Early Friday morning we traveled to Naivasha, which is a city located at the base of the Great Rift Valley northwest of Nairobi.  As usual, the details of what we were doing in Naivasha unfolded as we did them, which is something I have grown to enjoy.  It turns out we were helping lead a youth retreat for a Pentecostal Church from Eastlands.  In Kenya, you are a youth until you're 35 or married.

The morning began with us going to Eastlands to pick everyone up.  I have missed traveling around with Foxies and having new experiences out of my routine.  I hadn't had a good mzungu outing recently so this was my return to the children following me around asking, "How are you?" in high pitched voices.  For some of the children this is the only English phrase they know so when you answer they just giggle and run away, while others respond.  The best part was that the new Foxies got to see what it is like for me to travel around Kenya.  Since we were in a new place, we stuck together which meant they got to see a little bit of my Kenyan life through my eyes which is great.  If we could all walk in each others' shoes more often there would be much more peace and understanding.

The "How are you?" crew:


We arrived at the Kenya National Park Hippo camp site just outside of Naivasha and set up seven Colemen tents.  It was a very nice camp site that was surrounded by green barked trees (well the bark was gone so it was green tree).  This was my first time to camp out in Kenya (besides sleeping inside tents inside a church in Maasai Land).  It was just like camping in the States except you're in Africa and the weather was perfect.  My favorite part of camping is always the ambiance of the night.  For dinner, they cooked goat Nyoma Choma (BBQ) which was the best Nyoma Choma I've had in Kenya (that wasn't from a restaurant).  So, we sat around the fire eating and talking for hours.

Nyoma Choma (BBQ):


Youth Retreat Group with Foxies:


I woke up Saturday morning, walked out of my tent, and met Rodgers who said, "Hey, a giraffe just walked right through camp."  So, I was off on a giraffe siting expedition.  I found her just on the edge of camp, but she walked away when she realized I was checking her out (typical).  Rodgers had walked with me and started talking with the guard of the park who invited us to go see "The Giraffes."  So, we walked straight into the forest down thin dirt paths about a quarter of a mile where we ran into around 20 giraffe, 60 zebra, and an assortment of other animals with whom I'm not used to camping.  This was definitely one of my most amazing experiences with the wild life of Africa even after eight safari outings.  On safari, we are always in vehicles for our protection (lame).  However, this morning we just walked right between 20 giraffe and 60 zebra.  I really enjoy walking among the animals rather than driving to the animals.  So, if you're ever in Kenya and are looking for a cheaper animal experience I highly suggest paying the two dollar camping fee and spending the morning hanging with giraffe and zebra outside Naivasha.

Sitting Masai Giraffe:


Mama and Baby Masai Giraffe (I thought I was taller than the baby, but it turned out the baby was like nine feet tall...giraffes):


Me and the Dominant Masai Male Giraffe of the Herd (If you can see, he is much darker than all the other giraffe.  He was the only giraffe that didn't really care at all that we were there.  He just kept on eating.  I think he was just playing it cool):


The Panorama: