Some Pix

We went to the elephant orphanage in Nairobi earlier this week. There were about a dozen elephants under the age of 3 there. One of the keepers gave a thorough presentation, informing us of how they care for the babies and their methods for re-incorporating them into the wild. Elephants are especially fragile animals, they are so emotionally sensitive that if a baby loses his mother, he will often die of sadness within a few days... like a little heart attack.

We also visited the giraffe center to get an up-close look at this lady. Her name is Laura and she is very pretty. We walked up some stairs to this balcony, where we bribed her to come near to us by holding out little pellets of food. I loved getting to touch her tongue, feel her hair, and see her coat so close up.

A couple of days ago, my mom, Morgan and I went down into Kijabe Town with John. John is an awesome guy. He's coordinating all kinds of projects in and around Kijabe, working with the local people and trying to help out in any way he can. He's a Kenyan, lives up in Maingi (a town just up the road from where we live), and he's got a lot of energy for helping people. One of the many things he does is deliver bags of food (produce, flour, sugar) to widows in Kijabe town and in the IDP camps each month. We just went along for the ride and met some of the ladies. It is very encouraging and inspiring to see a Kenyan helping Kenyans.

This is our friend Abraham. He comes over each morning to have some chai and a muffin. He has the greatest laugh I've ever heard... and is the dirtiest man I've ever touched. It occurred to me yesterday while I was having my morning chat with him that I hadn't taken a picture of him yet. So I got the camera out and told him he was a just like a model. He responded with a strong, hearty, toothless outburst of laughter. Great man. Seriously, one of the things I'll miss most about Africa: Abraham.