The WOW factor

I've always loved the wow factor of trips. When you stand staring down at the Grand Canyon and your six year old ask "what planet is that mommy?" Moments like: Watching Old Faithful blow, a sunset in Hawaii, a sunset over Lake Powell, staring up at the Great Wall of China or taking a boat ride down a crocodile infested river in Costa Rica, walking around on the cold Salt Flats outside of Salt Lake City when it's 90 degree's outside. Trips are full of wow moments. It's those moments that make me not like Disney Land it's also why I didn't enjoy Iceland. There were no wow moments only "seriously are you kidding me?" moments.

Africa had so many wows I probably can't remember all of them.

We took a boat ride on Lake Naivisha. The lake was as reflective as glass. There were fisherman casting nets. Our boat guide said they were illegal fisherman and sometimes get arrested. It's interesting that they get arrested, they weren't huge conglomerates of fisherman the only thing they were competing with for fish was the birds. They were fishing to feed their families. They were fishing in their underwear and some of them were wearing flour sacks with holes cut out for their arms. They were from the local village. They all smiled and waved when we took their pictures. I asked the driver if the fisherman were ever injured by the hippos in the lake he said several die each year after being crushed by hippo mouth's. I asked about the danger of hippo's because I had read that they were exceptionally dangerous.  We got a little close to a momma and a baby hippo with our boat. Our driver backed up and took off pretty quickly, None of us knew what was going on but he could see the ripples in the water and knew a momma hippo was coming after us. Sure enough a few seconds later a big, mad hippo pops up out of the water with it's mouth open. I would not want to be in the water with a mad hippo. Honestly, I wouldn't want to be in the water with any hippo.

The birds, the trees, the lake, such beauty. I kept thinking, "I can't believe I am in Africa seeing this beauty."

Hippo's are huge!

A herd of hippo's

Papyrus

Fisherman casting their nets.

Sean and Daniel

Wow, wow, wow!

A fisherman leaving with his catch.