Scarf Turbans and Sequin Brassieres

JAMBO!

I am in Nairobi, Kenya! Another border crossing and another fantastic place. We are at the halfway point on our trip so we say goodbye to 6 friends, Carli, Glynn, Courtney, Nick, Sean and Rachelle. We had our goodbye party last night and they leave tonight for their next volunteer adventures in Uganda. We will see them there for a few days as we visit the organization that they will be working with but still it is very sad. Included in those 6 is my tent buddy, Rachelle, and I can honestly say that it will be a hard couple of weeks adjusting without her. She is awesome and I can't believe the luck I scored for the firs 2 months. Having said that I will be bunking with Sohette next and we have already combined our assets and bought some home decos to spice up our tent so its going to be fantastic aswell.

Right now we are just preparing the truck for the next 2 months and re-organizing our bags. I have inherited many clothes along the way and now some from Rachelle which means my bags are busting from the seems. One of my best purchases are these Africa bags from a grocery store called Shoprite that are heavy-duty plastic zipper carry-all bags with African animals emblazoned on the front, and is now my honorary travel closet. My Old Navy flip flops have busted 6 times but nothing a heavy amount of duct tape and super glue hasn't fixed. Although my advice to all is to bring a few pairs of your favourite brand, either Old Navy in my case, or Havianas, because the flip flops here just don't compare in comfort or style. I got one pair with tire soles that are pretty cool but they still rub and broke in 3 days.

Since the last post we said goodbye to Tanzania but not without visiting Snake Park, Arusha, the Ngorongoro Crater, Manyara National Park and the Serengeti! No wonder they are African must-sees and highlights in guidebooks because neither failed to amaze. They have bumped off quite a few of my top 3 lists, mainly involving animals and meals. To summarize (difficultly) what we saw, Manyara N P offered up a herd of elephants, old and young, right beside the jeep, hippos galore in, out and around the water and hundreds of monkeys, baboons, blue-balled velvet monkeys and blue monkeys. The Crater, which I didn't expect much from and thus was sorely wrong, not only had herds of wildebeest and zebra but 14 lions stalking and surveying the land on top of breathtaking scenery of flat pastel plains with sun-lit patches contrasted against lush green oasis's surrounding lake Makat. Then to top off our gaming adventures the Serengeti not only provided excellent lion sightings but a LEOPARD lounging on an open fallen tree trunk, maybe 15-20 feet away and then 4 CHEETAHS lounging right beside the road only a mere 5-10 feet away! Both are rare to see on their own, let alone both within close enough range to not need binoculars or your camera lens! To top off those few days our tents were put up for us by the tour guides who took us round the Crater and the Serengeti and all our meals were provided for us in plentiful amounts! I ate pancakes for breakfast, roast potatoes for lunch, curry rice and bolognaise for dinner and banana fritters for desert!! I never thought I'd eat roast potatoes on this trip so its going to number 1 on my food list! It was a small reminder of home, and with a little imagination I could pretend to smell the roast chicken and gravy.

At Snake Park we went on a Maasai village walk. They have the best traditional clothing in Africa. It generally consists of 3 draped tartan/plaid fabrics in the red, purple and blue colour scheme and held in place by a leather belt and knife sheath. They are knotted in different ways around the waist and shoulder then topped off with elaborately beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelets of all colours. It is very bold and absolutely stunning. It rivals the Kangas in brightness but beside the mountains of jewelery it has a very distinct colour palette. I tried to take photos but they are very reluctant to have their photo taken without money so unfortunately I only have a few out of the many outfit combinations found. Nevertheless they are my favourite traditional dress so far in Africa. I have even bought some Maasai jewellery to bring home with me.

On the truck we have welcomed a new member to our crew aswell. She arrived yesterday, her name is Cat. It must be hard to come in half way but she wasn't shy and grabbed a beer with us all, despite being tired from all the travel, so I'm sure she'll fit right in.

I would like to come back to Tanzania and climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Rachelle and I have made plans for a trip back in the future! As for now we are off to Uganda in a few days, then Rwanda and will return to Kenya again after that. EXCITING!

A quarter of my adventure through and I just want to say to my family and friends that I miss you terribly and hope you are all doing well!