Jambo

Jambo is Swahili for hello! After 3 flights and 25 hours total time, we made it to Nairobi well after the sun had set. The city is huge, with 4 million habitants and traffic does not flow well (driving on the wrong side of the street, haha), we didn't get to really see anything due to the darkness either. It's also a very dangerous city and we are not allowed to leave the hotel outside of the group bus, but the hotel is so beautiful, that there is no need to leave anyways. Fabulous gardens and wonderful staff, a little oasis within the hustle and bustle. I was quiet surprised how well I slept and was up with the sun to take in the sights. Had breakfast and we were off, mid-morning to the Giraffe Center.

A habitat for Rothschild Giraffes that were nearly extinct when it opened in the late 70s, now, they are a very healthy species! Many people of the group got to feed these great creatures and some even got to kiss them (put food in your mouth half way and the Giraffes will kiss you to get it). After a little hike in the area, we traveled to the plantation house of Karen Blixen, the author of the autobiography of sorts, Out of Africa. It's the house she lived in when she came to Africa from Denmark, and is the real house they used for the movie, with Merell Streep and Robert Redford. To hear the stories of the success that some of the children on her farm had after she left was incredible. She made such an impact on Kenya and its people.

Lunch was served in the coffee garden of Blixen's home and of course it was delightful, but I think a 5 course meal is a little excessive for lunch, I'm still stuffed from it. Just down the street from the Blixen farm is a bead factory, a women's cooperative. This factory employs 340 women, hand crafting ceramic beads and pottery and shipping it all of the world. All of these women walk to work each day, but it gives them steady pay and stability they earn. It was pretty awesome to see the process and so of course, I bought a couple of things to support their cause. Upon arriving back at the hotel, we got a little time to rest and to meet up with the person we were giving the soccer balls to. He is an incredible man! Works to help kids learn and succeed at soccer to keep them out of trouble, speaks 7 languages and works to develop collection and filtration systems for rain water.

He truly loves participating in life and even though he does make a salary to support himself, he told us that its the happiness he sees on the faces of the kids that motivates him. Once that was complete we were quickly off to dinner. The food here is magnificent, the white wine from South Africa is great and coffee is wonderful. I had the most amazing vegetable dish, a Kenyan specialty, and I could eat it everyday. Made with Tamarin and coconut water, amazing. Dessert was a fantastic surprise, each plate had writing on the rim in chocolate syrup. And they had our names and a "fortune", like a cookie.

Mine said, "dance is the hidden language of the soul", and I love to dance, so it is very true for me! The day itself was not as eventful as you would hope to read about the first day, but, it's unbelievable here and I'm so happy to be hear too!!!!!