Abudare - on the set of "Out of Africa"

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Jambo Again!

Knowing it has been a couple of days does not mean the fun has not continued!

Saturday, we spent the day in Sweet Waters. Sweet Waters is a privatly owned game park that should not be missed. While we saw many animals (zebra, giraffe, wart hogs, and impala) there are two other major attractions to Sweet Waters. The beautiful Black Rhino, which I had an almost unfortunate incident of being charged by. While he was beautiful to look at and rather tame, Rhinos have very small brains. And I guess he forgot I was a human and not a tree. Freaked Karl out something fierce! I was calm, but he saw it happening much faster than I did. We have some GREAT photos of it though!

The other really cool part of our day was seeing the Chimpanzees in the Park. While Chimps are not native to Kenya at all, they are poached in their natural habitat. So, Jane Goodall partnered up with Sweet Waters to create a reserve for them. There are 49 chimps that have been rescued on the reserve (14 born on the reserve). They seem to enjoy people and "performing". They seem to show off when people arrive. The chimps jump around, create a lot of noise and play about for us. The reserve they are kept on is 560 acres making it a great home for them.

After Sweet Waters, we went on to Abudare. This is a really beautiful place to stay. We feel like we are on the set of "Out of Africa". We are staying in an old colonial residence. We sit on the porch for afternoon tea and watch the wart hogs and baboons play in the gardens. It is really something else. The Gardens are something out of a movie. Just amazing.

This afternoon we are going to the Ark (see itinerary for a link). The Ark is built at a high elevation over water holes with cat walks over top. I am really looking forward to perhaps catching a glimpse of a Hippopotomus. They are my favorite and I have not seen one yet.

My mom was asking about our food, and I would say it is extremely good. Omlettes made to order, buffet breakfasts and lunch with fruit and dessert at every sitting. The beef is incredable here and I am not sure why. All of the comforts of home only better. The staff here is eager to please and they will do just about anything for you for bubble gum. It is very rare here (thanks Carrie!).

We are having a great time. The one thing I am struggling with is the sun. You can get sunstroke here in less than 10 minutes and our fair complextions are betraying us. It passes quickly, but if we are not mindful of it, it knocks you out quickly.

We will update you again soon!
-Julie and Karl

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Comments

[RebekahSteve]

wowwwwww
I am so impressed w/the extent of your travels glad that the animals are behaving and making lots of once-in-a-lifetime appearances your sipping tea on the verandah sounds so beautiful! have fun Rebekah thanks for keeping us in the loop