We went pot luck with our travel companions and we got super lucky to have really nice, fun people to hang out with on the trip. Reagan on the far left was our Zoe Kenya host for the trip, Fatier is a minister from Rwanda, and Janet and Leslie are from Dallas. This was taken the morning after we arrived in Kenya and were headed out of Nairobi on our way to Maua.
We've officially been to the equator! Got the demo of the water swirling to the left on one side of the equator, then to the right on the other side, and then no swirling at all right on the equator. Was a fun little science experiment and also a nice opportunity to get out of the van and stretch our legs. This was one of our stops on the 8 hour ride between Nairobi and Maua.
This will be one of several pictures that fall in the category of "you don't see this in America". A big ol' male elephant walking into the brush on the side of the road. He could have easily turned around and walked 10 feet and been on the highway. Amazing.
This was our hotel in Maua. Was quite nice, we mostly always had hot (or warm) showers, when the power went out the generator kicked on really fast, and the food was very yummy.
On a different note, this is the view outside our hotel. This is what most of the city looked like. This is apparently what a third world country looks like.
In the midst of third world country life, with limited power and running water,there is the Methodist church of Maua with 5 flat panel TVs hanging from the ceiling and enough speakers to make you feel like you are at a rock concert. Was the most lively church service we have ever been to. They were very welcoming and had seats for us right up front...we all wished we had our ear plugs with us!
We got to visit the Zoe Kenya office and here is a picture of us with all of the staff.
Here is a picture of us and one of the Zoe working groups that Dad and Mary sponsor. We met them in the middle of a field where they were harvesting some beans they had planted. We met with 4 groups total during the trip. The visits usually consisted of the leaders of the working group giving us a report on what all the group itself has accomplished. Then individual members of the group would stand up and talk about what their life was like before Zoe and how it has changed thanks to the Zoe organization.
After visiting with the large group we usually went to see some of the individual member's businesses. Here I am with a boy who is raising rabbits. He also had a bunch of chickens. I got pretty excited about the rabbits - brought back memories of my childhood. Other businesses we visited were a barber shop, salon, kiosks which were basically little stands where they sold small quantities of sugar and basic staples, plus a random assortment of things, and some tailors. I will never complain about my sewing machine again, not even the one from the 60's. These girls were sewing with foot pump machines, in a building that was nearly pitch black because there was zero electricity, and the clothes they were making were WAY fancier than anything I could do!
Here is one of the barbers/salons we visited. The boy in the middle was the barber and because his place had electricity, he also had a business charging batteries. He shared the space with a girl who did ladies hair. You can see the weaves hanging from the wall there (note, we did not see any blonde!) We met a whole lot of girls who had salons - we were not real sure why the community needed so many hair stylists, but then we made the realization that most of the ladies in these villages did not go home at night and take a hot shower and wash their hair. They go to the salon once a week, or whenever, and get their hair done. Hence the market for salon options.
In visiting the working groups and the different businesses, we spent a whole lot of time on dirt roads. At one point we came across this scene. It is maybe a 2 lane road, but this cart was right in the middle. I was thinking to myself "why doesn't this person scoot to the side". Well eventually the cart did move over a bit so we could pass and turns the "driver" was some donkeys who were not real concerned with the fact they were blocking our way. You can see their friend the cow off to the right there and some goats on the left. New experience #387 on our Africa adventure.
One afternoon we went to go visit the School For Little Children equivalent of the Maua Methodist Church. The kids at the preschool sang some songs for us and we got a tour of the facility. The kids were adorable and so well behaved, especially considering that we were late and they had been waiting for us forever. The school began as a school for orphans but they have since opened it up to the community. To get to the school we took the longest, bumpiest dirty road I had ever seen. There are not a lot of cars in the part of Kenya where we spent most of the time, most people walk. After the car ride that day, I kind of wished walking had been an option.
In addition to ABCs and 123s, at the preschool they teach sustainability and farming to the kids. Here is one of the adorable little piggies at the school! The kids will eventually learn that this cute thing is also a good source of bacon.
After an action packed week, the vacation started. Well, the safari was pretty action packed too, but there was a lot more down time and relaxing time. Here is our tent at the camp where we went on safari. This is my kind of "camping". We only had power during certain times and only had hot water during certain times, but the camp was fabulous.
I could fill pages with animal pics, but I'll stick to the highlights...
Cheetah on the lookout for some dinner. His brother was hanging out not too far away.
Mr. Lion relaxing in the shade. He didn't have much of a mane, but apparently African lions at this park don't have big manes because it is so hot. Nature at work.
We saw a lot of babies. Here is a momma leopard and her baby crossing the road.
Here is a more iconic photo of a leopard relaxing in a tree.
Big zebras and baby zebra
We saw baby giraffe too, but I thought that this was a pretty cool pic that Dad took. You can also see some of the acacia tree in the background. I normally don't care much about trees, but these were pretty neat!
We saw lots of LOTS of baby elephants. In fact we lots of elephants in general. Not very surprising, we saw a lot of elephants by the river. We had a front row seat watching baby elephants play in the river - not sure there is much cuter than that.
Baby baboon hitching a ride on daddy's back
This one goes into the files as "you don't see this in America" - monkeys drinking out of the pool at the camp. These monkeys were all over the property. Some of them tried really hard to break into Dad and Mary's tent. Fortunately the monkeys have not been able to figure out the carabiners that they put on the zippers of the tents.
Here we are with our wonderful driver Joseph. He was kind of quiet the first part of the trip, but once we got to the safari he turned into the biggest wealth of animal fun facts and Kenyan history. He sat at dinner with us one night and talked about how he didn't have any more than a secondary education. I am sad to say that I have a master's degree and don't know a fraction of what he knows. We all really enjoyed spending time with him, I am not sure you could find a better driver and guide!
