Magic Drying Machines, Bad Cheese, and An Attempt to Drive Outside the Comfort Zone...

I am not even going to apologize for the lack of entries.  So there. It seems to be redundant when I look back on previous posts, but you all know I am thinking it.  Where to begin?

The fam took a trip to Tsavo National Park, somewhere between Nairobi and Mombassa.  I continue to be amazed by Seth's driving prowess as he navigates the Kenyan "highways."  And, to be perfectly honest, he has become such an aggressive, daring driver, that I am concerned about how he will adapt to the polite, no, you go first, driving of the United States.  Between skirting in and out of traffic, avoiding families of 4 on small scooters, navigating around semi trucks that have tipped over (literally), and ignoring my sharp intakes of breath and stomping on my imaginary brake, he has really figured this whole Africa driving thing out.  More on my expertise later.

My first thoughts on Tsavo was that it reminded me of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  This was what the world would look like if we were living in a post-apocolyptic one.  It is extremely dry, dusty, and appears quite inhospitable.  It has huge mountains and lava flows that make you feel as if you are on the moon. I am doing a poor job of describing it..you almost have to see it to understand.

The first night we were in Tsavo, we stayed at Maneater's tented camp.  It is located near the famous Tsavo raillway station where as the story goes,  two  male lions stalked the campsite, dragged Indian workers from their tents at night and devoured them.   The lions are told to have eaten over 130 railway workers.  For the next nine months, a man hunted the lions.  He hid in a railcar one night, waiting for the lions to come to camp, and fell asleep in the railcar.  The lions discovered him and ate him.  Eventually the lions were caught, killed, and can now be found at Chicago's Field Museum.  If you have some spare time and are thinking of the Sonnonstines, Netflix the movie "The Ghost and the Darkness" starring Val Kilmer, in order to learn more of the story.  We saw neither Val Kilmer or any lions, but it was a great place to spend the night.  We could hear the hippos snorting, coming up near the tent to say hello, but the wildlife otherwise left us alone. 

The next day we traversed the gamepark hunting for animals.  We saw the often spotted giraffe, gazelle, funny-looking birds, but no real exciting game.

We arrived at the next lodge we were spending the night at and discovered an amazing wateringhole. The sweet receptionist noted that often times the elephants stop by for lunch.  We kind of rolled our eyes at this and went to sit down for the buffet.  Shockingly enough, there were at least 10 elephants bathing, playing, and cooling down at the watering hole, right in front of our table.  It was awesome.  The elephants of Tsavo have a reddish tint to them.  The elephants dust themselves in the red dust to keep themselves cool in the heat of the sun.  Claire was initially impressed, but then became more interested in throwing food off her tray.  Sometimes I wish she were a bit older so she could appreciate all of this, but we will have the pictures to prove it.

We went out on another evening game drive, and Seth began to tell me that he thought we oughta turn back because his stomach wasn't feeling right.  We returned to the lodge just in time for food poisoning to rear it's ugly head.  Now, I know that many of you may feel bad for Seth. And, looking at him curled up in the fetal position, I initially did as well.  But, then, I remembered the Sonnonstine drive to eat every possible odd and strange food and it all made sense.  As we were sitting on the verandah, lunching with the elephants, I distinctly asked him if he should be eating the most definitely unpasteurized cheese that had been sitting out for who knows how long.  He shrugged me off, told me it would be fine, and continued to dine on his dairy delight.  I am convinced that was what got him sick.  Pity party canceled.  He should have listened to me.

That evening, with Seth asleep, Claire and I sat out on our deck that overlooked the watering hole.  Que the Lion King soundtrack. Coming across the plains was a pack of elephants--at least 50 of them!--coming to drink and bathe.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Elephants trumpeting, splashing, giving their babies showers with their trunks.  Waiting patiently on the outskirts were tons of zebra and beyond that were gazelle and impala, all waiting their turn for a moonlit bath.  I woke Seth up to see it and even in his state of food poisoning, he was speechless.  That made everything--the four hour drive, the rough terrain, the sick husband...all of it was worth this one moment.  Claire, Seth, and I fell asleep to the midnight party going on right outside our door.  And, for all of you worried about Seth, it wasn't anything time, a little Immodium, and watching Star Wars on the couch all day Sunday couldn't fix.

What next?  Is this post getting too long? Sorry!  I will be less wordy in the future, I promise!  Magic Drying Machines.  I have been volunteering at the orphanage near my house--The Nest.  They currently have 23 infants--newborn to about 18 months.  The women who work there HANDWASH the diapers (really just rags) for all 23 babies.  Can you even imagine?  Because it is "winter" here, the diapers take days to dry and they simply do not have enough diapers to wait for them to dry so they are putting damp diapers on the babies causing horrible diaper rash.  Some of the ladies and I are taking turns bringing the wet diapers home, drying them in the dryer, folding them, and returning them as soon as we can.  One afternoon, the poor woman who runs the orphanage asked me if we could get them back faster.  I told her that with that many diapers it takes a long time for them to dry.  She said, "But, madam, magic works like THAT," and she snapped her fingers.  I couldn't help but laugh.  She had no idea what a dryer was.  She thought we had a magic machine of sorts that would dry them immediately.  I tried to explain to her what a dryer was but I am not sure she understood  my sad explanation.  So, everyone, next time you are complaining about having to do the laundry, just think about how magical it really is and how lucky we really are!  I have tried to write Pampers and Huggies to see about possible donations for some disposables.  Will keep you posted.


I was going to humor you by writing about my attempt to drive outside my comfort zone, but I fear you will all fall asleep...this post has turned into one that is much, much too long.  Thanks for staying with me on this one, faithful readers!

 Missing all of you and sending lots of love.  Off to perform magic and make sure Seth has clean underwear for work tomorrow....