Expedition Favorites

For the past 6 days I have been camping in Tsavo West National Park.  Although I have never been dirtier in my life, nor have I used that many baby wipes, it was an absolutely incredible experience.  Because it was so wonderful there are just too many things to talk about so I decided to highlight my favorites.  So here we go…

1.  Favorite Quote (talking with my professor after he assigned a group oral presentation):

Arianna: “Shem, is this presentation graded?”

Shem: “No.  Do bad.”

2.  Favorite Animal:

Lions!  We saw a female by herself right next to the road and then two males hunting a baby         buffalo.

3.  Favorite Game:

Mafia!  I got the whole group playing mafia almost every night by the campfire and it was a huge hit.

4.  Favorite Food:

Apples!  The last day we went to a tourist lodge for relaxing and swimming and after eating peanut butter sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, and watermelon for every meal it was wonderful to have their lunch buffet….which included the ever rarely found apples.

5.  Favorite Warning:

Sit down, the elephants are about to charge!  On a game drive we came across three male elephants and one of them was “eating” dust which apparently is a sign of aggression.  They kept coming towards us so that we had to turn our car around and hope that our driver didn’t stall.  Eventually the elephants             moved off the road, allowing us to pass but nonetheless giving us a scare.

6.  Favorite View:

Chyulu Hills.  We hiked up one of a huge series of hills for about 45 minutes until we reached the top and had the most amazing view yet.

7.  Favorite Drive:

To Chyulu Hills.  It included driving through grass that was as tall as the car because the “road was a bit overgrown”.  The cool thing is that SFS and KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) are the only ones to go up to this part of the Chyulu Hills so it was quite the adventure with lots of driving on edges of cliffs and             bumpy rides including multiple “we need to get out and push” and “sit down and hold on”. 

8.  Favorite Attraction:

The gas station.  It was a gas station, kinda like America has.  We bought ice cream that was actually cold and waters/sodas that were also refrigerated.  It was a bit crazy.  Needless to say we made this trip twice with our free time :-).  

9.  Favorite Sunset:

One day as we were driving back from a game drive we saw the coolest "sunset" where the sun was shining through the clouds and you could literally see the individual rays.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

And a big congratulations to my cousin Elisabeth on her beautiful baby girl, Madeline!  She is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to meet her!  Have a great first week home!