sorry its so long! but its worth it!

Day 55 (10/29)
Today was wonderful. We went to Nairobi National Park around 9 and we went through a highway type road with no lines and lots of minivans. Then we went through a side road in a town and out of nowhere the gate to the park came up. It’s the only park that has a city literally within its limits and you can see the skyline for most of the park. Once we got into the park it was beautifully green and lush.

We saw Somali Ostriches, zebra, wildebeest, hartebeest, warthogs, lions, rhinos, giraffes, eland, impala, buffaloes, and CHEETAHS. The first group of lions that we saw were 3-4 females and a big male all next to a zebra carcass. Which was really cool because they had obviously just finished eating. We saw buffaloes fighting and lots of baby giraffes, zebra, and buffaloes.

We game drove for a while and then had a picnic where we could see rhinos in the distance. After lunch we went to a KWS headquarters and had a short lecture on their actions and how they handle business.

After, on the way out we game drove out and there was an orphanage right next to the KWS headquarters…we saw 2 sub-adult cheetahs across the fence and it was a quick glimpse but they are absolutely gorgeous.

On the game drive out we saw some more rhinos, and lions that were freaking out a heard of impala, giraffe, and some warthogs. They were pretty far away but seemed to be just relaxing in the afternoon because most lions hunt at night and early morning…not in the middle of the afternoon. Then, out of nowhere we saw a rhino with a small baby. It could almost fit under her belly it was so small. Possibly the cutest thing I’ve seen ever, the head was almost as big as the body and it laid down until it’s mom got too far way and then would scamper over to her again and lay down again. We watched it for a while and got pretty close to zebras and giraffes in the process.

We also saw a hippo that was about 5 feet from the road, and hidden behind a few bushes. The gap in the bushes was just largest to see him look up at us, yawn and then turn around to sun himself better. It was so cool! Their heads are massive but their faces are strangely adorable.


Day 56 (10/30)
Today we had a traveling lecture for the morning. We had 5 stops, in all different places, we had one in a quarry, which was pretty cool to see how they use the land. After the lecture we went back to camp for lunch, and then headed off to a local orphanage. We got there and split into 5 groups. I went to the fixing chairs/tables group and we also had a group of kids join us.

We went into a little courtyard where they had about 40 chairs and desks that were broken, they had a metal frame and wooden seats and backs. So we had screws and about 5 screwdrivers for 30 of us. Eventually we got a system going, and followed the kids’ leads. I ended up working with a 16 yr old named John and a little girl (who basically liked to follow me around named Ashley). This place is a boarding school for orphans and run-away kids, up until the 8th grade. They all have stories, some have siblings in the school with them and others are completely on their own.

They are so well behaved, polite and mature. It’s amazing how well they have adjusted to the life style and they just take everything in stride. I was so impressed that all of these kids were under 16 years old (some had started school later so the oldest was 16) and yet they were so nice and grown-up. We fixed all the chairs and then played games with the kids. Some people played soccer, others taught a group how to play red-rover. They were so excited to have us there, it didn’t really matter what we did with them, it was just nice to be there.

We also brought them a bunch of books, and toys, a ball and some games. After, when we were getting ready to go they sung us songs. They had a young choir and an older one. The younger kids sang the cutest song I have ever seen. And the older kids sang two songs, and they both gave me chills they were so good. Then..we sang Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, and the theme song from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Haha…classics.


Day 57 (10/31 HAPPY HALLOWEEN)
This morning we got up for breakfast, and then we had the rest of the morning to ourselves. So I went back to sleep and read my book…I’ve been reading Cry of the Kalahari by Mark and Delia Owens and so far it’s extremely good.

We decorated the chumba for Halloween, with balloons and streamers, and cut out cats and spiders, mainly things that we could find in Africa, in a place that does not celebrate Halloween. We also managed to get some pumpkins, they were green but we carved them into all different things. Ali was the MOD, so she took charge of all of the happenings later on in the afternoon and helped to organize all the decorations.

We had a short class at 2 about Lake Nakuru and then everyone worked on their Halloween costumes, and hung out, and we had special candy apples as a Halloween snack that some of the students helped to make. I was a Fanta girl with Christy. We had a special dinner of grilled cheese, baked potato, chapate, tomato soup, samosas, and oatmeal raison cookies. It was amazingly delicious.

After dinner we played SFS style Clue, we pretended that someone was killed and had to go around in groups of 4 to different places in the camp and try to see if we could figure out who did it, with what weapon, and where. Each station had someone giving us hints and we had to see who could find out the correct answer before the other groups. There was some serious sprinting and yelling…and zero time to use flash lights, which was totally safe.

Then, we had apple bobbing races, and eating donuts off a string races. It was a lot of fun. And the costumes were completely amazing. Chris was Bobbi, who was a girl who was supposed to be at our program but got sick the last second and couldn’t come. She was also supposed to be our fourth banda mate. The cross dressing was hilarious.