Expat-Ville

Well, we have finally entered expat-ville: we hired a housekeeper and today was his first day.

And it's totally AWESOME!!

I came home to a clean kitchen, with no dishes left on the counter, or even in the dish drainer. The bed was made, with the pillows and blankets carefully arranged. My clothes were ironed and folded in the wardrobe. The soap scum was gone from the bathroom.

Unfortunately, we didn't hire him to cook for us...so I have to go make dinner.

Tour Guide in Kenya

Here are some pictures and highlights from my Uncle Jim's visit to Kenya.

First stop was the Giraffe Center where we fed and pet a giraffe.

Afterwards we went to the Bomas of Kenya Cultural Center to see traditional dancing, drumming, and acrobatics.

The centerpiece of the visit was a three-day safari to Masai Mara.

We were all excited that hot cocoa was served at every meal at our camp, including during afternoon tea following a long (arduous) day spotting wildlife.

Our safari concluded with a visit to a Masai village where we danced with the villagers.

After returning to Nairobi, we toured Kibera slum, and learned about the businesses and social systems the community has developed to support itself.

Favorite Safari Animal

I've decided that my favorite safari animal is the Thomson's Gazelle. I know, I know. If I can be out seeing lions, giraffe, elephants, and rhinos, how can my favorite be a simple deer-like animal?!? But the Thomson's Gazelle is just too cute prancing around the savannah!

Mountain of Chocolate

My fabulous Uncle Jim visited from the U.S. and brought me all my favorite chocolates: chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate-covered cherries, caramels, and nonpareils!!

Brew Bistro

We went out to eat last night at the Brew Bistro, Nairobi's microbrewery. Jeremy was so excited to drink IPA and chocolate stout after all the Tusker lager he's been drinking. (Tusker is the ubiquitous Kenyan beer.)

In the US, most brewpubs aren't known for white linen service and excellent food, because - let's face it - the focus is on the beer. But this place was actually pretty fancy and served excellent steaks. I think it's safe to say we'll be back!

White Water Rafting

I went white water rafting on the Tana River last weekend. I think all rafting guides must go to the same training school...I've been rafting in Colorado, Maine, and now Kenya...and the spiel and the jokes have pretty much been the same every time! But this rafting trip was crazier than any other one I've been on.

It started with the security briefing. The guide gave a long explanation about dealing with crocodiles...starting with baby ones and moving up to crocs the length of our boat. Then he laughed and said "Does anyone still believe me? I've never seen a crocodile in 20 years of rafting on this river." We all chuckled nervously wondering which part of the crocodile talk was the truth...the first part, or the joke at the end?

Once on the river, we went through some pretty easy water and then proceeded over our first big rapid. The guide pulled us over to the side once we got through and told us we'd be going surfing...which means going back into the roiling water at the bottom of the rapid! We did this a couple of times, but the guide was not satisfied with the limited number of people falling out of the boat. So he said "Ok, you three are going into the first compartment of the boat, Erica's gonna sit on your lap in the middle, and the remaining two people move up to the second compartment." Essentially, he completely front-loaded the boat, so that capsizing was inevitable! There was only one boat in our group that did not capsize while surfing. However, that boat threw all of its occupants except one who was left desperately clinging to the handholds while the water continued to buck the boat and the guide, equally desperately, swam back to save him!

The next hour or two passed relatively quietly after that. Then the guide informed us we were approaching another big rapid, which would basically fold the boat in half as we went over. As predicted, about halfway over the rapid, I went flying into the water. I came to the surface underneath the boat and had to make three attempts fighting the current before emerging successfully! Once the guide righted the boat and got us situated, we had a chance to examine what had just conquered us. That thing was NOT a rapid...it was a six-foot waterfall!! And since we went first, we got to watch the other two boats come tumbling over and toss the occupants into the drink.

Having all survived, we made our way back to camp and commenced into re-tellings of our near-death experiences over an awesome lunch of steak, sausage, soup, coleslaw, potatoes, and fruit salad.

Can't wait for the next rafting trip!