safari pics...and the beach!

all the flights to samburu were booked, so we ended up driving up there...a 5 hour drive. the drive was beautiful...and we passed the equator!

samburu was nice. i actually had the safari van all to myself, so when we put the top up, i was able to walk around to take pictures. all the other safari vans were pretty full, so i felt pretty spoiled. saw lotsa lions up close. it's funny because all the safari drivers are on the radio, so whenever there's a lion sighting, everyone converges...a little traffic jam in the middle of the bush.on the way out, i saw that the gatekeeper at the safari lodge had an obama pin...the kenyans looove obama, and they loooove obama paraphernalia.

when i got back, i had a few days in nairobi before heading down to tanzania. got to hang out with my friend abi there, which was really nice. went to an art gallery showing, hung out with some of her friends in dar, and on the weekend, we went to a small island a 20 minute ferry ride off the coast. got to lounge on the beach all day...

this last pic is the top of mount kilimanjaro - saw it from the plane on the way back to nairobi.

so now i'm back in nairobi, and things have been good. i'm going to meet some people in ministry that i got connected to through a friend at mosaic, probably tomorrow. also, on the way back from dar, i sat next to a gentleman who's lived in east africa for the past 20 years working with wycliffe, translated the bible. really, really cool to talk to him, and learn more about how translation work is done, his experience raising a family here, etc. and get this! the wycliffe center in nairobi has an outdoor volleyball court, and people get together to play on sunday afternoons! so i'm going to have to head over there...just gotta figure out where it is and how to get there. ;p

so i'm here for the next month, possibly longer. it's been fun meeting really interesting people - mostly expats, but some natives. for instance, this morning, i had a good conversation with the driver about...marriage. yes, folks, even here... and this weekend, i'm going to hang out with some co-workers...going to a concert, so i'm really looking forward to that.

ooh, and i also got stuck in the elevator today! it was only for about 10 minutes, and i had a call for work, so i was too distracted to be scared. that was...fun.