Get In, Get IN, GET IN!!!

Saturday morning I went and got lost in downtown Mombassa when I decided it was time to go get a swimsuit – having left mine at home. I enjoyed a cupcake and then ventured into the maze of markets and shops. The others had headed to the beach so I had no one to confer with about getting my bearings. I soon realized that I didn’t recognize any of the buildings around me. I didn’t really feel worried. Before the day was over I got some awesome shorts, which are a little more businesslike than my old pair (five dollars). I felt really depressed when I was wearing sizes two above what I’d buy in the US although, I felt much better when I paid to use a fairly accurate looking scale and found I had lost ten pounds since arrival. So the day was off to a great start.

I went back home and met up with the others to head to Haller Park, a “Zoo” here in town. I put zoo in quotes because zoo connotes to me some kind of controlled environment in which you view animals. The matatu ride on the way was an adventure not to soon be forgotten. At a crowded “matatu stage” we had grown tired of weighting for a not so full matatu to come along and decided to just get the next one that arrived. People push like rush hour traffic on the subway to get on to routes that are less than common so we had little choice but to join in. The next Mtwapa matatu (Mtwapa is the route we needed named after the village at the end of the route) had 5 seats and there are four of us. People crowded in next to us pushing to get in. I suddenly lost my enthusiasm and it must have shown on my face because just as I was about to say, “um guys lets get the next one” .... the Hustler conductor looked at me and yelled “get in, get in, get in!!!!”, and I did. Before I could see that there were no seats the door was shut and we were off. 21 people got to be there for my first standing matatu ride- I’m sure they’re honored.

Like everything else in Kenya, the zoo had very few stated rules. In this case the lack of rules was a good thing, allowing us to do what we want when we wanted. At haller Park of the animals were fenced in, but at no point was there enough of a barrier between animal and visitor to keep you from just jumping over and geting up close and personal with the animals. Case in point: here is a picture of me next to two giraffes, which were not fenced in at all.


After we had been taking pictures for ten minutes and venturing closer and closer, the guide came and said, “Don’t get too close, they kick”. He was half joking and soon walked away, leaving just the four of us and the giraffes.

We also saw some hippos, water buffalo that had this crowned heron hanging out near it.



After that the “tour” took an abrupt downward swing as things suddenly became very touristy. We went to this really really lame snake exhibit and just as we were about to lose interest the guide said it was time to feed the crocodiles and we realized that there was certainly still hope. I wish I could upload the video that I shot but the photos will have to do. This crocodile was missing one of its front arms, a fact that I think can be attributed its very aggressive nature. It was amazing to see the crocs fighting and leaping almost entirely out of the water. The trip was the high point of the month so far.


On our way out we found a tortoise that was a hundred and twenty years old. The tortoises lay flat on the ground to eat but we had seen our guide reach under the shell and do something to the turtle that made it stand up for pictures. By this time, the park was nearly closed so it was just the turtle and us. I think I took 40 pictures of members of the group with my camera alone. It really worked the camera and was not temperamental at all about us being really close to it. I wish all 120 year olds were this cooperative.

By the way, Can you say Christmas card???? If you look at graces hand she's kind of tickling the turtle. This was the easiest way to get it to stand up. We saw one of the guides do it and it worked like a charm. The body felt like alligator skin.

Before we knew it the day was over and we headed home. I was completely worn out. What a day!