Around Nairobi

Day 2 - Dec. 18, 2011

After about 4 hours sleep, we stumbled into the main lodge for a nice breakfast buffet. We braved the fresh juices and tried ‘Passion Fruit’ and ‘Tree Tomatoes’. Both were good. Books tell you not to drink juice unless you’ve seen it squeezed, since the water here is guaranteed to give you the runs. But we are staying in high end places, so I guess we’re safe.

Caroline, our personal contact person, came by and gave us a briefing of our overall trip, and then Peter whisked us away to a baby elephant sanctuary. When poachers kill elephants for the ivory, they often leave a young calf behind who will die without their parent. This place rescues them, feeds them, and then returns them to the wild when they are old enough. (Seen in the movie: Born to be Wild)

Their caregivers live with them 24 hours a day, sleeping in the same stable on a dirty mattress up on a shelf.

The baby’s are fed from giant bottles of milk. They were all very cute wallowing in the mud. They sure looked like they were smiling. One guy gave a long, detailed talk on the center, their mission, and elephants, but the crowd talked so loud, I couldn’t hear a word.

One of the 2 year old elephants charged through the rope barrier holding back spectators. You should have seen those folk scatter. I was about 15 feet away from him when he was finally turned. He was actually just sort of jogging, not full-on charging.

We also saw a warthog family trotting by, and then the big male ran right past us and into the parking lot, startling several people. I bought a T-shirt here as a way to donate money to a worthy cause. Kathryn laughed because I rarely buy souvenirs, yet the first one of the trip was for me.

Next stop was the Giraffe
Center. In Uganda, the Rothschild giraffe, noted for his ‘white socks’, or lack of markings below the knee, was almost exterminated through poaching. Kenya set up this reserve to try and bring the animal back. We got some food and let the critters eat out of our hand with their long, rough tongues. They had a display of bones as well. The giraffe’s thigh bone stretched from the floor to over my waist, and weighed probably 25 pounds.

We ate lunch in a traditional Kenyan restaurant and had chicken two ways, beer, a fried flour tortilla thing, rice, tilapia, and the staple of Kenyan diets, “ugali”, a thick, cornmeal paste like substance, which despite that description wasn’t too bad. Tried the local Tusker beer (boring) and some yummy Mango juice. Basically, I ate myself sick. They brought silverware especially for Kathryn and I, since Kenyan’s eat with their fingers.

We drove back to town and cruised through the slums, while Peter’s commentary provided insight into the political corruption that has 2 million people living in shanty towns. We continued on to an overlook where we viewed the important government structures of Nairobi.

Off next to a flea market, where the merchants were pushy but not as bad as Egypt. Haggling is a must, and one item started at $120, and I got him down to $10! The silly thing that intrigued me the most was little paintings done on banana peels!

Back to the hotel to relax by the pool with a drink. This is the Fairview Inn, built in the ‘30s, if not earlier, and it still retains much of its charm in the colonial pillars, drawing rooms, the heavy leather easy chairs like the one I’m sitting in now, while a guy plays piano by the bar. The front lawn is marvelously landscaped with a rocky waterfall that is populated by huge frogs, judging from the thunderous croaking. Beautiful place.