The Wedding World Tour continued from the USA wedding — an outrageously fun and beautiful party — on 11 February 2011, to our incredible, spiritual, loving wedding in Lampang, Bangkok on 18 February … and now on to Kenya for our Maasai ceremony on Wednesday, 23 February.

We took an overnight flight Sunday night from Bangkok to Nairobi. We flew Air Kenya (the only leg of our flight not on our favorite airline), and I have to say … it was terrible. Never have I been so cold on a flight; it must have been 50 degrees in our seat, and the flight attendants were downright sour about just about everything. I slept with the one blanket I could get covering my head, only my nose sticking out, and 2 jackets piled on me, two pairs of socks … it must’ve looked hilarious, but certainly wasn’t funny.

We arrived about 5am, to be picked up by our host from Giraffe Manor (history here). In case you’ve never heard of it, Giraffe Manor is a world-famous guesthouse which has 11 rare Rothschild giraffes living on property, along with warthogs, birds, and the family dog (yes, a standard canine).

I’d chosen it based upon it’s nearly 70 ridiculously happy reviews on Tripadvisor … but to be honest it was our one big splurge, and somewhere down I didn’t believe that it could actually be worth the exorbitant price.

I was wrong.

It wasn’t just the giraffes — which in itself was an unbelievable experience — but also the incredible staff which attends to every need. Heavenly French-pressed Kenyan coffee? Yes … about 6 times in our 24-hours. A fine drink from our always-open liquor cabinet? Again, yes … several times. Food beyond compare? Yes … 3+ times a day. The company of interesting hosts and fascinating guests? Again … yes, yes yes. Giraffe Manor was heaven. It felt as if we had gone 100 years into the past, staying as kings and queens would at a colonial mansion in Kenya, surrounded by wild nature.

Our morning started early, with the famous Giraffe Manor breakfast. With giant giraffes poking their head into the window of our breakfast nook, it was hard to eat the delicious food … but we did, and had seconds to boot (as well as taking hundreds of photos!).

Next, we got the official tour of the manor by Nigel. He showed April how to put a pellet of giraffe food into his mouth, and the giraffe — with her 18-inch long tongue — would take the pellet out of his mouth. Then came April’s turn … and quite possibly my favorite series of photos from our trip:

Yes … a classic moment. April went up for a nap, and I went outside and got a massive sunburn (to be seen later in all the Maasai wedding pictures) from the high altitude (about 4,500 feet), and the equatorial sun. I couldn’t help but stand out there, having a Tusker beer, talking with the staff, and throwing pellets into Lynn’s mouth.

Lynn was one of our favorite giraffes — and also the namesake for our room — and she loved to play “catch.” One person would throw a pellet in, which she would amazingly catch … then she would turn her head and stare at the other person, awaiting the pellet from them. I have no idea why, but it was incredibly fun to go back and forth, taking turns throwing pellets into this giant’s mouth.

I must’ve spent an hour playing with Lynn and a couple of the other giraffes, and watching Nigel’s dog chase the warthogs. (She’d run up to them, nip their butt, then run in a feigned panic when they turned around in [real] anger at her.) It was hilarious to watch.

We had an amazing, amazing lunch — definitely among the best meals of our Wedding World Tour …

… followed by more giraffe-time…

…more social time, and a long, long meeting with a reporter from Kenya’s newspaper, The Standard. The reporter, Crystal, was quite nice, and we talked for several hours.

Soon it was time for dinner. We had the choice to eat outside or in; and although outside looked incredible …

… we chose to be indoor, as it was a communal affair. As we were introducing ourselves, I said “This is my wife — whoa!!!! – April!” I realized it was the first time introducing her as wife. (She, of course, then introduced me as her husband … and we explained the funny looks on both of our faces.) The dinner was candlelit, filled with joyous conversation, laughing, incredibly amazing food, and followed by desert and drinks and more talking in the main hall. It was the perfect end to a truly perfect day.

Below … some more pictures — some of them amazing in their own right but with no more room to post. Next up on the blog … a few more Giraffe Manor pictures from our next morning, plus our elephant orphanage  … and our meeting of Sekerot and the Maasai!

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Okay … the title of “One Night in Bangkok” isn’t entirely accurate: we actually had one night surrounded by two afternoons in this vibrant, contradictory, crazy city.

But before we arrived that Saturday afternoon … there was still Northern Thailand. We left Lampang early — after a bittersweet goodbye to our new family there — and took the hourlong taxi ride with our family and new friends to Chiang Mai, then the Air Asia flight to Bangkok.

(Two points of interest on this journey … the airport was shut down in front of our eyes while one of the Thai Princes arrived at the airport to great fanfare of military officials, and great amounts of military security. Meantime, we got a foot massage while awaiting our delayed flight, for like $5 … I love Thailand!) At this point, my mom and Jack stayed in Chiang Mai for a few days, and Holly, Nick and Missy went down to the south of Thailand to see Phuket and the islands. So it was me, April, and her brother Scott, to explore for a day before heading out of Thailand.

(Click below to see more Bangkok photos)

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Immediately following the Thai Wedding and brunch of our 4-wedding world tour, we took the chance to turn up the AC and take a short nap while our friends went shopping and got affordable Thai massages. (I think they said they were $3 or $5 for an hour.) Then on to our next excitement … a party with the entire small village!

(click through below if you don’t see more pictures!)

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The second of the four weddings on our Wedding World Tour took place in Lampang, Thailand on 18 February 2011 … just one week to the day after our first USA ceremony.

It’s only been a week, but since we had unbelievably great flights on Emirates, toured Chiang Mai and saw the most amazing temple, swam with elephants, and learned Thai cooking. Now, after so much anticipation, is at last the big (second) wedding day!

We started off very early from Papa’s house — about 5:30 am — for our wedding clothing, hair and makeup. While the girls got ready, I took a walk around the block and discovered the town center: an old clock tower, surrounded by a fire station and fountains. The sun was coming up on a beautiful Thai day, horse-drawn carriages passed on the streets, and monks made their morning begging rounds. All in all … a beautiful way to start the day.

(If you can’t see the rest of the pictures, click through below.) Read the rest of this entry »

It is 17 February 2011, and after an intense, amazing day with elephants, we slowed down a bit and attended a cooking class through Thai Cooking Farm.

As an aside, there was an elephant story that I forgot to mention on that post: April and her Mahout (her elephant’s trainer) had both taken their shoes off and forgotten. When they went to leave, the Mahout grabbed April’s shoes — and in so doing, forgot his. However — to prove that he was smarter than the both of them — April’s elephant went over, grabbed his Mahout’s shoes, and brought them to the trainer! April witnessed the whole thing, and was amazed at the intelligence this massive animal had just shown. Anyway … back to our story:

Once again, we leave our charming hotel, Baan Orapin, and travel a short distance to the local market.

Always a fascinating place for me to visit in any culture, we see the vast varieties of rice available, chickens (and their feet), and amazing varieties of food. (The pictures of the food still make my mouth water.)

(Click here if you can’t see the rest of the pictures)

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Swimming with elephants. Three words that can only give a hint at how incredible of an experience we all had at Patara Elephant Camp, near Chiang Mai, Thailand.

It had been 6 days since our USA wedding — the first of four on our Wedding World Tour — and tomorrow was to be our Thai wedding ceremony. So much had already happened, it was hard to believe our first ceremony had only been a few days earlier. We were traveling with my best-friend Missy, and April’s brother, sister, and her boyfriend … and were soon to meet up with my parents. And although expensive by Thai standards, we had done lots of Tripadvisor research and finally all decided to go together to Patara Elephant Camp’s “Mahout for a Day” Program. 

We were picked up from our fabulous hotel, Baan Orapin, and 30 minutes later were staring at a beautiful field with about a dozen elephants standing around. We first learned from Pat the mission of Patara, and why most elephant camps in Thailand — although they are much less expensive — aren’t so great for the elephants. By the end we were all fully convinced that Patara was the only camp that we’d ever recommend. (There’s lots to look out for if you’re researching a camp to go for … but whatever you do, avoid the camps where the elephants are doing tricks!.) Patara’s efforts at conservation and understanding the elephant’s needs are truly impressive.

We then “suited up” and headed out to meet our elephant. My “best (wo)man” from the USA wedding, Missy, was the first sent out to her elephant. It’s a bit (okay, a lot!) intimidating to approach a 14-foot tall animal with gigantic tusks, and to essentially stick your hand in his mouth as he eats each a bunch of bananas out of your hand. It’s even more intimidating when you’re the first one of the day, with the largest elephant … but Missy did great. Even so, when I approached my elephant Maesi Noi — I have no idea how to really spell her name — it was daunting. She iss about 35 years old, pregnant, and very stubborn. Her ears weren’t flapping in happiness as we were told they should, and I took this as a bad sign. (Turns out, she just really isn’t much of an ear-flipper.)

Into her massive, wet mouth my hand (and several large groups of bananas) went. (I still have my hand, so I consider this a success.)

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Just a quick note to let you know that pictures were added to our post on our fabulous journey on Emirates on our Wedding World Tour. See the new pictures here!