News from Nairobi

Life in Nairobi is so very different from our life in Tanzania!

One of the big things is that we really feel the busy-ness of Nairobi, being the bustling city that it is. The pace of life is so much faster than we are used to after Dodoma. I barely have time to sit at my computer to update "Living in Limbo"!
We feel rather like country bumpkins who have landed here from a different planet that was far less developed. We are struggling to get used to the bright lights and busy roads of a real capital city, as opposed to Dodoma which was only ever a capital city in name and by virtue of having a Parliament building. In every other way, Dodoma was slow-paced, peaceful, with little traffic and not much in the way of places to go or entertainment.
In contrast, I now seem to spend a fair bit of time sitting in my car, alternatively (depending on my mood) trying to enjoy the sights of Nairobi while stuck in traffic OR fighting off the frustration of being stuck in a hot metal box surrounded by a multitude of other vehicles!
Last week, I took these pictures. Our home is just a stone's throw away on the left...but I can't get there until everyone else moves!

Behind me, the traffic just keeps building up:

This is Saturday morning; we are hemmed in on every side!

Despite the heavy city traffic, we are discovering that Nairobi does have its advantages. There is plenty to do in Nairobi to provide entertainment, with lots of scope for family outings. It is amazing for us to have access to so many facilities after the acute lack of them in Dodoma! We want to make the best of this while we are here, so we have been out and about on some fun family outings on Saturdays...such as...

1. Our visit to the Giraffe Centre, where you can stand up on a tall platform to feed the giraffes by hand, dropping cereal pellets onto their long, black, sticky tongues!

 

 It was amazing to get so close to these graceful creatures!

2. Another Saturday and this day's outing was to the Elephant Orphanage:

Initially unimpressed, even Ben could not fail to be charmed by our very close encounter with these gorgeous baby elephants! Seeing these abandoned babies being bottle-fed was a moving moment:

These young elephants are cared for after being discovered in the wild. Often their mothers have fallen victim to the wicked crime of poaching. Baby elephants cannot survive without their mothers. They need to be bottle-fed for 3 years and then they begin a slow programme to get them ready to move back into the wild. We were inspired by the fantastic work of the Sheldrick voluntary trust, helping these gentle giants survive in a harsh world.
It was incredible to get so close to the elephants...

 ... we even got to stroke a couple of the calves!

 We watched, enchanted, as they drank...

 ...and played:

We got a bit dirt-stained by flying mud-splats as these cute calves happily splashed in their waterhole! Our muddy decorations served as a little reminder of a great day out!

 

3. Last Saturday, we headed out for a wonderful walk (or bike-ride for Ben and Joel, who opted to take their bikes) at Nairobi's Karura Forest. We walked 5 and a half miles and everyone enjoyed the exercise in beautiful surroundings!

We enjoyed the pretty butterflies and loved the rushing waterfall and tall, shady trees:

It is a treat to be able to access these special places. The best thing is, there are still lots of other outings on the list of places we have yet to explore in Nairobi! Since we now think that we will be here until at least July, I had better get out my diary and start planning ahead to fit these in before our possible July departure to Juba!