Driving to Nairobi (Jan 10)

We spent the night in Nakura,













had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel the next morning, had a small church service in one of our rooms and headed out again for Nairobi.

Doug had started his “driving in Africa” experience yesterday after lunch, and he continued today. He drove all the girls and I rode in the other car to be with Caleb and all the guys. Today was the day to see animals, and I wanted to be able to point them out to Caleb.

We saw zebras, gazelles, baboons, flamingoes, and a cob. We had seen baboons on our first leg of the journey.













They were all in the road, some even standing to see if we would hand them food out the window.

Caleb clapped and shouted each time he saw an animal. They are the real reason he was ready to come to Africa.

He fell asleep soon, and as the rest of us talked, I learned a little about Kenya government, politics, and history. I had read a lot about Uganda before coming, but I didn’t know much about Kenya.

We drove along the Great Rift Valley, and it was absolutely beautiful!












We stopped at a lookout point where I thought I could take a lot of pictures and buy Massai blankets at the craft booths, but God had other plans.

I saw Pam taking her daughter and Karis down a VERY steep, muddy embankment to go to a “bathroom.” I followed to help, and half-way down, Pam sent me back up for toilet paper. Good thinking.

Below the lookout, on a steep hill, was a cho (an outhouse which is a wooden structure with four walls, a tin roof, and a hole in the floor). I have seen and smelled worse chos, but I’m sure Karis hasn’t. This was a very primitive structure.












But she went in first and asked if she could do it alone. I was in shock! I gave her some pointers about how not to get wet, and I left. And I waited. And I waited.

She did it!




















After everyone else finished, we walked back up the muddy slope, holding onto a wooden rail.

I took two pictures, listened to some hagglers, and tried to look at Massai blankets, when Karis told me she needed to go again!

One of the workers in a craft booth had washed a wool skin of some kind and hung it over a wooden banister to drip dry. The water was dripping right onto our muddy slope.

It made it all the more difficult to get down, especially carrying a money pouch, toilet paper, and a camera. Kylie and Joanna also followed us.

All three girls successfully used the cho. And then Doug brought Caleb, and he went, too.

I’m going on about this, because this is something I thought my kids would never give a try. There was a squatty potty in Virginia for us to practice on (a clean one), and I showed my kids how to use it, and not one of them would.

Major Africa breakthrough for me and my family!

So the cho and the scenery were the big things about driving to Brakenhurst today.