Zebras, Camels, Black Mambas and Ants

First, Zebras:

Several days ago, John Fisher and I decided to go on a little piki (dirt bike) ride in the Great Rift Valley near Kijabe...the goal: find animals and chase them. After 30 minutes of riding on the highway and 20 minutes of riding through 2 feet deep and soft dirt/sand we found some Zebras! There were between 25 or 30 of them (4 of which were little babies) grazing in an open field. So, John and I geared up and chased them for a solid 15 minutes! It was unbelievable...chasing 30 zebras and coming within feet of them made me feel like a wild animal on the hunt, which is fitting because I look like an animal right now.

After zebras, we scoured the valley for Giraffes, but didn't find any...maybe next time

Camels:

Camels on Christmas Eve?? Yes. I felt like one of the Magi. John is on the right.


Black Mamba Christmas:

It definitely didn't feel a whole lot like Christmas this year...no family, no christmas tree, no christmas music and lots of mosquitos. On Christmas Day there were two girls swimming in the pool when they saw a snake hop in the pool with them, swim across the pool and climb out on the other side. After hearing a scream of death I ran over there to see what the problem was...a 6 ft long snake!! Shortly after my arrival, a wise African man came with a ten foot long stick and smacked the mamba on the head several times, killing it. After decapitating the monster, I picked it up (it was just as tall as me) and we determined it was a black mamba (the most deadly snake in Africa). Baller

Ants:

To finish our wonderful adventure on the coast of Kenya, the Fishers and I declared war against the invading ants. If any of you have seen the TV show "McGyver" (sp?) and the episode where those intelligent ants invade the city....the same thing happened to us on Dec. 26th. At around 9 pm million upon millions of ants starting streaming into our house. It was insane! John, Warren and I took it upon ourselves to attack fire, fireworks and DOOM (basically the "cruciatus curse" for ants). We took down well over a million ants in 1 hour and deterred the rest of the ant population from invading with our strategically placed fire works and bon fires. Thanks to McGyver, humans 2 - ants 0

Godspeed and Good Fortune

Kenyan Reboot

I left the orphanage on Friday, Dec. 10th (completing a full 3 weeks of orfanato enjoyment) and made my way to Kenya...it's a completely different world here

-Mozambique:Kenya
-unbearable mid-day heat:temperate, crisp, African beauty
-steady diet of rice and beans:diverse selection of fruits, veggies and meats
-constant irritation from an itchy sweat rash:cool, dry nights that require a fleece and krochet beanie :)
-instant coffee:REAL coffee

But, strangely, I desperately miss MZ and those precious kids at the Orfanato...A big part of me wants to go back right now. I hope to return VERY soon



Update on my Kenyan Activities
Day 1: visited a Kenyan oasis known as Mayor's Ranch and wrestled with a 160 lb. Great Dane named Zeus for 30 min.
Day 2: Toured Rift Valley Academy and enjoyed two glorious hours of basketball
Day 3: Traveled out to "the Kenyan bush" to visit a missionary family camp, tear it up on a slip n slide, and fly off a rope swing
Day 4: Learned how to ride Piky (dirt bike), mobbed out to Mount Margaret (named after a woman who was supposed to be burried at the top), found a tombstone inscribed with the name "Russel Bowker" and renamed the mountain "Mount Russmore"

Next big adventure: Lake Baringo and hippos

Godspeed
Joe

Another Defeat

Yesterday, more soccer....

In a quick 20 min., we found ourselves down by 6 goals...as the "bad guys" were advancing yet again, I attempted a "header" to clear the ball out of our goal box....another miserable failure resulting in an own goal...The 10 yr olds proceded to call our team North Korea and rub our faces into the dust....what could I say?

Today they told me that they have a football...I think I've found my road back to dominance...if this doesnt work, i'm purchasing a basketball

Godspeed,
Joe