Nairobi, Kenya

After our delayed flight eventually left Amsterdam, we had a relatively smooth flight to Nairobi. Getting through passport control was a timely process, but was easy enough. Our bags arrived and we passed through customs, and met Dennis, our guide at Micato Safaris who was waiting for us at the airport. We were driven through town to our hotel, the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel. It was late, so we just checked in and crashed. This morning, we got up, had breakfast, and were out for our day in Nairobi!

After a brief meeting to discuss the safari and to meet some of the people in the safari company, we headed into traffic and eventually made our way through the crowded streets of Nairobi to the Giraffe Center, which is a breeding center for Rothchild's giraffes. This endangered species is a gentle giant. We saw several, and got to feed them from a treehouse-type structure where we were face-to-face with them!



Mom even gave one a kiss!



After copious amounts of hand washing, it was on to author Karen Blixen's former estate which has been converted into a museum. Karen Blixen was the woman who wrote "Out of Africa". We walked through the grounds, and were able to visit the house, which still had a lot of the original furniture. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I did get some of the outside:



After this visit, we were taken to the owners of the safari company's house for lunch. Although the owner was in South Africa, her sister was there to host us. It was a lovely meal in a lovely neighborhood, which culminated in dessert. Dessert was a cake which read "Welcome to the Micato Family" and was served to us by our guide, the cook, and two other domestic servants who sang us a song and drummed and danced around as they served us our cake. It was a fun lunch! Then we made our way to the Kenyan National Museum for a quick visit. We saw art, stuffed animals, stuffed birds, lots and lots of old bones, including one of the best preserved skeletons of one of the first humanins.






As we were getting ready to leave the museum, the rain started. We drove back to the hotel, stopping at a craft market on the way. We have a strict 33 pound baggage weight limit for the rest of our trip, so we took some time to sort out exactly what would be accompanying us for the rest of our safari. We have a special dinner this evening, then will crash early because we have to be up and ready to leave the hotel at 6:30 tomorrow morning! Tomorrow we fly to Amboseli National Park, where we are supposed to have (on a clear day) a spectacular view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a clear day or two!!!


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