Finally!
Phew, we just spent 29 minutes logging in to type this blog entry. And no, that is not an exaggeration! They have a verrrrrrrrrry very slow internet connection (dialup).
So, we are in Kenya, at the Mount Kenya Safari Lodge. It's a glorious place, but the amount of ivory is staggering. Almost every doorway is flagged by ivory - one set is taller than Trent. Trophys abound. Not my idea of homey :) But, this is a slice of Kenyan history.
I'll try to give a brief overview of what we've done so far, and then if time permits at another location, go into better detail..... the first day was full of activity from the moment we arrived in Nairobi. We got to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (elephant orphanage) in time for the noon "mudbath". We were first introduced to the 4 youngsters - Shimba, Lempaute, Lesanju, and one other. It was of course AFTER I was almost knocked over by Shimba that we were told we should remain standing. Oops. The youngsters played around for a bit, then left for their afternoon grazing. A group of 6 older orphan elephants came in for their mudbath and they played in the mud - very fun to watch :)
After Sheldrick, our group went to a marketplace but Trent and I couldn't barter the guy down low enough for the goods we were interested in, so we didn't get anything. The group split up around this time, and some of the folks went to the hotel. Trent and I had an appointment with Sheldrick later that evening to see the elephant I'm fostering, so we had some time to spare. We went to a giraffe center (funded by A.F.E.W. [African Fund for Endangered Wildlife]) and I got to kiss a giraffe! Yes, actually kiss its top lip. Awesome :) He licked my whole chin. Good photo.
The highlight of the evening? SHIMBA!!! We got to meet "my" elephant. Good lord he's cute. He's the life of the party :) We also met a 4 year old black rhino named Shida.
We visited a children's AIDS orphanage on our second day. We transported 2 boxes of medication to the orphanage from Calgary, which equates to over 10K in much-needed medication. It was a pretty emotional time for Trent and I. Trent had fun carrying a little boy around on his shoulders. I found a little boy, named Kevin, who wasn't interacting with anybody else or helping with the chores. It seems he was just getting over a sickness so didn't have too much energy. I didn't know if he even wanted me sitting beside him, but when I got up to leave he grabbed on to my finger. I sat back down with him and he sat on my lap for quite some time. Trent was having fun taking photos of the orphans and showing their pictures to them. Before we left, he came over to meet Kevin. Kevin realllly liked sitting on Trent's lap, listening to his Ipod with him. Kevin was tapping his foot to the music and I saw a glimmer of a smile. An emotional day for all of us.
Today is day 3! We visited a Chimpanzee Sanctuary, one of many started by Jane Goodall. All the chimps at the sanctuary were rescued from the pet trade. 41 chimps in all, and more arriving :(
We visited a black rhino that is guarded 24/7/365. He's relatively tame, and he was lying in the shade. We all posed for pictures with him. Actually the photo looks pretty morbid if you don't know the story - that he's actually alive!
So far we have seen giraffe, warthog, impala, waterbuck, zebra, helmeted guinea fowl, the tail end of an elephant, african crowned cranes, fire finches, hippo, ibis, cape buffalo, crowned plover, black and white colobus monkeys, and of course the black rhino!
We are very happy that Dennis and Sharon gave us a 2GB memory card for the digital camera, because the *@#$&!@&! IPOD camera connector isn't working. We've used up both 512MB memory cards already, so the 2GB card will come in handy!!
We are having a great time, and Trent even said it's better than he thought it was going to be. There have been very few bugs, and our food and accommodation have been spectacular.
Okay, so that is it for today. We'll hit the 'publish' button now and see how long it takes!!
