Solio, Aberdares camping and Kelly's birthday

It has been awhile since we have put up a proper blog entry. Just like in the states it is tough to stake out some time and write.  The cottage is open and has no rooms just a few partial walls, and as I write and try to concentrate my mind is wandering to Hogwarts. Kelly is reading Harry Potter to Henry and wands and dragons are seeping in to my mind. Trying to block out Harry is not too tough or burdensome, however blocking out the morning bathroom routine is. No doors, not even a sheet. As you can imagine we have become a much closer family than we imagined. The boys they love it. Henry and George don’t even throw a comma into their conversation. One just walks up to the toilet and starts taking care of business with the other a step behind talking about swords.

Speaking of toilets. Most of the roadside toilets or village toilets or I guess for that matter most toilets in Kenya are just holes in the floor. This floor contraption can stove up the boys better than any medication. Travelling down the road, George ask about a bathroom break? We just ask if he wants to use the “Choo.” (pronounced choe) Trust me, short of an immediate emergency George is holding on for home. This fear of the choo did lead to an amazingly awkward scene in Nairobi traffic involving George and a plastic bag. 

Well enough about that. Kelly’s Birthday! For Kelly’s Birthday we took a game drive to Solio game reserve. Solio's back fence is just 10 kilometer down the road from our cottage. We had been peeking into the reserve on our trips into Nanyuki. For Kelly’s Birthday we took a picnic lunch of PBJ’s, Fanta’s and candy. The Candy was actually Kelly’s presents from the boys. Rather convenient me thinks. Anyway Solio is famous for the number of Rhino’s and the place didn't disappoint. We saw at least 40 and got real close to a couple. We also stumbled upon a bull giraffe right in the middle of the road, a real highlight. Another big highlight was the Eland that ran across the road before we even got the reserve. The eland are giant, tall like elk but built like a bull. After the day in the park we had dinner with the farm owners and some friends that have been living in various places in Africa for the last 20 years. Both couples had great stories of life in Africa and had some great information about our future travel down south. Funny things is that when you meet people who have lived in Africa for several years, NO place scares them. I have yet to see a veteran say “oh no you shouldn't go there” even after they tell you a near death or death story about that exact spot. Actually one 12 year veteran suggested we avoid Northern Mozambique because the rebels currently run the place. Dessert or more properly pudding (apparently regardless of what you eat for desert in England it is called pudding) was a birthday cake the for Kelly that the boys decorated with gummy candies. See below.

A few days later we took a trip into the Aberdare mountains for a night of camping amongst the beast. Our campsite was open to the world and surrounded by Cape Buffalo and Elephant dung. We never saw any elephants but we saw fresh dung in several places along the drive to the campsite. The campsite was 10,000 feet and the condensation on our tent froze in the morning. A couple hours after a frozen morning the sun came out and it was t-shirt weather. We never saw large mammals at our campsite but saw many a large beast on the drive in and out. However the various DLA (deer like antelope) came right into our camp at night. When we flashed a light away from the fire we would catch the reflection of several DLA eyes on the fringe. A few Bushbuck got in a tussle licking up the salt in our pee. The camp site had choos, but of course no one was using them! Speaking of no one, we saw no one except the site care taker the two days we were in the park. The care taker Patrick has been working this site for 20 years, with 4 days off every month. We had coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches with him and enjoyed his conversation and assurances that we wouldn't get trampled by Elephants.

giant forest hog

Every time we encounter baboons Henry freaks out demanding we roll up the windows.
Memories of our last trip to Kenya where a baboon jumped in our car and destroyed our lunch still haunt him.  

fish on!

view from our aberdares campsite

The morning view. Idyllic.

Everyone caught a trout on this trip into the Kenyan mountains. For all of us catching fish anytime anywhere is a good time, but for me to tease up a brown trout in the middle of Africa it was an awesome experience. Due to the expensive and precise time restriction on our time in the park we only had a brief time fishing. So at the gate I asked the Kenya Wildlife Service employee if the park had any regulations concerning the fish. At first she looked real concerned because she had no idea what the regulation required but then she quickly came up with a good answer “don’t keep too many.” At the park headquarters they ran out of maps and we were sent into a 2 hour drive with GPS that just said “off road.” All good, we found our campsite, landed some trout and didn't get eaten or trampled while fishing. All in all a good camping trip.

pretty happy about this fish.

First catch of the day.  No surprise it cam from our angler Henry.

Dad and George preparing to bring in a big one.

Henry and Mom at Chania Falls

francolin

sykes monkey

Our little village at the top of the hill is a very surprising and vibrant place. I really want to dedicate some time to write about the village and also provide several photos. The village is a very interesting place that has a surprising amount of goods and services. I think it would be incredibly interesting to track the money that circulates through the town. When I bought some vegetables the other day they handed me a bill that was so threadbare I thought a wrong look might make it fall apart. With the average income in the community being about $2 USD a day and 4 tomatoes costing 10 cents I don’t think a ton of money enters or leaves the community. The farm hands here at the farm only go into the big city of Nanyuki about once every other year. This little village when looked at from a car window doesn’t look like much, but when you get out and see all the working parts it is very cool. Sorry for the teaser, but just wanted to shouts some props to the village. Although, I must say the village can be tough for Henry. He is doing much better at handling the attention, but I understand it can be tough. Basically today the Kids surrounded him and drove him into the car. A couple kids tried to crawl in and check him out and Henry had to lock the doors and felt bad about it. They literally climbed on the step rail and peered in at him for 30 minutes while he did his best to read a map for 30 minutes. A couple of kids asked again if he was a girl or boy. It is not always like that for Henry but the rural villages are odd for Henry and George.