Jambo Kenya - Nairobi Part 2

After Sarah collected us from Giraffe Manor, we took a drive out to a place called Kitengela glass. They make hand-blown glass pieces from recycled glass bottles. We received a quick demonstration from one of the craftsmen as he made a very pretty fruit bowl. It's amazing the simplicity of blowing air into hot glass to make everyday items. After the demonstration, we wandered the couple shops that they had on site.

Items made here are used for decor in many of the hotels and safari lodges around Nairobi and the Mara. Additionally, they are available for sale in those same places and other shops around town. As a result, the items for sale at this "warehouse" were offered at a wholesale discount of 30% off. I really wanted some sort of light fixture or chandelier-type thing. I had my "fun money" from the teddy bears I've recently made for people in Ghana, and I had a short list of items I was interested in procuring. We wandered around for awhile and I was having a hard time making a decision (shocker!... anyone who knows me knows I'm awful at this kind of stuff... I can't even pick a restaurant efficiently).

I finally asked Dan if anything appealed to him and he said, let's get three of these and two of those and we can do a cluster thing, hanging them at different heights. Done. So we retrieved the hanging lanterns, and I picked out some gifts while Dan selected a pitcher and decanter. The guy calculated everything up and gave us the discount and in total it came to about $180. Seriously? For custom, handmade, original pieces?! Sold! They packaged everything incredibly well and we were on the road again.

We stopped at a cute little sandwich place for lunch and then headed into the city center of Nairobi to attempt to find our hotel. Sarah isn't terribly familiar with downtown as traffic is usually a mess and she avoids it like the plague. She teaches 2nd grade at an international school in Nairobi and is almost finished with her third year. In June, she will pack up and move back to Florida. We met at University of Florida and have been sharing East Africa vs. West Africa stories for awhile. Since we knew she would be on her way out soon, we figured it was a good reason to get a visit to Nairobi on the schedule.

After arriving at the hotel, we walked to the Masai Market, a market of "artisans", (read as: people hocking stuff they haven't actually created), and shouting at you because your white and likely to buy stuff. I had a very detailed list of the items that I wanted to buy (cough, thank you, Pinterest). Sarah and I briefly discussed numbers on the way over because everything is negotiable. Once I had an idea of what the price should be, or even what I was willing to pay, then I felt okay diving in. There's a lot of people yelling to get your attention "sister! come look at my things!" A guy told Sarah he was Obama's cousin. It's a hoot just to listen to the things people say to get your attention.

I knew I wanted two beaded Masai collars that I want to frame and hang on the wall back in the US. I had a vague idea of what I wanted but had a hard time finding two I liked from the same person. Finally, we found some Masai women in the middle of the market who were surrounded by beaded jewelry. I found two that I liked and eventually got her to agree to cut her price in half. The other item I wanted was a couple shukas. Shukas are blankets of varying thickness that the Masai people usually wear draped over their shoulders or as a quasi-toga. They come in all different colors but red is considered traditional. I liked the idea of them as park blankets or even outdoor blankets back in the US on a chilly evening. I got two lightweight ones and one heavier one for about $22.

 The shukas we purchased and a photo of Masai warriors wearing shukas (credit)

After the market visit, we went our separate ways and got some rest. Sarah picked us back up in the evening and took us to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner. The food was good and the air was a little cool; a welcome change from the heat and humidity of Accra. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and Dan and I walked to a nearby pub for a nightcap before going to bed.

Sunday was much less eventful. Slept in, worked out, I got a massage, we had some lunch, etc. The highlight of Sunday was dinner. We'd been informed by a number of people (Kenyan, tourist, websites, etc) that the place to go is Carnivore. It's a sort of Brazilian churrascuria-type place with all you can eat meat. You get a little flag on your table and as long as the flag is upright, a constant flow of servers continue to come by carrying skewers of different grilled meats. When you admit defeat, you set your flag down on its side to signal the servers that they don't need to come by anymore. Carnivore is also famous for a drink called the dawa. It's sort of a twist on a mojito. It's vodka and lime and soda water with honey on a stick. You stir the honey stick in the beverage which sweetens it up like the sugar in a mojito (no mint though). So we enjoyed our drinks and our meat, which included the normal beef, chicken, pork, lamb and turkey, as well as some more obscure things like crocodile and ostrich. It was a fun way to end our trip.

A very early wake up call on Monday, and we were off to the airport to head back to Accra. Until next time, Kenya! Asante! (Thank you in Swahili)

Karibu Kenya! - Giraffe Manor & Nairobi Part 1

Welcome to Kenya! Dan and I arrived reallllllly early on Good Friday on very little sleep courtesy of yet another red eye flight. We were picked up at the airport and driven out to Giraffe Manor. To backtrack a bit: I found photos of this place on Pinterest awhile back and was absolutely dying to go. That said, it is not cheap so I mentioned it to Dan and then let it percolate for awhile. Upon the culmination of NFL season, we managed to win the fantasy football league and the winnings promptly burnt a hole in our pockets. Dan suggested Nairobi for Easter weekend and I was wavering on the idea until he promised me a night at Giraffe Manor. Well, twist my arm why don't you. (Side bar: giraffes are kinda my favorite.)

We arrived to the property around 7am and all seemed quiet... which was mildly disappointing in my comatose state. Then, we saw a baby giraffe when we were walking in. As we walked past the baby, a big one came around the corner and the gentleman carrying our bags said we must hurry and get inside because that is the momma. They brought us some coffee and told us that there currently weren't any tables available for breakfast but we were welcome to go out back and have a seat and watch the giraffes. Now, you see these photos online and you're thinking "that's amazing, but there's no way that's actually what it looks like"... oh, yes. yes it is. It is everything it looks like and more. So I spent a little bit on the back patio feeding Kelly the Giraffe. Ho hum, nothing to see here.

A breakfast table opened up and we were seated by the window. It didn't take long for Kelly to realize that we were going to eat without her so she shoved her head in the window and made herself at home on my plate. Once finished, she raised her head up a little too quickly and drooled on my head. Thanks, Kelly, love you too. Breakfast for the humans consisted of scones, fruit kebabs, granola with yogurt, eggs, sausage/bacon, toast with coffee and juice. No shortage of food for these weary travelers. After breakfast, we went to our room for a very quick nap as we were being picked up at 10:30am for an excursion to a local elephant orphanage.

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is open to the public for one hour each day. They have private appointments but they require reservations and I screwed that up so we went to the public showing. My main reason for wanting to come was to pick out a baby elephant to foster. A year of fostering is $50 and they send you monthly updates via email with what your elephant has been up to. The public "show" on Friday was absolutely packed. Given that it was a public holiday and holiday weekend, there were people everywhere. Much of the show was watching the babies be bottle fed and roll around in the mud while the trainer explained how they find the orphans, their plan for growing them and releasing them back into the wild. Dan and I have played with elephants of varying size in South Africa and Thailand so we didn't need to pet them and all that. We really just wanted to pick out one we liked and learn his or her story. We decided on a 22month old boy named Murit who was rescued after falling down a well. His little ears fold over at the top which we thought was cute so he won. While everyone was swooning over the baby elephants, I went up to fill out the paperwork to foster Murit. Murit's photo now graces our fridge in Accra alongside our family and friends.

Feeling warm and fuzzy about our good deed, we headed back to Giraffe Manor for some lunch. The giraffes were over at the giraffe center (a public viewing place where you can see and feed giraffes), which shares property with the manor. We had some soup and some really good fish skewers and then headed up for a nap. We were told to be downstairs by 5 for sundowners and more giraffe time. And here's a few of photos from that:

After the giraffes wandered off for bedtime, everyone went in for dinner. Dinner was a halloumi and red pepper starter, steak and potatoes, and dessert. They also brought a small chocolate cake with a candle for my belated birthday. After dinner, everyone went to the sitting room by the fire for more wine/cocktails and chatted. There was a couple from DC, a group of friends from London, a couple from Germany, a family from Denmark, and a family from Oman. Everyone was really nice and it was a pleasure chatting about what people's plans were around Kenya, where they have been or where they are going. We eventually went to sleep and set the alarm for breakfast the next morning. At around 7am, I scooted to the restroom and when I returned, Dan was laughing. I asked what was so funny and he told me to pull back the curtain. I left the windows open all night as there's no AC and the air is cool. I pulled back the curtain to find... Betty.

We spent the next half hour or so feeding Betty from our room, through the window. Seriously. Is this real life? Someone pinch me. When we ran out of pellets, we went downstairs for one last breakfast with the giraffes. It was drool-free and uneventful. We checked out and waited on my friend, Sarah, to arrive and pick us up for a local's guide to Nairobi. More on that next time.