Day 2: Timon and Pumba.

                                           Jambo!

After going to bed late I still woke up ready to see Kenya in the daylight. I sat up and through my mosquito net I pushed the curtains aside only to see that it was still night out. I was wide awake and it was only 4am. Tina, who shared a room with me, was also awake. We turned on the TV to find AC360 was on and of course the voice of my favorite anchor helped me fall right back to sleep.

A knock at our door woke us up for breakfast. This time it was light outside! I filled with excitement when I saw a pool, outdoor eating areas and tropical looking plants and trees outside our window.

The breakfast buffet was good even though I was nervous at first about what I could and couldn't eat. I had a hard boiled egg, cinnamon roll, sausage, bacon, croissant, passion fruit juice and of course, coffee. After breakfast we had a Kiswahili lesson which was a lot of fun. I love learning new languages I just hadn't had the time to focus on it before our trip. I was thankful for the brush up lesson.

After our lesson in Kiswahili and how to treat our water we headed out into Kenya! Driving is very different in Kenya. Besides sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road there are cars, bikes, motorcyclists, animals and pedestrians going every which way.

I saw a lot of shops on the side of the road that looked like the walls had been made from whatever scrap was lying around. Mixed in with that were beautiful lavish

buildings and houses as well. It certainly helped the reality set in that I was not at home anymore.

We went to a baby elephant orphanage that was within the National Park in Nairobi. The elephants were adorable but I found myself looking at everything but. There were school kids there on a field-trip and I loved watching their behavior. They seemed to think nothing of us being there and the only time they stared was when I took out my camera. In addition to the elephants there were also wart hogs and impalas running around. By lunchtime on my first day in Kenya I had already seen Dumbo and Pumba.

You could really feel the sun hitting you and it was HOT!!! Not like Minnesota hot though. A more direct heat then a humid heat. Kind of like a sauna vs a tanning bed.

We went to Mamba Camp, which means crocodile camp, for lunch. I held a baby croc which was kind of scary because it didn't always sit still and it flared its claws out while I was holding it. We also saw two ostrich and a giraffe. After a buffet of chicken, rice and fruit we set off for the giraffe center.

People kissed the giraffes! I did not, I chose to just fee him with my hand not my lips. I've been nervous enough about hygiene I didn't need a face full of giraffe slobber to go along with it.

After the giraffe center we went to Kazari beads. We took a tour and said jambo to the all female staff making beads. I could have spent all my money in the gift shop there but only bought a few things.

(Kazuri Beads are beautiful one-of-a-kind clay beads that are hand made by women in Kenya, Africa who are paid fair wages and enjoy favorable working conditions. These women are often sole providers for their children and families.) ~From kazuribeadseast.com

We then went to a mall to buy adapters and had a little time to explore. After asking the guy stocking coffee if I could take it on the plane he helped me pick out a good Kenyan coffee, Java House.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the restaurant across from our guest house. After eating we sang happy birthday to Isaac and Betsy and had cake. We were all exhausted from the day so we again called it night right after dinner.