Amboseli Day Two

Rosa had never been camping before and the luxury tents we were staying in was the most wilderness-ey experience she had ever been in. All night she was waking my up, freaking out about all the sounds the animals were making outside. I am no camping expert but I had been enough times in my life to able to ignore all animal sounds and go to sleep. I felt a little mean telling her to stop being a baby and go to sleep because they are not going to come in our tent and eat us then promptly going falling back a sleep but hey what am I going to do, I need my beauty rest. In the morning we woke up and got ready to go out for our 6:30 am game drive. We saw a bunch of elephants and zebra but for the next hour and a half we just drove around looking for lions and we were not able to find anything. There was a lion spotting but by the time we got over to where we were we just missed them. The rocking of the van going over the bumps roads even lulled me to sleep for a while which is kind of embarrassing. Who goes to sleep during a safari?

We then headed back to the hotel for a quick breakfast and checking out so we could go on another game drive before we had to be out of the park. You only pay for 24 hours in the park and if you go over at all they charge you. So after eating way to much at the buffet again and packing we went out for the game drive in record time. Luckily for us the game drive was much more successful. We didn't see any lions but we saw tons of monkeys, ostriches, zebras. I saw my first hippo! It was really far away and I had to use binoculars but it was so huge and cute, they are so incredibly round. That wasn't event the best part of the day though. Right after we left the hippos we came across the hugest herd of elephants I have ever seen. The day before I saw a herd of 200 but it was so far away that it almost doesn't count but this one was a herd of over 100 elephants that walked right past us! There were elephants of every size tiny babies, ones with giant tusks. One elephant that was walking with a tiny baby turned and looked straight at us as all angry. I felt those elephants tiny beady eyes pierce my soul but after staring us down it just walked off. Some of the elephants were marching together in a straight line and I couldn't help but think of the elephant marching song from The Jungle Book, they looked exactly like that. I could have watched them walk in to the distance forever but we had to head back to Nairobi our time had run out. I have to say from the two safaris I have been on in terms of animals the Mara is the best but in terms of the scenery and landscape Amboseli is the nicest. It was a very successful and fun safari I think that I want to do one more before I leave maybe just to a park that is close by though.

Amboseli Day One

This weekend I went with Rosa to Amboseli. She had wanted to go on a real safari while she was here because honestly how often are you in Kenya or Africa for that matter you have to take your safari oppurtunities while they are there. Harriette planned the whole safari for us which was nice and above and beyond what I had initially thought she was going to do. We used the same safari company that we used last time and we even had the same driver. So we left a little before seven and were off. First though we stopped at the KWS headquaterers (Kenya Wildlife Service) to see if we can pay a student rate for our park fees. When we got there we kindly and politely asked and I gave them my I am just a poor student and volunteer please help me look but they said no. To get the student rate which is $20 as opposed to the adult rate which is $60 you have to apply at least two weeks in advance and have a signed note from your school about why you are here and want to go to the park! That is just crazy they should encourage more students to come not make them have to jump through ridiculous hoops. So we paid the $60 and hit the road. I always sleep on road trips and as soon I got in I fell completley asleep. I didnt wake up for about 2 and a half hours and by then we were already more than half way there.

As we were pulling up to the park gate we could see a glimpse of the top of Kilimanjaro and it was so beautiful. It was huge and you can see the whole montain from where it starts to the peak, it was amazing. When we finally got to the hotel they gave us a nice glass of passion fruit juice and hot towels to clean our hands. After checking in we went to see our rooms, which turned out to be so nice. It was like a big tent and with two nice sized beds and even a shower, toilet and sink inside! It was like the fanciest camping ever. Rosa and I then went to eat some lunch before the first game drive. The food was so good we singlehandedly ate half of their apple crumble type dessert. We were able to rest for a little while then got ready to head out for the drive. We saw tons of elephants. Amboseli is elephant country and they were everywhere. There also were tons of zebra, ostriches, vervet monkeys, baboons, wildebeests. I saw my first hyena. They are not very cute though they look like dirty homeless dogs. The whole day we were driving around all Rosa could talk about was seeing a lion and as the day was winding down they were finally spotted. When we finally got to where they were there were like 6 or 7 cars all around. But from where we were we couldn't even see anything. They were hiding behind like 5 bushes and were super far away, there isn't any off roading at all in Amboseli. So we waited around and finally were able to get in a better position and with the binoculars you could only see the sleeping lions outline camouflaged in the grass. So we decided to keep ourselves busy by taking funny pictures and after a while when they still weren't waking up headed back to the hotel hoping to try our luck the next day. Our evening was pretty relaxing eating a huge dinner and watching Glee episodes on my computer till we went to sleep.

My first African party

On Friday with much trepidation I went to a party with Harritte and Sjoerd. Harriette had been telling me about this Ivory Coast party for weeks and with my trip to Embu postponed I was able to go. When I had packed for coming to Nairobi for some reason it never entered into my mind that I would ever be going out and I didn't pack anything nice enough to go to a party in. Luckily, Rebecca is pretty much the same size as me and she let me borrow a nice shirt and a pair of heels. It was such a huge production to get ready I couldn't believe it. Harriette straightened my hair, I got dressed, Rosa Maria took pictures of me, Natasha lent me some jewelry and as if it could not get anymore embarrassing Natasha took pictures of me as I was leaving like I was going to my first school dance or something. We got to the party over a hour late and I was worried because they were serving dinner too that we might miss something but we ended up being one of the first people there. Everyone was running on Kenyan time so the restaurant where it was at really didn't start filling up for another hour. Everyone was speaking French at the party since it was Ivorian and I felt so left out luckily Harriette's friend was there and she didn't speak any French too. The food was good I had grated cassava which I had never had before, some tomatoes in pepper sauce, fries and rice but the ginger juice that I had was so strong and gross it was almost choking. After dinner Harriette dragged me to the dance floor. I have never danced at a party before let alone to African music and it did not come easy to me. I constantly had to think and be aware of every movement I was doing to make sure that I didn't start looking crazy. I am so bad at dancing, seriously bad. What are you supposed to do with your arms? I was wracking my brain trying to think of something to do with them because if it was up to me I would just leave them hanging aimlessly by my sides. After what felt like an eternity on the dance floor I sat back down and rested my feet. When we finally left the party at around 1 we were one of the first people to leave. All in all it was fun and a completely new experience I decided now I am going to be a fun, dancing, party person with a little more practice I will at least.

Plans and transitons

Now that everyone has arrived I have no idea what I was so worried out in the first place. Sometimes I really do psych myself out for no reason. Saturday I finished cooking and just started the dishes when I heard the door bell ring. I had been expecting a 30 year old Brazilian but Rosa Maria turned out to be a 24 year old Colombian grad student at Berkeley. She is a vegetarian which means that now I am not the only one now who get puzzled and shocked looks when I say I don't eat meat. The food I cooked surprisingly turned out well there were a few minutes there when I wasn't sure, she even liked it. Now I have someone to go to travel with already we were planning on going Nairobi National Park, the Giraffe Center, the Safari Walk, a real safari and a trip to Mombasa. She is only going to be here a month so we are going to try to cram in as much as possible. The next day Natasha came back from California and she is going to stay this time for two months. It does feel very different to have so many people in the house but its nice to just walk into the room across from mine and have someone to talk to. After a nice long talk with Natasha checking in on how things have been since she had seen us last. She entrusted me with taking Rosa around and on Sunday we walked to Ya-Ya to the Maasai Market and got some lunch at french bakery there. I feel kind of strange pretending to be this street street Nairobian but in comparison to her I am and I am sure that she will get the hang of it soon.

Final preperations

Tonight another volunteer is coming and tomorrow Natasha, is coming back. I am so nervous a hundred things are constantly running through my head. I feel slightly overwhelmed as I think of how things will change and all the things that I need to do to get ready. This morning Harriette took me grocery shopping at Nakumatt which was the nicest thing ever because since all the food was thrown out when the power was out there was nothing in the fridge. I spent way more money than I wanted to getting a whole shopping cart full of food but when I put everything away you could barely tell I bought anything, everything still looks empty. When I came back from the grocery store I started cooking some chapatis. I am going to have dinner ready for Rosa Maria when she comes, chapatis and peas. Yesterday at work I asked Rebecca to help me write out recipes for everything so I can make it on my own. The first part of the chapatis went very well I had no problems whatsoever. Janet, Harriette's nanny came and checked them and said they look good which was a relief. Now the dough just has to settle and in a couple of hours I will make them so they will be hot and fresh when she comes. For the past half hour or so I have been trying to decorate Rosa Maria's room. Natasha was planning on being here before the other volunteers came so she can buy beds and desks for their room but because Rosa Maria is coming early nothing was bought. So now she gets stuck with a couple mattresses on the floor. I thought of getting the end table and lamp from the third floor and the chair from my room and putting it in hers but it still ends up looking like a room in a psych ward. So I have been taping some pictures up to liven up the room a little, it helped but not as much as I would have liked. Now all I need to make a big sign that says Karibu which means welcome in Kiswahili and finish cooking. I am trying my hardest to make everything as nice as possible because I don't know her and Natasha isn't here. I hope that she likes everything. I just hope the cooking and everything goes off without a hitch and she ends up being nice. I have never lived with someone I didn't know before and I hope that she isn't mean but then I think how could she be mean she is coming to volunteer in Kenya for three months which not everyone would do. Starting now I am offically starting to think positive, everything will be okay, no everything will be great and this will just make my experience even better. Now I just have to start believing it.

The greatest luxury of all electricity

In the middle of the night Sunday I heard a big bang and the house slightly jolted for a second. I got up to see what was going on and the power had gone out. So I just went back to bed hoping it would come back on in the morning. That was three days ago it hasn't. Three days without power. All the food in the refrigerator has gone bad and every morning I have to boil water for a bath. Harriette was freaking me out a little bit yesterday saying how it could last up to a month because they have to send for a part in South Africa and with the power out soon there won't be any water with the pumps not being able to work. She didn't stop there then she went on about how there could be break-ins starting with the electric fence not working. Robbers could just go house to house taking whatever they want! I can handle the lights being out but no water, being robbed and probably murdered I wouldn't know where to begin coping with that. Right now the biggest hassle had just been carrying my laptop and chargers to work so I charge everything. The one good thing is I went to my Kiswahili class on time for the first time ever I am a lot faster in the mornings with nothing to distract me. I just hope it doesn't last for much longer I am missing having a hot shower in the mornings.

UPDATE:
The power came back on Thursday afternoon! I was so excited finally that hot shower I had been dreaming about and toast delicious, crispy toast!

Buruburu Day 2

On Saturday we had planned to go shoe shopping again and go to the big Maasai Market that happens every Saturday early so we can get the good stuff. Some how breakfast took way longer than expected and we didn't end up getting to town till 1. As soon, and I mean as soon, as we got off the matatu it started raining. Sometimes the rainy season can really put a crimp in your day. We decided to go ahead and see if they were still there. They were but all the things they were selling were under big tarps. The one thing I actually wanted was to get some Maasai sandles and you can't very well do that in the rain or so I thought. Being in the rain doesn't actually make that much of a difference because people will want you to come over to them even more. The rain finally stopped and I as we were walking around I was immediately impressed by how big it was. It was at least 4 times bigger than the one in Ya-Ya center that I usually go to. They had a variety of stuff and I got to try out my bargaining skills again. After Saturday I will no longer feel bad when I give someone a low offer for something. There was this one person who tried to sell me a picture made out of banana leaves, I wasn't interested so I walked away. His first offer was 700 shillings and when I passed him by later he said lowered his offer all the way to 200! From 700 to 200 he was just trying to rip me off because he can see mazungu, foreigner painted on my forehead. I just have to think of a fair price and then stick to my guns and not let them bully me. I still ended up getting a lot of stuff like a Maasai blanket, earrings, bracelets, a basket, a dress and sandles. After the market Rebecca took me around to show me some good places to eat in the area. When the other volunteers come I want to act like I know all these great African places to eat and go to town all the time. I will be like, "Oh yeah, this place I go there all the time, it one of my favorites," even though I had never eaten there before and will probably get lost on the way there. She showed me some fast food restaurants, Italian and African. I am excited to go back and taste them. It soon started raining again so we headed back to her house and got a start on dinner. When we were on the site visits I would eat chapatis for every meal they were offered because they are so good so she showed me how to make them. I had no idea how hard it is. Needing everything by hand is so tiring and takes so long. I tried out rolling them and cooking them my fingers were all burnt and red since she usually just flips them on the stove by hand. It is worth it though they were the best chapatis I ever had. On Sunday I woke up feeling sick so I ended up going home early but I defenitly am going to go back it was really fun and one of the best weekend I have had since I have been here.

Buruburu day 1

This past weekend I went to stay at Rebecca's house. I was supposed to go over Easter but after I had been robbed I didn't feel up to it and I was excited to finally be able to make it up. I packed up all my stuff and got ready to head to her house right after work. On the way to her house we made a stop in town to go shopping. The few times I have been to central Nairobi I never really saw any really nice places to shop I guess I just wasn't looking in the right places. First, we stopped off at Village Market which I had been to before but when I had gone most of the stores were closed so I didn't get to see it in its full glory. At village market there is a bunch of little stores that sells crafts, jewelry, shirts, nice well made stuff and even though they have little stores you can bargain. In the first and only store we went into I saw some of the most beautiful jewelry I had ever seen and it wasn't the usual kind of stuff that you can get at any Masai market. Rebecca and I both really liked a necklace and bracelet set that they had. They were made from this really beautiful stones that was beaded together in layers. I was impressed with Rebecca's bargaining skills because she was able to get two, one in white and one in blue, for less than the price for one!After that we went to a more traditional shopping center. She had promised to take me shoe shopping and at the store we went to there was some nice stuff that was my size but I didn't end up getting anything. We ended up having to rush out of the store because her husband was waiting outside for us and he had been waiting for a while. The area that Rebecca lives in Buruburu is actually pretty nice. The apartment she lives in is really central and she can walk right to the bank, grocery store, hair salon, restaurant in 2 minutes. I thought I lived close to everything but after seeing where she lives I am not so sure. We ended up getting to her house at 8 and we still had to cook dinner. She made these really good peas and I made sure to take mental notes of everything she was doing so I can make it again. We all watched a movie, Up in the Air, and I went to sleep I needed my energy for all the shopping we were planning on doing the next day.