Big Babies

October holds a couple different holidays here in Kenya, so this year on Mashujaa Day (Heroes Day) we took our day off from work and explored a little bit of what greater Nairobi has to offer. Our first stop was The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is home to a number of orphaned baby elephants that are being hand-raised and then released back into the wild. For one hour a day, the handlers bring the babies to the swimming hole to eat and play while excited guests hear about the project while being entertained by the immense cuteness of these pint-sized pachyderms!

Follow the leader!
The Sheldrick Trust was the first group to perfect the milk formula for baby elephants. These babies need to be fed every 3 hours at least day and night.

Elephants mature at about the same rate that humans do, so the little ones love to play and wrestle... and mud just makes it more fun!


After a bath it is important to get a good coating of dust to protect them from the hot Kenyan sun.

Ian loves rhinos! This rhino is kept by the Sheldrick Trust because he is completely blind. They feed him and try to make sure he gets exercise.
Of course the rhino does have friends visit from time to time... this warthog was wandering the grounds and decided to pop in to say hello.
And what Kenyan holiday would be complete without meeting a giraffe? Not ours! We of course thought it would only be proper to offer it a snack.
:)
B
PS- we're working on our November newsletter... let us know if there is something you've been curious about that we can fill you in on!

Dear Jenny Craig...

your help is not wanted here....


We saw these signs around Ian's work as we were appropriately munching an after work snack. :) Unlike in the US, if someone tells you that your wife is very fat you should take it as a compliment and not punch them in the face. *wink*

B

People of Peace

During my days at Amani ya Juu i have the pleasure to get to know some of the nicest people in Kenya... or at least I think they are the nicest people in Kenya. I think I have shared before that Amani ya Juu means "Peace from Above" in kiswahili, and the people I get the privilege of seeing there are often my refuge of peace. Not just peace, but giggles and laughter and hugs and good times while getting things accomplished. I have been hanging out in the Garden cafe a lot lately, and during the slow slow slow times one of the favorite past times seems to be taking facebook pictures. One day I interrupted the cell-phone camera facebook pic session with my big 'ol SLR and promised a couple glamor shots to some of the lovely ladies in the garden. It ended up that not only ladies like getting their photos taken, but our garden keeper Jackson got in on the action too.

Palvine

Delphine and Judy

Jackson

Hilda

I had taken these a little while ago while re-doing a few product photos for the shop, and had forgotten about them until today when I was going through my files and found one more portrait I didn't remember. I had handed one of the cafe staff my camera to look at and play around with for a photo or two and Betty managed to snap a photo of me in the garden too :)


It's awesome getting to be with these people every day and have them as my teachers and co-laborers. I'm hoping to introduce you to more of them as we go along!
More from the Garden later!
B

Equator hopping

Last week we took a trip up to Western Kenya for Ian to begin some research. While on that excursion we saw a landmark that we knew we needed to stop for!
Here we are (in the middle of nowhere... our driver thought we were nuts) standing on the Equator!

I thought just for fun I would post a pic of when we visited the Prime Meridian in London.

Thanks to our friends and family who have supported in so many ways as we criss-cross the globe! We are proud to represent you around the world :)
B