Blogage

My very clever older sister asked the other day if the visits I had had from Antarctica were from Scientists or from very advanced penguins when I claimed that the blog had had visitors from all of the continents except Australia. So, now that I've had a visitor from Australia, I'll clarify by saying my blog has now been
visited by all of the widely inhabited continents. Hold your applause. Thank you.

This blog will be a bit of a variety pack of things about Kenya. I hope you like them.



This is gate number one leading to our apartments. Notice that its called rainbow court. Thats fun.



This is gate number two and our apartments. We live on the top floor on the near side. Notice the scenic balcony.



Labor is cheaper than technology or infrastructure in Kenya. This means that you see people doing things that you would use some form of machine to do in an industrialized country. Its a pretty regular occurrence to see men pushing and pulling carts that must way hundreds of pounds.



Turns out its illegal to be gay in Kenya. Their perception of interperonal contact between men isn't influenced by a lot of the stigmas we have at home as a result. This Barclay's bank add is a perfect example. I think its really funny. The billboard reads "need a loan for a lift?" Ha Ha. Good times.



I don't know how they get palms to fan like this. They are at expensive restaurants and homes. I think its really cool looking.



REEEEED SNAAAAAPAHHHHHH. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie UHF. It's worth renting if you like awesomely bad movies. On a segment of the movie there is a TV show called Wheel of Fish. A contestant has the chance to win a red snapper. It wasn't as big as either of the fish this guy was selling to people waiting to get on to the ferry at rush hour.



The only thing better than this big trash fire, is that its a big trash fire in a school yard. At least they waited until recess was over to light it.



As I've said, matatus are almost decorated somehow. There is usually even a theme throughout the entire vehicle. This picture is a double wammy though because it shows how any word and I do mean ANY word can be used to advertise. "INTERNET". I don't know what exactly they want us to know about their service as a matatu because of this, but I'll roll with it.



Shakira. Now that I can understand as a Theme. If you look closely the top of the windshield is covered with pictures of the Columbian Diva.



Me at the office... Pre weight loss. The building isn't this skinny... its just the angle.



This woman in Lamu made great bags and dresses. Grace and I bought a few things from her. Her name is Elizabeth and she's been working in Lamu for 15 years. She was really nice.



Me looking really tan.



This is the key from a hotel we stayed at in Nairobi. Hotels don't let you take the key out of the hotel. I thought this key chain looked like Ice a rapper would wear. I tried it on.



This fish curry was exactly that: a big hunk of fish cut into four pieces and then put into curry sauce. This arrangement is my own personal work. I liked a tail down configuration. The curry was great.



Again, in Kenya, labor is cheaper than machinery. This...is a lawnmower.



This is me in the rift valley saying OK Grace, I'm going to not look at the camera. Take the picture and act like I just wasn't ready.



Pretty birds outside our apartment complex.



More pretty birds.



More pretty Andrew in Rift Valley.

Safari Part Three

Here is part three. Sorry it's been a few days. I had 424 pictures to choose from, which I took during the 2 final days of our safari. I hope you like them. These are some of the best of the trip by far.




We left Maasai Mara and headed up through all of the tea plantations toward Nakuru. The drive was gorgeous. It was green for as far as you could see.



This is the best close up picture I got of a Zebra. My camera has a weak zoom feature. Luckily my mac has a great lossless crop feature. The Zebras were interesting the whole trip even though we saw thousands of them.



The flamingos are the main attraction at Lake Nakuru. You wouldn't believe how many of them there were.



There were bones everywhere on the beach where we went to take pictures of the huge pink birds. This one looked yummy.



I had really wanted to see Rhinos while on our safari. Given that heartless people who decide its a good thing to kill animals for fun, driving them to extinction poachers have driven numbers of Black Rhinos to less than 4000 according to Wikipedia, I was afraid that if I didn't see them now, I never would. This was the only Black Rhino that we saw in the park. It was enough for me. It wasn't timid whatsoever. It hardly seems like a sport to kill one. Blah, I should stop or my soap box will fall out.



These Water Buffalo were pretty common around the lake. They looked like a muddy Pippy Longstockings. Again, they weren't timid about us getting really close to them.



This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. The giraffe posed perfectly in the background. I love the little birds at the feet of the White Rhinos. The driver tried to suggest that they are called white rhinos because their mouthes were so wide. I suggested he take more English lessons. Just kidding, but seriously.



Another wide White Rhino.



I don't know what this bird is called. It looks like the most colorful matchbox car you've ever seen. It sitting on an acacia plant.



Again, Giraffes are posers. This one let us get 10 feet away and took a lil' bow for us.



Baboon.



These lizards are all over Kenya. This is the closest I've gotten to one.



Lets get some shoes... Wait, I mean this crater had steam vents popping up through the trees. It looked pretty amazing.



How in the world did they choose Evanston? A friend implied they meant Evanston Illinois. I can neither confirm or deny that such place exists. But who knows?

Me above Lake Nakuru.



This church looked straight out of "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks." It was really cool. I'll put it into the category of I can't believe I got this going 80 down the highway.



I doubt that this "Comfort Lodge" is either comfortable or Lodgy. It is, however, really really funny.



OK, Man + Speeding semi truck + Connected by Jump rope = Oh M' Gosh, get a friggin picture of this crazy guy. Throw this one into the going 80 down the freeway bin also.



This church was built for workers who constructed the road through the Rift Valley. Its 200 years old and very beautiful. I wish you could see it better, but again 80 down the freeway.



Shortly after this church we pulled of at a shop selling Masai tribe goods. Grace and I had already bought the clothing they wrap themselves in, but wanted a wool blanket. As we realized they were more than what I wanted to pay I started playing the how ridiculously low of a price can I suggest before this guy gives up and leaves game. Just when I thought I had won, the man says "Give me a t shirt." I had planned on leaving most of my clothing behind, but not with this guy. Then it became clear that he wanted to barter and the game became much more interesting indeed. So I went to the back of our van, whipped out my suit case and showed him the blue shirt that I mentioned not owning anymore in part 1. I told him that A. it was a 50 dollar t shirt which he converted to shillings faster than I could. and B. that "the ladies" were going to love it. Luckily I didn't pay close to retail on the shirt, but he ended up giving me the super low prices I had been willing to pay in addition to a t-shirt I planned to give away, and a 3/4 empty bottle of mosquito repellent. IT was AWESOME!!! thanks for tuning in folks.

Drum Roll Please.

So my close friend Nate was kind enough to help me find out how to get a video up on the blog. Like most of the pictures on the blog, this video wouldn't be here without his help. The video is of Hyenas harassing a Lion on the second morning of the safari trying to get it to go hunt. Turn it up LOUD! Its not really worth watching without the sound to go a long with it.



Comment and tell me what you thought. Part three in a couple days, I promise.

Safari Part Two

I woke up an hour early on the second day of the safari. I don't know if it was because it was so cold or if I was just being like a kid on Christmas - too giddy to sleep. At 5:30 it was the coldest weather I can remember waking up in and by far the coldest I've felt in Kenya. At 6:30 a knock came on our tent door; the help had brought hot chocolate and the most polite wake up call I've ever received. I got out of bed and literally put on every layer I had. I think the grand total was 5 layers and I could have used one more.



Mornings are the best time to get out and see the animals. As soon as we left the camp, we saw hippos trotting back to the water where they spend the day time. A few minutes later we saw a pack of hyenas fighting over a zebra's bones. None of the photos turned out all that blog worthy but the experience was noteworthy. Our driver referred to warthogs as the Kenya express. Most of them went around in family groups like this. There tusks are enormous and they can really move!



During our morning game drive, the theme song from Dances with Wolves kept running through my head. i couldn't capture exactly how many zebras there were. At points the herds would extend as far as you could see.



We didn't really stop for the herbivores though. We were out to find Lions. As we drove we saw a group of safari vehicles all sitting in one spot. As we approached our guide shouted "a Lion!!" We all perked up and saw our first lion of the trip/ my life. Not just a lion but just about every meat eater was accounted for. There were hyenas, a jackal, and some really ugly vultures. As far as we could tell the hyenas were trying to get the Lion to get up and go hunt so the other members of the group could have something to eat too. I shot some pretty amazing video of the display, which I may eventually get to post. The scene was nothing like TV. The lion just lay there very relaxed while the hyenas would stay quiet and then work up the courage to go and attempt to coerce the king of the jungle to go get them some food. The lion would subsequently growl and the hyenas would back off. It was beyond description.



The lion was a bit young but very majestic. It seemed completely unconcerned with our presence.



The car in the back ground was a BBC film crew. We were kinda ruining their shot but they were getting paid so who cares.



After the lion we went out looked for more animals. This group of cheetahs were very very hard to see. The cheetahs also changed my perception about how nature works. I don't ever remember of thinking of them as a group that hunts or travels in groups. I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasn't all a dream. I really couldn't believe my eyes.



This secretary bird is a snake killer. The name seems very fitting. It looks like a thin woman with with a black pony tale.



After the secretary bird we headed back to camp. This dragon fly got my attention as it flew by. Since the wings are transparent, it looked like 1 bug with 4 others flying very closely to it. When I went over to investigate I saw that it was one of the most unique bugs I've ever seen. I ended up taking 15 pictures trying to get a good picture of it. Thank goodness for digital right?



This structure at the camp was made out of mud walls and a thatched roof like the ones in the village I posted pictures of. Turns out it was the bathroom, but I guess you didn't need to know that.



This guide helped our driver get around the huge area of the game reserve. It turns out he owns 150 acres including the land that Olare Lodge is built on. I felt pretty safe with him in the car.



Masai people are do all kinds of things with their ears. I didn't want him to see me take a picture but I had to have a picture of them. I know its hard to tell whats going on but basically his ear lobes were stretched long enough that he could stretch them up and over the rest of the ear. It looked kinda cool but it definitely fits into the "I'm not sure I could pull that off in a job interview" category.



After lunch our group insisted on being taken to the Masaai River despite his best efforts to stifle our plans. On the way there we passed one of the air strips that people use when flying to their safari camps. When a plane took off the field next to us came alive as everything ran for cover. Epic.



When we got to the Masaai River I was suddenly even more thankful for Blair and Sam's courage in demanding we be taken there. It was out of this world. We saw a larger variety of animals there than any other place on the trip. It turns out you aren't supposed to be let out of the car but our guide did a good job of keeping us safe. You can see a group of hippos about 20 strong in the water behind me. The bank of the river was about 15 feet tall so we were completely safe.



As we stood baffled at all the hippos and crocks in the water, our guide quietly got our attention and motioned us to follow him through some bushes towards another part of the river. When we emerged from the bushes we saw some crocks basking directly under us on the river bank. They quickly jumped ship and swam away and we went back to our other spot.



Like I said, this spot had an amazing variety. This giraffe loved posing for pictures and kept standing in place for some really majestic shots. This picture has a crocodile, a hippo, a giraffe, and a gaggle of zebras. It was becoming clear that the safari was worth every single cent.



If that concept wasn't clear at that point, then it would really solidify in my mind on the drive back when we saw this elephant. This was the first elephant we had seen out in the open. As we approached it used its trunk to throw mud from a nearby puddle onto its back. We slowly drove past in a tirade to take as many pictures as possible. We stopped and waited as long as we could stand as the enormous elephant came towards us. I think this is the last picture I took before we balked and drove off. This will be a great conversation starter this school year when I use it as a wallpaper on my laptop.



As we headed back for dinner we saw ostriches, and the winner of the oh my gosh, thats the ugliest animal I've ever seen contest, the wildebeest. We all laugh about the fact that Kenyans pronounce this "wild beast". They have a horse's tail, a buffalo's head and some other animals' body. Very much the ugly duckling of the Masaai Mara.



After dinner we went out for another evening game drive. Our van high centered on a rock for a few minutes as we drove through the grass. It seemed like a good photo opp.



This picture was during our little pit stop. I'm wearing a shirt that no longer belongs to me. Its a great story, but one that will have to wait for tomorrow.



The evening was as fruitful as the other excursions. We came upon a group of giraffes as we drove around. This was one of the largest giraffes we saw all trip.



As the sun went down the park became so much more beautiful. This tree had weaver bird nests in it. They are very intricate, fully enclosed birds nests.



As we drove our guide shouted again... LIONS! I have absolutely no clue how he saw the lioness that was at least a half mile away on a hillside. I'm even more baffled by the fact that he was able to navigate us at least a mile and a half out of the way to bypass a creek between us and the lion and then get us to the exact spot where it was creeping along hunting. We definitely threw some serious salt in its game as the lioness was looking for little dinner.



This Sunset finished the night off perfectly. The haze on the horizon made the sun not only turn a brilliant reddish maroon color but gave us the ability to look directly at it. I was only able to snap two pictures as my battery died. Again, pictures do not do justice to how stunning the sunset looked. As the sun neared the horizon it started too look bigger and bigger until it looked like a giant illuminated tent on the horizon. It was the perfect end to the day.