my last day in kenya….

Today we all go our separate ways…. Peter is up early and went downstairs to say goodbye to everyone. I follow shortly behind him after I have a chance to shower. I made it down to the lobby just in time to say goodbye to Deb, Becky, Adam and Lynn – they were in their truck and headed off to safari. I join Peter for breakfast – for me I keep it simple – coffee, fresh fruit, fresh juice, one last Maandazi (a form of donut) with honey, and some granola with milk. While we are eating, Cathy joined us for a cup of coffee. Soon we are finished and Peter and I go to our room to do our last minute packing, and then check out. Peter is off to the coastal down of Mombasa for a little R&R. Lilly back to the US and Lacey back to Rwanda.

The coolest honey presentation I have ever seen!

Then Cathy and I are off for a day in Nairobi. She has hired a car to take us around. Our first stop is the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. The orphanage is only open from 11 am – 12 pm, when the elephants get fed and it is important that you get there early so you get a spot in. I decided to wait with our driver as I went to the orphanage in 2011 with Aaron on my last climb.

Then Cathy and I are off for a day in Nairobi. She has hired a car to take us around. Our first stop is the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. The orphanage is only open from 11 am – 12 pm, when the elephants get fed and it is important that you get there early so you get a spot in. I decided to wait with our driver as I went to the orphanage in 2011 with Aaron on my last climb.

While we are waiting for Cathy, I get to learn more about David, our driver. He’s a very nice man who has built a small business with 5 cars. And he lives near Njabini, so we talk a lot about the Aberdare Mountains and the surrounding area. As we sit, we watch more and more people go into the orphanage – David is also surprised by the number of people – I am not sure if there are so many people as it is Sunday, or is it due to the conference. And he tells me that we will see people pull in late – he’s right – people pull in at 11:45 am, even though they will close at 12:00. Shortly after noon – Cathy comes out – and I am not surprised that she had a great time – although she too comments on how busy it was.

Our next stop – a first for me – The Giraffe Centre. The mission of the Centre is to promote sustainable environmental conservation through education for the youth in Kenya. It too was very busy and we saw many of the same people from the Elephant Orphanage. It’s a small facility – you get a handful of giraffe feed, you get to feed the giraffe’s and you fight to get a picture taken while feeding them. It’s definitely a place you want to go to when it’s not busy. It was cool being able to feed them and be up close, and those tongues!

After feeding the giraffes a snack – I kept it traditional – a Stoney Tangawizi and Tomato Flavored Potato Chips.

Now on to some shopping (with recommendations from Lacey) – our first stop was Kenya Kanga located in the Langata Link Shops. Kenya Kanga is a unique fabric company – they not only sell fabric, but also clothes. The Langata Link Shops are pretty cool – they are group of boutique shops showcasing Kenyan artisans and African designs. Next stop – Kazuri Beads – home to handmade ceramic beads and pottery. KAZURI, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, began in 1975 as a tiny workshop experimenting on making handmade beads. And an interesting fact from their website – The factory is located in what used to be part of the Karen Blixen Estate (of the Academy Award winning film “Out of Africa” fame. They too have a pretty cool mission – To provide and sustain employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenyan society.

It didn’t take long, but we were all shopped out. So back to the hotel for a quick lunch, then I am off to the airport. We opted to eat at the hotel as this was easiest. And before you knew it, Stanley – our driver – was ready to take me to the airport.

There wasn’t too much traffic going to the airport – as it was Saturday. But things have changed at the airport – for security – everyone, except the driver has to exit the vehicle, well outside of the airport, and then the passengers go through metal detectors and the vehicle is inspected. You rejoin the vehicle on the other side of the inspection. It definitely makes you feel a little safer – especially in light of the many airport attacks in the recent months. However, I can’t imagine doing this in a monsoon rain!

I am at the airport in plenty of time. I buy a couple of gifts for my Swiss family as I am off to see them for a week. The aiport is sparse, not a lot to do, so I catch up on email, blogging and listen to music. Soon I will be off to Zurich – it’s an overnight flight, and they are only 1 hour behind Nairobi – but I do stop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania first. The flight goes from Zurich to Nairobi to Dar es Salaam – and just my luck – someone is continuing on to Dar es Salaam and sitting in my seat. A male flight attendant comes to help, and at first asks if I can move, I have no issue, but let him know I am going on to Zurich and that I had ordered special meals – opps – hold the presses – the person in my seat now needs to move to another seat. However during this conversation, a female flight attendant comes by, and as I try to move out of the way, my bag with my heavy hiking boots slips out of my hand accidently and falls on her foot. She then looks at me and says “You dropped that on my foot!” News flash – it was an accident! So off we go to Dar es Salaam – we stop there – which seems like an eternity – but they have to clean the entire plane as this is the origination of this flight.

The flight is uneventful – and I am sad to leave Kenya, but happy to see my Swiss family. So the next part of my adventure is Switzerland. I am not sure if I will continue the writing the blog or not as it was really meant to keep everyone up to date on the climb and Flying Kites. We will see . . . .