Ok, so we took the taxi back to my sisters house in nairobi where four anxious little girls and my sister awaited. My nieces came running before i could even get of the car. there little hugs squeezed me full of love - i think i shed a tear or two but it was dark so i cant be too sure. I was exhausted and excited which translated into attempting to get out of the cab with my seatbelt. Go ahead and laugh, it was funny. When i got out i gave my sister Laura a big long hug. It was great to see everyone. We went inside, i gave out gifts, laura made me a turkey sandwhich with gouru cheese and i took the first dose of milaria medicine. It was official, I was in a 3rd world country called Kenya. The kids went to bed around midnight- Travis, Laura and I stayed up till about 3. I couldnt tell you what we talked about. But what i can tell is that the shower head blew off and the hottest steamiest water was putting on a gyser like show at 3 in the morning. I was naked and freaking out. I somehow got the water to stop, threw a towel on and opened up the door - i could barely see Laura and Travis' faces as the steam was rolling out of the door. However i could hear there uncontrolable laughing! We had a good laugh over the whole thing, fixed the shower, took a shower, got ready for bed and listened to them laugh about my unfortune until they fell asleep. Talk about a "warm welcome"!The next morning (Thursday) we woke up, ate breakfast, packed the truck and headed out. We made a couple of stops that consisted of a doctors office and a meat market. The meat market was, to my surprise, clean - well kept. I got some beef jerky and it was tasty - hmm i still have some somewhere, ill look for it later. We rode through the streets of Nairobi for 40-50 minutes. No lights, no yield signs, no signs period, no lines that i remember and overall no general regard for vehicle/pedestrian/animal safety. Not to mention everything operates backwards in comparison to american roads. As we got out of the city limits things were a bit more spuratic - little shops and villages here and there, each of which had your standard trashy streets, cattle, sheep and garbage dump dogs - Locals gazing deep into the truck windows to see the white man hoping he stops for a closer glimpse into the wallet, i mean his eyes. We stopped on top of a mountain looking out on the grand rift valley and it was gorgeous. A man was desperate to sell me some items, he was trying to rip me off but he was super attiment about getting my money. He failed and we drove off into the valley. We stopped in Narok, Travis had to check on some material for his house, we gassed up, got bottled cokes with real sugar, some tasty chips (fries) and back on the road we went. Some several miles outside of Narok Laura remembered she still needed potatoes. We stopped in a small village where ladies were selling buckets upon buckets of potatoes and Lord knows what else - oh yes, cabbage. Travis negotiated and wound up with 20# of potatoes for roughly 2 bucks. Not to shabby. The rest of the drive to Maasai Mara was uneven, un-paved rough roads. The country side was gorgeous with open fields, lots of cows being herded by young boys, occasional wildlife and mountains in the distance. Again, when we'd come up on villages the streets were just down right filthy. But the further away we got, the less villages we saw.
The last 10 minutes of the drive was "wow". I had seen pictures of where my sister lives but now i was seeing it, smelling it and feeling it. The houses the locals live in were mere sticks huts glued together with their cattle's dung, mud and sand. Kids half clothed, running toward the vehicle and waiving. It's like those commercials you see on tv, yea you know the ones im talking about. I was in a different reality, overwhelmed and basically mind-parrelized. I stayed like this for about 2 days. Yea maybe my sleep schedule was wacked and my nieces dont comprehend that uncle adam needs rest therefore it was non-stop. My sister fed me like a king, thus making me even more like a bear ready for winter hibernation - ohhh but her food is so good! biscuits and eggs by the morning - beans and rice scrumptiously seasoned by the day and crackers with gouda cheese and tomatoes by night. Yea, its simple but just as the best things in life are the little things, same goes for simple food done well. My sister knows how to feed a belly! Anyways - yea the first couple days in the mara were fuzzy - filled with cuddly kids, awkward sleep and a full belly.
By about day 3 i was starting to catch my breath, gather my thoughts and was putting words into sentences. All of us went for a four wheeler ride to check out the hippo pond and a nice lodge called simba mara in the middle of no where. We got to the hippo pond, Travis and i walked to the edge of the 25 foot drop-off bank and there in the filthy muddy water soaked about 8 hippos. Some were rolling over, all were making whale-like noises. It was sweet. My sister however was a nervous wreck and ofcourse kept the kids close to her on the 4-wheelers - she's such a good mommy! I guess the thought of falling off the bank into the jaws of a hippo was just too much. haha, love you sis. Off in the distance on the shore of the river i spotted a large tiger-stripped crocodile. My camera told me i needed to get closer so Travis and i walked down a ways to try for a closer shot - we got too close and prob too loud. As we were walking we kinda lost exactly where the croc was so when we got 30-40 feet away we heard a splash. croc gone, photo-opp postponed. Walked back towards the 4-wheelers, got another look at the hippos and on we went. From there to the resort was about 10 minutes of which we saw some great big pelican look a like birds and monkeys - cute little grey and black monkeys. As a kid i wanted a pet monkey, never got one and for good reason im sure. We got to the resort. It was nice. Made of sharp dark wood, a pool, bar, deck and a tv with a socce game on. -kenya vs uguanda if i remember correctly. We sat on the deck over viewing the the river - sipping on ginger-ale's because i believe all our stomachs were a little sensative from the garlic we smothered our pizzas with the night before. We watched a croc do absolutley nothing and a smaller hippo do whatever it is they do. Oh and a mongoose too. Skylar and Savannah (2 and almost 4) would occasionally scream at the croc and hippo just to make sure we were all still paying attention to them and the animals. those girls are an adorable mess and it's things like watching them drink ginger-ale from a glass bottle that brighten up my life. We took a nice family photo, paid for the drinks, hit the loo and headed back into the mara jungle on the 4-wheelers. We briefly stopped for the monkeys again and i got a couple good shots of a mama and baby. As we were going back we saw some wildabeasts and giraffes off to the left a ways - so we detoured towards them, snapped a few pictures and got out of there fairly quick. Never know what those wildabeasts are gonna do - and again, Laura+kids+wild animals= anxious mommmy. We got back to the house, ate a scrumptious dinner and went to bed short there after.
The girls. Sarah b(9), Summer(7), Savannah(almost 4) and Skylar(terrible 2). They are loving and learning. Passionate and all very different. However they all have one thing in common - they like to play. And each of them have different idea's for uncle adam so the challenge is staying on there routine but giving each of them enough attention. I've found that the chicken coop with summer is good quality time and learning or teaching with sarah b keeps her up to date and happy. Cards works great for both of them together. Savannah and Skylar would probably let me push them on the swing forever. Put skylar on the 4-wheeler and let her pretend to drive meanwhile the other 3 play basketball with uncle adam - huge hit! Throwing rocks into a bucket seems to keep all of us occupied. They each have there own little voices, there own little phrases, there own ways of eating, manipulating and there own little ways to say "uncle adam". They are something else. I don't know how my sister does it. Seriously. Teacher, mom, wife, sister, daughter. But MOM! goodness - she is like a machine. she has to teach the older ones school, watch the little ones, cook and clean. I have so much more respect for her just from a week of what ive seen.
Laura and I went down into the village to visit her friend Notatet one afternoon. Notatet is a mother of 4, a strong, nice, very proud lady - much like most of the maasai people. Her house like all of the maasai's is made from her hands with sticks, dung, mud and sand. They are very proud of there work. We got to her house and walked in. It's hard to describe. It's like walking into a fort that you built as a kid - but with much more tlc. The sticks are tightly woven together and the larger foundation pieces are carefully dug into the ground - for what they have to work with they do a nice job. Its small and dark. There's a front room that is designated for the younger cattle, sheep and goats to sleep at night. The middle has a little firepit and she was cooking chai for her kids at the time so as soon as i walked into the house it was very similar to being in the direct wind of a campfire and cant get away, know what i mean? Yea, ofcourse you do! It makes your eyes tear and theres no where to go. There were two beds made of tightly woven sticks and animal skin to cover. The smell of the house is a cross between campfire and crap - there is no sugar coating it, that's what it is. Small children from all over the neighboring houses would pop there heads in and out to check out the white people and I was asking all sorts of questions. There was no chance in hell that i would offend her and the way she lives, nor did i want to. I had a genuine interest in her way of life and she got a kick out of the questions that my sister would translate for me. She smiled and laughed, was hospitable and friendly. For 20 minutes or so i lived like the maasai and i'm a better man for it. We walked outside of her house - swarmed by children swarmed with flies. The kids are looking at me as if im a super hero, a look so deep and friendly that you cant help but smile and laugh and pour yourself on them. All they want is to be loved, it seems. It was a bitter and raw, awakening yet numbing experience.
Notatet also came up my sisters house one afternoon and made japodi for us. Japodi is a typical kenyan flat bread - flour, water and salt. I'm not sure what she did but it was filling and delicious.
The craziest part of this trip so far has been adjusting between family, a genuine want for cultural experience and me time. I've got four little girls from ages 2-10 that, in there minds, think i have come to africa for the soul purpose of there entertainment. And to a very very deep extent there are correct. They are each so special and i'm trying real hard to keep up with them and continue to build relationships with each of them on a personal level. I also have my sister and her husband that i'm trying to re-connect with. We were close once and then we weren't so close. I want that to change and i want more consistency in my relationship with them-this is a huge reason i am here. Then there's the fact that im in Africa! Traveling, seeing, doing, experiencing - all of these things are huge passions of mine and i really just wanna dive in, soak up and taste the culture of this place. So, you take all of that into a 24 hour day throw in some " i need some adam time to stay on an even keel" and you come out with my summary of the first week i spent in Africa.
