Nairobi 2, Kenya - Wander the Planet .net

NAIROBI (CONT.), KENYA

We saw 5 of the orphans and they said that they were a little depressed because yesterday, they moved 4 of the older orphans to Tsavo (a reserve near the coast) to start process of integrating them. Anyway, the 5 that were left were missing them and weren't as playful as usual. One of the calves just came to the center - all adults in the herd had been slaughtered for tusks - and didn't even know how to use her trunk yet. She would stick it into the water and then whine because she couldn't get anything to drink (she has to be taught how to suck and blow). They were just adorable and started playing soccer a bit. The center also has a basecamp at Tsavo, so when the older calfs are ready to be integrated, the 'mothers' go with them and start walking them near the existing herds. They have to wait until the Matriarch of the herd accepts the calves - which could take up to 10 years.

After the Orphanage, we went to the Langata Giraffe Center where we hand fed giraffes. Some of the tourists were putting the food in their mouth so the giraffe would give them a kiss. Uh yea I passed on that! They have a sign to watch out for giraffe head butts - there necks are soo strong that they can do real damage. Well, of course there was a tourist from Santa Barbara that wasn't paying attention and turned his back on them. The largest female swung and crashed into the side of his face and broke his nose. Ouch! It looked very painful - that will teach him to take the signs and directions seriously! They also had warthogs that you could feed. They were adorable! My little buddies, Manuk and Shi, were yelling "Pumba! Pumba!"

At both the orphanage and the giraffe center they had groups of elementary school kids visiting. They were adorable and so well behaved walking in lines holding onto each other's sweaters. Kenyan schools are spending alot of time getting the children to appreciate wildlife from an early age. Great!

Next Lars takes us to the National Parks office so Karen can get a safari card for their trip. Back at the hostel, we snack on cornuts and granola bars and go find some lettuce for a tortoise that just popped up in the yard. After Shi and Manuk go to bed, I go outside and join the others at the fire. That is, of course, after I hit the honor bar for a Tusker. Ahhhhh my favorite thing about hostels - the honor bar. Gotta love it! I head to bed about midnight. The night before I woke up freezing so this time I am bundled up good with a skull cap and gloves (uh well actually a makeshift cap from a banda and socks for gloves! ha hahah).

I didn't set my alarm clock because I knew my friends would be back at 5am. Sure enough the buttload of birds were having at it. But in addition to the birds this morning, I heard a prayer service from a nearby mosque (broadcast on outside speakers). So I woke up to birds and chanting this morning. It was pretty interesting so I just stayed in bed for an hour listening.

After breakfast, I headed to downtown Nairobi to do errands. It's only about 1.5 miles from the hostel but after the first block. I reached city center with no problems and went to Barclays first to get some Kenyan Shillings. I got out 20,000 shillings (about $300) which was a pretty thick wad, so I was a bit self-conscious walking out of the bank. But kept my pace fast and didn't make eye contact. I then bought a duffle bag for $3 so I could store stuff at Nairobi Backpackers and went to lunch at a little lunch counter cafe place. A woman asked me where I was from and I said "the United States but I did not vote for our president!" She smiled and said, "Good! He's a very bad man." No kidding! We had a chuckle about politics over food. People in other countries know so much more than Americans do about their countries! After the food, I walked 35 minutes back to hostel with bag and no one hassled me. No problems! Hakuna Matata!

Nairobi has the informal title of "The City in the Sun".

Nairobi is the capital of Kenya and has the highest population of East Africa - around 3-4 million.

In 1998, the US Embassy in Nairobi was bombed in August 1998 by Osama bin Laden's terrorist group Al-Qaida.

Nairobi has just opened the largest ice rink in Africa in the Panari Sky Centre. The rink is 15,000 metres squared and can accommodate 200 people.