Click clop, plop, ass, click clop, plop, ass...the sounds, smells, and sights of Lamu

So we have some time to travel. Where should we go? Hmm...Kenya? Sure!

Over the last 2 weeks Heather and I ventured around Kenya on holidays. My contract at the CICC technically finished at the end of January so I decided to travel for half of February and spend the second half of the month saying my goodbye's and hanging out with my kids.

We spent the first couple of nights in Nairobi, walking around the city and planning the next steps from there. We then set out on a 3-day trip to Masaii Mara, in western Kenya. It has been unofficially named the 8th wonder of the world, and I can see why! It was just beautiful - with stunning landscapes and tons of wildlife in the national park. We saw lots of animals; from birds, buffalo, elephants, zebras, dik-dik (look like miniature impala) and giraffe's, to lions mating, lions feasting on a buffalo (which did not smell too wonderful, let me tell you), cheetas, and a serval cat (in the leopard family but much smaller, a bit bigger than a domestic cat). It was truly amazing. We also visited a Masai village, which was very interesting to learn about. A few facts about the Masai tribe:
- the males are circumsized at 15 years old. They must then go into the bush and kill a lion. If they succeed they can then marry
- men can have 4 wives
- they stay in one village for 9 years at which point everyone moves together, due to termite infestations
- their homes are made out of sticks, cow dung, and cow hyde
- when someone in the village dies, the people put the body in a place just outside the village, for the hyenas to eat. If a chief dies, something is put on their bodies to make the hyenas eat them faster (blood perhaps), which is a sign of respect

Then after some debating of where to go next, we decided to head for the coast! We spent a night in Mombassa, and then headed up to Lamu, a small archipelago and Kenya's oldest town. We had heard great things about Lamu and decided to check it out for ourselves. And great it was! No cars on this island, only donkeys. So as you can imagine, there is donkey feces everywhere. The local population is mostly Muslim, so Arabic, Kiswahili, and English are the languages most spoken. Very narrow streets, lots of shops to look in, great food, and incredibly friendly people! So friendly in fact that at times we became a big suspicious; what do they want? But really, they are just being nice. For those of you who have been to (or seen pictures of) Zanzibar imagine that, but on a much smaller scale - far less tourists, not as developed, no vehicles, smaller island, etc. We had an amazing time and I would highly suggest anyone coming to Eastern Africa to go there. It's well-worth the 40 minute - very dodgy - boat trip there.

Am now back in Lusaka...for the next 11 days only. I fly back to Canada on the 27th. It is definitely bittersweet. Sorry I havn't uploaded photos in a long time, the internet here is just too slow and the connection isn't great so I try and then it gets timed out and I have to start over but by that time it has been too long. So you will have to wait until I get back.

Asante sana (thank you very much in Swahili) and tisaonana mange mange (see you soon in Nyanja)