Toilets and Honey

We awoke in the morning to a pancake breakfast.  The Heart of the Bride has partnered with some people who built homes and allow people visiting to use them.  Our group was the first one to occupy this new home – or as I called it, Lodge.

We headed back to the orphanage for our work day.  The kids who were shy the day before warmed up more quickly to our group.  This boy was named Brian...

The guys continued on the work of their new bathroom.  It was quite interesting to see how they built the foundation and prepared to pour a concrete pad over it.  All of the concrete had to be hand mixed so we again moved rocks and sand from piles and formed new piles which we than added some concrete powder and the moved that pile to another pile and back again to mix it.  Yep, it was that exciting.

Of course, like all the other days…it rained.  Just as we started to mix the concrete.  We had to wait inside one of their classrooms for about 45 minutes before we could continue.

During one of the breaks the kids in school had, we broke out our skits and performed it to the little ones.  They really liked Daniel and the Lion’s Den – especially when the lions got to jump all over the bad guys.

Late in the day our team started to feel the effects of being on a missions trip for several weeks… They take it after their dad.

On the way home, some of our team rode in a more rugged vehicle and took a much more scenic route back home.  Along the way they saw some antelope and zebra.  I, being with the rest of the group, saw more dirt roads…

For dinner we had the pleasure of enjoying hamburgers, hot dogs, and potato salad.  Then our hosts led us out into the bush where we came across a group of men - one of which specialized in collecting honeycomb from a local beehive.  Up the hillside we walked following this guy and a smoking stick.  He used the smoke to “calm” the bees and stuck his hand inside the 4ft long hive.  It was getting dark so all we could hear was the buzzing of bees around us.  He pulled out two honeycombs and shared them with us.  That is when we realized he had brought some friends with him.  Mind you these are AFRICAN KILLER BEES…

 But the honey did taste good...

The Sun 'll Come Out Tomorrow

It’s funny how well you can sleep regardless of the circumstances if you are tired enough. The bouncing, rocking, whistles, etc certainly didn’t cease but morning came way too quick. During the last part of the trip we were able to view some of the Kenyan wildlife along the tracks.

Once back in Nairobi we joined up with our drivers and headed off to Navasha to an orphanage there sponsored by Heart of the Bride. We noticed two things on the trip – it had rained quite a bit while we were gone and the traffic had quite decreased. The reason the traffic was light was that the Matatus were on strike for the day to protest bribes the police had been requiring.

The orphanage is called House of Hope and once we got there Brad instantly began testing a new method of church tithe gathering…

The girls instantly jumped in playing with the kids and enjoying making them smile and laugh.

Although our work day really isn’t until tomorrow we decided to go ahead and start some work today. The women helped with laundry and cleaning – until the rain started.

The guys started building another Choo – or bathroom. Our hosts led us over to a covered up hole in the ground and showed us the work 2 guys had done over the past 3 days –

That hole was 40 feet deep. One guy was on the bottom digging and the other one was up top lifting the dirt out with a bucket. You can see the hand holds they dug in the side to get out.

In order to build the structure we needed to move some stones from a pile on the other side of the property. Back and forth the men marched moving the stones. The kids jumped in from time to time to help – but Brad had the bright idea to give one of the kids a ride…show off. The rest of the time, we had kids hanging on us as we worked…thanks Brad.

Before leaving, the kids brought out the balloons and constructed many different types of animals – none of which I think are real… but the kids didn’t care.

We met up with the family who works with Heart of the Bride who offered to allow us to stay in some cottages at their home. As we packed up we realized we had too many bags to fit inside the vehicle – since it had already rained we figured all the rain has passed… we were wrong. It wasn’t surprising to us to find ourselves back on another loooonnnnngggg dirt road in the midst of a downpour.

We were welcomed to a wonderful dinner of….lasagna. Our housing is straight out of Country Home magazine – along with a setting of Jurassic Park. This trip continues to keep us guessing.

Sand, Sun, & Creatures of the Mist

Sleeping in Mombasa proved to be more troublesome than first thought.  The temperature probably was about 80 degrees all night which wasn’t too bad, but the humidity stayed around 100 percent.  Our beds were wrapped with mosquito nets which just added to the trapped moisture.  Now I know what it is like to try to sleep wrapped in a wet towel.

I was a bit groggy in the morning but many of the team awoke to see the sunrise over the ocean.  Brad spent the morning in prayer trying to implore the Lord to start the Well’s next campus in Mombasa.  With the 11 hour time difference, he could preach here Sunday morning and have the video sent to the US before the 9am service… just a thought.

We decided to have our church service down on the beach.  We had been able to meet a few other people who were staying at the same place and invited them to join us.  Charlotte led worship on her guitar which was quite a task for her to stand in the sun sweating and trying to hold her guitar. 

After Brad’s message, Fletcher and McKenzie were baptized in the ocean.  Actually McKenzie was baptized twice because I forgot to hit the record button on the video camera – or maybe she wasn’t held under long enough…

The boys spent the rest of the morning collecting animal specimens for the Smithsonian.  Every time they found something it was bigger and more dangerous than the last.  We capped off the morning by being visited by some apparently frustrated monkeys…

We were picked up in the afternoon and headed back to the train station.  Martin, our driver, again made some tactical driving maneuvers to bypass the line for the ferry – probably not the best way to encourage good relationships between tourists and the locals.  Back at the station we found the car we were riding in – 2^nd to the front.  Of course the entrance to the rail yard was at the rear of the train.

Once on board we settled in for the second half of our adventure.  Brad decided he would play dress up as the train engine…

We knew we were in for another great adventure when we discovered the lights in our car did not work very frequently and the train was completely booked.  Walking back and forth 6 cars to the dining car and back certainly was hard on our shoulders as we bounced between the side of the train and the other rooms.  I got the pleasure of taking that trip multiple times that night for various reasons.  With the added humidity and the additional occupancy of the train – it wasn’t long before we all locked ourselves into the cabins for the night.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Sleeping on a train is much more romantic sounding than reality.  The constant jarring and bouncing can rock you into a slumber but quickly wake you into a state where you feel you are flying down the tracks at 200 MPH and ready to bounce off into the African wilderness.  The train also made many stops during the night for unknown reasons which cause us all to lay there waiting for the midnight banditos to come rob us.  Needless to say it wasn’t the most restful of nights.  However watching the sunrise over the African plains was quite beautiful.

Since there are 13 of us, at dinner I ended up being placed at a table with 3 other travelers.  One who was silently reading a book and the other two who did not speak English.  I guess the rest of the group thought this was not the environment I wanted to enjoy my meal so they convinced me to come up to an empty table which was next to the rest of the group and sit by Yvonne.  Once I moved however, a British man entered the dining car and seeing an empty seat at our table promptly joined us.  Abraham was his name – and talking was his game.  I spent the next hour chatting with this chap who needed to see a tailor for the missing button on the part of his shirt covering his belly… and to think that I could have enjoyed a quiet meal at the other table.  At least it was entertaining for the others observing from the other table.

Once we arrived in Mombasa and unloaded, we waited for our ride.  We had arranged to be picked up and stay at a Christian academy just south of the city.  We were prepared for some delay being in Kenya and all but after an hour we decided to take things into our own hands. 

First of which was having Charlotte earn some street money…

We have discovered that one of the key factors of any Kenyan experience is having a good driver.  We met Martin at the train station who ended up being a pastor who used to preach on the street.  Since we had abandoned out original plans we allowed Martin to suggest some alternatives for our day in Mombasa.  He told us of a place down the coast where we could stay fairly inexpensive – so off we went.  One of the first things we had to do was to cross the water by ferry.  We came upon a long line of cars which backed up for about a mile… not a problem for Martin.  He just jumped onto the makeshift side walk and drove up to the front of the line – shook hands with the attendant and placed us first in line… I don’t know, either Martin is a gift from God – or were in some deep trouble.

After crossing the ferry we headed down the coastal road.   Martin had a sunroof in his van which allowed some relief from the now hot/humid weather.

We drove for quite awhile before turning down a long dirt road.  Brad was in the front of the car desperately praying that this was not going to turn into something bad.  With each turn the road became longer and more rugged… wouldn’t a popular resort have a more improved road???? When all hope seemed to be lost one final turn brought us into a quaint resort on the beach. 

Some of the team went in to negotiate the price which did end up being very reasonable and slightly cheaper than what we were planning on.  The kids ended up in hotel rooms while the adults stayed in a 3 bedroom cottage straight out of Disney’s the Tiki Room.  Although it took most of the day to get the running water turned on, the team enjoyed relaxing and swimming in the Indian Ocean. 

By 8pm we all were ready for bed… and to just think that we get to go back on the train tomorrow.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Today we head into Nairobi to catch the Train to the coastal city of Mombasa.  The train will leave in the evening so we have some time to visit some of the local attractions.  Our first stop is to a large market place where local vendors can sell their goods… sell maybe the wrong word – how about manipulate people into spending more than they want on something they don’t need.

These guys were very skilled in their craft.  All of our team got the privilege of being several vendor’s “first customer of the new year” and receive a special “because you are my friend” discount.  There was no window shopping here – if you made eye contact with any vendor you were stuck in a negotiations process.  Nothing had a set price – they would bring out a pad of paper and write what the “normal” price was and then cross it out and say “NO”  then they would hand you the pad and have you write the price you wanted to pay down and hand it back – back and forth this would happen… not until you came to a price you wanted to pay but until you didn’t care how much money you gave them – you just wanted to end the conversation.  I guess if these guys ever want to come to the US they would have great success as Washington DC lobbyists.

Since Brad and Jen weren’t with us on our visit to Crescent Island we visited the Nairobi Game Park.  As we entered the park we were met by Josiah, a student intern to the park – or probably just a guy who bought the parks’ T-Shirt and saw a bunch of gullible “Monzungus” (White People).  It turns out we didn’t care if he was legit – at one of our first exhibits, the White Rhino, he pulled us aside and said – “We will just trespass quickly and take photo…”  The next thing we are doing is jumping the walking rail and going through the bushes to the back of the exhibit.  All of a sudden here we are face to face with the Rhino – with only a couple of strands of wire separating us. 

What an experience which we thought couldn’t be topped.  Until we came to the Lions… The very same thing happened.  We go walking through a closed gate to a small path between the Lion cage and the Jaguar cage.  Here we are standing within a couple of feet of several lions with only a single chain link fence separating us.  I believe we have video footage of a sensitive moment between Charlotte and the male Lion.

As we are enjoying the Lions, we notice that our group is not alone.  Seems we left the gate open and now other people are streaming into the same area.  A bit concerned – we ask our guide if that is OK.  He shrugs and takes us out and then makes a call of his cell phone for someone else to take care of it – Hakuna Matata…

What could top being inches away from the king of the Jungle?  How about being able to enter the cage of the Cheetah?  Yep, our next stop we meet a guy who opens the cage for us to go inside and take photos with the cheetah and pet the animal.

We finally made it to the train station which looked had been around for quite some time. 

The actual train cars were straight out of the old movies.  15 hours in one of these bad boys… 

We were given 4 2^nd class rooms for the trip.  This meant spending the next chuck of our lives with 4 people inside a 8x7 rocking metal can.

After leaving the station, we were greeted by the police officers who would be riding the train with us.  Kevin gave us a rundown of the dangers of the “night thieves”  which I guess can acrobatically jump through an 18” window, slice through a screen mesh, steal your valuables and exit the moving train all without you waking up…  But he was there to keep us safe – and then he goes and hands his machine gun to Yvonne to hold…  Yep, this is Africa, should be a fun adventure.