Jambo! Well, friends and family, I've decided I am never coming home... I love it here too much! I'm running away and living with the elephants... okay, but honestly, this is the most amazing place. My boss, Sheena, told me that if you only travel once in your life you have to go to Africa. I completely agree.
Last time I wrote was Friday. That night I went out with Lisa to some clubs. We took a matatu (small 14 seater bus) around town. It was an interesting experience just because I got so many stares. I seriously would walk around and people would stop and turn their heads to watch me. Lisa says it's not just because I'm American but also because of my blonde hair.
Saturday morning Asgar and I left for Tsavo. It took us two hours just to get out of Nairobi then another 4 hours to get to Tsavo. Along the way we passed through many small towns. I didn't get any pictures because we were driving, but I wish I had. The building in these towns are made of sticks and rusted sheets of metal. Many of the houses are just small huts made of mud. I can't even explain how sad it was to see these horrible conditions.
Once we reached the park we went for a game drive. Then we went back to the lodge for dinner and went to bed early. The next morning we left early and went for a 6 hour game drive. Here are the animals I saw in the park: elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hippo, dikdiks, gerenuks, water bucks, kongonis, zebra, baboons, another type of monkey, ostrich, crested eagle, fishing eagle, secretary bird, ground hornbill, red beaked horn bill, yellow neck spur fowl, guinea fowl, two types of herons, warthogs, impala, and grants gazelle.
The first animal I saw was a HUGE baboon- it had the biggest butt too...I've decided I don't really like baboons, Asgar says they can be dangerous. I prefer the other, cuter, monkeys we saw (go figure). We saw many herds of elephants throughout the drives. The second herd we spotted were standing right in the middle of the road. They had a young (2 week old) baby with them so they were very wary of us. They clumped together and started marching down the road towards us with their ears flared. Once they got off the road we drove past them; the one closest to the road gave me a very intimidating look! Tsavo elephants are very red because of the red dirt and they are also quite aggressive because of all the poaching done in Tsavo. This herd, like most others I saw, were all female. The females stay together (the males only approach during mating season) and the matriarch (leader) guards the baby very closely. During the second game drive I saw a few Bull Elephants (male) who stay by themselves, and I also saw a group of bachelors playing in the water (which we watched during lunch).
I saw a herd of over 200 buffalo. Buffalo are the funniest and scariest looking creatures. They seriously can give a death stare. We drove so close to them I honestly thought they were going to charge us. Buffalo are the most dangerous land animals and hippos are the most dangerous animal in water... I found this funny since both are vegetarians. The hippo I saw was half submerged in water but still pretty cool. We saw many many many zebras. And they often had babys with them, which were so cute!
Some of the smaller animals were actually the most impressive to see. The secretary birds (which look like they are wearing black stockings and have quills-hence the name) were a rare find as were the gerenuks (giraffe antelope). I saw three gerenuks, including a baby, and Asgar says I should consider myself very very lucky for that sight. The dikdiks are the smallest of the antelope. They are about the size of a rabbit (although much skinnier) and are very shy- they run away as soon as they spot you. You always find dikdiks in pairs because they mate for life :) Warthogs are actually very shy also. I saw three of them and I fell in love- they are adorable! Another rare find was baby ostrich. I saw a mother and about 10 of her young. Later I saw a male and female ostrich together. The females are brown and the males (who are complete show offs!) are black with some white- very beautiful. Watching ostrich run is a very funny sight!
Last night during dinner a group of two hundred buffalo (possibly the same group I'd seen before) came to the watering hole. I got to watch a couple of them fight each other.
We also went to the elephant orphanage. The orphans have grown quite a bit and they've become more independent. So, I got to get really close to all of them and pet one for a while but they do not come right up to you as they used to. It was a little disappointing but this independence is good for them! (And I get to go to a place in Nairobi to pet baby elephants... so of course I can't be too disappointed). One of the elephants had a cut in his ear from top and bottom nearly meeting in the middle. This was from a wire trap. I will never be able to understand what is going through peoples minds when they hurt/kill these amazing creatures.
I did not get to see any cats, sadly. But Asgar assures me I'll see a lion in the Mara or Amboseli. I cant wait!
On Thursday we leave for the Rhino Charge. I won't be back until Sunday or Monday. For those of you reading who do not know what the rhino charge is... well, I'll explain it when I get back! For those of you who know what it is and saw the video you know how dangerous it looks. Well, apparently that video doesn't even show the worst of it so I was quite relieved when Asgar told me what we would be doing is meeting the team at each check point to watch them and help them there. There is a competitor and a spectator camp ground. I am staying at the competitor camp ground with Asgar, his team, and more of their friends. There are 20 men in all in the group... and I'll be the only girl. This will be interesting. Well, I will be writing again in a week. Kwa heri!