontaneous dissection occurred.  Unfortunately, everything else is just an unanswered question.  The single study done was on fibromyalgia patients who also had SCAD.  It’s more common in women, and even more common in women with fibromyalgia -  Andrea wouldn’t have been part of that study, because she doesn’t have fibromyalgia.  

Here are some of the concerning aspects of SCAD..  Because it’s a result of high pressure on your heart (high heart rate), she’s got to be very cognizant of her heart rate.  She had to keep it under 120 for the first month, then they increased it to 140.  If you know my wife, you know that those numbers are very low for a woman who exercised vigorously.  Her cardiologist said the collapse probably happened a couple days before during a Wednesday run, and didn’t present itself until late Friday night when she sat up in bed.  Meds help with the rate and give her the opportunity to work at a level she’s okay with while simultaneously keeping herself > 140BPM.  Thank you Peloton and Apple Watch alarm.  And while keeping that heart rate below that threshold helps lessen the likelihood of another occurrence, it doesn’t prevent it, and there’s no way of predicting or anticipating when it could happen again.  That realization is some of the most difficult aspects of this diagnosis.  Her cardiologist says, “It really messes with your mind.”  He’s right… and I’m not the one that had the heart attack.  We all, however, share the fear and concern about another occurrence.  That is why the seat next to me is occupied by a stranger.  She’s not allowed to travel outside the country for two years.  The idea of traveling to a third-world country was unthinkable.  Have you ever heard the expression, “A hospital is no place to get well?”  They say that in the states!  Can you imagine in Kenya?!

I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve continue to think the same thing - “Why did you leave her?”

This was an important trip for a lot of reasons - cue that second elephant.  I’m sorry, but it’s going to have to wait.  Ultimately it was the decision that was made.  I have been in close proximity since it happened, and this isn’t a “I’ll just run to Wegmans and pick some things up.”  We’re both nervous.  We’ve just got to miss each other for a week.  Karen & Alex (along with our almost 7 month old grandson, Dusty) and Kevin & Lindsey  are keeping a watchful eye on her while I’m gone, and one of Andrea’s best friends, Teresa, flew in from Indiana to spend 4 days with her.  Today (Sunday), they’re going with Karen to have spa day.  Hopefully that will be a nice start for a week that will pass quickly.

As to our travel plans… 

For the first time ever, we’re flying Air France through Paris to Nairobi.  Yes, I’m going to Paris without my wife.  Yes I left on Valentine’s day.  No, these thoughts are not lost on me.  In reality, Andrea and I have never really had a desire to go to Paris… although I’ve only seen the airport, I’m not impressed.  I am, however, impressed with AirFrance.  Nice airline with very nice flight attendants.  Unlike most of the other international flights we’ve taken, this group didn’t warm up to English.  If they said something in French (that I could understand via hand gestures and what they were holding - ie “Blah blah blah, ooh la blah blah” while holding a bottle of wine translates to “would yo

u like some wine”) and I responded in English, they would continue in French.  To parrot the wonderful Steve Martin, “It’s like they (the French) have a different word for everything.”  The food was delicious, but wasn’t crazy about the seats.  I didn’t sleep en route to Paris but managed to get a couple hours on the way to Nairobi.  Mike and Katie got a little shut eye, too.  

Flash forward to my current status.  It’s 1:26am, I’m sitting under a mosquito net at the Royale Hotel in Karen (an affluent suburb of Nairobi).I am surrounded by rickets chirping non-stop and guard dogs that are barking relentlessly.  No different that the US - one barks, they all bark.  Dogs are kept outside here and used primarily as night watchmen.  That means that anything that might cause a single dog to bark, ultimately causes literally a dozen dogs to bark.  It happens all hours of the evening, but that’s just the way it is.  

Turn back the clock a little bit.  When we exited the airport, Isaac was there with a big smile to greet us, along with his son Caleb who is now getting ready for college.  We learned that he wantsa to study aviation.  There’s not a pilot int he family, so it’s a good fit and, more importantly, it really interests him.  He’s grown into a nice young man, standing just a bit taller than Isaac.  He has Isaac’s personality, so he’s engaging and interested.  At one point, while we were updated everyone on our families, Isaac started talking about Tatiana (who’s still in high school).  He said, “Tatiana just talks and talks and talks.  She never stops talking!”   Caleb looked up at me and in the silence that followed Isaac’s statement, quietly said, “She’s our Karen.”  Now, if you know Karen, that’s hilarious.  If you don’t know our daughter Karen, trust me, it’s funny.

We had our drinks and hopped in a Toyota mini van for the ride to our current resting place.  When it’s this late, most of the hotels and restaurants have an iron gate with a watchmen to let you in.   Also when it’s this late, sometimes they fall asleep.  This guy slept like the dead.  After honking the horn multiple times, flashing our lights, and Isaac calling the front desk, we finally were granted access.   The girl who gave us our keys and showed us to our rooms was either new, tired, or both.  She fumbled with the keys before leading us to our rooms on the second floor (with my two - 60lb bags.  So there we stood in front of the rooms while she fumbled for the keys.  Me, Isaac, Caleb, Mike, Katie, our driver, the night watchman and this girl.  Keep in mind, this is Kenya to the route to this particular spot is somewhat unnerving in the dark at this time of night.  Not that there are hoodlums or anything.  It’s more  the fact that they don’t have OSHA and their building inspectors aren’t always consistent.  Take, for example, the stairs we climbed to get to where we are.  Some steps had a 8” rise, one was about 3”,  the rest were between 5’ and 6”.  Imagine climbing that at night, carrying luggage and backpacks, in the dark, and up a hallway that is no more than 4’ wide.Not for the faint of heart.  It only took 5 minutes for this poor girl to realize that we were in the wrong section.  So it was back down the hall, and back down the stairs.  After another 5 minutes, they found me a single, and Mike and Katie a double.  By Kenyan standards, they’re across the hall from me.  It’s important to note that the “hall” is outside.  I’m hoping that they’re sleeping, and I’m also hoping that soon I will be doing the same.

Katie and I are really excited for Mike.  It really is special to travel with someone that doesn’t know what you know.  She and I have talked at length about a lot of the things that he’ll see, but even with pictures, it doesn’t prepare you; and I’m not even talking about Masai Mara yet.  He is genuinely excited about all of it.  This place is a good entry point for him, and going through the first night in the dark (figuratively and literally) is also a good excercise.  He hasn’t been thrown by anything so far, and I’m pretty confident that he’ll hide it well it does happen; we’ll just have to wait until the ride home to hear about it.

Okay, that’s enough for now.  I’ve got a couple mosquitoes buzzing around my head and I want to make sure they’re outside the mosquito net. We’re meeting for breakfast at 8 - that’s six hours from now and I’m getting a bit sleepy.  See yo’all tomorrow.