24 weeks

For me, this is huge: the first viability marker.  If our daughter were born now, she would have a chance - not a great one, but at least a chance.  It is a massive milestone for me, as every twinge, every pain up til now has been accompanied with wild thoughts of “if she’s born now she wouldn’t make it.”  I don’t have any reason to think she would be born early - but my brain tends to go into anxiety/panic mode very easily!

A lot has happened in 24 weeks.  

For one, we’ve spent a lot of money!  We are gradually getting everything together that we need - still a few big ticket items missing but we are getting there.  The nursery now has a cot and a rocking chair in it (both purchased second hand) and a friend of mine is giving us all of her baby girl clothes as her youngest is growing out of them.  So a note: we don’t need any more clothes! 😂. (I had an amusing chat with a friend last week who has just had her second baby.  She announced in no uncertain terms that having a baby was “free until daycare” which I thought particularly funny as they had just spent $2500 on a stroller!)

We have also been to numerous scans and doctor appointments - just a normal part of having a baby.  Everything looks just perfect with her, the only thing that came up on the last scan was that I have a low lying placenta, so in early February we have a fourth scan to check that the placenta has moved up - which is pretty normal.  I am signed off to stop flying at 27 weeks, which puts my last day on the 21st December.  I could have worked a week or two more, but it will be nice to have a Christmas at home with Dave before our daughter arrives, and also, the company I work for doesn’t have a maternity uniform so right now I am wearing a home-amended attempt and I’m not sure for how many more weeks it will fit!  The doctors and midwives seem very happy with how everything is progressing and despite the placental position, I am categorised as low risk.

It is going to be really strange not to be flying.  I realised a few days ago that I won’t fly a 717 at all in 2020 and I definitely have mixed feelings about that.  I could of course go back to work early, but I also feel strongly that it is important for me to be there for the baby, and I really want to breastfeed too, which isn’t very compatible with my work lifestyle.  Work has told me that they don’t need me in the office at all so from Christmas I’m going to be twiddling my thumbs at home (in the air con).  I am trying to think up some projects to keep me busy (not too active) in those 3 months leading up to the baby’s arrival, otherwise I am going to go stark staring mad!!  I get paid by work up to 34 weeks no questions asked, after which I have to get certificates from the doctor to say I COULD work if work should want me to do so.  Then at some point I go on maternity leave.  

At the moment, my parents are planning on visiting in May, which I am very excited about.  The distance from family is one thing that is particularly difficult so it will be lovely having them over for a few weeks.

Well, being as I am now 24 weeks plus 3 days I really should post this!  I may get around to writing more Some Other Time.

Anniversary weekend

This weekend was our first anniversary, and I can’t believe it’s only been a year - and apparently for most of that I haven’t blogged!  

We went down to Currumbin for the weekend and stayed in an AirB&B by the beach, and it was SO very nice to have a weekend where we didn’t have to DO anything.  We walked on the beach, and we swam a little, and we ate far too much very nice food, and all in all we just rested.

The last few weeks have been very busy - since last time I blogged, we spent 3.5 weeks in England and Ireland, visiting (and meeting for the first time) lots and lots of family and running ourselves fairly ragged in the process.  We got home, jumped straight back into work amongst the throes of jetlag, and before we had a chance to recover properly from that, Dave’s daughter C and her foster brother M came to stay with us for a week.

It was absolutely lovely having them with us, we did tons of fun activities, but it really was a full on week - and the moment they left it was in to a string of 6 earlies for me, including a 3 day trip.  So, as you can imagine, combined with the child growing inside me, I’ve been functioning rather less than 100%.

This weekend, although just two days, was so very relaxing.  It started on the Friday, after work, when we went for our 20 week ultrasound and found out IT’S A GIRL!!!  I couldn’t (we couldn’t) be more thrilled - and yes we did fit in some baby shopping into our weekend!  SO many things to buy, it is unreal how expensive having a baby is - but I already knew that.  The really expensive part is going to be taking time off after she is born.

From our apartment in the Gold Coast, we could hear the sound of the waves all night and all day - and it was strangely soothing.  

We woke early both mornings, as usual, and just lay in bed knowing we didn’t HAVE to do anything.  No time we had to be anywhere, no appointments, no work, nothing at all to dictate how we spent our days.

And we finally got up and made tea (or coffee in Dave’s case), and walked in the sand, and we breathed.  Something that we haven’t had enough of lately.  

And hopefully we will get to do this (or something similar) at LEAST one more time before baby girl comes screaming onto the scene! 

Hasting Caves

This is a post without much writing as it is simply to show you some of what we saw of Hastings Caves in Tasmania.

All pictures taken by Dave - you’re welcome! 

Hobart

Friday morning, I worked an early Mackay and then sat around the airport for three hours until Dave arrived so we could start our trip together to Hobart.  I was lying on one of the couches in the Virgin terminal, after napping, when I decided to check the flight numbers... which had been fine the previous day!  To my surprise, the flight was completely full, and continuing to check, I realised that all of the Sydney flights were the same.  

Changing tack, I had a look at Melbourne flights and thankfully found one that would work - although it then meant we had to sit around in Melbourne for three hours before flying onwards to Hobart, landing at 2105.  Having left the house at 0400, I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the idea but at least it would get us there.  It was a bit hit and miss even getting on the flight to Melbourne due to a polar front, but make it we did, and finally found ourselves at our bed and breakfast.  

Orana House was a sprawling colonial style building with pretty gardens filled with daffodils.  I meant to take pictures but our plans changed quite drastically which didn’t give us any time for such niceties!  It was incredibly cold but our room had a decent little heater which kept us alive, at least.  

Saturday morning dawned bright and early - or rather, we woke early at our customary 0500, and it had not dawned, was not bright, and the chill outside took our breath away (or at least mine, because I am weak.). Four degrees is a little bit cold for me.  It wasn’t raining yet but the forecast looked terrible so we decided to make Indoor Plans for the day.

A river beside which we drove

C particularly wanted to go swimming, and when we picked the two of them up at 0730, she already had her swimmers on under her clothes ready to go.  The walk from the car to the Aquatic Centre was absolutely freezing and I began to wonder were we completely and utterly insane to consider this activity?  Thankfully, it was lovely and warm inside and we defrosted quickly.  Unfortunately, having come from Brisbane, neither Dave or I had towels, which we had been hoping to hire - no luck there, apparently the only option was to buy towels at a grandiose price of $35 each.  We settled on one towel to share!  The kids brought their towels from home but seriously seeing how they treated the things made us not want to share them!

For a venue with such a grand name as The Hobart Aquatic Centre, and from photos on google, it was a bit disappointing to find that it consisted of a main (cold) swimming pool with lanes, and a kiddies pool which was mostly thigh deep and full of small children.  This pool was pretty warm forever and C and M enjoyed themselves a lot - and we had fun splashing water at them, pretending to be sharks, and dragons, and generally rough housing around.  Two hours flew and it was time to get out (with C dragging her heels very sulkily!).  

After some biscuit fortification (that I had taken from breakfast) back at the car, we decided to stop at Coles to get Supplies for lunch and snacks, and then get on the road and head down to Hastings Caves.  It was a 1h40 trip one way, but out of the cold and rain and the Caves promised an adventure not yet experienced by C, M or Dave.  

Meanwhile, a new drama presented itself.  Dave’s ex unfortunately misunderstood our plans - although we had written the email together and specified that we were picking up the children at 0730 and dropping them after dinner, she thought that we were keeping them overnight!  We only realised this when she texted to ask could we drop them at her mum’s in the morning.  Um... we only had a small double room booked at the B&B.

We quickly rang the B&B to see if they had another room available, but they were full up.  After a lot of back and forth and trying to find babysitters etc, we eventually ended up booking a 2 bedroom apartment elsewhere for the night!

After this was sorted out, we headed off to Hastings Caves and arrived just in time for the afternoon tour.  Everyone seemed to enjoy theirselves - although C kept whispering to me “I think I might be getting a little scared now” and then got distracted and was fine again.  After this, we went on a quick walk to see if we could find the thermal springs advertised (a 1m round hole in the ground that was well fenced off and not very special) and then it was back to the car (C: I’ve got a stitch and my legs can’t walk any further.). Thankfully we did make it back to the car with mere minutes to spare before the gate was shut at 1600.    Nobody’s legs fell off, either, although by the sounds of things there could have been blood, gore and all out slaughter.

Dave has much nicer photos than me but I’ll post them separately.

The drive back was quieter than the drive there, due to sleepy children, although tempers did get a little frayed once or twice!  

We had to stop by Orana House to let C change her clothes before dinner, as she had unfortunately Sat On Something.  We decided to take all of our things with us and check out (although sadly I left my PJs in the bed!) before going to dinner.  Dinner was at the Irish Pub which is also where we went last time we went to Hobart - a favourite with the children.  I was less than enamoured with my choice of fish and chips (soggy fish), and also didn’t particularly like Dave’s steak and Guinness pie (inside cooked separately to the pastry and placed inside to serve) and C’s rare steak was medium at best!  

Our new abode was a basic apartment, but it had everything we needed - warmth, beds and a hot shower.  In fact, after the children went to bed, we thought next time we might just book something similar and keep the kids all weekend and also having an apartment would mean we could cook dinner and spend $30 on something really nice instead of spending over $100 on almost inedible fare!  Despite having been looking forward to a quiet romantic morning before flying back to Brisbane, it really was nice having the kids with us overnight and they were quiet sad when we dropped them home.  

Thankfully, our flight back to Brisbane had plenty of seats and was on time - in fact, I am writing this from the aeroplane which is why it is so very long winded - you’re welcome.  

This boy

We have finally booked everything for our trip to the UK and Ireland and I couldn’t be more excited!  It is just a few weeks away now and I can’t wait to introduce my amazing David to my family - and of course meet his.

And here’s a very early almost-dawn photo over Brisbane airport a couple of mornings ago.  Not completely in focus but we were travelling at 300kts and it was taken on an iPhone in low light!

It is absolutely freezing!  I am wrapped in blankets on the couch waiting for it to get warmer... and it probably doesn’t help that I have frozen fruit in my breakfast muesli which is cooling me from the inside out. 

David and I have only done a couple of climbs recently as my roster has been very busy and I have been very very tired.  We did have a lovely climb up Beerwah in the semi wet and got some nice photos.

 

It was good fun although I do prefer climbing when it is dry.

We also saw a beautiful Beerwah sunset

This photo is looking East back towards Coonowrin (left) and Tibrogargan just right of the shadow of Beerwah.

We also went flying with Lily, in the 172RG and she wasn’t terrified all of the time ... she didn’t like full power but seemed to like Dave’s practice forced landing!  

Here’s a nice shadow of the aeroplane, coming in to land

We also got Dave a new car!  Very exciting, and we pick it up in a week or two after finance is approved 

Doesn’t he look smart?  He had just completed a job interview to be an engineering instructor, which went really well and we are really hoping he gets.  It would be initially a casual position but potentially with a full time position available in the future.  Either way, a government job that would be much more reliable than his current company!  It’s not the BEST time to be buying a new car, with so much uncertainty, but he needs a vehicle to be able to get to work, and his old Camry is so dodgy now, I’m worried for him every time he drives it.  Not only does it have 350,000km on it, but it also steers left dramatically, the steering vibrates through the steering wheel, and two out of four wheels wobble alarmingly as you drive... so we didn’t have much of an option other than to replace it!

Anyway that’s about it for now - I’ll try to make the next post sooner!

It’s hard to explain why I haven’t blogged lately.  It’s not like I don’t have down time, I do, but it’s more like I don’t really think about it any more.  And when I do, no words really come to me. 

Just a random cute picture of my child

And now to recap on June...  it was an insanely busy month from a work point of view, and my only weekend off was the very last weekend of the month, so by then I felt like I was beginning to forget what D looked like!  This last weekend was D’s birthday, and I managed to get 3 days off to spend with him - unfortunately on the very first day I got a head cold so we had a quiet few days.  Even so, it was so nice just to be together.  

We have got a few climbs in but not as many as I was hoping - that weekend off we had planned to climb every day but being sick, I didn’t have the energy.

Us on Beerwah for a VERY cold sunset

Said sunset

There has been lots of uncertainty with D’s job over the past few weeks.  Even now, the company is technically closing down but D is keeping it ticking over enough to keep him and one other guy employed. It is very stressful for him though, and we were hopeful last week when he got a job interview - but that was then cancelled a couple of days before.

We were hoping that D’s daughter would be able to visit us during the July school holidays but unfortunately this didn’t happen (again) so we are travelling down to Hobart next weekend for a couple of days.  That will hopefully go as well as it did last time... maybe better!  D will go for four days and I will join him halfway through for two days, as my roster is once again pretty packed.

Today, we are going on a 3 hour river cruise.  Yes, me, on a boat.  D’s idea, obviously, as there is a US aircraft carrier in Brisbane this weekend and the cruise is specially laid on to see it.  Should be fun, if I don’t fall in the water and get eaten by bull sharks.  Then, tonight we are going to a leaving party for one of my ATR friends who is moving to New Zealand.

And that is all the blogging you get... I leave you with a final cute photo of my child

(Temporary Backup) Back at work

It happened!  After 9 long weeks, my return to work happened glitch free.  I narrowly scraped inside the time window for revalidation, at 67 days only needing to complete 2 training flights.  If I had hit 70, the requirement would have been 10 training flights plus a check.  It was made a little harder due to having only had 3 days’ work since my month in Africa, but it wasn’t long before the rustiness fell away.  (Nice excuse though)

After my reval, I was supposed to just have a few quiet days on reserve and days off before work started in earnest, but when offered a 4 day trip with bucketloads of overtime, it was impossible to refuse.

This trip had me covering Sydney flights, overnighting at the Gold Coast, right beside the beach.  It was odd being so close to home (90 min drive) and a pity that D couldn’t join me due to work, but the location was amazing!

Four days began to feel like a really long time before I finally got to go home - for one short day!!!  It was then off again, overnighting in Cairns this time, where it rained and rained and rained.

I got home late last night at 2300 and quickly packed to travel to Hobart this morning, this time for “fun”.  Getting up with my alarm at 0415, I felt like a zombie well after arriving at the airport.  Scraping onto the flight with the very last standby seat, I am now using the QF free wifi to blog on my way to Sydney - where I will hopefully scrape onto the mostly-full flight to Hobart.  

This is a big weekend: today is when I meet D’s daughter, C (9), and tonight we are going to dinner with his ex and her new partner.  I have to say I am a lot more nervous to meet the ex than to meet C!  However, it is very important that I do so, as we are really hoping that C will be allowed to travel up to Brisbane in the upcoming school holidays.

There was a really beautiful rainbow over the house when I left for work a couple of days ago, so here you are!  An early morning K&D residence shot, with a rainbow.  Or two. 

In other news, it’s just a couple of weeks now until I can go climbing again! My wrist is still somewhat sore when I use it, and aches quite a bit at night time, but with lots of heat pack and massage treatment, it is continuing to heal well and strengthen.  I doubt it will ever be 100% but I will keep working on it!

Anyway the cabin crew are bringing around breakfast now, so i

April

April has come and almost gone, and despite being off work, I’ve still managed to fit a lot into the month!  The hardest thing has been the loss of independence due to not being able to drive.  It is amazing how quickly one learns to do things with one arm - and even then, after the first two weeks in the cast, I was able to use my left hand for light things like holding a fork, etc.

Since then, a lot of my days have been spent at work with Dave, working on things like fixing the P51d (Mustang) which was both fun and frustrating at the same time.  It has given me a much greater appreciation for the work that engineers do!  

We have been on a few short hikes up Coochin and Ngungun, although I won’t be able to climb my favourites for another few weeks until the tendon is stronger.  We have watched sunsets, been to the beach, and spent a glorious weekend away in Noosa together - our first mini holiday!

I also went down to Melbourne for a couple of days to visit a friend, and this coming weekend we are going to Hobart to visit Dave’s daughter.  This will be my first time meeting C, so I am a little nervous!  

The last couple of days have been a bit hectic - we almost got the Mustang finished, and then on the first engine run, a drive shaft snapped which may mean the removal of the entire engine, which is a massive job... ugh.  After all the hard work of the last couple of weeks it was a bit depressing!  Then, Lily suddenly developed an abcess and was in to the vet’s for emergency surgery, and the very same day I seem to have developed tonsillitis.  I can only say that I am very thankful that this has happened before my return to work.

It looks like I may be back at work in two weeks... I am now seeing a private occupational therapist as I wasn’t making much progress with the public system.  My new OT thinks that two weeks might be a bit fast, but I am determined to work hard towards it. 

This week, due to the Mustang being officially broken, Lily needing 24h supervision, and being a bit under the weather myself, I am keeping myself busy around the house.  My wrist exercises alone take up 4h30 of each day (6x45mins).

Also, we are another step closer to booking our trip to the UK and Ireland in September, as we have found flights - I just need Lily’s vet bill to clear off my credit card before I can book them 😂

My second housemate moves out today, which signals the end of an era.  My first housemate moved out at the end of January (he bought a house) and was efficiently organised in the weeks proceeding the move.  Everything was boxed up, everything was carefully loaded into the Ute for the minimum number of trips to the new house, and the move proceeded to schedule.

My second housemate decided not to pack.  He scheduled his move for yesterday and today (he got the keys two days ago) and decided just to throw things in the back of the car and “the house isn’t far away” so it didn’t matter how many trips (but every trip takes thirty minutes out of the day in driving alone).  He got side tracked during the first trip and spent a few hours at the new house cleaning gutters and so on.  He got side tracked on the second trip with multiple phone calls (at his usual top volume) to friends, and so far he hasn’t moved anything out of his bedroom at all.  (“I’m just going to tip the drawers into the boot.”)

He got a phone call last night from work asking him if he could do an overtime shift, so this morning he has gone to work, leaving him just the afternoon to move house.  I’m not quite sure how he is going to do it, considering he hasn’t even put his pantry contents into a box yet, or packed Anything At All from his bedroom.  But we shall see!  It is all quite amusing watching the process - and I am systematically going through my cupboards and putting his things on the spare bed as I know he will forget them otherwise!

In other news... there is no news.  I go back to the hospital this morning to have my splint amended - then another two weeks splinted and two weeks after that doing exercises and then hopefully back to work!  Lily isn’t going to know what hit her - she is loving having me home and trails behind me every time I move off the couch.  

Aussie happenings

I arrived home with a clear day off before returning to work.  This passed in a moment, what with unpacking, jet lag, and of course my most amazing boyfriend, who met me at the airport complete with a massive bouquet of flowers.

Lily also met me with lots of kisses, once we got to the house, although was a little less effusive than I expected.  Mind you, after my first overnight back at work, when I got home she was SO excited, she must’ve thought I was going away for a long time again!

This one day off was filled with chores, appointments, baby shopping for little K, and all the food I could possibly eat.  D made slow cooked ribs for my first night back, and they were amazing- especially after a month Vegetarian!

My first day back at work was a little weird to start with.  I felt really rusty but it came back to me quickly!  And, excitingly, D was able to join me on my overnight up in Cairns.  The captain, N, had plans to hire a car and go swimming in the pools at Fishery Falls, so we joined him and had an awesome time.

D was able to join me in the flight deck before the flight home 

It was a really memorable trip - despite all the rain (the rainforest living up to its name), and hopefully we can do more of the same! 

After that trip, I had a day trip, bringing my total flights after my holiday up to six.

Six short sectors... three take offs... three landings... and that was it.

Wednesday morning, we finally made it up Tibrogargan (it was going to be Beerwah but we felt very unfit)

And then... once home I offered to do the washing up while D did other chores, and a wine glass exploded in my hand, slicing into my wrist and cutting a tendon.  I yelled for D, he came quickly out of the office and I ordered him to GET A TOWEL and kept positive pressure on my wrist with my right hand.

D quickly bundled me and the towel into the car and raced off to A&E - unfortunately I forgot my wallet in the rush and chose shoes instead of flip flops, that D then had to struggle to get onto my bare feet before going into the hospital!

Waiting in Emergency 

when the surgeon finally came to see me, he agreed that I had cut a tendon (I could see the white ends) and admitted me to hospital pending surgery.  We were hoping to be processed the same evening, but being on the emergency list meant that we were fairly low priority as obviously if a serious injury or Caesarean came in, we had to wait!

Interim Dave came to visit 

It was past 1500 the next day (Thurs) when they came to take me.  I was petrified, having never had surgery before, and poor D was pretty anxious too.  Thankfully they were all very nice and it didn’t end up being as scary as I thought.  By 1830 (I think) they were taking me back upstairs.

Now sporting a snazzy cast

They let me go home just after 2200 as I was very insistent that I wanted to sleep in my own bed!  Sadly, having cut a tendon, it sounds as though it will be a slow recovery and at the moment I have two months off work.  D is doing half days at the moment so is home every afternoon doing paperwork, so it is nice having him home to help me - as it’s amazing how much you need two hands for!

Last night, almost one week after the accident, we walked up Ngungun for sunset.  Although it wasn’t climbing, it was so nice being out and not trapped in the house.

Everyone has been so supportive, and maybe it will give me more time to blog (with one hand!!)

A Month Later

Wow.

Has it really been almost a month?  I was reminded of my lack of blog by T’s email this morning.  Kenya got crazily busy after returning from the Masai Mara.

I didn’t update then, because it was all Secret, but J&S got a referral from Thailand right before we went to the Mara.  This threw all plans into disarray.  They had planned to be in Kenya at least until the end of the year, obviously all plans were based on the unlikelihood of getting a referral during this time.  When, out of the blue, the phone call came, everything went into overdrive.

I managed to extend my trip by five days to the end of the month, and days became crazily long stretches of school prep - broken only by school and meal prep!  S worked late into the nights trying to write schemes for classes and organise the school for her absence, and at the same time look (and hope) for a replacement.  Unfortunately at this point in time there isn’t yet a replacement but the teachers are holding the fort themselves.

Ira, making clay letters

Precious, bouncing on the ball I brought 

Gaitin (top) and Eric in white shirts trying to show off for me... and lots of other kids

It was quite emotional towards the end of the trip knowing that not only was I leaving but also, a few days afterwards, S&J would also be going.  They have to be in Ireland for at least a year with the new baby before the adoption is finalised.  In fact, at this moment in time, they have just arrived in Thailand and are visiting the orphanage in just a few hours!

Saying goodbye to Bravine 

Saying goodbye to Bravine was incredibly hard.  I just wanted to bundle him into my suitcase and bring him home.  He is such an incredible kid and deserves so much more.  At just six, he is in second grade, full of life, mischief, and has the funniest snickering laugh.  He has a very tough home life, needs a lot of loving, and I hope he will be okay.  I will be continuing to sponsor him.

All too soon, my stay in Kenya drew to a close.  I finished school prep a day before I left so thankfully could take a breath to pack, and it was a little easier saying goodbye to my sister knowing that I would be visiting in September.  

I hope that I will see Kenya, and all these awesome little kids, again!  (Especially as D wants to come too!)

Masai Mara (Day1)

What a day!!!

We have just got back from our first game drive, showered, and made a cup of coffee.  It is 1900 and dinner is in 1 hour.  Our driver scared us momentarily by saying the morning drive was at 0330 but hastily corrected himself with 0630!  I can deal with that.

We left home this morning just after six, when it was still dark, and the drums were already beating and Salvation Army people singing to encourage people to go to their church.  It wasn’t long before it was light: like in Australia, here it gets light and gets dark much more abruptly than in Ireland.  

An hour into our trip, as we skirted Kisumu, I said lightly to Jon “did you remember your malaria medication?” (He was diagnosed yesterday) ... surprise surprise, he did forget!  So there was a little bit of a panic while we worked out where we could find said medication at 0730 on a Sunday morning - but thankfully we found a county hospital in a place called Ahero.

After that, the drive was pretty uneventful for the next three hours or so.  We passed the equator, lots of tea plantations, tropical vegetation, and then the terrain started changing as we climbed the hills and the tea plantations turned into savannah.  Cactus and flat topped acacia began to line the roads, donkeys grazed on the side strips instead of cows and goats, and it was noticeably drier.  

The final 35km of the road to Fairmont started at a little village called Mulot.  The resort gave us a “map” which was basically an A4 page with a few random landmarks to show us how to get there from Mulot.  The first few were pretty accurate... and then it was anyone’s guess!  We passed multiple schools and villages not marked on the map, other landmarks simply weren’t there, and to add to that, the Jeep kept stalling due to the bumpiness of the road and the slowness of our pace.  Jon says it has a problem with the carburettor, in any case not being able to put it into low gears meant that the spark plugs were getting dirty and every time the engine started again we were very relieved.  The 35km took us two entire hours!

As we approached the Mara, the villages became less and less frequent (the houses were circular mud huts with grass roofs) and we began to see wild animals.  First, it was zebra, then impala and giraffes - and to our surprise, a leopard crossed the road directly in front of us!  This was especially exciting for Sarah, who has always wanted to see a leopard, and apparently out of the Big 5, the leopard is the rarest.  

At the Fairmont Mara, we were met by two staff members who took our bags and gave us damp towels to wipe our faces and hands.  We were then led into reception where we were given passion fruit juice and forms to fill in.  

Once this was done, we were told that we had thirty minutes til lunch finished and then an hour later was our first game drive!  We went straight to lunch which was a three course a la carte meal.  All meals are included in our stay - drinks are extra.  After lunch, we barely had fifteen minutes to organise ourselves to go on our game drive.

It was incredible!  We saw so much wildlife.  Let me try to list them... Thompson gazelles, impala, dikdiks (the smallest of the antelopes), topi, elands, bush bucks, water bucks, baboons, 11 giraffes, 2 hyena, leopards (again, this one a mother & cub!), 4 lions, 5 buffalo, zebra, warthogs, wildebeest... probably more but I just can’t remember them all!  

When we got back from the drive our driver wanted to know if we wanted to pay extra to visit a Masai village tomorrow.  To be honest, the answer is no!  We get plenty of time in villages and they will probably try to sell us stuff the whole time - and we don’t really want to pay more on top of what we are paying, even if we do have concession prices!  In fact, as we already have game drives (included) from 0630-0830 and 1530-1830, what we would really like to do is relax by the pool (preferably with cocktails)

Hopefully tomorrow I will get lots of really nice photos of the resort - it is pretty incredible - African but quite first world!