Kenya - Day 6

Day 6 (Wednesday) started out super early again as it was another day full of driving. On our way to Samburu National Park we passed Mount Kenya, but unfortunately couldn't see the top because it was too foggy. We also passed the equator. That was quite fascinating. Have you ever heard that water spins in one direction north of the equator and the other direction south? You're supposed to be able to see this when you flush a toilet. have you ever looked for it? I have. I've never believed the spinny water thing. I figured that if the water really does flush in different direction north and south of the equator it was just due to which direction the water was released from the toilet. Not so. They proved to me that water really does spin clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south (or vise versa, I really cant remember which is which.) They have a line drawn where the equator is. Then a guy with a pitcher of water, a funnel with a very small hole in it, and a bowl shows you that it's true. We walked about 10 feet north of the equator and he poured the water into the funnel. You could see the tornado-like swirls showing you it was spinning clockwise. Then we walked 10 feet south of the water, he did the same thing, and the twirls showed us the water was spinning counterclockwise. Then we stood on the equator, he did the same thing, and the water went straight down! We took a video of this demonstration but I'm not techy enough to know how to put it on here. One day I will. Until then, you will either have to take my word for it that this does happen, or go there and see if for yourself. (I suggest the latter, because if you haven't realized already, this trip was AMAZING and you deserve to experience it for yourself!)

I may not be able to prove the direction of water spinning, but at least I can prove I've stood on the equator. Landing in Nairobi was the first time I'd actually been south of the equator despite all our travels.

So I realize these aren't great pictures. They were taken through the window as we were driving to Samburu. But I included them to explain some things I found interesting. The top one is a prodcue market, like a farmers market. Since we left so early in the morning they hadn't opened for the day yet. The second one is a market for pretty much everything else. We were told that most Kenyans never shop in actual stores. They buy everything at these kind of markets. If you look close at the second picture you will notice a table of shoes (flip flops). The place we stopped at the equator there is a gift/souvenier market there. The natives build these shopping centers for tourists at places they know tourists will want to stop - the equator, restrooms, etc. (As an aside, completely off subject - most people in Kenya and Tanzania don't use real toilets - they just go in holes in teh floor. I used these types of restrooms multiple times on our trip, you get used to it. I thought about taking a picture of it but decided not to, so you will just have to imagine it. They are just holes - you have to aim. One of the sisters that is serving in Tanzania told us that last summer she had organized girls camp for the young women in her city - it was their first girls' camp. I guess they must have camped on some land around a church or something. She said one day one of the leaders told her they needed to stop letting the girls go into the church to use the restroom. She asked why and the leader said they were getting muddy foot prints all over the toilets. These girls had never sat down to go to the bathroom before so they were squatting on top of the toilets!) So when we stopped to use the restroom and stand on the equator (and learn about water spinning) we also went into some of the shops (these shops are tin shacks - maybe 8 feet wide and 10 feet deep - no lights so it is pretty cark inside, and they are all packed together. I describe this mostly because as we drove through towns it seemed like that was what most of the houses were like. That is the way most Kenyans seem to live. And they are some of the happiest, kindest people I have ever met!) We collect nativities on our trips, so we were looking for a nativity. As we were looking in this one man's shop he asked us what we had to trade - if we had an socks or anything. We were totally surprised and said no, we hadn't brought anything to trade. When we were telling the missionaries about it later they said that pretty much all the clothes they wear and sell there have come from the US and other countries. The clothes that aren't sold at second hand stores here are sent there, and they sell them in those markets. And if you take clothes and such that you don't need you can trade with them. So, if you plan to take a trip to Kenya (which I absolutely recommend), take some extra clothes with you. Use them to get some souvenirs or just make their day! From what I understand most Kenyan's never own brand new clothes. The missionaries were telling us that their native missionaries have never been to a mall or anything - they bought all their mission clothes at these markets, and they always look super cute and professional. I love Kenyans - I wish we were more like them here!

A second thing to notice in that second picture is that there is a sign for a school. Pretty much all children in Kenya go to private schools. And most of the private schools are boarding schools. So it is a challenge for the families there. They have to choose between having their children at home and providing them with a good education (they don't seem to really have private schools there.) But the kids are all so cute in their uniforms!

The last picture I through in just to show how beautiful and dense the vegetation is there. Not all of Kenya is like that, but a lot of it is.

So we got to Samburu in the afternoon. I can't remember exactly the order of things once we got there. I know we saw a lot of animals, checked in at our hotel, saw some more animals, and just spent time enjoying our hotel. I call it a hotel, but it's not like any you have ever stayed at (I'm guessing).  It is tents - but not your typical tents. These tents are NICE. Inside there is everything you would expect in a nice hotel room - king-sized bed, couch, bedside tables and dresser, bathroom. It just has canvas walls instead of more permanent ones. Many of the tents are up on stilts, the one Ryan and I stayed in was not. Because it is a tent the walls sway in the breeze, you hear the sounds of nature, and you feel a little bit more the sense of true adventure. It is called the Elephant Bedroom and the tents are all lined up along a river. They have no walls or anything to keep animals out. When the Harrises were there they had elephants walk right through the grounds - they actually had to get up from the tables they were eating lunch at because the elephants were coming through. As we arrived at the hotel a troop of elephants were on the other side of the river, and that was fun. The next morning as we got out of our tent for breakfast a herd was walking down the road on the other side of the grounds. But they never walked right through the camp while we were there. But it was by far the most enjoyable hotel I've ever stayed at - I loved it. It was hard to pick between just hanging out on the couches along the river and enjoying the beauty there or driving around to look for animals. We took the drive, but it was a hard choice.

Each of the parks have a gate like this

Olive baboons - I loved watching the babies riding on their mama's backs, laying down or like a horse

Our driver told us that these baboons are having a council. Before they all gathered under this tree there had been a little fight. He said that they discuss what happened, decide who was at fault, then the troop leader will deal out punishments (hit them). Don't know if that's true, but that's what we were told :).

Dik-diks, the smallest antelope (one of the species only found at Samburu - at least Samburu is the only place in Kenya they are found)

I love this pic with the dik-dik and unstriped ground squirrel. You can tell just how mall the dic-dics are. So cute!

I know this isn't a great picture, but if you look through the branches you can see a cape hare - it's the only one we saw and this is the best pic we got :(.

Red-billed hornbill

A woodpecker of some sort, I haven't been able to identify which one with any certainty

White-headed buffalo weaver

Weaver nests - I love how they are balls!

Beisa Oryx

I love their black patches!

Tawny Eagle

Somali Ostrich family - the black and white one  is male, the brown one is female. Aren't sexually dimorphic animals fun!

Did you know that's what ostrich chicks look like? Me neither.

Samburu is the only place in Kenya that this particular subspecies of ostrich is found.

These are the elephants we saw walking by the river across from our hotel when we arrived. See why we loved our hotel!

When we came out from our tent after putting all our stuff in it this is what we saw - a Nile crocodile sunbathing on a sand bar. When is the last time you saw a crocodile when coming out of a tent or hotel room? It's been my only time.

Vervet monkey sitting under a tent raised on stilts.

When we were checking into our hotel we had a little orientation before we were given our tent assignments. Since there aren't any wall to keep animals off the grounds or anything they had to give us some guidance to keep us safe. One of the things they told us was to make sure we locked this little padlocks on our tent zippers. They said the reason we needed to was because these monkeys had gotten quite skilled at opening sippers and stealing stuff from tents. Does she look like a thief to you?

These monkeys were all over the hotel grounds. Monkeys are one of my 2 favorite animals (do you know the other?) so I was in heaven.

Reticulated giraffes - you can tell because the white lines between the dark spots are thing, and the spots have almost geometric shapes. These are the types of giraffes most commonly seen in US zoos - but we only saw them in the wild in Samburu.

I think giraffes are so elegant. I never tired of watching them.

While Masai Mara was a picture perfect savanna, Samburu was a desert, surrounded by mountains..

except along the river where it was largely lined with palm trees and much greener.

We happened upon this elephant herd eating along the river - we watched them for quite some time. They were fascinating.

Grant's gazelle - you can tell it apart from the Thomson's because it doesn't have the black stripe on its side.

Black-backed jackals

I don't know why watching elephants eat captivated me so much, but it did. I loved watching them use their trunks!

Female Gerenuks - I love their long necks! Gerenuk means giraffe-necked antelope. Another species found only in Samburu.

We followed this lioness as it walked along a road for a long time - like 10 minutes or so. I never really noticed before that lions have spots too!

Just had to get some portraits of such a beautiful face.

Another dik-dik. Don't you wish you could have one as a pet? I do!

Even lionesses like to lay on the beach.

Spur-winged plover

These giraffes are "neck fighting". They lock their back legs and then swing their necks into each other. When they hit it makes a very loud crack. They don't seriously injure each other, but it is a real fight. Animals are crazy!

This crocodile at one point got up on the shore of the river at our hotel, so a guard with a gun came to make sure he kept a safe difference. He got back in the water but would pop his head up once in a while. We only got to see him out of the water for a split second, this is the best pic I got. That huge bulge is some kind of tumor or something.

Sitting on a couch along the river - enjoying the evening air and beautiful scenery

So 6 of these pictures were taken by our photographer friend. Feel free to guess which ones if you like.