My Review of Keen San Antonio Slip-Ons - Men's

REI

If comfortable casual slip-ons are what you seek, remember the Alamo! San Antonio shoes offer maximum comfort and cushion in a popular Keen style.

Keen San Antonio Slip-Ons - Men's

Rugged enough for safari

sbeaver07 Atlanta, GA 3/27/2009

 

4 5

Gift: No

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Pros: Moisture wicking, Breathes Well, Comfortable, Durable

Best Uses: Casual Wear, Outdoor, Wet Weather, Travel

Describe Yourself: Comfort Driven

I bought these shoes for a two-week wildlife safari to Africa. They were so comfortable that I ended up wearing them everyday. While they won't replace my hiking books for heavy-duty hiking, they were rugged and supportive enough to get around on shorter hikes in the bush. The excellent moisture wicking feature kept them dry and odor-free. They were also easy to slip off/on at airport security checks. Now that I'm back in the states I still put them on before any other shoe for everyday wear, especially on rainy days because they are water resistant.

Keens in action

: Product in action, Using Product

()

Flying on a Cessna

Imagine taking a ride on your favorite roller coaster at Six Flags. Then imagine the ride never ending. That's what it was like for me on my flight from Nairobi to Nanyuki (pronounced nan-YOU-key), which is the region I will be spending most of my visit. The picture above is the of the single prop, 12 passenger Cessna. Very different from the planes I had enjoyed on my trans-Atlantic flight. My stop was the last of four to drop off small groups of "safari-ers" to remote dirt airstrips throughout the region. So four takeoffs, four landings, and two hours later I finally arrived. I'm trying to also upload a video of one of our takeoffs. Tammy, you would have loved it! Not.

Population Correction

I double checked my driver's facts and it looks like he was a little off. The population of Kenya was about 32 million. There are about 3 million people living in Nairobi. There you have it.

Tiptoe through the tulips

Could Tiny Tim have imagined tiptoeing in these pointy clunkers? Probably not. I arrived in Africa via the most unlikely route...in my mind anyway. My first 8+ hour flight brought me to halfway point -- land of tulips and wooden shoes -- Amsterdam. While there wasn't much to see outdoors on my 3-1/2 hour layover -- just thick, foggy and drizzly grayness -- the inside the airport was a delight to tourists. From Swiss watches to chocolates to assorted dried fishes in vacuum-sealed foil pouches to, yes, even tulip bulbs. 

I met a couple of interesting travelers en route. On the first flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam I sat next to a Scottish chap who was the CFO for a professional Scottish football (soccer) team called the Hibernian (Hibs for short). http://www.hibs.co.uk/ His wife is American and lives in the states, and they only see each other a few times a year. He was in Atlanta interviewing with the Atlanta Falcons for a controller position, and also has talked with the San Francisco 49ers. If anyone has a job lead let me know.

The other traveler was a young Chinese-American woman I met on the flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. I noticed her with her trekking poles and found out that she is traveling in Africa for five weeks (!!) to hike both Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro, the two highest points in Africa. My trip will last two weeks, and I know I'd be uncomfortable being alone for five weeks. Not to mention homesick! I will be within striking distance of Mount Kenya later this week so I'll plan to post some pics.

One note of trivia from my driver: The population of Kenya is around five million. Four million live in Nairobi.

One month away

A blog. Hmm. Never thought it would come to this, but I've realized that if I don't jump on now I might let modern communication technology leave me behind all together. So here goes....

After working with African wildlife conservation organizations for over 5 years, I finally get the opportunity to actually take a trip to Africa! One month from tomorrow I will depart Atlanta and fly to Nairobi, Kenya for two weeks. Part of my time there will be spent training a group of people how to use a variety of graphics software, while the remaining time will be to experience the last great frontier of the world by taking "the safari of a lifetime" (I'm told). My hope is to document as much of that experience as possible and share it with anyone interested through this blog.

In the meantime, I'm told that there are a battery of vaccinations needed, so that's where I need to get started. Fun.