7/22 -- More Nairobi, On to the Next Camp

Our first stop today was the Giraffe Center, a place dedicated to restoring the population of the Rothschild Giraffe which was nearly extinct when they started. They know of 450 individuals now, and they release the young males to freedom in reserves just before they reach sexual maturity. It was too much like a zoo for my taste, but they are trying to do good.

They gave us pellets made up of the leaves and grass to feed them.
Our of our group put a longish pellet in her mouth for the giraffe
to claim. For me, giraffe spit on my  hand was bad enough.

Their tongues are very long and blue.

Next up was the Karen Blixen Museum, featuring the home she lived in for many years. She was the main character in Out of Africa with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford and outdoor scenes were shot there, but the home was too small for the interiors to be useful. She started a 6,000 acre coffee farm, which has since been developed, and encompasses the area where we stayed, now known as Karen like we might talk about 'the Sunset' in San Francisco. She was notable in her time for her humane treatment of the natives including providing schools and medical care as well as a thousand acres of her property for their exclusive use.

Outside of the house

A poinsettia TREE in front of a tulip tree

Tulip tree closeup

Then we went to a ceramic shop that makes beads, jewelry and pottery and was created to provide jobs especially to single mothers. They walked us thru the process, then gavea us a shot at retail therapy. They also sold sandals and toy animals made from recycled flip flops that were really adorable. Lunch was at the Karen Country Lodge, with giraffe sculpture Jim liked.

Making beads by hand. The quota is 900 a day for which they
are paid $6.

There is a whole room of excess beads, stored behind and around
this young woman who is sorting them by color for storage.

Then  it was back in the jeep for the trip to camp, which is more elaborate than our tented camps. Even without being heated, the individual cabins will hold their heat much better than our tents. The 90K distance here took 3.5 hours to negotiate. The roads were pretty good, but busy, and impacted by traffic to and from Mombasa (big port town) from the landlocked countries in the area. We stopped at an overlook to the Rift Valley, but the haze kept our photo from being useful. We did snap several shots of  life along the road. When we arrived, a team of white pelicans on Elementaita Lake  performed a synchronized swimming routine for us. Later in our cabin, I noticed a beautiful robin-like bird on the roof  next door.  No idea what it is til I googled it.

Donkeys grazing at the side of the road - roped so they don't stray.

Roadside veggie stand

Pelicans step 1 above, step 2 below

 

Brilliant Starling