It was another quiet day in Kijabe. I am beginning to think Kijabe is a very uneventful place during the Christmas Break. We did our typical ritual of bird watching, walking, and taking the children to the elementary school playground.

We watched a bit of the "Pioneer Quest" series that was filmed in Manitoba. Funny how we like to watch Canadian shows in Africa and love to watch African documentaries when we are home.

DECEMBER 17^th (QUIET DAY IN KIJABE)

Some of us were planning to go to Nairobi today to do a few errands. Someone nicely informed us that today is a national Kenyan holiday and all stores would be closed. The Muslims are celebrating Id, the completion of the month of Ramadan. As it turned out, the stores in Nairobi were open and we missed our outing.

Even though it was a national holiday, Don and Thelma's housekeeper decided to work this morning. The house was a bit quiet therefore I had an opportunity to talk with Martha. I found out the weather has been too dry lately and her potatoes are dying. Her maize isn't doing very well either. She told me vegetables are growing better higher up on the hillside for other farmers. She spoke about her concern regarding the country's corrupt state. She spoke about the high unemployment rate and how people end up stealing to make a living. Even though Martha seemed very discouraged with Kenya's harsh realities, she stated, "God is good. He always provides when things are looking impossible." One of Martha's dreams is to go to Michigan,USA, to visit her daughter and family for six months. She really would love to see her two grandchildren which she hasn't seen for three years. It is very difficult for many Kenyans to be able to afford to travel. The only hope Martha has to get to the states would be to have someone pay her way. In all sincerity, she stated, "when I get to America, I will give you a phone call." I wished her the best.

DECEMBER 18^th (LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK AND SUNRISE ACRES)

Once again, we piled up our entire luggage in the back of the school van. We were heading for a three-day trip to a country cottage at Sunrise Acres in the small town of Eldama Ravine.

We had the opportunity to visit the Lake Nakuru National Park on our way to Sunrise Acres. We did get to see a variety of wildlife. The most amazing sight was viewing the soda lake with its thousands of flamingos. If you look at the lake from a distance, all you can see are patches of pink in the water. When you look a bit closer, the thousands of flamingos come to life. If you look even more carefully, birds such as the Pelicans, Marabou Storks, Spoonbill Storks, herons begin to show-up in the pink waters.

We had a rather interesting uninvited guest at the park. While we were admiring wildlife from the van, a very muddy buffalo blocked off our road with his enormous frame. He didn't seem very concerned about us. He seemed more preoccupied with the lush green grass in the middle of the road. It didn't take a lot of time to figure out we didn't want to anger him. A buffalo is ALWAYS given right-of-way. They can be quite vicious and unpredictable. Instead of just sitting there watching him eat, we decided to have our lunch too. We backed up the van several hundred meters around a curve and started eating our picnic lunch. To our surprize, he followed us down the road. He stared at us while he chewed his grass. We stared at him while we ate our sandwiches...in the van. After he had his lunch, he gave us permission to go by him. How did a nice fella like him make it to the “Big Five” list, anyway?

There is nothing more entertaining than watching a troop of baboons in action. We encountered a family of them in the park. A baby baboon was sprawled across the road on his back waiting for mama to de-tick him. It looked like he was getting ready to have his diaper changed. It's lots of fun watching the babies riding on their mother's backs. You can't help to wonder what goes through their minds when they are watching people. They seem so intelligent! We must have looked ridiculous with our cameras, binoculars, and video camera.

By late afternoon, we arrived to the cottages at Sunrise Acres. These cottages were built for missionaries to get away from their usual surroundings. What kind of getaway spot is it when you arrive to your destination and discover all your cottage neighbours are the same ones you left behind at home? We had two surgeons from Kijabe next to us. On the brighter side, we couldn't have been in better hands if the children needed stitching up after an injury on the playground.

DECEMBER 19^th (FULL DAY AT SUNRISE ACRES)

We started off our day with a morning stroll to see the farm animals at the owners’ home. The children were thrilled to see the turkey, the chickens, and the fish in the pond. The cows were somewhere, but not in the barn. The owners' dogs were the stars of the show with the children. They enjoyed tossing a ball to the dogs and running after them.

The children spent a lot of time at the cottager's playground. It was great to have a playground just outside our door. The children could be supervised by just peeking out the cottage windows.

Mike and I managed to go for a short walk in the countryside. There were fields of livestock everywhere we turned. The barbed wire wooded fences varied in style. All the fences had a rustic and simplistic appeal to them. We ran across very few people. We met an old Kenyan chap as we walked in the woods. He greeted us as though he had known us for years. He spoke Swahili. We spoke English. It didn’t seem to matter. We received a warm greeting anyhow. It was a very peaceful walk.

In mid-afternoon, the children had the opportunity to watch some cows being milked in the barn. Evan stated, "The milk is coming out of the udder." Another small boy, who was also watching the cows being milked, quickly corrected Evan. The boy claimed," No, the milk is coming out of the cow."

We joined the owners for tea on their front porch. It seemed like such a formal English thing to do. They were extremely hospitable and down-to-earth. Other cottagers joined us later. I became a fly on the wall like I often do in a large group setting. I somewhat enjoyed myself anyway.

Sometimes I forget I am in Africa. I had a quiet reminder I wasn't in Canada when I looked at the night sky and saw the sliver of the moon lying on its back. I had no idea the moon appeared that way anywhere in the world. No one could explain this mysterious moon. I could also hear loud chanting and praying from the mosque. This was another reminder I was not home.

DECEMBER 20^th (ELDAMA RAVINE-NAKURU-KIJABE)

On our drive back to Kijabe, we stopped in Nakuru to do some grocery shopping. While we were parked in the van waiting for Thelma and Mike to grocery shop, the rest of us had a real African cultural experience! One-by-one, street vendors came up to the van windows to try to sell us something. The ladies came with some bags of fruit. The men were much more innovative. They came with car stereos, colorful neckties, socks, calendars, candy, peanuts, steering wheel covers, and cassette tapes. Since we didn't need any of it, we didn't buy. This experience took all of about 20 minutes. Finally, Mike and Thelma came out of the grocery store...with a small single bag of groceries. I could have been more productive shopping from the van window! Our visit continued with a trip to the pizza place. It was well worth the stop.