The photos are up!

After many hours in front of the laptop, our photos are finally online. I'll only put a few here to wet your whistle, but the whole set is on Flickr, so please check them out. It was amazing to be so close to so many amazing wild animals. The longer we've been home, the more it's sunk in just how incredible our experience was. Almost too much to really take in at the time.

Here's the link to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelbremer/sets/72157607039555687/

Hope you enjoy...


Arriving in Kichwa Tembo



Our tent at Karen Blixen Camp



The elephant welcoming committee (this is the river that ran right behind our camp. Nice view for all of our meals!)



Ric and his new best friend




Quite a big boy...



The family of giraffes that liked to hang out right outside of our camp



Visiting a Masai village - the women come to greet us and Ric and I get in on the fun



Starting a fire with two sticks in the Masai village



Nairobi at sunset

Cape Cadogan

On a muggy, rainy day in London I've started the task of uploading our 400+ photos from Kenya to Flickr. But first, wanted to post a few from Cape Town. I stayed at the Cape Cadogan again (where Ric and I were earlier this year) and the main hotel was full, so they had to put me in the owner's villa (sigh...) . It was a gorgeous house with a pool, patio, beautiful bedroom, and huge kitchen and living area. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but needless to say that the Cape Cadogan earned a huge gold star with a smiley face for this one.

Leaving, on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again... I've enjoyed my second ever trip to Cape Town, but have to admit that I'm excited to get home. The highlights have definitely been the food (it's SO good here) and meeting the team. I also got to meet the woman who've I've been working with for the past six months to set up the office, so that was cool. We felt like we knew each other so well, but had never met in person. Still loving the South African wine as well. It's up and coming, but you can find some jems that are very reasonably priced. Also picked up on a little South African vocab including:

Hectic - when something's crazy or out of control. Like "man, that party last night was hectic"

Shame - said a lot in place of "too bad". But they don't say "that's a shame" just "shame." And it's used really frequently

Brill - in place of brilliant

Divine - just what it sounds like, but used a lot!

Heading back to London tonight at 8:15pm and arrive at 6:50am on Saturday morning. Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend!

The Showroom

Yummy dinner last night in Cape Town at a restaurant called The Showroom. It is aptly named because it's attached to a high end car dealership, so you can gander at the Ferrari's and Lamborghini's while enjoying your meal. The food was very nicely done and the South African wine was delicious. We also got to talk with the chef after dinner, who is a mini celeb here in CPT.

http://www.theshowroomrestaurant.co.za

Safari in Kenya during wildebeest migration? Check!

Just a quick post from Cape Town to say that Ric and I made it safely out of Kenya after an amazing safari experience. We didn't get eaten or attacked by any wild animals, although we came uncomfortably close with a large male lion. Our guide said that he was walking towards the car because he wanted to lay in the shade next to it... but this statement came just after he reminded us that lions are cats and could jump into the jeep (which had open sides, no doors/windows) faster that we could say "meow." After several desperate pleas of "please drive away, please drive away" Simon finally turned on the car and rescued us from an almost certain lion fight (and we all know who's winning that one).

We have plenty of pictures to post as soon as they're uploaded, but just to give you a taste of the number of different animals we saw, here's a partial list:

Lions - on the first day we saw a pride of 11 lions. One male, three females and seven cubs. Saw another few the next day (when the guy started walking towards us and got within about 3 or 4 feet).

Leopard - this is THE hardest animal to see any many people never get to. Simon said there's only a 20% chance that you'll see one.

Cheetahs - saw two on our game drive into the Maasai Mara official game reserve and then saw another on our last game drive right after she had hunted (and killed) dinner. She was enjoying the fresh meat quite intently and we got really close to watch. Very cool.

Zebras - about a million of these guys, including a group that tried to cross the river filled with crocodiles. Most made it, but there was one unlucky soul. The crocs had quite a time with the zebra (I think they try to drown it under water) and then they all enjoyed their prize. Interesting thing about zebras is that they have really good eyesight, so they tend to pair up with the wildebeests and travel together. Wildebeests have bad eyesight but a great sense of smell, so they make a good team.

Elephants - one of my favorite things to see. On one drive we found ourselves smack in the middle of a family of 16 that were chowing down on leaves. Simon said they have to eat for 16 hours a day to get enough food. They're really amazing to watch.

Giraffes - another favorite. They are so tall and graceful and when they run it's like they're moving in slow motion. A little skittish, but we were able to get really close on one or two occasions. There was actually a family that lived right outside our camp so we saw them almost every day.

Antelope - didn't realize how many different kinds there were, but we saw Dik Diks, Thompson gazelles, Grant gazelles, Topi, and Impala.

Hippos - there were about 30 that lived in the river that ran right by our camp. We saw (and heard) them every day... they mostly just lay in the river, but get out to sun and gather food every once in a while. Although they look pretty lazy and slow, they actually kill more humans than any other animal.

Warthogs - I love these little guys. Especially how they run around with their tales sticking straight into the air. One day we saw a mom and her tiny little babies. She didn't like us being so close and she ran towards their hole to push the babies inside. She then took off in the other direction to try and distract us. So cool

Baboons - who knew they were so aggressive! The two guys who were on most of our drives with us had a run in at another park where the baboons actually attacked their car, jumped inside, took all their food, went number two on the seat, and then ran away. One of the guys actually got pushed out of the way by the biggest baboon as he headed for the food. I guess they can be a real menace for the camps because they come in looking for people food. Sounds like raccoons to me

And of course the wildebeests. We were told that there are about three million in the park during the migration but it seemed like even more than that. They're really odd looking animals and were everywhere!

So that's your animal lesson for the day. Photos coming shortly!!

29 Under 29

Ric reporting here (yes, I know my posts are few and far between), but I've saved my posting for some big news...and I have it for all those loyal Bremer blog readers out there:

Rachel has been been named one of the top 29 PR professionals under 29 by PR Week magazine!!!!

PR Week is the leading PR publication in the world so this is a huge honor. Let me be the first to say it is well-deserved and if there had been a Top 24 under 24 years ago (as I remember supporting) and then Top 25 under...well you get the point, I'm sure she would've been named in all of those as well!

What's the next step you ask? She just got word today but they are arranging a photo shoot which will include more than likely some solo shots as well as an entire group photo.

Keep a close eye on the Bremer blog for all the developments, including links to the final results as they're printed. Congratulations Rachel!!!!

Happy Birthday to Ric and Dad!

Yesterday was a big day in the Yarmey/Bremer households. Ric turned 28 and my dad turned one year older than he was last year... (don't worry Dad, I won't give away the magic number). There was a weekend full of celebrating across the Atlantic, which included a Friday night in Leeds, Van Morrison in Hampstead Heath on Saturday, Sunday lunch at the Wolseley, and a home-made taco dinner on Sunday night (Ric's special birthday request).

Leeds was quite an experience. I've been told it's a "traditionally Northern" UK town, which I think means it's a little rough and tumble. We did see a metal detector (or "knife arch" as I like to call them) along with 20-30 cops stationed outside of a club that looked to be full of teenagers. That doesn't tend to inspire confidence, but the town overall was very nice. There was a gorgeous outdoor shopping area, and a couple nice/trendy restaurants. Now that we've seen it, there is definitely not a huge rush to go back.

Van Morrison put on a pretty good show... I've heard mixed reviews from people who've seen him. Sounds like he's either "on" or really not. And if he's not the in mood it can be an uninsipring show to say the least. This one was being filmed (not sure what for) so I think he was trying a little harder than he may have otherwise. He played some of his hits, including Brown Eyed Girl, and did a cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, which was cool. He played for 90 minutes exactly (which the signs all over the concert venue told you to expect) and everyone boo'ed when he didn't come back for an encore. I think he's just getting old and probably doesn't love performing live as much as he used to. I'd imagine it's more of a financial thing for him these days, but nevertheless it was really cool to see him live after listening to his CDs for so many years.

We're now getting ready for our next big trip. We leave for Kenya on Wednesday evening and are on safari for three days. Can't wait! I then go to Cape Town for a week to meet our new employees and see our brand new office.

Another big happy birthday to Dad and Ric. Here's to many, many more!

Hello from Charlottesville!

Just a quick note to say hi from the east coast (in the great old US of A). Spending the week with family before heading to New Orleans for a fun little bachelorette weekend. Can't wait! It has been hot and humid here all week, but I'm actually enjoying the Southern summer. It's nice not wondering whether it will be cold, hot, rainy, dry, windy (or all the the above) every day.

I've really been impressed with the quality of restaurants and bars here in C-ville. Great selection for such a small town. There's a cute new little area called Belmont where we had tapas one night (at Mas) and went to a jazz bar afterward. Also ate at an Indian place on the pedestrian mall, have frequented a new wine bar called Siips, and met up with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins at a cool local brewery called South Street. All very fun. Heading to grandparent's tonight for a yummy seafood caserole made with crab fresh from Norfolk, scallops and shrimp. Can't wait for the food and also excited about visiting our wedding site again.

Will post some pics when I get back to London.