The One Where We Spend New Years in Nakuru (Andy)

Happy New Year!! The second in as many posts where we start off with an exclamatory statement. 

This close of 2011 and the start of 2012 was spent overlooking one of the Great Rift Valley's soda lakes, Lake Nakuru. The Lake is located approximately two hours West of Nairobi and is one of the best deals we've found so far. 

Earlier in the week, Kerry and I decided to take a spontaneous trip for New Years. Lake Nakuru has been on the list for a while and it seemed like the best option on such short notice.  Thankfully our trusty gardner Eric was also available on short notice to watch Mosby for the weekend.  We booked a night at the Lake Nakuru Lodge, one of the few lodges with available rooms given the weekend, and set off West shortly after breakfast.  The drive was great--mostly just cars and matatu (public taxi) traffic sharing the road with us--and we got to look down at the Rift Valley from almost 10,000ft. As we approached the lake, our GPS took us on a short detour down a Maasai herding trail that it claimed would take us to the lodge (it did not). We finally made it to the lodge and it was great, with an amazing view of the lake and numerous animals running around.

We grabbed lunch at the main lodge and checked into our room, where we were greeting with this local art work on the wall:

(I still can't figure out why the kid it so angry)

We took a short rest, then hopped in the car and took a drive around the park. Saw lots of zebras, gazelles, impala, and buffalo, and got to see the sun set across the lake. We also saw a rhino--the first we've seen so far in Kenya--with a baby but we were to far away and the light was to poor to get a good shot of them. We also saw two hyenas on the drive back to the lodge.

The lodge was hosting a big New Years party for all the guests. We weren't in a big party mood but the spread was pretty impressive. We stayed out for a bit enjoying the scenery and the night air but weren't able to make it to midnight, leaving 2011 to see itself to the door. 

We spent the first day of 2012 sleeping in a bit and generally getting a slow start. The morning, like most mornings in Kenya, was chilly but with great blue skies and a strong breeze coming up the hill off of the lake. We ate breakfast and read for a bit by the pool, then packed up and drove down to the lake to see if the rhino and the baby were still there. They were, and they had four other friends with them, as well:

The lake is famous for attracting thousands of flamingos and other waterfowl. We didn't spot many flamingos but did see flocks and flocks of large pelicans and cormorants. 

As we contemplate the year ahead, especially the exciting and humbling thought that it will bring the birth of our baby daughter, we wish all of you a wonderful 2012 and look forward to seeing most of you in just a couple of months.  

The One Where Mosby Gets A New Bone

Mosby loves bones more than life itself; however, he hates the nubs left over after he chews the center out and he leaves them littered all over the house.  Luckily, Santa was good to him this Christmas and he has a restocked bone supply.


Here are a couple of shots of him enjoying a new one:

The One Where We Celebrate Christmas (Andy)

Merry Christmas from Africa! 

This holiday season found us reflecting on the fact that we are in our early thirties, married, living in Africa, pet owners, and expecting our first baby. Most of the aforementioned has occurred within the past year (six months actually). Added to this was the fact that this was really one of the first Christmases we have spent away from home, away from our immediate families and our cherished traditions (even if we don't always cherish them at the time). Long story short: we had a lot of reflecting to do. I was extremely busy with work the first half of the month so, like my gift buying, I managed to push my reflecting off to the end of the month:).

Kerry and I brought all of our Christmas decorations with us from the States, banking on the fact the we would have space in the house to hang all of our decorations and that we would be able to find a Christmas tree in Kenya. We instead found that, while we had space for our decorations, our walls and mantle are made of concrete, making it very difficult for hang stockings and wreaths on a whim (luckily, we forgot to bring a wreath with us). There also is no place in Kenya to buy a live Christmas tree. We resorted to a (tasteful) fake purchased at the Noukumatt grocery store. 

We didn't have stockings, either, but luckily my parents came through and sent us and Mosby new stockings to hang above our fireplace. Only, as I mentioned a second ago, we couldn't hang them because the mantle is concrete and offers no natural place to hang them, so we put in another rush order to parents for some hangers. Worked out perfectly. The mantle was, however, able to accommodate our African creche set where--and I can't be certain on this--all the members, oddly enough, might be Muslims. Well played Balthazar.

We attended church on Christmas eve and a friends party down the street from us. Lacking access to TBS, we were forced to rent Christmas Story from iTunes, but it was a welcome taste of home. We breached Cook tradition slightly by waiting to open the majority of our gifts Christmas day. We both received great presents from our parents and each other; I was particularly happy with a book Kerry had made of photos that I had taken since we have been in Africa.  

A couple of months ago we decided that we wanted to host a party at our house for a few friends and include some colleagues here on temporary duty who didn't have a home to go to for the holidays. It also was an excuse to use Kerry's family china that she inherited and has been sitting in a box in our storage space for years. She planned an excellent meal and in partnership with another couple that cooked a turkey and a ham, we had the makes of a great Christmas dinner. Even Mosby got to have his best friend Emmie over for the weekend. 

But, that meant that we spent the majority of Christmas Day cleaning and cooking and setting up.

Kerry cooked some truly amazing dishes. She also gave me a recipe for bacon infused bourbon, which I infused with my stomach shortly after this photo was taken in what I call "Mosby's Cocktail." (2 parts bacon-infused bourbon, 1/4 part maple syrup, splash of bitters, orange slice for flavor). Delicious.

The party was a success and Christmas day ended like so many Christmases past: to much food, to many dishes, not enough time. 

We wish everyone back home and posted abroad a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The one where the Varanos come to visit (Kerry)

My parents have just returned to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania after a two week visit here to see us and their granddog Mosby of course.  They were our first visitors here and therefore our guinea pigs to see how much activity, altitude, and general African idiosyncrasies a couple of spry baby boomers can take.  They did very well and we feel confident we can handle anyone, so come and visit us!


After a few barks and some excited peeing on the floor, Mosby took right to them and loved all of the extra walks and attention and dog biscuits he received during their stay.

(note the permanent dirt stain on his nose from constantly burying his bones in our muddy backyard:)

We took my parents on two different safaris so we could compare experiences.  This was my first real safari in Kenya and Andy's first safari anywhere so we were very excited.  

We started up in Samburu, Kenya which is a desert and while it is not the primary location for safaris in Kenya, we chose to go there because it is less crowded and you have to work to see the animals.  We stayed in a wonderful tented camp with excellent hosts and we managed to see all five of the animals that are only located in Samburu--the gerenuk, the reticulated giraffe, the grevy zebra, the somali ostrich, and the beisa oryx--so we felt very fortunate.  Here are some photos:

Next we went to the Masai Mara where, as someone told us, it is like God took a suitcase of all the animals and dumped them there.  We saw everything (except a rhino) there and had a wonderful time. We stayed in another great tented camp and had delicious food too.  Here are some of our photos:

After the safaris we spent some time seeing the sights of Nairobi including the elephant orphanage, the giraffe center, a tea farm, and a flower farm.  Hopefully it wasn't too exhausting!

I should probably end here since this has become quite a long post.  We had a fantastic time with my parents and we miss them already.  Lord-willing we will see them in PA this spring for the birth of our baby!