Where The Wild Things Are

Memories

We invite you think about the best way to arrive into a new city. Think pleasant greetings, smiling faces, seamless entry and a general feeling that all is perfect and right in the world. The kind of travel beginnings you’d maybe find getting off a plane in Hawaii. Aloha!

This does not exist. For us anyway. Want proof? Keep reading.

We decide to take a redeye out of Cairo into Kenya, leaving close to midnight, landing about dawn. Michele was battling one of her epic migraines and the pressure inside the plane only exacerbated it. Not to mention that a questionable salad in Cairo left her with some major gut pains. Cue the uh-ohs. They locked the bathrooms earlier than normal before landing, leaving Michele in sheer terror of well, no other good way to say it, shitting her pants. Throbbing brain and twisting insides and a locked bathroom. Not good. We land and were almost in the clear. Or so we thought. While exiting, Michele’s insides gave way and she vomited all the way to the front of the plane (in a bag, thankfully) before diving into the bathroom, where, she proceeded to release everything else she had inside. From both ends. After having destroyed the bathroom, in her relieved state all she could muster to the attendants was “Sorry about your bathroom.” Really? Are you really sorry? Maybe she should have told them “you deserve better than this” or “may god have mercy on your soul”. Either way, head down and cheeks clinched we proceed inside the airport where we were greeted by a big yellow sign that read HEALTHCHECK. Ugh. There was a moment of panic thinking that pale and slightly stinky Michele may not be able to clear the healthcheck. Thankfully they did not seem to care. We spent the remainder of the day laughing (carefully though as not to jostle any other surprises) about Michele’s terribly bad luck. Oh well. Shit happens, Amirite?

Thankfully, we did not let this incident stain (see what we did there?) the rest of our trip to Kenya, an amazing place with equally amazing people. Right off the bat, we felt some relief (it’s just too easy) being back to where we could wear shorts and t-shirts without the risk of unintentionally offending anybody. Nairobi itself is pretty diverse landscape wise. With forests in the middle of the city with great wildlife and hiking, a modern urban core, some really nice areas, as well as some areas with crippling poverty. The people of Nairobi were insanely positive, like Stuart Smalley positive, regardless of their situation. Kenyans give a whole new meaning to glass half full. We arrived in Nairobi just days after 45’s “shithole countries” statement, and although his name did come up a lot, it was important for the people to make sure we understood they weren’t offended by the words, but instead they took it as a challenge to show how wonderful their country and people really are. Kenya, way to be the bigger person!

Karura Forest

Our favorite area of Nairobi was Karura forest, where you can run, walk, hike, bike, or skip merrily through a completely isolated lush forest smack dab in the middle of the city with a surprising amount of wildlife. Butterflies were literally everywhere. Monkeys, dic-dics, waterfalls, and solitude, we loved this place. Probably the only real negative with Nairobi was an unofficial “curfew” of sorts that we had multiple people advise us of in advance. Specifically, we were told it’s completely safe to be out at night, just don’t walk anywhere past 6pm. While we never tempted fate by disobeying this rule, we also never felt unsafe in the least. Makes us wonder what happens past this witching hour, maybe a Hunger Games type scenario? Well, given the crime history of the city we are happy to be “blissfully ignorant” about this, just this once.

Slum Tour
After settling into our digs, we booked a tour of some of the Mathare slums in Nairobi with three former street kids, Donga, Cheddaz, and Kissmart. They grew up as street kids, homeless and basically alone (except for the other street kids) from as early as five years old. Their stories were both amazing and heartbreaking. They saw friends killed with guns and machetes, they stole, conned, and worse just to survive. They were our guides through some parts of Nairobi would never have been able to go to by ourselves.

With them we were able to get at least a little bit better understanding what it would have been like growing up and living on the streets in the slums (hint: not easy). These guys not only survived, but now they want to give back and help kids who are in the same situation they were. They’re trying to do this through teaching music and being strong role models. They do these tours now as a way to give back as well as part of their healing process. Talking about the things they’ve done will never remove them, but it helps them to talk about it and acknowledge that where they have come from.

As we travel, especially recent travel, we have witnessed some absolutely terrible poverty. It’s hard to see, especially with not knowing what to do to help. This is just as true back home as when we travel. One thing we will take from this experience is, at the very very least, we will be sure to say hi, be kind, ask someone how their doing if they are struggling. They have a story and just being human is an easy to do.

Asante Sana, Squash Banana
So, Kenya is a fascinating country with a lot to offer. It’s more than just a place for safaris… But, we came here in fact to go on safari and It. Was. Awesome.  We took a slightly ambitious 10 day safari around Kenya with a great company called Best Camping Safari.

Chase bank, however, had a minor panic attack when we asked them to wire money to a man in Kenya who we had met on the internet. Apparently that sets off some red flags. Good eye, Chase, good eye.

There really is something amazing about seeing a giraffe just chilling by a tree, or watching a dopey baby elephant swinging its trunk around for fun, or seeing a pride of lions on the hunt. Giraffe meat is delicious by the way. Surprisingly tender and aromatic. Jk, not sure we’ll be able to eat meat again after the cuteness and animal bonding from this trip. Except for chickens. Chickens are dicks… eat away!

Ten days is a long time to be in a car, ours broke down roughly five times (3 overheating, 1 tire, and 1 transmission replacement), but this is what you get with the budget end of the safari spectrum. Still so worth it.

The safari will go down as one of the biggest highlights of our year long journey. We got to visit Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Samburu, Mt Kenya, and Amboseli during the excursion.

We found all of the “big five”, but, to be honest, seeing some of the more “common” guys like the warthogs, giraffes, and gazelles were probably our faves.  Please click slide show down below to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

For anyone who has gone to a music festival and camped before, do you remember how good that shower felt when you got back home? Take that and multiply it by a hundred, that’s how good the shower felt when we finally go to our hotel by the airport in Nairobi on our way out. After we showered up and ensured that we would have a different flight crew than we had on the way into Kenya (sorry again about that bathroom), we fell asleep to the jungle-free sounds of some well-deserved AC and slept HARD!

Seychelles
Gearing up for SE Asia, we decided to take a short beach vacay out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tropical hikes, sandy beaches, rum drinks, blue waters, more rum drinks. We’ll spare you the fab details and leave you with this photo.

Q & A

How was the food?

Meh. It was quite frankly not that interesting. The best thing we had was chapati, which is basically a pancake / crepe like thing. To be honest we didn’t seek out the food as much here, and the safari often just consisted of picnic lunches or breakfast buffets, so we may not be the best ones to ask.

What was your favorite animal?

Trent:  Giraffes. They’re cool.
Meesh:  Is ‘all of them’ an acceptable answer? If not, then the elephant obviously.

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