We've passed the one week mark since our arrival in Nairobi and I thought I'd take a minute to blog about it. I had dreams of detailed blog posts with the awesome internet I knew we'd have here. But, since we left our first guest house, our internet has actually not been as good as what we have at home. Just a gentle reminder that I'm still in Africa!
We started off our "holiday" with a couple of days in Abuja. We were able to schedule Abby's orthodontic appointment in the capital city so that we could fly out the same weekend and kill two birds with one trip. That left us with a free day for swimming at the Hilton and eating ice cream poolside. Some friends from our city joined us for the trip down and we were able to share some time with friends.
She's very "14" these days, which is mostly a blessing. It's definitely different than parenting a 3 or an 8 year old!
We flew out on Sunday morning headed to Addis for a short layover before heading into Nairobi. As soon as we got on the plane, I could have cried. It's been a tough year and there have been many times when we've felt a little "trapped." Something about climbing on that plane seemed so familiar and so freeing. It probably didn't help my emotions at all that we flew via Ethiopian Airlines and as soon as I stepped on the plane and saw all of those beautiful Ethiopian flight attendants I was reminded of our first trip to Addis to meet Abe. I was reminded of how loving the Ethiopian people are toward children. They served our children first, while the adults waited for food. They checked in on them frequently, and were so very gracious.
Here we are, all smiles at the Addis airport. What we didn't know is that 2 hours later, Abe would be violently ill with a tummy bug. Just as they were calling for us to board the plane, he let loose all over the floor of the airport. Everyone was very gracious to us and they held the plane long enough for some sweet Ethiopian woman to clean him up while Ryan cleaned himself up. Then, when he continued to be ill on the plane, the flight attendants were so kind and brought us anything we asked for promptly and graciously. By the time we finally got to our guesthouse in Nairobi, it was 2:30 in the morning and we were exhausted. We layed low the first couple of nights, giving Abe time to recover while the rest of us caught our breath.
After a couple of nights in the city, we headed out for the part of the trip that we were most excited about. We drove into the Great Rift Valley and headed to a safari lodge. Along the way, we stopped at a beautiful lookout point.
Of course, it was conveniently equipped toilets which you got to by walking through a massive gift shop. There we got to see the first of those East African handicrafts that everyone had told us about. The kids were so excited to look at all of the goodies. Lots to choose from... fabric animals.
carved animals...
baskets and much, much, more.
As we continued to drive, Ryan was the first to spot "real" safari animals. Here was our first sighting of giraffes on the side of the highway. Amazing!
A little further down the road, we saw our first zebras.
After a couple of hours of driving, we made it to our lodge, which was incredible. There are lots of options available, but at the recommendation of some friends, we chose the Lake Navaisha Sopa Lodge and we were very happy with it. The kids wanted to check out the pool.
The cottages were amazing. We stayed on the bottom floor of one of them. The grounds were filled with animals. There were water bucks, monkeys, giraffes, and at night we had to have a security escort to protect us from the grazing hippos. It was really an incredible experience.
Here's a bit of the main lodge area where all of the meals were served. I felt like I was back in NC having lunch at the Grove Park Inn!
After lunch, we headed to Hell's Gate National Park. We saw lots of animals including gazelles, zebras, warthogs, a hyena, baboons, cape buffalo, giraffes, and tons of birds and other hoofed animals. It was a great afternoon. For about an hour of the time, we actually had a guide take us down unto a gorge for a little hike. We walked on the bottom of the gorge and had fun stretching our legs and exploring the rocks and physical features of the gorge.
Here is Ryan feeling the boiling hot water coming out of the side of the gorge.
The kids also had fun with all of the pumice stone they found. Here's Isaac pretending to hold a heavy rock which was actually a piece of pumice about the same weight as a styrofoam cube. I think that park was probably my favorite of our 3 safari days. The animals were plentiful, we got to get out and walk around, and it was just the right size for the age of our kids.
The next day we got up, donned our life jackets, and got into one of these...
We took a boat ride around Lake Navaisha and we were able to see lots of birds, hippos, and cool vegetation. Our boat driver even fed a tilapia to a fishing eagle while we watched.
Hippos don't photograph well, but here are a few that we saw.
The boat dropped us off at Crescent Island where we spent an hour walking with the animals. We literally walked all over these fields right through the middle of herds of zebras, water bucks, wildebeasts, and giraffes.
There had been 3 new giraffe calves born in the last month and we got close enough to see their umbilical cords. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.
One of my favorite parts of that day was when we were returning to our room after lunch. A bunch of velvet monkeys saw that Lily was carrying an apple. They chased her up some stairs and she panicked and threw the apple. That sent a few of them away, but brought plenty more our way. They followed us back to our room. We just plopped down in front of the windows and spent about 1/2 hour watching and interacting with them through the glass. There were lots of giggles and squeals.
After the monkeys moved on, we decided to try out that big ole swimming pool. It was really too cold to enjoy, but we all took a dip for the principle of it and some stayed longer than others!
The next day we had to pack up and head out. Our last day out of the city was spent at Lake Nakuru. We were welcomed by tons of baboons at the front gates. This is just one of the welcoming committee.
There were literally thousands of birds. There were tons of pelicans, flamingos, storks, and other varieties.
This park also offered some beautiful views.
We saw many of the same animals that we had seen on the other days, with the exception of rhinos, which were not at our first park. Lake Nakuru was beautiful and it would be a bird watcher's dream, but it wasn't our favorite. We had to drive lots more to see animals. Sometimes we'd drive for 10 or 15 minutes without seeing anything. The kids definitely preferred our first 2 days.
All in all, it was a great few days and we enjoyed our safari time very much. We think the parks we did this time were a great choice. They offered tons of animals without a long drive. We were very satisfied. If we ever get the chance to go again in the future, we've all decided we'd head to Masai Mara where we can see the cats.
We're back in the city now and we still have lots we want to see here. Unfortunately, we're down with the tummy bug just now. Isaac and Lizzy have both been sick today and we're praying that the rest of us either dodge it or get it quick so that we can get on with our vacation fun. I have to say that I am very, very thankful that none of us came down with it while we were out on our safari days. I am also thankful that if we have to have it, we are in a place with constant electricity and grocery stores that are stocked with chicken noodle soup, popsicles, and chilled Sprite.
If you'd like to see more pictures of our time with the animals, click here.
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