Kikwar

We went to an elephant sanctuary! Retiti Elephant Sanctuary in Samburu County is the first community run elephant sanctuary in Kenya, maybe the World!!  Avery and I really wanted to adopt a baby girl elephant, so we asked our parents 24-7. They actually said it was a big possibility!!! So guess what, we met the elephants and learned about how the adoptions work. And we decided to adopt a little elephant named Kikwar. She is 7 months old, and the youngest of the group. She is a girl, and she is TINY, like me!!!!

At the elephant sanctuary, an elephant walked up to the rail we were on, and it wrapped it’s trunk around my bracelet. It rubbed it’s trunk all over us! The hair on it felt prickly and it tickled!! It was really funny 😆!

We just got out of the desert and I am GLAD!!!! I didn’t eat almost anything, I ate maybe 1 and 1/2 meals altogether the whole time, and that time is 3 days! But on the drive back I was the only person who didn’t need to throw up! In the desert I was slowly killing myself with heat, I was melting. I wonder how cold I will be at home?

We fly out tonight at 11:55 P.M. I will fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam for 10 hours. Then Amsterdam to Salt Lake (10 hours), then drive from Salt Lake to Lander. The process will most definitely take a long time.

Today.... Samburu...

Today we came back to Kenya. One of my friends from Montana came to meet us here with her family. Her name is Avery. Avery and I got to go to a massage place to get a Kenyan massage, obviously. The person who did the massage got this special oil and rubbed it all over us. Literally everywhere, but you don't want to hear about that.  It felt really good though. 

Earlier we had to wake up at 5:30 AM to go on a game drive.  We saw a grumpy brother, birds, monkeys, elephants, 2 cheetahs, dik diks, ostriches, baby ostriches,  and a Nile crocodile. And last night we saw a lioness. One of the elephants walked up to us and stuck it's trunk at at us! It was smelling us. It would stick it's trunk out at us turn to walk away than turn back to us, sniff us, turn around to leave then turn back, over and over and over!!!! But it was soooo close to us. It was maybe 2 feet away from us!!!

We met up with a lot of people. The kid's names were, Avery, Eli, Isacko, Olli ( who doesn't really like me, I don't like him either, "what a surprise"), and Omoro.  Avery is really nice, Eli is nice, Isaaco is nice, Olli is NOT soso, and Omoro is just 3 years old so he is cute. 

Well, we probably won't have internet for the next few days, so I won't do a lot of blog posts. But I would like to say i am going to the desert tomorrow.  

Leopards and Ostrich Eggs!

So the other day we went on another “special private safari” and we went 10 feet away from a leopard. It had hidden it’s baby in the bushes below, but we couldn’t find it. But the leopard roared a few times it was really cool. 

Yesterday we went on a little walk maybe 30 minutes long. On the way back our guide said “do you want to go chase that little wildebeest?” We thought he was kidding but he said he wasn’t. So my brother and I sprinted after it we chased it in circles for about 1 mile. Maybe that will count for Bobcat Mileage Club. Anyway I actually got really close. It was pretty fun to do. Also we saw an ostrich it was lying down and hiding, very suspicious. When we got closer it got up and ran away. Very, very suspicious. We went to where the ostrich was lying, and guess what! There were ostrich eggs!!! They were big but not heavy. Before we left the eggs we had to make sure there was no trace of us.  About 3 hours later we saw the mother ostrich come back and sit on the eggs.  The dad sits on them at night and the mom during the day because she's so camoflauged.  

Maasai Culture

Today I will tell you about Maasai culture. Maasai’s culture is based on a lions 🦁 culture. For example, Maasai suffocate their goats for food so do lions , Maasai also drink blood, like lions. The Maasai migrate to water like lions , and follow the same pattern. When they hunt they stalk their prey, so do lions. Maasai don't need to drink as much water because of special medicines they take.That is why Maasai are like lions.

Maasai are known for jumping high to impress the women in the tribe. They use it in ceremonial dances. There are ceremonies every time a boy turns 13. The ceremonies last for 3 days, then the boy will prove he is a man by leaving the camp and living on his own for 6 months. The boys paint white masks on their face while they are gone. If they walk into any house then the people in the house have to give them food. Sometimes they will form a group of boys and stand on the side of the road so if someone wants a picture with them they have to pay shillings to get one. Then the boys get money, because they know that the "muzungo" will be interested.

 This is Finn and I trying to hunt a wildebeest!

These are the boys on their ceremony to being a man...

A few days ago, we went on a actual safari. First we saw a cheetah!!! I love cheetahs!!!!! We watched it for almost an hour. It was a male cheetah. So it had no cubs with it. Here are some facts about cheetahs. After a while, we moved on. Then we saw lions! There were 2 males, and 2 females. They were lying on a big rock together. The females were on the top. One male ( the king) was on a lower edge of the rock and the other was on the ground. They were sooooo close!! That’s because it was a special of road safari. Then we saw elephants.  2 were enormous! And 1 was just a little baby. There were lots more to!

Today we went to a Maasai village where we watcher the Maasai people drink cow blood, kill a goat, make goat soup, eat cooked goat legs, show us their houses, dance, and sing. While we cooked goat legs a man started talking to me, and then asked if he gave me 50 cows would marry his son. And my brother immediately said YES!!! Apparently 50 cows is a lot of money! I said, “no thank you.” And left. My brother was trying to roast goat meat and he set his hair on fire. It even made tiny tiny black streaks!! It was really funny to see!

Can you see Finn's hair on fire?!  

Okay so there are lots of things to talk about today. First I’ll talk about getting kicked out of the nightclub. A few days ago, we went to a nightclub, just to have some sodas and music. You had to be 21 or older to go, they really hesitated at letting us in, but they finally did. Some people watched us for a while, but then went back to their conversations. Then after about 2 hours, a woman came up to us and started talking to mom. Then mom said we had to leave. 

Monday, we went on a walking safari. We walked for 2 and a half hours. We saw warthogs, zebras, giraffes, baboooooooooooooooooooooooons, monkeys, Waterbucks, bush bucks, Cape buffalos, hippos, impalas, Topis, dik diks, and flamingos!!!!!!!!!!!!! We also saw a waterfall. It was amazing! 

We went on a game drive and saw, monkeys, baboons, topis, Thomson gazelles, leopards, lions, lionesses, crocodiles, zebras, giraffes, hartebeest, warthogs, elephants, hyenas, and all sorts of birds. My favorite was the lions, there was a male and 3 pregnant females, I also liked the elephants, leopards, and hyenas. It was so fun.

We went to a school where we played soccer for 2 hours, my team lost 6-1 but I scored the 1! The youngest in the group was 12 years old, the oldest was 16 years old. My brother scored 2 goals for the other team. But it wasn’t a fair game, because 5 girls from my team went onto the other team. So my team was down 5 players and there team was up 5 players. Not a fair game. But it was still very fun.

Past few days

Today I have nothing talk about so I am going to talk about the last few days.

So first, the other day at YPDDF we met a girl named Joyce. She was in forth grade, like me. She had a disability that makes it so she couldn’t use her hands. But she loved school. So she learned how to write with her LEFT FOOT!!!! I could never do that! Also her teacher said she was the smartest in her class!!!! That’s amazing.  There are approximately 150 kids in a class, not a grade, but a classroom, we only have about 23!

Also, our first flight got delayed so we missed our connecting flight. So then we got to stay a day in Amsterdam. It was amazing! Well sort of. We went on a 2 hour “ romantic non-roof boat ride.” Lets just say it didn’t go as suspected. It was freezing cold, and that’s a lot coming from me! It rained almost the whole time, but I got to drive the boat on my own! We also saw Anne Franks house! That was pretty cool.

Africa!!!!!

Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just got here to Africa last night at about 11 PM which is about 2 PM where you are. There is a 9 hour difference. That makes me feel nocturnal. It is a strange feeling.

Today we went to a place called Girl Up, we also went to a school, a special childrens trust school, and YPDDF. At the school as soon as we got there a little boy saw us, and then he yelled, “a muzungo!!” After that a crowd of kids got behind us and next to us, as they followed us they whispered, “A MUZUNGO!!!!!!!!!!!” At the special childrens trust school, my brother Finn and I went out on a swing set. We were just sitting there. Then a boy ran out of his classroom to us he went to Finn and touched his hair. Finn thought he was just touching it so Finn let him. Then he grabbed his hair and pulled. He pulled and pulled then he pulled a hand full out and went, “Ha!” then he ran to me, and I was out of there.

Finn had a headache after that!  I really liked the day, it was fun.

In Uganda, they pick fruit when its actually ripe!!!!! It tastes a lot better than back at home.  There was lots of singing and dancing, the kids and adults like to sing and dance to welcome people.  People here are very friendly. We were the big Muzungu in town so everyone was waving, following, and shaking our hands. The main foods here are brown rice, avocado, vegetables and soupy beef.  The land here is beautiful and in some places is filled with tiny houses. By the way... I saw a crocodile in Lake Victoria!