The One Where We Finally Have a Weekend to Ourselves (Andy)

This past weekend was the first weekend in a long time that we've had together has a family with minimal interruptions. As we noted in our last posting, we recently returned to Kenya following three weeks of leave back in the US. We spent the following week getting over jet-lag and getting Aliza back on her schedule. I then had to leave again to attend a conference in London, during which time I missed getting the cold that took down both Aliza and Kerry. And while a week in London sounds nice--and generally is--all I really wanted to do was not be traveling. I did, however, get to spend time with our friends Jeremey and Janell, who live in Cambridge, and who took me out to an excellent restaurant on the edge of the city where we got to catch up and plot their potential trip down this way.

I returned to Kenya late Friday night and, unfortunately, that was when Aliza's cold was at its peak. She slept terribly and, as a result, Kerry and I didn't sleep well either. Saturday was pretty much a wash, but we took a nice walk around the neighborhood and spent some time out by the pool. We decided that if the weather still was good on Sunday, we would take a family outing down the street to walk around Karura National Forest. We are embarrassed to admit that, despite being literally 5 minutes away, we have never actually been there in the year-and-a-half we've leaved in Nairobi. This was a factor of three things: 1) I didn't actually know where the entrance was; 2) there was a problem with crime in the park a few years ago; 3) a couple people have reported seeing cats, specifically leopards, on the trail. I didn't buy that last one, but certainly there are some extra variables to consider when calculating taking a walk in the woods in Africa.

With the weather holding, and having had sorted out the entrance issue several months ago, we packed up the family after lunch and headed out. As you may recall from previous postings, Mosby hates riding in the car and generally dislikes anything that strays from his established set of routines. So while this trip would afford him great sniffing opportunities, they didn't really outweigh his desire to get in the car and leave home. But we paid our entrance fee, bought a map, and decided to take one of the loop trails that would take us through the woods and past a waterfall.  

The trails really are beautiful and there is some wildlife to be seen. We saw two Duikers (similar to deer) and a handful of colobus monkeys. I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of cats. Despite traveling with my knife and an ASP in my pocket--and my faithful guard dog--I wasn't totally convinced I would be coming out the other end of the forest if we encountered something. Luckily, we just came across more people like us out for  pleasant day in the woods.

Shortly after we returned home, we got a call from the front gate that we had a delivery. My bar had arrived!

Months ago, I contracted Morgan, a local carpenter, to make me folding bar similar in design to ones I'd seen online. He had made someone else one and while I could tell from photos online that the craftsmanship was a little rough in some places, it still was what I was looking for. I chose to get mine made from Mahogany given the availability of the wood here and the more reasonable price you pay for it here than back home. The price I ended up paying for mine was worth it just for the wood, so that fact that it also happened to be shaped like a bar was a bonus. 

I might mention here my ongoing curiosity over the following bottle of bourbon, called John Lee bourbon. This is the only real bourbon sold in Kenya outside of the US and other western Embassy commissaries. The bourbon is definitely drinkable, but my real curiosity is over the bottle itself. I just can't quite figure it out. 

The markings indicate that it is distilled in the US, in Kentucky no less; yet, there is no address for the company. Additionally, you'll note the random logo photo of U.S. Grant on the front of the bottle. What's he doing there?

I have reasoned that either this brand was the preferred choice of U.S. Grant during his drinking days, or there is someone in "Kentucky" (i.e. Kenya) with a very skewed understanding of the American Civil War and Reconstruction. I haven't searched for the real answer online cause in many ways I prefer to leave this one a mystery.  

That's all for now. Time to enjoy the last few hours of peace before the week begins.