Today...

It's my last full day in Africa. I'm back in Nairobi, Kenya, and after my month here I've finally succumbed to the creature comforts of a "nicer" hotel for 2 nights. It's no Ritz, but it sure feels like it. Unlimited hot water, reliable flushing toilet, room service or buffet food, laundry service (which I'm sure I offended this morning when I turned in a bag of the STINKIEST clothes ever) tv with more than one English channel, and a teapot & minibar in the room. Ahhhhhhh.

Taking inventory of what climbing the mountain did to me...my face is still windburned & peeling, I have a bit of a cold, some bruises on my legs, REALLY sore calves, and I'm gonna lose the second toenail on my left foot. All things considered, I'm thinking I got off pretty easy, lol. It was like the ultimate confidence course & it taught me a lot...but I'll leave that for another blog. Or 10. ; ) and I do plan on blogging about every day I spent up there, but I'll do it from home, when I go through my pictures.

I'm happy/relieved/excited to be going home, but I'm also sad to leave this place. I've done a little bit of everything here & seen some truly amazing stuff. Today I'm meeting up with the cousin of a friend from CA who is working at an orphanage in the Kibera Slum & he'll be taking me through to meet the kids & tour the place. Google Kibera Slum.

Then it's back here for more packing & a last night watching the sunset over Nairobi, dawa in hand.

<3
j

Sent from my iPhone

Well, THAT'S a bit out of my way...

I fucking did it!

I think I'm still in shock...
After 6 days I'm exhausted, windburned, sore as hell, and generally not quite right, but I DID IT. I climbed Kili- all 19,341 feet. I'll blog about the entire experience & give you the day-by-day account of what happened, I have pictures, too, not many though, once you get about halfway up it's too cold & tough to concentrate.

I'm back in Arusha, flying to Nairobi tomorrow for the last few days of my adventure...it's gonna feel so good to be in my bed!!

Wow,
j

Here goes...

I just returned to Nairobi this evening, after a few days on the Maasai Mara. To say it was amazing is an understatement. I had a hot air balloon ride, beginning in the dark of the early morning, seeing the sunrise, then all of the animals- we saw the big 5 during the first half of the day. I saw the migration of wildebeests, and had elephants walk right to my window. We also parked right in the middle of a pride of lions, and then had to beat a hasty retreat. It was just so great to see them in their environment instead of in a zoo. We did game drives in the morning at sunrise, during the middle of the day, and at dusk.

At night, we slept in covered tents & only had electricity from 7pm-11pm. Try charging a phone, 2 cameras, and an iPad with that timing, lol!

It was a long, bumpy, 5 hour drive back here, and the van had mechanical problems, but after I finally made it here, we ate at Carnivore, which was just as good as it's name. I ate all different kinds of meat, including camel, crocodile...and ox balls! Had a few dawas to round out my night, and I'm about to do some repacking.

Tomorrow I leave at 7am for Tanzania, and on Monday I start my attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'm really excited, also nervous. After that, a couple recovery days, and then back home finally, where I will be SO happy to be.

There are a ton of pictures coming for y'all, they're just insane!!

xo,
j

Bye for now-

On my way to Maasai Mara for a few days...pics when I get back.
xo,
j

Right before the rain...

Lake Nukuru

As promised...

So I'm about halfway through my trip. I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks already, but I've really seen so much. The build was amazing. I saw schools with hundreds of kids, a few orphanages, and I've had the chance to really be immersed in the Kenyan culture. I learned a little Swahili, but it usually is met with giggles. I'm in a different town just overnight, and i spent the day on safari at Lake Nukuru, which is a huge park famous for it's millions of flamingos. I also saw black rhinos, white rhinos, water buffalo, wart hogs, wildebeests, baboons, monkeys, pelicans, & more. It was so surreal...quite possibly one of the top 3 most beautiful things I've ever seen. At the end it started to rain, and it was just perfection. : )

Tomorrow around 6am I drive out to Masai Mara for a safari, complete with sleeping in those tents you see on national geographic. ; ) I'll be back in Nairobi on Saturday night, so that's probably the next time I'll have Internet, but before I go to bed, I'll post another pic or two for y'all.

peace,
j

One more...

Hello!

This is the rift valley...
Amazing.
I just arrived in a town I'll be at overnight, & they have wifi. It's slow, but it works. Tonight there will be a longer blog. ; )

xoxo,
j

i'm alive!

i sure do miss the internet... but i think i'll miss this place more when i'm gone. we visited a scholl & i ran through a field with a few hundred kids at top speed. they were beating me. ; )   we visited a few orphanages. i'll spare you the details, for now. it's sad... but i'm really glad i'm here. i'm working my ASS off. i'm getting pretty toned, lol- extreme kenyan bootcamp!   but i'm safe and sound.   xoxo, j

in a land far far away

the conversation went like this-   me: do you have wireless in the guesthouse? woman: wireless? me: internet? woman: eeen-ta-netttttt?   and so now you understand the lack of updates.   the guesthouse is very rough. no hot water, and frequent black outs. you already know there's no internet. the rooms are places to sleep, nothing more. one channel on tv. but it's a truly amazing place to be. i'm in eldama ravine, working my ass off. lots of digging, mixing concrete with only shovels, lots of hauling materials. long days.   the orpanage in nairobi was awesome, i have plans to visit another one out here, i'm sure there will be harsh differences. there is not much running water in the whole area.   i have amazing pictures, beginning with me right above the rift valley. insane. now i just have to figure a way to get some on here. many keys on this computer don't work, and i'm in a tiny room at an cyber cafe, as they say. sloooowwwww connection.   but don't worry, i'm alive.   it's heaven.   wish you were here... (and could bring starbucks)   xoxo, j

Jambo!

It's my first morning waking up here. My last conscious thought last night was "there's no way I'm gonna fall asleep in these rough sheets on this hard mattress under this mosquito nettingzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" and then I woke up & it was 6:30. ; )

Today we're moving out to another part of Kenya, a few hours away. Not sure how the accommodations will be, and really afraid there won't be Internet...but I'll try to update when I can.

xoxo,
j
Sent from my iPhone

Ahhh, Kenya.

Aside from the fact it's been almost 2 days since I've slept in a bed, I'm doing pretty good. Got in, got my bags (surprise!) and got to the guesthouse. Spent the day out & about, trying to fight off the urge to go to sleep at 10am. Went to the first of 2 orphanages, went for lunch, and afterward saw an amazing African dance show. The work starts tomorrow. Since I'll be somewhere more remote, I'm not sure how my Internet will be, but I'll try my best to keep y'all posted.

Hear that?

It's my mattress calling. ; )
Goodnight.
xo,
j

Still on the move...

First flight, lax to dubai. 16+ hours long. Screaming baby. Not so much sleep. Got stuck in dubai from 4pm yesterday to 4am today, so I took a city tour & I'm really glad I did, even though the weather wasn't very good. I've been here at the airport since midnight & I get to board in an our or so, I'm stuffing my face so I'll be nice & sleepy on the next flight. Hopefully the screaming baby isn't sitting next to me.
; )