Hello Kenya!

After much anticipation, I finally made it to Nairobi to meet Carl. He was waiting for me at the airport with roses and that silly mustache! I told him he would look more appropriate at the Houston airport in boots and a ten gallon hat. But it was so nice to see him after this long trip! We made it to the guest house and got to meet Dr. Karambu Ringera, the head of Amani Travel and International Peace Initiative. They served us a hardy dinner, and we tried to nod off around 9pm but someone in the neighborhood was having a party! All night! And their was also a few Mosquitos inside our net which were stupid because they didn't bite but made plenty of noise while buzzing around your ear. In the morning we jokingly mentioned it to Ashford and he immediately complained to the guards. Apparently she has done this before (parties) and it's not allowed. I hope we didn't get anyone in too much trouble.

In the morning we departed from Nairobi for Nakuru. It was so interesting because we drove straight through Nairobi's city center--what a giant place with skyscrapers and a central park--it felt much like a big city at home. Ashford said there are 3.2 million people living in Nairobi. It seems like a very westernized city.

After leaving the city we drove a ways on the highway, which was pretty flat and then turned off to the left where a short distance away the road opened up and it seemed like the ground just fell away into the Rift Valley. What a gorgeous and unexpected site! We stopped at the mountainside to take some photos and go into the curios shop.

Then we went on to Nakuru National Park. At the entrance to the park we were getting out of the van when a vervet monkey with her baby on her belly jumped into the van. Carl valiantly jumped out of the way while I was stuck in the car, monkey between me and the exit. Ashford came to the rescue and quickly shooed it away. It was quite a funny sight!!

After lunch at our accommodations we went on a game drive and saw almost every animal in the book!! It was an excellent first day of Safari for Carl!! Late in the day as we were driving back to our hotel we came across a hippo walking near the road. We stopped to take some photos and he was coming nearer to the car when he looked Carl in the face, huffed and jumped a little, ready to charge. Carl hollered and sat down quickly, which I think startled the hippo so then he just stood there for a second, eyeing us and then went on his way. We also saw a whole pride of young lions, a black rhino, a white rhino with her baby and much, much more. It was a very successful day! Asante sana!