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Nicola Green Whaley

@greenconcernslandscapedesign

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Middle-aged landscape designer who thinks she's 25, until the end of the day when she sits down. I love being outside, gardens, beaches, or mountains.

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It took 25 hours to get home from Nairobi. Luckily, my wonderful cousin, Amanda, met me about 10 hrs into my journey, since I had a 6 hr layover at Heathrow. She drove all the way down from Birmingham to have breakfast with me! It meant the world to me! 🥰😘 She also looks a lot more awake than I do. 😉
#travel #layovers #cousins #sweetcousins #breakfast by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Day 11 & 12 Finishing up in the Serengeti and then flying back to Arusha and then to Nairobi made for a long day. Most of the group never left the airport, they proceed on to the long journey home. While Jenny and I spent the night in Nairobi and enjoyed sleeping in, hanging out at the pool, and getting massages before the long flight home.
Missing Kenya & Tanzanian and all the wondrous animals and people we crossed paths with.
1.& 2. Leopard
3. Lion cub
4. Safari vehicle traffic jam! You always knew when there was an animal sighting.
5. Secretariat bird
6. Lions using the vehicle as shade, they just consider them another animal.
7. Elephants slapping mud on themselves after a much appreciated rain storm.
8. Our crew
9. Saying goodbye to our Tanzanian driver, Barack, or "Dimples".
#Serengeti #wildlifesafari #tanzania #tanzaniaguides by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Days 8 -10 Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park.
Other than being the biggest intact volcanic caldera on Earth, the Ngorongoro Crater is also a natural sanctuary for some of the densest populations of large mammals in Africa. Due to its enclosed nature, the Ngorongoro Crater has effectively formed its own ecosystem and is an UNESCO World Heritage site.
1. Our a the overlook of Ngorongoro Crater.
2. One of the many Maasai Villages within the Crater. An estimated 93,000 pastorialists live in the conservation area
3. Serengeti entrance
4. More tall acacia eaters 🦒
5. Silver-backed Jackal
6. Lappet-Faced Vulture
7. Mwanza Flat-headed Agama
8. A couple of male lions
9. Broken down in the Serengeti, luckily rescued!Especially after seeing the lions just before!
10. Storm brewing over the Serengeti
11. Evening safari
12.&13. Hippos enjoying the rain
14. Leopard tortoise crossing the road
15. A Dik Dik right outside our room. Dik Dik's are the smallest antelope in the world and mate for life. If one gets eaten by a predator, the other one will sadly die from the stress of being alone. Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge where we stayed had rescued an orphaned Dik Dik, her name was Irene, and she liked to cruise the dining room looking for hand outs of French fries and grapes.
16. Good morning Serengeti! View from our balcony with animals wandering by at any time. At night, we had to have escorts to and from our room because there's no keeping animals out. Leopards have been found on balconies and elephants like playing in the pool.
17. Pool
18. Our hobbit huts
19. Cheetahs
20. Leopard warming on rocks
#ngorongorocrater#unescoworldheritage
#maasaitribe#pastorialists#serengeti#wildlifesafari
#bigfivesafari by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Day 5-7 Amboseli and then crossed into Tanzania and went to Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorongora Conservation Area
1.& 2. Amboseli Sopa Lodge
3. View of Mount Kilimanjaro from lodge
4. Thompson gazelle and 🐘
5. Happy elephant wading in Amboseli swamp.
6. Greater Kudu
7.Olive baboons
8. Silver-cheeked Hornbill
9. Blue Monkey
10. & 11. Baboons
12. Can't get enough elephants.
13. Largest flying bird - Kori Bustard.
14. Serval, who walked alongside the safari vehicle.
15. African Buffalo
16. Male lion
17. Maera Valley Lodge, the owner Reggie, lived in Bellingham for a short time and was chef at The Rhododendron Cafe on Chuckanut Dr. small world! Now he owns 9 lodges in the area.
18. Our digs there.
19. Pool area where Jenny and I became part of an African wedding photo shoot after they saw us swimming in the pool. They requested we be in all their photos even though we we're dripping wet! Something we won't soon forget! 😅🤣😂
20. View of Ngorongora Crater from the top. by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Day 3-4 More Masaii Mara, can I tell you how much I love this place!
1. Wart hogs, love these guys. They always turn tail and run with their tails held high.
2. & 3. A pride of lions crossing the road. The animals are so used to the safari vehicles they just think they are another animal not to be concerned with.
4. Saying goodbye to Julian, our 1st guide, teacher, and philosopher.
5. Our flight back to Nairobi to meet our 2nd leg of our Kenyan tour.
6. The next stop was Amboseli National Park home of up to 50 herds of African elephants. 🐘 And the Grey Crowned Crane.
7. 🐘
8. Giraffe 🦒
9. Young Zebra, they have brown stripes until they are more mature. Also, their stripes are like finger prints, no two are alike.
10. You never know who you might meet on the way to your room, a Vervet Monkey.
11 & 12. Pink Flamingos
13. A very hungry hippo.
14. Spotted hyena
15. Johnny, our 2nd Kenyan driver, was so patient and helpful, when I was vomiting outside the pharmacy while he was getting me anti vomit pills. 🤮
#amboselinationalpark
#africa #africanelephants #hippos #birdsofafrica #safari
#animalsofkenya by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Home safely, but still jetlagged and trying to sort out the wondrous days spent in Kenya and Tanzania. Every day was amazing in its own way. Safaris are not for the faint of heart, early mornings, long days on washboard roads bumping along for hours in the heat and dust, my Fitbit was recording 20,000 steps when I barely walked 100 steps. An unbelievable schedule that gave you barely time to write a text home, but every second was so worth it, I still can't believe the beauty I saw and the people I met!
1. Before we started our safari, we spent a day in Nairobi adjusting to the time change, we ate at a farm to table restaurant in the Karen area of Nairobi. Cultiva Farm Kenya had delicious food and such a great atmosphere. #cultivakenya
Day 1- Nariobi, Safari Walk where the endangered 2. Black rhino is guarded 24/7. 3. Giraffe 🦒 Center, where you learn about the rewilding and conservation efforts of the endangered Rothschild giraffes. 4.Karen Blixen Museum.
Day 2 Masaii Mara Nature Reserve
5. Jill, childhood friend, and Jenny, my sister, who made this trip come to fruition.
6. Masaii giraffe 🦒
7. Safari vehicle and Wildebeest.
8. Masaii Mara sunset
9.Acacia tree
10. Cheetahs brothers with kill a rare sight.
11. Another rare sight a male lion who was full from a baby hippo (left that out) he and probably another male had killed while they were out of the water grazing at night. Lions rarely attack hippos, and female lions are the dominant hunters.
12. Saddled-billed stork
13. African Buffalo
14. Commerce is brisk along every road and highway.
15. Elephants
16. Elephant butt's!
17. Masaii elephant dung huts.
18. Lilac Breasted Roller - The National bird of Kenya.
19. Another bonus, hippos out of the water!
20. Masaii Mara scenery
#masaiimara#cosmossafari#giraffecenternairobi#safariwalk#rothchildgiraffe by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Tanzania 🇹🇿 an amazing country! Just a few of the animals we saw in the Ngorogoro Ngorogoro Crater, a huge caldera full of Life and beauty and home to 8000 Masaii. by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Last night's Solstice Sunset. ❤
#wintersolstice #pnwsunset by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

We are still wondering how our lovely garden went from a lush cottage garden look to roots, rocks, and mud? What a muddy, rocky mess it is after we had to have a new septic system and drainfield installed. After 100 yrs our drainfield was no longer perking, the surprise was it lasted that long! But with new regulations the new system had to have 2-1000 gallon tanks installed in the front yard with a pump, that pumped it up the whole length of the side garden to the backyard. That's where the new drainfield had to be installed. Then the other side yard was dug up because our water line that comes from the very back of our property had to be rerouted and/or sleeved if it was within 10ft of the drainfield. Hence practically our entire yard was dug up. The only thing that was spared was the terrace and rock wall we took all spring/summer '22 to build. Starting over with a clean slate but a lot less energy than I had 20 yrs ago. Sigh. #onceagarden#septicnightmare#rocks#mud#roots by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

After many failed attempts we finally went on our sailing adventure on the Sandra Kay through the San Juans. Many thanks to our friend and captain, Stuart. Our first night we moored at Jones Island, Rus' parents special place. Then anchored at Shaw the second night, and the final night Lopez Sound. Lots of fun sailing and learning lots of boaty terms! by @greenconcernslandscapedesign

Good morning Seattle. On our way from Whidbey Island back to the grind. But had a fantastic time with our friends @kennypaigestyling @mattdegooyer at their lovely Whidbey house. by @greenconcernslandscapedesign