Operation "Bless the Rains"

Per here. I'll make this a quick update since we're not exactly at a place where internet access would be expected.

Rich (Paula's dad) and I traveled to Kenya to meet up with Paula about a week ago. As you've no doubt read, she's been working with a Kenyan pediatric resident on a research topic for the past 2 months in Kisii (southwest Kenya). Of course she did a brilliant job and wrapped up the day/night that Rich and I flew in.

We didn't spend much time in Kenya though. We hopped on a bus to Arusha, Tanzania, where we joined up with a safari company and have been tracking down all sorts of amazing animals. We've gone to Arusha National Park, Lake Maynara National Park, the Serengetti, and now we're spending the night on the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater.

 All has gone brilliantly so far. I happen to be married to an excellent travel agent and trip planner, so this is nothing new. There has only been 1 major problem that we've encountered so far. Just as we were about to enter the Serengetti National Park (the size of Holland by the way), our camera decided to break on us. "Lens Error" apparently means we need to send the camera to Canon for them to replace it. No doubt our camera will be sent with a letter explaining that we were about to enter into one of the most amazing places on the planet with a camera we bought, in part, just for this trip with this park in mind when it decided to die. I'm not pleased with Canon at all at the moment. Fortunately, we have Rich and his amazing Fuji camera he bought impulsively on QVC. I will never again mock his impulse purchases. 

Today, on our drive to our lodge on the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater, we passed through 2 million (literally) wildebeests migrating to the southern Serengetti. Not to mention the elephants, zebras, Thompson gazelles, giraffes, lion, hyenas, jackals, dung beetle, and other super-sweet animals. Tomorrow we'll descend down into the Ngorogoro Crater where there's 18-21 black rhinos left from this area (very sought after by poachers). Hopefully, we'll be lucky enough to see one.  We'll post a slide show when we get back from our trip for everyone to check out.

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Zebras Schmebras

In the past 2 days I've seen so many zebras I'm actually a little bored by them. Bring on the lions, leopards and elephants oh my. It's been a good couple days of traveling through Naivasha and Nakuru...aside from the rookie mistake I made of not bringing the camera charger...ugg.

So here's what I've been up to...
I celebrated my bday here with dinner consisting of my favorite things...ie fruit, veggies, salad and chapati. No mashed bananas for me though! They had a little cake for me and we had a dindin together which was nice. I got lots of nice messages from friends and family back home and chatted with per and my parents which was great.

I spent the rest of the week working on the project...we're in the mode of getting all the data organized for presentation and write up which has been a ton of work...and then travelled to Nairobi on thursday where I spent the night at Grace and Ben's place again. Ben is one of the program organizers but as he's in the US currently, Grace decided to do a bit of travelling with me this weekend.

On friday we headed to Lake Naivasha which is one of the Rift Valley lakes. We walked among giraffes, zebras, gazelles and wildebeests on Crescent island. You're allowed to walk because there aren't any predators. It was pretty amazing to be just 10 feet from the giraffes...I like those guys! FYI-did you know that giraffes have the same number of cervical vertebrae as we do. I did. I learned that when I did a presentation on head and neck injuries...kinda interesting.

From there we wandered to Hell's Gate National Park. I biked (without a helmet...sorry mom and dad) from the entrance to the gorge trailedhead. It was just a couple miles but a couple miles of beautiful rock cliffs and more zebras and giraffes. I mean really, who gets to mountain bike with zebras! The hike was beautiful too. It was in a gorge, partly with a dry river bed and the rest with a little creek, which I'm sure becomes a huge river when it rains. I would not want to be there during the rains...it screamed flash floods to me and by the terrified look on our local guides'face as the rains were closing in, I'm sure it's a dangerous place to be. There are some hot springs there as well...the Masaai spa.

Next was onto a place called Kogoni where there were thousands upon thousands of flamingos. An incredible sight to see. Per the Master Birder would have been in awe. We took a boat ride to the hippos at which point I realized my rookie mistake as the battery on my camera started flashing red...suck! One hippo submerged and came after our boat. You could see the bubbles he was creating on the surface as he came closer and closer. A bit terrifying. They are big and not nice, so we got out of there.

In the morning we set out for Nakuru National Park which is "damn expensive" if you're not a Kenyan resident but it was worth it. It's one of two premier parks in Western Kenya. Totally fenced in to protect the endangered rhinos from poachers and with only a few predators (lion and leopard) so there are animals EVERYWHERE. Again, zebras schmebras! The park is centered around another Rift Valley lake and you can hire a taxi to drive you around to all the spots. More birds, buffalo, waterbuck, baboons, gazelles, giraffe and rhinos. All day I rationed my picture taking and kept coaxing my camera to please just make it to the rhinos...which were the last stop of the day. I was sure it wouldn't, but it did! It died just as a big boy was crossing the road behind us but I'd already taken picts of the momma and her baby so I was satisfied! One good thing about coming in the rainy/low season...lots of new baby animals to look at. Very fun for me the animal lover!

Today is Easter and we enjoyed a hike in Menegai Crater. The volcano is dormant now and last erupted about 300 years ago. We started on the ridge, went down to the floor and then climbed, literally, straight back up to the viewpoint. I think my calves and thighs will be feeling it tomorrow! It's a beautiful place, very quiet and calm. It was nice to just sit and look out at the scenery in silence...before heading back to the chaos that is every African town. While I love that people are out and about, the heckling and hassling (ie "sister do you want this one, what about this one, buy from me, promote (means buy) me with this one etc etc) gets a bit old. Too bad the white skin really gives away the fact that I'm a foreigner...

Hopefully the spelling and punctuation in this entry is acceptable for you, Per...I know it isn't perfect though.

Here's more picts!

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Overly Ambitious Remodel - Phase 2A

While Paula is off gallivanting around Kenya for 2 months, I get to stay at home doing all the exciting things...like taxes. It's a rough life to be sure. However, via Skype and email, Paula and I have been finalizing the plans for Phase 2A of our Overly Ambitious Home Remodel. You may be asking yourself right now, "Great! That means you guys are done with the kitchen, doesn't it!" And to that I answer, "Absolutely not!" Nevertheless, I spent this weekend beginning the messy processes of demolition.

To explain the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2, I thought I'd give you a virtual tour. When Paula and I moved in 2009, the floor plan looked as such:

The kitchen and dining rooms were separate rooms at the top and right corner. The master bed is at the top left corner, 2nd bedroom at the bottom left, and an office/smaller bedroom just to the left of the living room.

Since we moved in, Paula and I have been wanting to convert the existing pink bathroom into a master bath and find space for another bath on the floor. After playing around with the floorplan a bit, Paula and I have come up with a layout that we're comfortable with.

With this floor plan, the shared closets between the master and 2nd bedrooms becomes the new common bathroom while the existing bath becomes the master bath and closet.  The office/smaller bedroom is turned into an office that opens off living room through sliding doors. So, with this layout in hand, the last two
weekends were spent taking down walls.

Before: View from dining room towards office/small bedroom.

After: View from dining room towards office/small bedroom.

There's more demo still ahead, but it's at least a start towards more chaos and unfinished construction, which seems to be the state of life that Paula and I seem drawn to.

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