nairobi. kenya. part 5.

six days into our trip it was time to head back to nairobi.

we were excited because this portion of the trip promised to bring a little wifi into our lives, which we did not have for the entire previous portion of the trip.

while we were in nairobi we visited the sheldrick elephant orphanage and the giraffe center. both places are working hard on their conservation efforts of these native african species.

at the elephant center we went for their evening visit, which is reserved for those who have fostered elephants.

during this visit you get to watch the whole group of elephants march back from their time out in nairobi national park for their evening feeding. these once orphaned and/or injured elephants are all being raised to return to the wild.

there's not much contact allowed with the elephants and the keepers weren't overly personable, but the crowd is small and you can see the elephant you've fostered up close.

malima, the elephant I adopted as part of a gift from my friend, sheila.

malima

caitlin's little elephant, enkesha, is still quite small.
she has a keeper that stays in the stall with her overnight.

there is a clear bond between the elephants and the keepers.

on the other hand, the giraffe center is amazing.

we considered staying for a night at the giraffe manor, across the street, but with a $550 per person, per night charge, i vetoed this plan.

the instagram posts are amazing, but i determined their price point to be exorbitant.

cute, but too pricey!

for a much smaller price, $540 less in fact, you can visit the giraffe center. it's the same giraffes that visit the manor. they just wander across the street to hang out with the visitors at the center.

at the center you receive handfuls of food to feed the giraffes. the employees monitoring the giraffes were super friendly and encouraging of photos and interaction with the animals and really made an effort to facilitate this.

stages in getting slobbered by a giraffe.
step 1: feed said giraffe.

step 2: said giraffe wants more food, but you're holding out.

step 3: giraffe licks your face while on hunt for food.

#selfiewin

what happens when you try to manipulate two giraffes at once for a pic.

they'll even show you how to kiss the giraffe!

after you've had your hand (or mouth) slobbered upon, there's even a sink with soap and water for a quick clean up.

both places are a bit out of the center so if you can arrange to do both visits in the same time frame, i'd recommend it. however, this might mean that the giraffe center would be crowded as the hours for the sheldrick orphanage are quite limited.

nearby is also the kazuri bead factory and the house belonging to karen blixen, the author of 'out of africa'. we passed on the house, but did take a tour of the bead factory and then bought some jewelry! the tour is rather unavoidable, but it really helps you understand the process that each bead goes through to be handmade.

the clay gets pressed in the machine into different slabs

she says, "take my picture!" the longest running employee at kazuri bead.

they also make plates and other tableware.

every bead is handpainted.

this building is where all the firing and painting is done.

preparing all the beads for the kiln.

there's a whole other section of ladies making necklaces and bracelets.

painting the ceramics...bowls, figurines, etc.

inside the shop where you can buy the finished jewelry.

traveler tip: nairobi proved to be a bit of a challenging place for us, especially in a sense of getting around. we tried to use uber, but traffic is such a nightmare in the city that whenever you would try to confirm the uber the time until its arrival would continuously change, making it useless to us. we ended up taking the most random taxi. just a little ol' guy that sits next to the hotel and waits for the valet to help him get some fares. in the end it was fine, but we were tired of negotiating with these guys and they didn't always feel the safest. i'd recommend finding one of these guys that you like and trying to negotiate the entire time you're there for one flat rate. (we lost our first guy after we paid him for two separate trips. figured he had earned more money in those two trips than he had the whole month and he had vanished.) 

overall, we had a great trip to kenya! despite knowing that locals live quite cheaply, travel for tourists here is rather expensive. as westerners we expect a certain level of creature comforts and there is a cost for that. but traveling in this part of the world is a great reminder that so many around the world live on less, much less, than most of you reading this blog.

if you haven't ventured out of your home country, i encourage you to do so.

see the world.

ask questions.

gain perspective.

on to the lake. kenya. part 4.

i've got to admit that after three days in a land rover, i was done with bumpy car rides.

because the mara is bumpy, rocky and really rough on the ride.

with only one ride left, our fabulous guide, samson, drove us, make that raced* us back to the airstrip to catch our flight.

samson. no delilah to speak of, but we really enjoyed him as a guide.

*this is what happens when the guide receives a phone call that says the plane has already landed and is waiting for you!

we flew all around the mara, stopping three more times to pick up others all over the area, before flying back to nairobi.

this certainly provided more dirt airstrip landings than any one person needs in a lifetime.

from here we headed to lake naivasha and our cute, dog-filled airbnb.

the bathroom was separate from the bedroom.
only worrisome when you're warned that sometimes animals just come on by for a visit...

caitlin was in her happy place.
there were at least six dogs total just running about. 

in naivasha, we stayed on a sanctuary farm. this place is home to many of the same animals we had seen on safari, minus some of the most dangerous.

so we went horseback riding around the farm, passing zebras and antelope and giraffes.

it's a childhood throwback for me.
i rode horses for eight years growing up. did you know?

it was caitlin's first time.

we took a boat ride and saw bloats of hippos.

(did you know that a group of hippos is called a bloat? #funfactsfromcarrie)

this guy (and many others) fishing off a pile of driftwood.

as seen from afar.

hippo life. scenic views.

cue hitchcock.

notice how so much of the trees are white.

yep, that's bird shit. everywhere.

on our second day, we went to hell's gate national park. we hired a guide who biked with us through the park and then took us on a hike through the canyon.

we had no idea just how difficult physically this day would be.

the roads in the park are not paved. and not flat. and not shady.

and, well, sometimes there were animals in the way.

the "hike" turned into a huge, deep canyon that required sliding down sides of rocks, using ropes to climb up, and walking on tiny ledges.

basically, it was terrifying.

definitely put my foot in the water at one point.

the emergency exit seemed a bit ironic.
because getting up that slope seemed impossible, especially in an emergency.

and if i had known what was coming, i might have said 'no way'.

up the side of the cliff.
notice the guide is carrying my bag. 

back in the early 2000s even lara croft spent time in this canyon. so if it's good enough for tomb raider...

we did survive, thankfully, and then had to ride our way back through the hot and dusty park.

some very 'gram'mable shots did occur.

i've never wanted a shower more than after this day.

we were warned beforehand.

 after a very exhausting day, this was so necessary!

views from the porch.

we always love a good time lapse!