California, 2017

Vernal Falls

Another successful, semi-annual California summit of Sarah, Michele, and Laura is in the books! We spent 2.5 days in Yosemite hiking (including climbing Half Dome) and driving around the park, and 2.5 days in the Monterey area drinking wine, visiting the aquarium, and eating tons of delicious food. Here are a few highlights and photos.

Half Dome Village

View from Half Dome Village

On Tuesday, Sarah flew into LA from NY, where Michele picked her up and they drove 4.5ish hours to the Fresno airport, where I arrived. Then we drove a couple hours (but surprisingly few miles) to Yosemite National Park. We booked a tent with four cot-beds on a wooden floor, nestled in a colony of identical semi-permanent shelters in the Half Dome Village. We arrived a little before dinner time, so we dropped our bags and toured around our little colony. There were hundreds of tents next to a little center with a souvenir shop, grocery store, pizza place, buffet restaurant, and bar.

We had a quick dinner and got ready for an early bedtime. We were going to get up around 5 am for the Half Dome hike, estimating it would take us anywhere from 10 to 14 hours. We met a girl in the bathroom who did it in 10 hours, which instilled a tiny bit of optimism, but she also appeared to be in much better shape than us.

Wednesday morning the alarms were blaring, but we were moving pretty slowly. It was too early for the park shuttle (or breakfast, but Michele brought coffee), so we had to walk almost a mile from camp to the trail head. We started on the trail by 6:30, and it was gorgeous. Towering green trees (I can't tell tree species, sorry) soaring around us, soft dirt surrounding our paved path, a creek babbling by, little woodland creatures scurrying. But then it quickly became steep, and didn't stop for a couple hours. We passed two waterfalls and then slowly plateaued out. We had "lunch" at 9:30 in a nice meadow area by the river where people who don't bring enough water restock their camelbaks on the way down. (Tip if you want to hike Half Dome: I had a 3-liter generic camelbak and a 1-liter Nalgene, which was the exact amount of water one person needs. I also had hiking poles, gloves for the cables, a visor and sunscreen, and plenty of food.)

On the Mist Trail

Cables!

Shortly after lunch (PB&J and trail mix) we got to the second uphill push, which consisted of a bunch of switchbacks for about an hour. Then we came out to a nice, flat vista where we could see Half Dome, and people climbing up the terrifying cables strapped to the side of the rock face. It's way too steep to just hike up, so the park installed cable handrails that you use to pull yourself up the rock face for the final 400 or so feet. My palms started sweating looking at it.

Then we had a bit of gradual uphill before the "granite stairs," also known as the "sub-dome," which is the last uphill push before the cables. It was about 30 minutes of granite steps in switchbacks, and then an expanse of open dome face, but at a low enough grade that you just lean in and walk up it. There's no trail or anything, but the peak of Half Dome is right there, so you just aim for it.

Top of Half Dome

And then we got to a little dip in the terrain. We had completed the sub-dome and were staring at Half Dome. It was a flat reprieve, except that you were walking toward the cables, and you could see the people scurrying up them. All of my pores started sweating. I'm terrified of heights, and this was a doozy. But Michele and I charged forward valiantly (Sarah decided she had enough just before the end of the sub-dome), bracing for the inevitable. We already hiked straight up for almost 7 hours. Of course this shit was happening.

We both knew to bring gloves (anyone considering it: BRING GLOVES. There's a pile of gloves left by other hikers at the base of the cables, but I wouldn't depend on them), so we pulled them out and slid them on our hands like warriors of old preparing for battle. We left our hiking poles at the base of the cables but carried our backpacks with us for water.

Yosemite Falls

Mish and I conferred at the base of the cables and decided I would go first. I walked up, put one hand on each cable (imagine a narrow stairwell, where the railings are thin cables and the steps are wooden planks 10 feet apart and 10 feet straight up and everything else is a rock face steeply leading off to your death), and went for it. It wasn't difficult in the beginning because it wasn't too steep yet. Just step, step, cable, cable, and boom, you're at the first wooden plank. But then it got steeper, and we caught up to a girl having a panic attack on the way up who caused a traffic jam for people trying to go down (did I mention up and down traffic share the same narrow cable staircase?), and it got a little hairier. But I shocked myself by not freaking out about the heights. I was able to chill and look around at each wooden plank I had to stop at, while also encouraging the girl in front of me. It took us much longer than it should have to get to the top, but panic-attack girl made it too and I'm glad I didn't devolve into one of those assholes who yelled at her about keeping it moving so they could go. Slow and steady wins the race for everyone. 

We made it to the top, and stumbled our way toward the edge of Half Dome. As always with these sorts of things, it was anti-climatic. I never get a rush of satisfaction at reaching a peak. I never imagine ticker tape raining down upon me. It's a sweaty, exhausting, drained moment in which I say, "Cool. I'm here." I feel the satisfaction of a hike when I'm at the bottom, looking back up at where I've come from. So Michele and I drank some water, took some photos, and I headed back down as an unchanged human.

But here's the crazy thing. Going down the cables was AMAZING! It was so much fun. I felt like I was at an amusement park. It looked awful on the way up, but on the way down it was a ride. I held each cable in my corresponding hand and slid down Half Dome, stopping when I needed to let people going up pass. It was the best part of the hike, hands down. Super fun.

Fish Hopper on Cannery Row, Monterey

Then we got back to the sub-dome and we had 5+ hours of downhill until we were back at camp. I'll spare you the details because it's like every time I go downhill: awful, painful, grumpy, nothing worth reading about. We made it back to camp after 13 hours. Much worse than the super-fit, friendly girl in the bathroom, but much better than everyone who didn't make it to the top. Overall it was about 15 miles. We took the Mist Trail up (which is steeper but shorter and takes you closer to the waterfalls) and the Muir Trail down (which is longer but has less extreme downhills).

Monterey Aquarium

We were all hobbled and sore, but we made it to the village square for food and celebratory drinks. And then a loooong night of sleep.

I'm going to breeze through the rest of the trip, not because it was less interesting, but because the hike was the formative lynch pin of the trip. And because I got carsick and puked twice on the ride from Yosemite to Monterey and no one needs to read that.

The day after the Half Dome hike, Michele drove us around Yosemite. We saw Yosemite Falls and various other parts of the park. That night we had dinner at our village and took the shuttle to the fancy hotel for drinks.

Sunset, sisters, wine

Vineyards

Lover's Point, Monterey (great for reading)

Big Sur

Andrew Molera Park, Big Sur

The next day we headed out of the park (which always takes a long time) toward Monterey, arriving in time for dinner overlooking the water at what the hostess said was the best table in the restaurant (why she gave it to us will always be a mystery). We went back to our adorable AirBnB for wine and board games. The next day we did the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach to Carmel, and hit up some wine-tasting rooms in Carmel. We drove out to the Carmel Valley to a couple of tasting rooms and then drove back to town (Mish was being a very good sport and being our driver). Then it was a sunset drink on the beach, another awesome seafood dinner, more board games, and bed. The next day we went to the aquarium, which is so much more expensive than I expected but I'm happy to pay it. Our rental house provided 2 free passes, but it was still $50 for the third admission. Worth it, because they do so much education and conservation work as well. Go to the aquarium!

Big Sur

Sarah and Mish drove out to more wineries that afternoon, but I wanted to walk to the beach with my book and relax. Everyone got what they wanted, and we met up for dinner later at the fantastic Red House. The next day we had breakfast at the Red House again because it was so good, dropped Sarah off at the airport, and Mish and I drove toward Big Sur. The town is still cutoff because of the mudslide, but we were able to do a little beach walk and see some beautiful sights before it was time for me to go to the tiny Monterey airport for my long flights home.

Bixby Creek Bridge, Big Sur

TBT: Santa Ynez, California

While I daydream about my next California trip with Michele and Sarah (August!), I'll calm the restlessness a little with photos from our 2013 trip to the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara.

I flew to LA to meet up with Michele and Sarah (view from Sarah's roof). Mish then drove us to wine country.

We stayed in a yurt at a campsite on a lake.

We went to picturesque vineyards (Lincourt, Sunstone, and Rancho Sisquoc).

We lit fires and played board games at night, and kayaked on the lake in the morning.

And ate in Solvang and Santa Barbara.

It's probably offensive to wine connoisseurs, but I would pick Santa Ynez over Napa if given the choice. Santa Ynez felt much more relaxed, and my palette isn't refined enough to appreciate Napa wines any more than the ones I had on this trip.

Safari in the Serengeti

Serengeti runway

After climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and back down, the boyfriend and I had earned what came next: SAFARI IN THE SERENGETI! The morning after we finished Kilimanjaro, Andrew and I were having breakfast (with Dustin) at K’s hotel one last time. Then we caught a ride to Arusha, the next city west of Moshi, to a small airport. We took a prop plane (the first one I’ve been in and I never want to be in one again: it was terrifying) to the middle of the Serengeti. As we were landing, I saw little gazelles running off the runway to make way for the plane. 

"Serengeti" in the Maasai language means "endless plains"

Our driver with Wild Frontiers, Nurdin, was waiting for us when we landed. Again, we were supposed to be part of a five-some, but the others bailed right before the trip so Andrew and I got personal service. Nurdin picked us up in a giant Land Rover with a pop-up top for optimal animal watching and room for about eight passengers. We hopped in at about 3 pm and immediately were “on safari.” Nurdin drove us around the Serengeti for about four hours before taking us to camp, and in those four hours we saw so many animals! I told Nurdin my priority was elephants and he assured me we wouldn’t have any trouble finding them. I wasn’t about to get my hopes up, though.   

Can you see the leopard, up high, dead center?

The very first animal we came across (aside from the gazelles on the runway) was a leopard in a tree. Nurdin was freaking out (he is adorably nerdy about animals and has the perfect job for his passion). He told us that leopards are one of the rarest animals to see in the Serengeti because they often hang out in trees. And this one was pretty hard to spot; I’m sure Andrew and I would never have seen it on our own. After the leopard, we came across more gazelles (both Grant and Thompson varieties), zebras, antelope, wildebeest, hippos, crocodiles, and then … Nurdin pointed out, far off in the distance, giant forms moving slowly on the horizon: elephants!! We drove over to a soundtrack of my squeals and came upon a family of three adults, three kids, and one tiny baby almost hidden in the grass. They were about twenty feet from our truck, just meandering around and eating. It was an amazing moment in my life.  

Lioness in the front, ellies in the back

After letting me gaze in awe for an excessive amount of time, Nurdin started driving again. In that one afternoon we saw two lionesses (one stalking prey), an eagle, an impala family, lion lovin’, warthogs, dik diks (little antelope that mate for life), topi, giraffes (including a baby), guinea fowl, buffalo, and two separate elephant families. By then it was time to check into our “camp” for the night. We pulled up to a couple portable buildings in the middle of the Serengeti surrounded by large tents at wide intervals. We were met by a whole crew, including two guys who grabbed our bags and the camp manager who walked us around the common areas (there was a dining tent, a lounge tent with couches and a bar, and open seating around a fire pit). Then he showed us to our “tent,” which was a significant step up from the hike. We had a king bed on a frame with two bedside tables and lamps (everything was solar powered), a dresser, and a full bathroom with shower. It was dark at this point, so the camp guard was walking around, shining a flashlight into the plains to keep animals away. 

Simba

Glamping

After settling in, we headed back to the lounge tent and each grabbed a beer before sitting by the fire pit. Shortly afterward, the manager came by to tell us dinner was ready. We went into the dining tent and were going to sit down with the only other couple staying at the camp but the manager ushered us to separate tables. Apparently there are rules.  

Lounge tent

Dinner was buffet style starting with soup. Every lunch and dinner had a different soup, and they were the best food of the entire trip. Cream of various vegetables and oh, so yummy. The rest of the food was better than our hiking food, but nothing remarkable (other than those soups, which I still talk about).  

Before we finished eating the manager came by with a clipboard and asked us what time we wanted to wake up and if we wanted coffee delivered to the tent. Yes, we did! I didn’t know that was an option. 

Sunrise over the Serengeti

Day 2

We had breakfast with this elephant

We were in our comfortable bed by 9 that night and slept like babies. The next morning our coffee was delivered at 6:30, and we sat on our tent porch and watched the sun come up over the Serengeti. We had breakfast in the tent at 7 and an elephant came by for a visit. He walked up to the camp parking lot to eat some leaves and then walked around our dining tent before heading off in the horizon. I squealed a lot. The German couple told us they heard animals outside their tent in the night and found out the next morning they were lions. 

Cheetah

I really liked the hyenas

Nurdin picked us up at 7:30 and we were off for another animal-filled day. We went back to camp for lunch at 1 and had a break until 3:30 before heading back out until about 5:30. That day we saw: black-back jackals, hyenas, sacred-heart birds, ostriches (they’re so crazy looking!), rock hyrax, a cheetah mom with four babies, bat-eared fox, lizards, hartebeests, a vulture, heron, sausage trees (the fruit looks like sausage, and elephants and baboons eat too much of it and get drunk), vervet monkeys, bush-back antelope, lion cubs (almost newborn), mongoose, a baboon family with babies, a family of lions feeding, and another leopard in a tree (I’m not listing the repeats of animals we saw, but this one warrants a mention because they’re so rare).  

I won't show you the lion family eating
a wildebeest, but this is all the tourist
gathered to watch it happen.

Our second night on safari was much like the first: beers by the fire with the German couple, dinner in tent, and then off to bed. The next morning we had coffee delivered again and watched the sunrise on our porch. We could hear buffalo mating but they were too far away to see. We did see one lonely bachelor buffalo wandering near camp and grazing before we walked to breakfast.  

After eating we had to pack up because we were leaving camp that morning. Nurdin drove us from the Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Once we passed into the conservation area we saw Maasai villages and children on the side of the road, hoping to flag down tourists who would pay to have their photos taken with Maasai or to tour their village. Nurdin explained that no one (except rangers and park staff) is allowed to live in Tanzanian national parks, but the government granted the Maasai permission to live in conservation areas. He also told us that, according to Maasai religion, all the cows in the world belong to the Maasai, so they routinely steal cattle from other Tanzanians. The government has essentially given up trying to stop them and instead just reimburse people whose cows are stolen. 

Olduvai Gorge

During the drive we stopped at Olduvai Gorge, a famous archeological site. Then we drove to Ngorongoro Crater, which might have been my favorite part of safari. It was like a mini Serengeti isolated in an old volcano crater. We drove down into the crater through stunning landscapes and leveled out at the bottom. It took almost two hours to drive from one side of the crater to the other, and during that time we saw almost all the same animals in Ngorongoro that we saw in the Serengeti. The notable addition was a rhino that Nurdin pointed out to us, very far away. He was sleeping in the sun and, honestly, he looked like a rock from our vantage, but nevertheless I’m counting it, especially because it meant we saw the “big five” animals: lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhino.  

Ngorongoro Crater

After a full tour, we drove out of the crater and to our home for the night: Ngorongoro Farm House. We definitely saved the best for last. It was a picturesque hotel with rolling fields of flowers, vegetable gardens, coffee plants, and a coffee roaster on site (so the whole area smelled like fresh coffee). When we checked in, the front-desk attendant handed Andrew and I each a fancy water infused with fruit. Then another woman came over to carry our bags and show us to our room, which was actually a standalone cottage overlooking the hillside, with a family of cats living under the front porch. The room was stunning: bright, open, and clean, with a four-poster bed wrapped in a mosquito net, a giant walk-in shower, and a separate sitting area. We realized all the rooms were named after animals (with the Swahili names). We were in pundamilia, which means zebra. 

Ngorongoro Farm House

After marveling at the beautiful room, we walked around the grounds of the hotel. There was a big, main building with a bar, couches, and tables being readied for dinner service. There was a pool with lounge seating, a separate little hut for massages, and a large patio off the main building. Andrew and I ordered drinks at the bar and took them out to the patio, which overlooked the gardens. To the right were coffee plants, in the middle directly in front of us were flower gardens, behind the flowers were the vegetable gardens, and to the left were meandering paths leading to other cottages. We sat on the patio and talked through all the details of our trip. It was our last evening in Tanzania, and I couldn’t have dreamt up a more perfect place to wrap up the trip.  

Farm House gardens

After our drinks, we walked around the grounds and gardens for an hour. The weather was perfect and we encountered almost no one else the whole time. As dusk came in we went back to the patio and grabbed another drink to kill time before dinner. Most of the other guests were starting to come out too, and there was a good crowd gathering. As the sun started to set, the nightly entertainment came out: a man who called himself Baba Dingi walked around and introduced himself to almost everyone. Then he called his wife up to join him, and they started playing music. They were joined by more women singing and dancing. After one song, Baba Dingi’s wife walked around and pulled women from the audience (me too) up to dance with her. I’m a terrible dancer and I hadn’t had nearly enough drinks for it, but it was such a beautiful night and a surreal vacation that I didn’t even bother resisting. I danced like a jackass with a bunch of other tourists, and then it was the guys’ turn. I got a nice video of Andrew shaking it to pseudo-tribal music, but he probably wouldn’t want me to post it. 

Then we went inside for the fanciest dinner buffet of the trip, but again the food wasn’t memorable. After dinner we headed to our cottage and I was giddy to sleep in the amazingly fluffy bed with approximately twenty pillows. Plus it was the only night of our trip that we didn’t have to set an alarm; we were going to sleep in as late as we wanted! 

Coffee beans

Coffee flowers

The next morning we got up in time for the breakfast buffet, packed up our bags and left them at the front desk, and then waited around to meet our guide for a coffee tour. Surprise, surprise, it was Baba Dingi. He already loved Andrew from the night before (Andrew’s a good tipper), so he was excited and chatty with us. He walked us around the coffee plants and pointed out the various stages of flowering. He asked us about our lives in Texas and was shocked when Andrew told him he was 37 (“No! You look in your 20s”). But when he asked me my age and I said 34, he nodded and said, “Yeah.” He’s lucky Andrew was tipping that day. The tour took about an hour, and included a walk through the veggie and flower gardens, before we ended up in the roasting room. This was where they roasted their coffee beans, picked right from the garden, and made the coffee served in the hotel. We got a cup and took it back to the patio after saying goodbye to Baba Dingi. The hotel seemed to have cleared out again, and we saw almost no one else. After a quick lunch, Nurdin came by to pick us up and take us back to the Moshi airport. The drive took a few hours through chaotic traffic, but before I was ready to leave, we were checking our bags and going through security for the 10.5 + 8-hour flight +2.5-hour drive home.  

Tanzania was an amazing experience and the trip of a lifetime. I’d go back in a heartbeat to drive around the Serengeti and stay in Ngorongoro Farm House, but I’d probably be content to see Kilimanjaro from town. Our guides joked about how we need to try Everest next, but I think 19,300 feet is probably as high as I’ll ever climb.  

Until next time! xoxo