Safari!

It’s been an exciting and adventurous few days in Kenya… and here’s the recap:

I went to Mombasa on Friday and spent the afternoon with a Kenyan Indian family, which was so much fun! We took a “tuktuk” around the city for a bit with a very crazy driver, and I was sure we were going to crash into people, cars, and carts multiple times. A tuktuk, by the way, is like a taxi that has one wheel in front, two wheels in the back, has no windows, and usually seats three passengers. Also while I was visiting with them, two of the girls in the family gave me a fun henna tattoo!



Yesterday Sebastian, Jael, and I drove a ways inland for a picnic in a really remote area overlooking a huge valley that elephants usually roam through.



It was so hot, however, that they were all hiding in the nearby forests, but that didn’t stop us from seeing some later on in the day in a national park. We went on our own mini-safari and had a really fun time driving around in Sebastian’s little red car and looking for animals. The three of us took turns driving and standing outside of the car and “spotting” in order to get a better view while we drove.



For the first hour or so, the animals were nice - sable antelope, buffalo, warthogs, and gazelles – but I was really, really, really hoping to see an elephant. Sure enough, we were in luck and spotted two in one area and a lone young bull elephant in another. I was SO excited to see them and of course had to take lots of pictures, especially of the latter. I unfortunately can’t post the pictures, though, as they’re still undeveloped (I know, I live in the dark ages and still use film – sorry!).

Apparently these young male elephants are the most dangerous and aggressive since they’re not yet part of a herd, yet we rather stupidly stood outside the car, watched it cross the road just 100 feet behind us or so and were snapping pictures when he started looking angry. He was flapping his ears, raising his trunk, and took a few steps towards us, and we all of a sudden realized that he could at any minute charge and mangle our car... so we jumped in the car, started the engine, and drove away in record time. Slightly scary – but we all lived, so no worries (right Mom and Dad?) : )

Seeing animals in their native habitats makes them somehow far more impressive than when there is glass or bars between you and them. It’s also slightly more thrilling and scary to think that there’s nothing to stop the animal from deciding it wants to pay you a personal visit… thankfully we escaped having to experience that!

Today I learned to cook a few costal Kenyan dishes with Jael and her sisters who are here to visit, and they tasted great and weren’t too difficult to prepare… so I am definitely going to have to try them out once I get home.

When I left afterwards, I had to say goodbye to Sebastian as he’s leaving tomorrow for a week-long trip and I’m leaving for Nairobi and then Tanzania on Tuesday. I didn’t expect to make such good friends here, and it’s sad having to say goodbyes already to people I have spent so much time with and who have been so wonderful to me. Sigh… guess that’s life. But I am incredibly thankful to have had both Jael and Sebastian here – they’ve made this leg of the journey so great because I’ve had friends to share it with.