'Til I Am Myself Again

Well it’s been a crazy few weeks and I’m writing now that I feel I’ve finally got both feet back on the ground. 

 

First off, I was swept away to the vacation destination of Watamu, on the North Coast, by my fabulous cousin.  I survived my first scuba diving experience, hiked in the last remaining coastal forest in Kenya, toured Swahili ruins, floated in the surreal underwater playground of Watamu National Marine Park, and ate glorious food.

Here are some fishies I saw! (Again not my own pictures-all credit goes to Google):

Angel Fish

Eel

Surgeon Fish

Lion Fish

Parrot Fish

Shortly thereafter I returned to work only to find myself on the side of the road in the hot sun, awaiting rescue after the MRC vehicle broke down.  And then, the rescue matatu taking me home also broke down.  Turned out to be an even luckier next day when I came down with malaria whilst awaiting my 5 am flight to Nairobi to process my work visa. Enter one of the longest days of my life, which we won’t dwell on.  With bad luck running out, I discovered it was a less severe case of malaria, and then I found myself in the comfort of a blissful +15 degree climate (compared to +40), snuggled on a couch, watching ‘the X Factor’ on cable T.V.   

I  was in  heaven. 

Once feeling able to walk (slowly), we got to check out the Nairobi National Museum and other sights.   The best parts of the trip (other than the couch and the fact that I could comfortably wear jeans and a sweater) were the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Centre.  Being in a state of delirium and general dizziness, I didn’t quite catch the details on the Elephant Orphanage, but here are some pictures:  (Yes these ones I took)

Feeding time!

The little one is 2 weeks old.

A new family.

Elephant cam!

From what I understood, these orphans (as young as 2 weeks, and as old as 2 months) are victims of poachers, animal-human conflict, and climate change.

And here are some giraffes that we got to feed:

Slurp

A kissable face?

Extreme close-up!

I think they are orphaned giraffes, but my brain was pretty cloudy at this point.


Oh and there were tortoises too:

After two more days to re-cooperate, I’m happy to say I’m back to normal, back to reality, back to work, and have two feet firmly planted in Kenya for another 4 months.  Cheers to the halfway mark!