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...
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. :)
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...
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).
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.
So before you start.... have some great 80s music to get you in the mood to look at all my safari pictures!
some goats in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro!! It was really clear the first day, then it hid behind clouds the rest of the week.
an adorable baby giraffe in Amboseli
hup! two! three! four! Elephants on the march
giraffes coming to say hello because there are no trees for them to eat here... usually you don't see giraffes in the park for this reason. (elephants are overpopulating the park, and knock down trees, turning Amboseli into a grassland. aaaaand..... elephants are overpopulating the park because the government knows that tourists want to see elephants when they come to the park)
some elephants greeting each other!
hello ostriches!
some gray crowned cranes! these are some of my new favorite animals from Amboseli
a cape buffalo just chilling out with an egret
RAWR! a hungry, hungry hippo!
a hippo taking a stroll next to the swamp
the view from our lunch lookout. see the contrast between the lush lake and the bare soil patches (and dry grass) around the perimeter!
hey! it's Pumba! and Pumba junior!
so these are two lounging lions.... but it's really really hard to tell. Can you see the ears? We never got to see them standing up, they were just so sleepy :)
Whoa! Some wild animals trapped in a safari jeep!
mr. elephant eating anything and EVERYTHING.
we saw SO MANY ZEBRAS. here are two (and a baby, I think) out of the bazillion of them. (Zebras are overpopulated too in the park, leading to the dusty, bare patches of ground that you've seen in some of the pictures)
I've returned from my 3 week homestay and now am on my way to Amboseli and the coast for the next two weeks!
My homestay went really well: my family was really pleasant and I had a lot of fun times with them. Last sunday, I went to an outdoors concert/festival thing with my siblings which was a nice change of pace. Overall, this week has been pretty quiet because we've had a lot of coursework... so unfortunately I don't have too many stories. However, you may be amused to find out that I had so much free time due to sitting in traffic that I finished Harry Potter #3 and #6 (all in one week, too!). I had no idea traffic jams could be so fun! (I also had dance parties and sing-a-longs with my siblings during traffic jams. It's weird to think that some of my favorite moments are when I was trapped in a car surrounded by stinky, polluted air!)
I'll be sure to take lots of pictures in the next couple of weeks. I literally didn't take any pictures at my urban homestay (except of the monkeys and some cool iridescent clouds).
I took this one but had a hard time capturing the color while also keeping the brightness realistic.
I CANNOT take credit for this beautiful picture; it is by Eric, a friend of my brother.
My family said we'd take a family picture in the next couple of weeks to ensure that I'd come back to visit! :)
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