Walking with Giraffes

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Today I walked with giraffes!

Hartley offered to take me to Aberdare Country Club (we had cancelled a previous visit due the mud on the road) this morning for breakfast and a game walk.

The club is open to the public for a fee, and there is an additional charge for the guide. It is situated on a high hill overlooking the area where Vicki and I stayed last weekend. It is fenced and there are wild herds of zebra, giraffe, antelope, and warthogs.

The grounds are beautiful, as are the buildings. We ate breakfast outside and were the only guests. A peacock came down from his perch in tree to try steal our food! We could see for many miles across Kenya from our table.

After we ate, Arthur, a guide, took us for a walking tour that lasted over an hour. We were able to wander with herds of zebra and giraffe. They are accustomed to people, but not tame. We could get fairly close befire they moved away. The head giraffe was off guarding a pregnant female and the young male in charge approached us, checking us out! The guide said that a tourist who had snuck out on his own was killed by a giraffe a few years ago...kicked to death!

We walked near the giraffe and zebra herds for about 20 minutes, and then walked over to some water bucks, very shy antelope, that were near. We also saw elands, who are quite irresponsible parents, leaving their baby alone and not even noticing when we came close! Apparently when they are threatened, they will run off and leave their young.

Our trip back was also eventful: We were pulled over by the police at a check point. I have only seen matatus and trucks pulled over so far, so this was a bit scary. The officer looked at the inspection sticker and told Hartley that it had expired, and that this was a "grave, very grave" situation and she would have to go to court and pay a large fine. After some tense moments, a supervisor came over and noticed the inspection report taped to the back window of Hartley's truck. All was well, and we moved on....needless to say, I have no photos of the incident!

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Photos

Another sign
Notice the specialty: "schemes"

Public Art in Nyeri
A giant coke bottle...

One of the classes I worked with on penpal letters
Tessa is to my left...