Maasai madness

Let me just say that this past weekend was INTENSE. We got up at 5:30am on Saturday to drive to Lake Nakuru. On the way we stopped at this gimmicky equator spot, and at Thomson's Falls, a beautiful waterfall in Nyahururu. Unfortunately both places were slightly tourist trap-y. But nice. Also our vans kept breaking down on the bumpy roads so we kept having to switch and stop and get out and everything. It was annoying. But definitely worth it once we got to Lake Nakuru and saw all the flamingos on the lake! Absolutely gorgeous. We also met up with Kenya I, the other OCA group working in Kisumu that came on the trip with us. It was fun to talk to some of them and see new faces, but our group is so much more tight knit than they are, that some of us kind of wished it was just us. You could tell that the other group was jealous of our hilarious group dynamic. They just have a lot of personality clashes and haven't been getting along well. Also, their leader is kind of high strung. I'm so grateful we have Chris as our leader, he is such an awesome laid back guy, always making sure we get things done but letting us have all the freedom we need to have a good time. Anyway, the first night in Nakuru we all stayed in this beautiful guest house in the park. Bari, Kristie, Lisa, Dylan, and I all grabbed the biggest bedroom and had such a good time just playing cards and laughing all night. The next day we left to drive to Maasai Mara and all of us got in the same van with Edward so that was awesome. It was a very very long drive, but we stopped at the Menengai Crater on the way for an excellent view of the Great Rift Valley. So gorgeous. We left there at about noon and didn't get to the Maasai Mara campsite until about 7 pm. We saw zebras, giraffes, impalas, and other animals just on the way there though, way outside the park, so that was cool. Also began to see lots of Maasai herders and villages. The campsite was great-nice permanent tents with beds in them that were actually more comfortable than the ones at our house! We ate a really late dinner and hung out for awhile. I shared a tent with Lisa so we got to talk a lot which was great because we hadn't really hadn't gotten to know each other as much yet. The two of us ended up hanging out with Chris, Kristie, Edward, and John (our tour guide) until way late at night and had a hilarious time. The next day was safari from 6am til 7pm, we went all over the park. Even got to cross into Tanzania! We saw tons of animals, but sadly the wildebeest migration hadn't made it there yet. Oh well, we saw a lioness with 3 cubs and 2 cheetahs about to hunt. And huge herds of zebras, elephants, wildebeests, giraffes, everything. So crazy. Unfortunately the next day I woke up with an upset stomach which made the ride home absolutely hellish. We left the park at 10am and didn't get home until 11pm between breakdowns, switching vans, stopping for food, and everything. It was seriously horrible to be nauseous for 13 hours on awful bumpy roads in a hot cramped van. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that I love everyone in my group so much and we were able to laugh at the misery of our situation. But it was definitely worth it for the trip and all the good times we had. Thankfully I felt better today, it must have been something I ate. All in all an amazing 4 days, and brought us even closer as a group.

So we go back to work tomorrow and Friday then have a weekend around town, then one more week of work and we're done! So close! I'm going to try to spend as much time with the kids as possible in the next week and a half because I'm going to miss them so much! Travel week is going to be insanely awesome though, and then I will be home! I do really miss friends but I know that once I'm back I'm going to miss Kenya and my group just as much! The longer I'm here the more I think that I really would like to come back with the Peace Corps. Just as long as I'm teaching or doing community health, NOT manual labor like now, haha. I think it would be really great to teach English, that is if I continue with Swahili. Dylan's brother is in the PC in Uganda right now, and Chris is starting in November. We also met a Texan named Rob who's in the next village over. Everyone has only good things to say about it. Anyway, we'll see what happens, but right now I'm still having an awesome time!

Peace!!