some fun things

watching the blue monkeys while waiting for the taxi... 

(that was an 1.5 hours late. Hence I missed my flight!) 

this is my new favorite piece of art!

I found it on one of the desktops in the computer lab 

and have tried to place it as the background on as many computers as possible

Kakamega Forest

 Some friends came to visit me in the forest one weekend! (we're all Emily's!)

 a blue monkey chilling out in a tree

 man, my hair is blonde!

inside of a strangler fig! 

 a red-tailed monkey!

 Sunrise over the forest

 My friends enjoying the sunrise

a view of the forest on the Sunrise Walk 

 George George George of the jungle

strong as he can be

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

watch out for the (huh?) ... TREE!

 I would run through the forest every day and climb up the (74) steps of the canopy tower to be greeted by this view! 

my favorite monkeys, the Black and White Colobus

Nairobi NP

We went to Nairobi National Park on Friday as a part of our Biodiversity class. There are all sorts of problems with this NP because it is so small and is bordered by the city on three sides... 

not many animals like to live here and so the grass grows long, and then it's not the right habitat for the grazers.... 

but enough about that, ONTO THE PICTURES!

me, having SUCH a good time on a black rhino statue.

Never knew riding a statue could be so fun, huh?

 my artsy panorama of the day

 Yep... Nairobi National Park is the only national park in the WORLD that borders a capital city.

 Mr. Umbrella. 

 HOLY TOLEDO! In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps RIGHT NOW. 

I was rushed and had to share the vantage point so I cut off some of his head... BUT LOOK AT THAT GUY!

...probably because Pumba can clear the savanna after every meal... 

Party time!

This Friday, we had a party in our Swahili class because it was the last day of class. We all brought our khangas and shukas to hang up on the lawn to make it look festive. The line of khangas eventually was converted into a volleyball net and all sorts of chaos ensued!  

We also decided that since Tom's birthday was the next day, we would make the Swahili party into a surprise birthday party for him. We brought out a cake along as well as some really expensive gifts like a banana, a beach ball, and a kid's game. He was thrilled, I swear. :)

le elephant orphanage

As a part of our Biodiversity class, we took a gander at the elephant orphanage in Nairobi NP. 

We have learned a lot about how destructive elephants are to people's livelihoods living near the National Parks as well as the ecosystem in Amboseli National Park so it was really interesting to come to a place where they pay $900 PER MONTH for 8-10 YEARS in order to raise ONE orphaned elephant to be reintroduced into Tsavo NP. 

Wow. 

But, despite knowing how much a menace elephants are to both the health of humans and the ecosystems they live in... they were mighty cute. GAH. 

 some elephants playing in the mud

a little piece of everyday life

I feel this picture really captures everyone's personality perfectly...

adventures on the sweaty coast

So the coast! We journeyed to the Coast for a week after being in Amboseli. While the coast is beautiful, I really was looking forward to coming back to Nairobi by the end. I was tired of being sweaty and hot all the time and really, I'm not a beach person anyways. But I really did have a nice time! The people on Biashara Street (the shopping/business street) were really quite nice; they didn't try to rip us off for being mzungus (white travellers) like most people in Kenya. Thanks Mombasa!

a look at the outside of Fort Jesus (which was owned by the Portuguese way back when and then was a prison) 

a bit of the Old Mombasa Town

 a view of the harbor!

and some excited friends right before we boarded the boat for our dinner cruise (I know, we're so spoiled! but in all fairness, we don't get a spring break; everything is more or less structured (but with plenty of pool time). And let me tell you, by noon, you're just a big sweat blob bouncing around Mombasa, so a shower or a dip in the pool is really appreciated! I didn't swim in the ocean because of all the seaweed, the occasional Portuguese Man of War, and the harassing Beach Boys (not the band from the sixties, let me tell you). 

mr. elephant chowing down

this is a short video I took of an elephant eating. He was so close to the vehicle!
sorry about the video quality; it looks a lot better on my computer.