Blogs from Nairobi, Nairobi Province, Kenya, Africa - page 13

It is late, my house is quiet and I should be asleep. However, I leave this beautiful home nestled in the Ngong Hills in 4 weeks 1 day. That means 29 days of non-stop list after list after list of things to do. I am leaving my home of the last six years and stepping into a new adventure. As I have a moment of silence I start to think of the things I will miss. I realize it is not the things I will miss at all but the people. Alice, who has worked for my husband as a maid for the last 5 years. She was included in the package when I got married and let me tell you, what a deal! She is amazing…a mother of three of her own and two more ... read more

Friday, February 25th, 2011: Everyone was pretty lethargic this morning. Partly due to us having a 9hr bus ride back to Nairobi starting at 7am and partly because we all knew what we were leaving behind. We planned a bathroom break in Kisumu and Dad (Todd) purchased grilled maize corn from the street vendors which turned out to be a bit over cooked so it wasn’t really a treat in the end. As many of the volunteers were flying out that evening, there was a very limited opportunity for them to purchase souvenirs in Nairobi. At lunch we stopped at a huge shop that has anything and everything any tourist could ever want, for a price of course. It was extremely overpriced and the bartering was not for the faint of heart. Some were able to ... read more

Heyy there sorry all for the delay in blog-posting... I've been crazy busy over the past 2 weeks what with switching from Madagascar to Tanzania to Kenya... I'm now on the home stretch of my trip. Only two months left then i'm headed home! as for my Tanzania tour, it was absolutely amazing. My three days at Serengeti/Ngorongoro were literally three days straight out of National Geographic. We first drove from Arusha(the snake park) over the edge of the Ngorongoro crater and into the Serengeti. Let me tell you how absolutely blown away i was by the gargantuan herd of wildebeast. they were everywhere... the plains were peppered with wildebeast and zebras as far as the eye could see. We also ran into a herd of about 6-7 elephant who came to investigate our safari 4x4s ... read more

From wild safari rides to rugged days in Masailand and everything in between, our days in Kenya could not have been more perfect. The month passed by in the blink of an eye and we find ourselves a hop, a skip, and a jump away from Europe. Filled with so many exhilarating highs and some thoroughly challenging lows, Lauren and I have grown so much from this third world experience. Though she has walked the streets of Africa before, the culture and poverty and rugged landscape overwhelmed us equally. There is a certain exhilaration that comes from walking a crowded street in a foreign country when you are the only person without the darkest of skin tones. A certain apprehension when you are staring at the cold steel barrel of a machine gun routinely carried by ... read more

AFRICA'S FUTURE Unlike the heartbreaking images of the severely malnourished, this healthy family represents the future of Africa. With clean water, education and healthcare, their future holds promise. This adoring mother nestles her youngest of three. Somehow you know the doctor is smiling, enjoying a shared moment of understanding with another parent. ... read more

We spent the weekend in Nairobi with the Wildebeest Camp as our home base. We were surprised by the colonial main house and the green gardens. The guests here are from all parts of the globe and swap stories while enjoying ice cold Tusker Beer. Each morning they serve a made-to-order breakfast with tea. We have met a host of characters each with an interesting back story and purpose in Kenya. Nairobi similar in many ways to the big cities around the world, but is still so different. We spent Saturday walking to the Nairobi Arboretum, which is a sprawling park densely lined with native trees. In the park, people gathered to play soccer, sing, relax, and pray. After leaving the park, we decided that a visit to the city center was a must. Surprisingly, the ... read more