Tuesday, August 24, 2010

First day in Kenya

Day one in Africa:)


We have had a pretty full day thus far.  We met our wonderful Maasai host, Tyson, today.  He and his family have graciously offered to let us stay with them while we are in Kimana.  Tyson, Agoi, and Jeff took us in and around Nairobi today.  Mike would like to mention that we saw a man walking down the street with a Sonics Shawn Kemp jersey...it was awesome!  We visited the Karen Blixen house and museum (all you Out of Africa fans will know who she is) near the Ngoa mountains.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We then travelled to the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, a.k.a. the Giraffe Centre, which is a giraffe orphanage that was originally started in the late seventies to protect Rothschild giraffes who were at risk of becoming extinct.  They roam free and eventually return to the wild.  I have attached pictures because no words can describe how beautiful these giraffes are...although one almost knocked me down with his head because I was not given her any food.  We were both a little nervous about feeding the giraffes, but apparently it does not compromise their ability to return to the wild to feed themselves and, more importantly, they do not have any upper teeth in the front (so no biting...says the anxious nurse:))  

We are leaving Nairobi tomorrow to head out to the Staff of Hope clinic in Karero which is a very rural area. I believe we will spend one night there and then will travel to Kimana on Wednesday.  Jeff, Agoi, and Tyson have been so welcoming and informative.  We are quickly learning our Swahili and look forward to getting settled in the bush.  I am not sure what the connectivity will be like over the next few days, but we will try to write again soon.
Nairobi

Property at Karen Blixen's house
Karen Blixen's house
Giraffe Centre





5 comments:

  1. Great to read the last couple of posts and can't wait to hear how this adventure continues to unfold. I am excited for both of you. Stay open! Be well!

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  2. This is great! Thank you for sharing this with all of us. Take care of yourselves! Cannot wait to read more!!!! Love Ya

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  3. Sooper dooper adventurous ones! This is wonderful! Thank you for letting us know that you arrived safe and sound minded. You are world away but still close in my heart. Share details, lots of details about your friends, what you see and hear, whom you heal and how and what Swahili words you find most useful! I love you dudes.

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  4. Good to hear that you arrived safe. So lets start our Swahili thing now. Send me emails in Swahili and i will respond in Swahili as well. Look up what you wanna say and put it in Swahili.:-) Stay well and enjoy every bit of your trip. The Lab crew say hi. We miss you!

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  5. Loved hearing your stories. Sounds like you will have an exciting time. Who would have believed that Shawn Kemp had made it to Kenya. Really liked the pictures it brings the adventure closer to us. Let us know what the weather is like.

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