Saturday, July 04, 2009 Comment1 Comments

Alright so this is Part 2 of my update since it has been so long in between posts. So I said that I would fill everyone in about the safari so here is the Cliff Notes Version:

On Friday we left Nyeri for a wonderful little place called Sandai Farm. It a ranch that Petra, our guide for the weekend, lives at and operates. We were able to stay in very nice little cottages and enjoy a delicious meal of filet (pronounce the 't') and drink real wine. It was awesome. The funniest part of our stay there was horseback riding. My horse was not really a horse I don't think. I got the mini version. Go figure right, the shortest person there gets the smallest horse. It wasn't really all that fun. Me and Nick were stuck with the special needs horses and DeAnna sat back and laughed while Michelle and Caitlyn galloped off on their wild horses. Very funny actually.

Saturday after a good hearty breakfast (we had real cheese!) we set off in the Land Rover for Samburu National Reserve. It was about a 3 hour drive and at one point we passed through a gate that I am pretty sure was the portal out of civilization. Only way to do it though. When we got to Samburu we went first to our site that we were going to stay at and had lunch. The site that we stayed at actually has a really great story:

It consisted of several houses and a bar that is operated and run by the women of a nearby village. The village is not any ordinary village thought. It is called Umoja Women's Village and it is a very traditional village except that it is only women and their children. It was started by Samburu women who wanted to leave their homes and husbands for several reasons that mostly relate to the traditions of the tribe. These traditions allow husbands to abuse their wives (emotionally and physically) as they please, prohibit women from receiving formal education, and generally disregard the individual rights of the tribal women. In addition to this, female circumcisions are a long standing tradition within the tribe and despite modern medical advances and efforts to dissuade this practice it continues today. So this village has since flourished and now houses a nursery and school, cultural museum, and mini-market that allows the women to sell their beadwork and crafts in order to generate a very minuscule income. The village also asks its visitors to pay an admission fee that helps to supply the women with important goods and services like clean water. While we were visiting the village the woman greeted us with a traditional welcoming song and dance and walked us back to our camp site while singing a goodbye song. Coolest thing ever. It was so awesome to see a completely different side of Kenya and get a taste of the more traditional life and practices.

The actual safari was absolutely awesome. Here is proof:

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So today is July 4th. Or was we normally say, the 4th of July. That means that in exactly a month we will be boarding a plane and heading back to the States. Michelle left yesterday for Puerto Rico and that was weird enough to see her say goodbyes, I can't imagine what it will be like when it is our turn. Speaking of Michelle, it is already weird around here now that she is gone. She was just another part of the team it seemed like and now it's a bit strange.

This last month is going to fly by I just know it. I already cant fathom that its been six weeks. It feels like last week that we were just stepping off the plane, wide-eyed and exhausted yet ready to go. I must be honest and say that when the time comes I will be very ready to get home. Yet at the same time, I already feel that I will not be spending enough time here. It is such an irony that you can only understand when your here on a trip like this.

Until next time.
-jamie

1 comments:

DeAnna said...

Its interesting how your blogs are always filled with lies and fabrications. You would think that you would respect your followers enough to provide them with accurate accounts of your once in a lifetime experience.

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