Our flight to Africa landed in Nairobi, Capitol of Kenya, where we stayed at the Crown Plaza in an upscale part of town. We were picked up by a Kensington Driver, taken to our hotel, checked in, were briefed about our next 12 hours and started towards our room. It was late, we were tired, but there was this bar along the way so we decided to try the local brew. The bar was closing but the friendly bar agreed we could have a beer, so we enjoyed our first beer in Africa. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and were met by a Kensington Planner who briefed us on our upcoming activities for the day, which included the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Shelter, and the next day when we would be picked, up by our Safari Guide and taken to the Maisai Mara.
Soon we were off to see the Elephant Orphanage. This orphanage takes in baby elephants who lost their Mother one way or another (Hunters, accidents, predators) or, quite often, fell into holes or wells and were not able to get out or be pulled out by their mother. They are brought to the orphanage and taken care of until they are about two years old. Then they are taken to an elephant Reserve where they have the opportunity to join an elephant family. They are cute little buggers and the people who care for them are very conscientious. The Elephant Orphanage:
We were so impressed with the work the people did there we adopted one of the elephants for our two Granddaughters. When you adopt you get a picture of your orphan, its history, and monthly updates regarding its life in the orphanage and eventually its transition to the wild. One of the best benefits to adopting was that you got to come back in the evening for bedtime activities … so we did. We returned later in the day for bedtime.
So, between the morning feeding and the evening bedtime with the elephants we went to visit the Giraffes. This is more of a shelter and zoo than an orphanage and most of the animals had been there for some time.
And … no trip would be worth while if there was not some SHOPPING included!
We ended our day at an interesting restaurant named “The Carnivore”. You have a seat, they bring your sides, then every couple minutes a guy comes by with a large chunk of some kind of meat and slices off some for you if you want. Every kind, inside and outside, you can imagine. You can say yes, more, or no thank you and they just keep coming by until you raise a little flag at your table, they know you are finished, and you get desert. Quite interesting and quite good … but not pictures.
Interesting City and many interesting things to see. As with so many of the developing countries you have such a diverse contrast between the modern and the natural or original. Progress is slow and in many places painful. We saw people carrying water to their homes from miles away. Our Guide said the schools that were most successful were the boarding schools because people would not send their children each day and the trek would be too far … so boarding there had the students present every day and undistracted.