Nairobi, Kenya

On arrival in Nairobi, Kenya, we were groggy and a bit disoriented. All the sleep we had gotten were a few broken hours over our last 4 hour flight. We bundled ourselves up and stepped out into the cooler morning air. This is it, I thought, we've finally arrived at the beginning of our big adventure! The border crossing and visa on arrival was easy, but our bags arrived on Africa time (nearly an hour!) It's not as if this airport was very big or very busy, but we know that we are no longer on our timescale. We had made friends in the Saudi Arabia airport, a British couple with a cute little 3 year old. Their home base is Saudi Arabia as they are teachers there. We had a great time chatting about our different expat experiences, and the time passed quickly. Finally, all of our bags arrived! Time to go!

 

Our driver was waiting for us, and ran off to get the car. The traffic coming into Nairobi was slow and miserable, but I got a good look at the industrial side of the city. Before I knew it, we had arrived at our hotel - big fences and gates and an armed guard surrounding our building. This turns out to be the norm in Nairobi, and it makes us feel quite safe.

The first full day in Nairobi was jam-packed with sight-seeing. Our driver took us to the Sheldrick Elephant orphanage, where they rescue and then raise baby elephants. Elephants are on milk for the first 2-3 years of their life, so they need help if they are to survive. It is only open for 1 hour a day, and it was packed full of people (and especially school children!) The elephants were adorable, and they are such fun, interesting creatures. The way they were playing, you could see they were happy and comfortable.

Next stop was the Giraffe Center, which is a breeding program in Nairobi. There is a platform were you can climb up and feed the Giraffes pellets. The helpers remind tourists that you are "friends through food", and they might head-butt you if you try to pet them without feeding them. We got to feed 2 different giraffes, and I even fed one with my mouth! I love giraffes as well, and we sat just watching them eat, blink, and walk around.

It was lunch time, and our driver took us to Mamba Village, were there were a million more school children waiting to see crocodiles. We passed by them and went to a restaurant there. We were all by ourselves, the food was nice, and we had the company of our driver to tell us a bit more about Kenya and Nairobi.

Once lunch was over, we headed Nairobi National Park, to look for more animals. The roads were a bit rough, but we did see more animals! Here are some pictures of what we found while wandering through the park.

Then it was getting late and we headed home for dinner and sleeping. What an action-packed day! Not every day will be this full, but it was a great start to our trip.