Day 9 - Wet Elephants

We were able to visit the mission offices and see where Mom and Dad work. Then we went over to the Elephant Orphanage. It started to rain really hard while we were waiting for the elephants to come out so they only brought out the larger baby elephants and not the tiny ones, they said that if they brought the smaller baby's out that they would catch cold and die. While we were standing there watching the elephants drink their bottles and play, several times they got out of the rope gate. Sometimes it was right by where we were standing. We were also able touch there skin that was very wrinkly and rough. We were then able to see the youngest baby elephants in their pens. We also saw two large rhinos, one of which my mom said is blind. Then we saw a very tiny baby rhino in his pen. Our legs and feet were very muddy and dirty by the time we got back to the truck.
We then set out for the Kazuri Beads factory. At the Kazuri Beads Factory they showed us how the beads are made by hand and then fired and then painted and fired and then painted again and fired again. Then the ladies make them into necklaces. Then we went into their store where I spent more than I should have on necklaces and bracelets.
We then took a drive by the Kibera slums of Nairobi. It is amazing how many people there are and how humble they live.

Day 8 - church

We went to church in the Riruta ward. It was raining really hard this morning so not very many people were there when the meeting first started, my mom said that a lot of the people have to walk through the mud to church, some with small children. And others ride matatus that charge more on rainy days. The speakers at church were very excited and thanked the acting bishop for asking them to speak, including one that had only been a member for about a month. That is very different from our home ward where people talk about how they screen their calls when they see it is a member of the bishopric calling.
Mom and I skipped out of the what should have been the last few minutes of relief socitey, they went over about a half hour, to go into primary. Mom showed them how to make books out of a piece of paper and told them a story about springs and we gave them each a little spring toy and a sucker. Then they sang us a song and my mom took my picture with them. The minute she took the picture all of the kids ran over to her to see their picture.
While mom taught piano lessons we went over and saw the wards shamba (garden), where the members each have a little spot where they do square foot gardening.

Day 7 - where are all the lions?

W e went out early today hoping to find the lions and see some leopards. We weren't able to find any but we did talk to some people that had camped in the park and they told us that while they were sitting by their camp a leopard came walking by them. They also said that they could hear the lions roaring all night long. The guy that we were talking to had red eyes and I imagine he didn't get much sleep with lions and leopards that close. The animals we did see today were giraffes, rhinos, impalas, gazelles, zebras, flamingos, a large tortoise, and as we were driving over a culvert in the road two wart hogs jumped out of it.
The ride home was another hold on for dear life ride, not sure if I could ever get used to that. Also as we were driving I saw two guys and one girl urinating on the side of the road. There are also little kids that sit close to the roads and watch the traffic go by, with no parent in site.
Once back in Nairobi, we went shopping at the Nakumatt which is kind of like a Walmart, it basically sells everything you need.

We took a picture of these flowers then drove by them again about an hour later and there were only 2 flowers left.

Little boy sitting on the side of the road

Day 6 - watch out for zebras

We spent the morning relaxing for a little bit before we started our drive to Nakuru. All along the highway we saw lots of merchants selling interesting things in their road side stands. We also saw lots of donkey carts. There were also little boys carrying large bags of sticks on their backs. On this road we went through a lot of police checks and one time got pulled over. The policeman just looked at our registration on the car, and looked at each of us then sent us on our way.
While we were driving along the road some zebras decide to cross in front of us, we saw them in enough time to stop, but the car coming the other way came within feet of hitting them, we could hear his tires as he slammed on his brakes. The highways occasionally have large speed bumps in them and one time as we were looking at something at the side of the road we went flying over a speed bump. I don't know how the cars here survive.
When we got into the park we saw zebras, and warthogs. A little farther into the park we saw buffallo and impalas running. We were also able to see Rhinos in this same clearing including a very cute baby rhino. We drove over by the pink flamingos and watched them for a while. They are very funny creatures they would get in little groups and walk around and they are very loud.
We also saw 3 lions lounging around near a group of very nervous zebras.
In parts of Kenya it feels like you have gone back in time, Well we hit the stone age at the resort we are staying at. Our beds felt like we were sleeping on rocks, I felt like we were the flinstones.
yabba dabba doo.

Day 5 - Don't forget to come home

We got up early to go see animals again, the Esplin's came with us so that we could show them the leopards we saw the day before. We didn't find any leopards but we did see a lion, giraffes, hippos, jackals, buffalo, hyrax, mongoose, impala, and water bucks. After eating breakfast at the resort the Esplin's followed us out so that we could show them the elephants we saw the day before, we couldn't find the elephants but we did see giraffes, zebras, impalas, kudu, gazelles, dik dik, water buffallo and elands. We decided not to tell people that we could find them animals anymore. We could see Kilimanjaro again today and as we were out driving it snowed on it so we were also able to see it with snow on it.
While we were stopped at a road side stand buying bread we met the branch president George. We then took a back road to Thongoni where Mom and Dad had a meeting. On the way we saw lots of mud huts and cute little kids on the side of the road. At the church there was a 7 year old girl that was babysitting her baby sister. She walked around with her on her back most of the time that we were there and I thought there was no way I would ever let Nathan do that. We took a different way home and a few times we had to go slow and there were lots of kids so we would hand them suckers out the window, they danced around and were very excited after they got a sweet.
Once we were back on the main highway again it was time to hold on for dear life, my arms and hands hurt from holding on so tight every time we had a near miss, but I found out that Dad isn't as crazy as a driver as Elder Esplin is. He went flying past us one time and I thought who is that idiot and then my mom said isn't that Elder Esplin?
We finally made it back to Nairobi and ate at the Simba Saloon, part of the Carnivore restaurant We ordered a kilo of meat. We could choose 4 different kinds of meat to put on our platter, some of our choices were ostrich, crocodile, lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. We chose the last four.
When we got home we were able to talk to David and Alyssa for the first time since we got here, David told us not to forget to come home.

Day 4 - Tsavo

We woke up early to go and find the animals. We were able to see a really clear view of Kilimanjaro this morning. We also saw giraffes, cape buffalo, and bull elephants. We then held on for dear life as Dad drove quickly back to the resort so that we wouldn't miss breakfast. As we were coming to the resort we passed a van that my dad thought might know where leopards were so we hurried and ate our breakfast and went back out to find wildlife. This time we saw hippos, fish, and monkeys in Mizumu Springs, gazelles, zebras, hartabeest, dukiere, wart hogs, oryx, a stinky dead hippo that Philip made us take a picture of, and lots of giraffes, I decided I should have bought more leopards at road side stand so that we could see them.
Hurried back for lunch.
After lunch we saw moniter lizard, a small tortoise crossing the road, and two rangers carrying big guns. We then saw nothing for a long time while we were trying to find the rhino's they had released. Then we saw a leopard, then a lion, then another leopard all within about an hour. The last leopard was just sitting on a rock on the side of the road and then he decide to venture over to another rock that overlooked the valley where there were lots of animals, but the animals all spotted him and started sounding the warning.
On the way back to the lodge for dinner the windows were rolled down and all of these biting flys came in so Mom and I rolled up our windows and started fighting off flys while Dad and Philip enjoyed the scenery, finally Dad got bit by one and they helped in the fight against the fly's, nasty little creatures that I definently won't miss, they bit me one to many times.
While we ate dinner we watched zebras, impalas, baboons, & cape buffalo come to the water hole. After dinner the employees at the resort came out of the kitchen singing a song and making music with pots and pans and spoons and forks. They were singing a goodbye song for Mom and Dad and the cook made them a very yummy chocolate cake.

stinky dead hippo

Day 3 – Scorpions

We woke up early this morning to go to the Tsavo National Park. The power was still out and it was raining. The rain made our drive very scary and exciting. The roads were muddy and slippery and it made it hard for the trucks to get up the hills. It also caused many accidents. When a trucker breaks down here he puts branches and rocks behind his truck and then he just leaves the truck. So Dad had to maneuver around the broken trucks and slow cars and accidents, sometimes while driving into oncoming traffic. One time he had to squeeze between a broken down truck and an oncoming matatu, very scary. The people here walk a long ways to get where they need to go, they also dress very well so it is very hard to tell who is poor and who is not. Many times we saw guys in suits riding bikes or in a wagon pulled by donkeys.

After we made it out of the muddy roads the ride wasn’t quite as scary, you still have to pass the slow cars as oncoming cars are coming sometimes making it with only feet to spare, if you ever want a thrill ride come to Africa and take a drive along the highway to Mombasa.

We had our first experience with dickering for local crafts at a gas station on the way to the park. They started out high but soon realized we were cheap and by the time we were leaving were selling us stuff through our car windows for very cheap. Incidentally, I ended up with way more giraffes than I needed.

Once in the park one of the first Animals we saw were elephants. We also saw, dik diks, giraffes, gazelles, impalas, zebras, baboons, monkeys, hippos, and lions and their cubs. The lions had a kill they were eating and so we were able to see them several times during the day, it was fun to sit and watch the cubs play, and the adults chew on bones.

The place we stayed at was very nice and the people treat you like royalty. We were able to stay in a suite which made it even nicer. As we were eating dinner we saw zebras, cape buffalo, baboons, and impala come into the water hole. We were very tired by dinner time, almost too tired to eat, then the manager told us to watch out for scorpions on our way to our bedrooms by that time I was wide awake. Philip and I walked carefully back to our room and found two very large scorpions right outside our room. We tried to take their pictures but it didn’t do them justice. I made Philip put towels at the bottom of our door to try to keep them from coming in our room and worried all night that they were crawling on me.