At the Museum

Well it finally happened! I am at the museum and things are fine....there are a lot of researchers there and it is nice to meet many people I have heard a lot about. So far I am learning the teeth skull. of African mammals....for example a table of a primate and a zebra


Hmmmmm........(I think this says a lot about both Kenya and the museum)

Our same friends with the 4x4 (Barbara and Kevin) are big mountain bikers -that's how they met actually! Every year there is a famous race on Mt. Kenya where people bike from 10,000 to 4,000 feet. They of course love this kind of thing! Barbara actually won last year....they needed someone to drive their car from the start to the finish. So Brandon and I happily volunteered. I actually got to drive as well. So we were off and about with these powerful cars off roading and seeing a lot of wildlife. I wish we had more pictures...but we were busy riding.

Camping the first night at 10,000 feet was very very cold. But it felt refreshing..they even had a campfire going. We had to get up very early the next morning so Kevin and Barb could prepare!


This is the car I got to drive...on the wrong side of the road and everything. I have decided that I would like to have this car. Brandon says I am getting spoiled by driving such a nice car!



We saw a lot of animals: zebra, giraffes and some impala (the horns are just at the top of the photo)



The race ended at a beautiful campsite with food and a bar and live music. I think I look like where's waldo in this picture.



Kevin did well in the race. He placed 3rd....but Barb was not so lucky. She feel really hard (twice) on her hip.....she is still recovering and as you can see needs help walking!

Lake Magadi

Lake Magadi is a soda lake in southern Kenya in the Rift Valley. We went camping there with some friend (who have a 4x4!). It is a pretty desolate place-it is where they filmed many scenes from The Constant Gardener.

There was no one around but as soon as we set up camp Maasi showed up from all over. They just stood around staring at us...


The wind was pretty fierce and protecting the tent was tough...


But was had a beautiful sunset!

Mombasa by Train!

We headed down to the Indian Ocean with our friend Kasia on the famous Nairobi-Mombassa train. It was not as nice as we imagined....we were very very late and the train broke down 10Km outside Mombassa....but hey the experience was priceless....but we flew back.

Here are Kasia and I waiting for the train. It was two hours late leaving the station. The explaination was that it had to be watered. There must have been a translation problem....



The train itself is actually nice, a little run down, but still pleasant. The lights only work when the train is moving so while we were stopped or delayed we were in the dark!



There are a lot of people who live on the tracks-illegally. Technically the railroad owns the land so there is always a threat of the homes being razed in the middle of the night. Most of the kids just aks for money. These kids were just playing...



A nice view out the train and another train that was not so lucky!



But we did finally make it....and the beach was beautiful. White sand and blue water....



But it was hot...steamy and hot....not good for my Scottish blood. I could never cool down and was bright red...many people wanted to know if I was ok. Next time I will insist on air conditioning.

Mombasa has been a key trading post for the past 500 years. In the 1500's the Portuguese built Fort Jesus...


We we are on the back of a tuk-tuk which is basically a taxi-trike!