Kenya: Nairobi to Pa Amani

We arrived last night into Nairobi, Kenya. Our cousins, Vance and Cherry Kirkpatrick met us at the airport. It took us awhile to get through customs as we had to pay for a Visa which we didn't know we would need beforehand. We also waited forever to get our bags, an we were so happy to see that our bags made the trip! Vance and Cherry are retired Southern Baptist missionaries. They have a home on Lake Naivasha. We spent the night in Nairobi at Heritage House, a Baptist Missionary hotel. Cherry had made spinach and cheese squares, homemade granola and a yogurt drink which was all delicious and just hit the spot after some pretty awful food on KLM airlines (partners with Delta). We had a lazy morning and Cherry cooked us a breakfast of eggs with spinach and cheese and toast. Cherry had broken her glasses so we stopped in Nairobi for her to try her new frames and leave the lenses for installation. We then drove out to the Baptist seminary where we toured the buildings and walked the grounds. The newest building sits high up on the property and has beautiful views of the nearby tea farms. We saw some current students taking a break from the classes and playing some volleyball. We ate lunch on the campus before heading out for our drive to Lake Naivasha.

We stopped along the way at a place that makes cheese. It is located near the home that Cherry and Vance lived in with their children before retiring to their current location. Outside of the shop we saw our first monkeys! They were beautiful fluffy black and white monkeys that were voraciously snacking on nasturtium blooms. 

We drove through many tiny villages over roads full of potholes and speed bumps. The face of poverty looks much the same here as it did in Honduras and for Danny in India. The "stores" lining the street are a simple row of pieced together shacks. People line the streets coming and going. We saw school children in their little uniforms and women toting water containers to collect treated water, toting laundry and wares. We saw lots of donkeys wandering around and I wondered aloud if they knew where their home was. Cherry assured me they did. We saw cows and sheep and goats with their shepherds. We drove past many tea farms, and flower greenhouses which are big industry here.  

As we turned off the road to drive toward Lake Naivasha we began to see animals in the reserve. We saw Zebras, Warthogs, Thompson's gazelles, Impala, and Giraffes all along the way to their house! Two nights ago they heard a Leopard kill an Impala behind their home and later the Hyenas taking the carcass. There are guards that patrol their property to keep them aafe both from wild animals and from a possible intruder. 

 Cherry made a delicious leek and zucchini soup with salad fresh from her garden and toast with a cheese and bacon spread. She makes her own cheese from local milk. I decided that the cheese was similar to a ricotta in texture. It's delicious. Tomorrow morning we arise early to join them for their morning walk. I hope we see giraffes! Until tomorrow....