Guess who made the National news in Kenya? #3

Guess who made the National news in Kenya????
Yup you got it right we are now celebs.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15

“Every time I come here my eyes open a little more.”
~Jean Warner (this is her 3rd time in Kenya)

Our week of safari has come to an end and we are now back in Nairobi in preparation for our flight home tomorrow (is it over already?). We plan to visit the Karen Blixen (author of “Out of Africa”) museum tomorrow morning, and then we will shop until we drop before heading to the airport at 8pm for our 10pm (1pm OKC time) flight home.

It’s nice to have wireless internet here in Nairobi! Unlike the slow slow slow dial-up we had in Meru.

We had a great safari. The most exciting part was this morning when we drove up to 5 lions sitting in the grass only 3 feet from the road! After days of unsuccessful, intense searching for kitty cats this caught us all by surprise. We also saw gazelle, giraffe, baboons, zebras, impalas, hundreds of flamingos (from afar they looked like a line of pink along the horizon), rhinos, ostrich, hyena, and a glimpse of a cheetah from afar.

We ate at The Carnivore for dinner this evening, where we ate every kind of meat you can imagine. The most exotic meats we tried were ostrich & crocodile.

FUN FACTS:

• Kenya has-not one- but TWO official languages: English & Kiswahili.
• Most Kenyans speak at least 3 languages: English, Kiswahili, and at least 1 regional language.
• There are over 42 tribes, or ethnic groups, in Kenya. Each has its own language and within each language there are different dialects.
• Christianity is the main religion here.
• Kenya still practices dowry. The man pays the woman’s family according to her tribe’s traditions. In Meru culture the man is expected to pay 5 cows (among other things like sugar, honey & chickens..) plus one bull if the girl is the first daughter in the family to marry. Stephen Mubichi says if he is offered 10 cows he will give me away. He’s joking. I think.
• Everyone here has a cell phone. To quote Fridah: “You know what’s funny? Kenyans can be poor as church mice, not even have a house, but they’ll have a cell phone.” The only phone plans here are pay-as-you-go.
• Kenya only has 2 seasons: the rainy season (Where it rains for most of 2 months. This usually falls in April/May) & the dry season (Where the temperature stays in the 70s and the sun is always shining… perfect weather.)
• Most vehicles here have governors on their engines that don’t allow them to go faster than 80 kilometers per hour (for safety). That’s only 48 miles per hour!
• There’s a brand of beer here called “The Senator.” You can go into a Kenyan bar and ask for one “Obama” and they’ll know what you mean. (Though Barrack Obama is an American, his father was Kenyan. I’ve had several Kenyans ask me if I like “the Kenyan who is running for president.” I also watched the local news one evening and the only non-local story they covered was Obama’s announcement to run for president. The newscaster described him as “the son of a Kenyan farmer…[who] spoke with the zeal of a wounded lion.”)
• Elections take place every 5 years (this year is an election year!). Kenya is on their 3rd president since they got their independence from the British in 1963.
• There are 3 speed bumps in front of every school in Meru. This is a school zone.
• Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has a population of about 3 million. It’s estimated 800,000 of these people live in the slums.
• Population of Kenya: about 30 million. (this is a rough number)
• Women don’t talk about weight here, having a full-figure here is okay. Don’t see anyone counting calories: everyone eats their meals and drinks their tea with milk and sugar and a biscuit if they want to, and I haven’t seen a single advertisement for a gym. One of the waiters at our hotel complimented Nicole by saying, “You look healthy and well-fed. Your husband must be a good provider.”
  

Please keep checking the blog, we’ll be updating from home to fill in parts of the trip we haven’t had time to write about from here!!