Adventures!

Sorry. No time for pictures. Maybe they will come later.

We have had a great time with Andy, Kera, Nathan, Katie, and Aaron. The kids are really good kids and fun to be around—both young and older.

Thursday we went to the Elephant sanctuary where we watched the elephants roll and wallow in a mud bath. They shared a little of the mud with each one of us! And we went to the Giraffe center, were Nathan shared that he wasn’t all that fond of giraffe spit. Granted it is a bit slimey, but Aaron was happy to feed the giraffes. And Katie got quite adept at dropping pieces of food on their tongues.

We went to some of the shops at the Hilton and had much joy in relieving them of many of their items. The Blakes were “up country” finishing up their fantastic mission, and they kindly allowed us the use of their flat. That made life so much easier.

Friday we began our journey to Kisumu via the wild animal park at Lake Nukuru. Just as we turned off the Nairobi highway at Nukuru, the clutch went to the floor and didn’t come back up. Not good. We were blessed that the topography was down hill to the lake. We coasted a bit and stopped near a gas station and E. Fox went for help. We had a drunk and a free-loader who were very anxious to be of help. So all but E. Fox went off in search of lunch or adventure and left him with the van. We walked down streets filled with shoe vender and those selling jerry cans, and electronics and parts and clothing. We stopped for lunch at the New Mt. Sinai Hotel and had simosas and chips. Katie had a quarter of a chicken that was tasty.

We learned the van limped to the mechanic’s stall. So we walked a bit that direction and came across—ahhh—the Masai market! We girded up our loins and headed into the fray. “Come see my shop!” “Look here.” “Will you promote me today?” “You’re my first customer (it’s 3 pm) I give you best price.” “Some wood carvings? Some soapstone carvings? Some bags, beads, bangles, toys, wraps?” “Are you SURE you’re not interested? Just look a little longer.” You see, they do have really fun stuff to look at. E. Fox asked me to get a little hippo, so that was easy. Then there were book marks for the kids. And then the children each saw several things they thought were charming. They were really good about saying, no, I’m really not interested. Or if it was too expensive to put it back and move on… much to the sadness of the salesperson. Katie got a wooden rhino, Aaron a bird, and Nathan a really cool stone carved chess set. That one took a bit of bargaining! We got a purse for Rebecca and Kera liked them too. And somehow Kera got such a deal on a huge wood carved hippo she couldn’t pass it up.

We walked over to where they took the van only to learn they couldn’t fix it, it had to go to a dealer place. So they drove it over there. “So sorry. We think the clutch is gone out. We might get the parts in Tuesday.” By now it’s after 4 and they close at 4:30. But we had started working on plan B… and C… and D. Good thing. Ultimately, a van from Lake Nukuru Lodge came and fetched us and took us to the lodge. The driver was really very nice. We had a game drive on the way in and saw rhinos, cape buffalo, zebras, baboons, 2 lions and later 2 lionesses, and various and sundry antelope and birds. Kera, of course, was in love with the birds! And our driver knew all the names. Even one flying overhead at a glance, he knew what it was.

We got to the lodge, settled in and dined. We thought we might have someone drive out a van from Nairobi… nope. Then we thought someone would drive our truck out… nope, couldn’t get the spare key. So early Saturday morning, our game drive took us back to the gate and took E. Fox to the shuttle where he caught a ride to Nairobi. He got the truck and drove it back. In the mean time, the rest of us had a fantastic time seeing giraffes, hyenas, elands, water bucks, and birds, birds, birds. I remember Dad saying the difference between a disaster and an inconvenience is often money. So everything worked out. By the time Tom got back with the truck, our driver had driven us on the last game drive and out the gate. We were blessed that there are SO MANY animals on the way from the gate to the lodge. And it was a delight to have someone so knowledgeable about birds. And a sweet husband willing to fetch the truck.

We sandwiched into the truck and made the final 3 hour drive to Kisumu. We arrived just about dusk, shopped at Nakumatt, and came home, ate, and crashed. One of the biggest hassles was taking all our STUFF out of the van and putting it into the safari vehicle. Then schlepping it into the lodge and having to repack and haul it back out to the safari vehicle, then transfer it to the van. We thought we could pack up after the game drive, but after breakfast, they said, you need to pack now and we’ll store it for you at the front desk. So we were in a rush to get E. Fox to the shuttle so we crammed stuff into suitcases and tried to downsize from all the boxes and bags of groceries, trinkets, clothing, missionary supplies, cameras and binoculars, and books we’d assembled in Nairobi. I’m pleased to say that when we unpacked at this end, we had everything except for a jar of peanut butter, a container of mustard, half a loaf of bread, and a half used bottle of peppermint. No clue where they are…. Maybe in a suitcase somewhere??? (Found the p-butter and smushed bread.)(later- found the rest... but are now missing handbooks.)

As we were transferring the things from Safari van to truck, we tried to keep the doors and windows closed and keep the monkeys away. But they were smarter than we were. They made off with a bag of home-made trail mix. And they found it mighty tasty, too!

Today E. Fox and family went to Busia to the Branch Conference. I stayed back in Kisumu to do things here and give a little more ease to those in the truck. Things went well. The branch is learning to do more things on their own.

The wind is blowing. I hear thunder. Perhaps the rains are coming.