Seldon, Brenda, Kysun, Emily and Caleb came to Africa for a couple of weeks and we enjoyed their company SO much!! We had some time together in Addis and then flew together to Kenya for a safari.
We spent a day at the Sheraton in Addis. The kids had a great day :)
A wonderful Sunday afternoon.
Back Row: Julian, Andy, Abe, Jen, Warren, Quinton, Colin (Cooper on his shoulders), Annie, Brenda, Kyson
Front row: Seldon, Jolena, Abigail, Abraham, Lydia, Conner, Caleb, Emily, Cameron
Our flight from Nairobi to Nanuki. We had the plane to ourselves. We were all exhausted from just a couple hours of sleep the night before....My famous last words to Brenda the night before were "we won't need a wake up call from front desk, I have set two alarms..." yup we slept through them both and Kysun had to wake us up 10 minutes before we were to leave for the airport!
A warm welcome to Nanuki from Abraham and Graham.....Hmmm maybe Daudi didn't know we had arrived :)
Warren braved getting eaten by wild animals to take this group pic. My hero! :)
Daudi was able to spend some time with us too
The kids with our safari guides
This is the tent Warren and I stayed in. They would fill the bucket with hot water which fed the shower in our tent
Every morning coffee, tea or hot chocolate and a snack was left on a table outside our tent
As you can see we were "roughing it"
Lunch was served outside after a morning of game watching. The food was delicious!
Inside the dining tent where we ate breakfast and supper
Bed time hot chocolate around the campfire
Every nite our guards, Massai warriors, escorted us to and from our tents. Our camp was right in the game park and there was always a chance of wild animals wandering through.
They performed their traditional "jumping dance". The higher they can jump the more girlfriends they have :) The girls make all the beaded jewelry for the boys they are interested in.
They also did a spear throwing demonstration. Two of the warriors when they were younger had killed lions with their spears!!
Speaking of lions... On a walk just past our tents with the Massai warriors they pointed out some lion tracks.
On our last game watching trip we finally saw some. These two are brothers. The one sitting has a full belly.
His kill was close by and he was NOT wanting to share! We got within 30 feet of them and then they decided they had had enough and chased our truck off. Honestly, I did get scared at this point and almost ended up in Brenda's lap haha!
The kids had gone in a different vehicle and were the first to find the lions. Kysun and Cameron had picture taking with binoculars and Kysun's Ipad down to a science! Cameron held the binoculars steady and Kysun took pics with the Ipad. We got some of the best pics from those boys!
Does he have any cavities Kysun?
Brenda got her wish, kinda.... A pretty animal eating something ugly :)
Not shown in the photo was a jackal hanging around that did end up getting some supper too.
Some nice Family pics (we made sure there were no lions around or anything else that bites or tramples :)
We were really lucky to spot some cheetahs. Our guard spotted a swishing tail in the tall grass! Apparently they are the most elusive cats to see in the park. These are two brother cheetahs. There was a third originally but the guides found it dead one day. They believe it got bit by a snake.
Seldon REALLY wanted a picture of a warthog facing the camera (who knows why!? Such ugly things)
He got dozens of pics of them running this way.....
AND that way...
Finally on the last day he got the "perfect" (ugh) photo
Some beautiful flora. In the bottom left foreground of this picture is a tree with white thorns covering it. This tree is very common and it houses thousands of ants in pods surrounded by the thorns.
If you tap the tree branches all the ants come scurrying out of the pods
If you zoom in on this picture you might see the tail end of a green mamba snake in the foliage. It was the closest we got to something deadly. The venom in one bite is capable of killing several human beings. Daudi noticed it as we were walking on a pathway along side the bush.
Brenda kept saying she wanted to see an animal catching and eating another animal! As long as it was a pretty animal eating an ugly one haha.
This is one of my favorite pictures. (don't worry, no zebras were harmed in the taking of this photo!) Brenda's wish was not granted. Besides I think this would have been the opposite of what she was wanting!
This hyena was stuck in the pouring rain and looked miserable. It didn't even raise it's head when we drove by.
Safariing is exhausting business!...For the boys that is!
We saw many giraffes, but NO elephants :(
A pair of young teenagers in love...
A family of white rhinos. We were told their horns are removed to prevent poaching.
A not as common, black rhino
A big grumpy looking water buffalo. You don't want to annoy these fellows as they will charge a vehicle.
There were so many kinds of animals that we saw that it is hard to pick just a few pictures to post.
This is a gazelle... or antelope...something
Ostriches....or Emu....errrr....I think I should have paid closer attention to our guides!
Pretty little blue winged, red breasted birds (I'm sure that's the proper name....I think...)
Brenda loved these turkey like things with their white spots and blue heads! I think she even bought souvenir tea towels with pics of these birds on them
Last Picture of our Safari
From the Game Watchers camp we spent a night at the Mount Kenya Fairmont in Nanuki. Another beautiful picture of Seldons. Mount Kenya in the distace.
Crikey! What do we have here? The ever dangerous aquatic teenager! Beware, if not well rested and fed they become very volatile. Thankfully they were behind a thick wall of glass!
The lovely balcony where we had breakfast
There was a bit too much ambiance in the restaurant. Thankfully Daudi had his trusty head lamp so Warren could read the menu!
A wonderful Wednesday night in Nanuki Kenya. Definitely the highlight of our trip!
Time to say goodbye to Nanuki and head back to Nairobi. We will be happy to see Graham in Canada this summer.
It was quite chilly while we were there and these school children were bundled up nice and warm. The Kenyans look quite a bit different from the Ethiopians
A couple farming
More lovely children
Back in Nairobi
We did some sight seeing in Nairobi. This was at an elephant sanctuary where orphaned elephants are raised and then released back into the wild. The care givers are assigned their own elephant that they spend 24/7 with until the elephants are able to survive on their own.
This is one of the barracks where the elephant and it's care giver sleep.
Lunch time!
One place we visited was this really neat flip flop recycling company. They take used flip flops and make them into toys!
The washing area
Storage shed, sorted by color
Craftsmen cutting and shaping the flip flops into different sizes of animals that they sell in their gift-shop as well as export to zoos worldwide
These workmen use grinders to smooth the toys
The remnants are used in playgrounds
We also went to a Giraffe park. One giraffe in particular would give you a "kiss" if you put a food pellet in your lips. Emily was the first to brave a kiss.
Cameron and Warren thought this was disgusting so when they weren't looking I tried it too....
....and then asked the unsuspecting Warren for a kiss right after. He was NOT amused when I told him I had just passed on a giraffe kiss!!! He was sure we were going to get some kind of cooties!!!
Supper out with some of our Korean friends living in Nairobi. Unfortunately for Cameron he DID have cooties!! He had typhus at this point (contracted from fleas NOT giraffe kisses!!) so wasn't well enough for a pic.
A wonderful trip for sure with great fellowship along the way. THANKS JEUNGS. We miss you!!!
I felt like I needed to put together a more serious post of life here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We are so thankful to be here and enjoy many privileges in this country. The reality for many here though is a day to day struggle. The last few months this country has seen a huge influx of refugees from neighboring countries where they have had to flee from or have been deported from. They arrive with the clothes on their backs and often very sick. Something I often see as well are those with addiction and/or mental health struggles. A very sobering picture of a beautiful country that has touched my heart and helped change me in different ways for the better. I recommend you take your time and really appreciate these amazing pictures that Seldon took. There is much to see in each one that will give you a clearer picture of life in Ethiopia's capital city.
