On Sunday we got to experience an African church service, which was pretty much amazing. We got there early so we could meet some of Robert's friends. When we first got there everybody was staring at something, and then I started to wonder what they all could be staring at. I then realized "ohh it was me and the fam." Then we go in to the church service and it begins. Once I stood up to sing kids started to stare at me like this one kid stared at me for a whole 5 minutes. While the church service was going on a couple got married. They even had communion with real wine. After church all the YAVs and us went out to eat with the boss lady, Phyllis. They took us out to eat Ethiopian food.  After this we went back to the church and saw the church Christmas play. Before it though this one little girl was running around me and my family while we were sitting down. She actually grabbed my hair and was like “what's this?” because there so used to their hair and white people have a different kind of hair. So after all this, which by the way lasted like 3 hours, we went home and I got some R and R.

The next day was the first day of our safari! So we got up early and our safari driver picked us up, his name was Chris, and we drove for about 6 hours until we reached our goal. We stopped though at The Great Rift Valley which is supposedly where life began. Let's just say this was by far the bumpiest ride of my life and the dustiest I might add. On the way there we saw a lot Maasai and lot of their villages. We also got tons of mzungu waves. We saw some giraffes just chillin on the side of the road which was pretty neato. Finally we got there and we settled down. Then we got some grub which was quite interesting. After we ate we went on our first safari and we saw tons of animals. We then headed back and called it a night. The rooms were pretty sweet though like they had mosquito nets all around the bed.

The next day we all woke up and had by far one of the best breakfasts that I’ve ever had. Then we headed out on the morning safari which we say a lion on and a cheetah and a rhino. So it was a good safari.  After the morning safari we headed back to our rooms and Robert laid down because he was feeling sick. We watched some illegal DVDs of House which was pretty sweet. Then we had some lunch which wasn’t the best but still pretty good I guess. Then I hit the pool for a sec and spent the rest of the afternoon cloud gazing. Well until our afternoon safari happened, but unfortunately the bro was feeling sick and couldn’t go. So we went on the safari and saw some more amazing animals like we saw a jaguar just chillin out in a tree. Then we saw two lions just hanging out. It was pretty sweet even though they were far away. We then headed back and got some dinner. During the dinner though there was a blackout but it wasn’t all that bad and it came back on in a minute or two. The dinner was pretty sweet too. They had like different stations where they had different foods different tribes of Africa would eat. After dinner there was a Maasai tribal dance show which involved them doing this dance thing around the lodge and having them jump really really high in the air. We called it a night after that.

We woke up and packed up and went to our last heaven sent breakfast then headed on back to Nairobi. On the trip back we saw some baboons just chillin on the side of the road. We also went and stopped by a gift shop that was on the side of the road in one of the villages. Now I really wanted a drum and so we found one. I showed it to my brother before and asked how much do you think it will cost us and he said like 500 shillings, then we went and asked how much it was. The guy who was selling it to us said it was going to cost 60,000 shillings which is like 80 dollars. My brother literally replied “are you insane?” It pretty much made my day. So we took our business else where because my brother said we could find that at the Maasai market in Nairobi for like 500 shillings. We go on our way and finally get back in like 3 hours while along the way there were tons of mzungu waves and yells. So we finally get back and rest pretty much all day and then call it a night.

The next day is Christmas day which we spend just resting up and then going to the boss lady's house who I hear makes amazing food. We finally get to her house and we meet everybody. In Kenya, you have to greet everybody that’s in a room or else you're being rude. We do that which takes like 5 minutes because there are so many people there. Then its finally grub time and let's just say this lady knows how to cook. After all this eating is over we get to where the YAVs played secret Santa. The YAVs were so nice we even got a present too, some sweet fake tattoos.

From Family Visit

We do some more fun stuff then we head home and call it a night.

The next morning we head out to the airport, which they told us to leave 3 hours early just to get there in time because of traffic. Luckily that was not the case and we got there in like less then an hour. We do all the checks and all that jazz and then we finally get on the plane to London. The trip lasted like 8 hours and wasn't packed at all which was amazing. Then we got to London and got some food and then headed off to find a hotel. We finally got one booked and headed there. Now if you’ve ever been to London in December you know that it's freezing which we had no idea about but luckily we were super bundled up. We finally got to the hotel and chilled out there, I fell asleep right away.

The next morning we woke up super early and headed off to the airport. We had to catch a bus and all that jazz. Then we finally made it to the airport and of course have to wait and then we boarded the plane. This time it's like a 10 hour flight and it was super packed and they had horrible movie selections so it wasn’t the best flight. After 10 long hours though we finally make it to Houston and we chilled out there and grabbed some UNO. Then after some delays we finally were on the plane to my beloved Oklahoma. We touched down and I am so excited to be back at home.  I’ve learned so much about Kenya, but I doubt I’ll be ready for Kenya round 2 anytime soon.

Patrick