All you need is Chapati and Coke

Today Lynsey took us on a day trip. This time it was to Olorgesailie and Maasi Land. Olorgesailie is the prehistoric dig site where the largest amount of man made hand axes has been found at the base of the rift valley. This was quite cool to see because i have never seen an excavation site and it was the freaking rift valley or land before time i like to call it since long ago the rift valley used to be a giant lake sandwiched between two volcanoes. After we toured around there we drove to Maasi Land where we met joseph our guide. He took us to an area in the bush where young boys go to become men, there is a hunter's hut where meat is left etc. He also took us to chase wild giraffes and gazelle! WILD GIRAFFES! After that we went to his home where his wife and friends gave us some yummy food and danced as well as of course sold us trinkets. At one point joseph left us to go find his cell phone that he had lost while chasing the Giraffes.... (hmm clash of civilizations?).

Me at the corner brigade! A pit stop on the way to Olorgesailie
Waiting for the tour guide at Olorgesailie
More of the big O
Victor!!!
The first site, this is a huge collection of hand axes and hammers.

Our guide explaining how these tools were used and that this area was most likely something of a butchers area because there are so many tools that could cut up meat etc
Some more of the rocks that have been left as is, this is how they built up at the bottom of the lake
Elephant bones!!! the bigger one is the one that was actually found here, the calcium of the soil in the rift valley allows the bone to be so well preserved. The other bone is an elephant bone brought in to show the difference in size
These are hippo bones. All the stones nearby allow us to assume that the hippo was killed by homo erectus!
Tess walking across rift valley!
Da rift vallley
Maasi Country
Joseph leading us to a hunter's bush
A bush that is used by people passing through and where a young boy would stay on his journey to manhood
the inside of the bush tent, that tree is also where meat is hung
where you would sleep
The wild giraffes!! and note the wind mills behind...

Joseph's son chilling the the 2 c's coke and chapati.
All of us sitting and eating the meal they gave us, potatoes, carrots, peas, cabbage and chapati! (goat for the meat eaters)
The Maasi women dancing
Rachel looking at some of their good and getting her hair braided at the same time!

Group shot in front of the giraffes!

Group shot in front of the hut!

The most adorable boys, little louis is in front the son of the evans, the man that drives us around and Joseph's son. Poor louis started crying when we left to go back to Nairobi because he had made a best friend!

Kenyan Kisses

Since swahili class ended at 10:00 am today 4 other girls and I decided to venture down to Karen and the ngong hills to see the kissing Giraffes. We took the bus and rode for about an hour into what i like to call the "suburbs" of Nairobi because there are houses that look like they belong in Naples, Fl. Terracotta roofs, large and gated. Along the way we also passed the house of Karen Blixen. It was a very enjoyable time. So here are some pictures!

A view of the park
One Giraffe
Nice little actions shot of "candid"
Working it
close up
Beth getting some Giraffe feeding time
Ahhh there it is. I know guys i look in a lot of pain and im not sure why, first kiss jitters maybe
A little house in the park that i thought was pretty.

Corruption Corruption Corruption

Today linsey took us to see a different kind of slums. These are the housing developments that were actually built by the government. The first set that we visited is called Kaloleni and are housing settlements that were built by the british for male workers to live in while they were building the railroad. You can see the british style in the way that they are built. Most of the houses provided by the british were never intended for families but these are actually ones that were. It is interesting because now they run for about 1600 shillings a month while kibera rooms run for around 1000 shillings and these ones are so much nicer than kibera. The issue is that the people that live here have lived here for generations so getting a home here is difficult. Another problem they have had is that they are owned by the city council that is of course CORRUPT so little has been done to make the places better and you are not allowed to own them no matter how many generations you have lived there. The next area we visited for the life of me i cannot remember the name but it was also built by the british but a little bit after kaloleni. These buildings were not as maintained as the kaloleni ones but they actually had paved roads and street signs. But they were one room and much smaller. (of course these people do a lot with the space that they have). These places were also nicer than kibera because they had more space and trees etc but were cheaper at 900 shillings! The last area we went to is called Jerico and these were houses built by the city council after independence so they were africa built and they were by far the worst. Notice how weird that is, the first ones built were the nicest ones! But they had running water and once again space, trees, yards. I can't remember how much they were but I do not think they were far off from Kibera either. One last thing i want to mention about all of these areas is that they had nurseries, schools, social halls (community centers complete with gyms, sewing lessons etc). Well here are my pictures now!

This is the home of josephine one of our tour guides. She was born and raised in this home and now lives there with her 2 children. This place has a bedroom/living room. Then across from that room is the kitchen, bathroom and an added on sitting room. It was actually quite nice. notice how they look extremely british with the roof tiles (that were from 1918! the city council has done a poor job fixing roofs of these places) and the shutters and square shapes.
More of Kaloleni an example of how far about homes are
This is a field in Kaloleni. It is a soccer field and further on is a bread factory
More of Kaloleni as you can see the city council wont pay for trash to be picked up. Naturally sanitation and trash in the streets is a big problem.
The home that Tom Mboya was born into!! It is now a library i believe.
More of Kaloleni
This is the social hall. There is a library, nursery, gym etc all in it. It also used to be the place of the agriculture fair!
The city stadium or the first stadium built in Nairobi!
A view from a walk over of some constant nairobi traffic. See the colorful buses and the matatus!! (PLEASE youtube matatu)
I just find this advertisement hilarious especially when right below is a shoddy market.
Some graffiti on public bathroom walls in Jerico. A group runs these bathrooms and charges to use them but keeps them clean and maintains them.
A graffiti picture of the current parliament member.

Some more of the graffiti on the bathroom wall.

well enjoy it was an excellent day!

Scavenger Hunt!!

Hello again! I come with lots of photos. Last Friday we went on a little scavenger hunt put on by lynsey. Let me tell you it was a pain but in the end it had a lesson as usual and made us more comfortable talking to people and asking directions i am constantly surprised at how friendly and helpful everyone here is and it also showed us some interesting places we might no have found on our own! My team was comprised of two other girls rachel and jordan. Sadly we did not win but we came in second!

This is not part of the scavenger hunt, this is just a horse in our backyard....
First stop! Sarkasi Dome, This is an internship site as well as a studio for lots of dance performances
Next we found the Ramoma art museum with the help of a little friend we made on the matatu there!
Also not a scavenger hunt photo but rather a mosque right near town that is quite gorgeous
The Arboreteum! pretty much the site where we lost a lot of steam and believe it or not got in trouble because you are not allowed to take photos here. You have to pay 1000 shillings but the lady was nice and let us keep this one.
The YMCA
The City Market
The Post Office! Please do not send me any mail because most likely i will not receive it before i leave since kenyan people like to run on kenyan time.
The Gallery.. that is not in commission..
A Statue oh and the lovely hilton located right behind !
Apparently a really good place to eat...
The national archives! and the place we decided was going to be our last one for the day..
We met up with everyone at the kenyan museum which was actually a really nice place. This is a statue of an elephant in the courtyard
They also have the largest collection of stuffed birds!!!!
This turtle flipped the other one over, I thought that was quite mean so made a man flip the turtle back over.
Oh just a snake in my backyard, just kidding. A Snake at the Snake exhibit. Accidentally put this photo on twice and cant figure out how to delete it... so enjoy it twice!!