Hey everyone!
I promise to put up pictures from Kate's trip soon, but I just wanted to say I got home safely. Thanks to everyone who followed my blog this year and to everyone who made my year in Kenya one of the best of my life.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The long journey home
Well considering I have about 15 more hours to kill on my layover in Belgium, I thought i'd blog about my vacation with Kate. Hopefully she'll agree to guest blog about her impression of Kenya when I get home.
Anways, she and Kiirsten arrived in Kenya safely late last Tuesday night and Tom and I picked them from the airport n Kisumu on Wed. morning. Kate only got to spend about 24 hours in Malava, but she said it was her favority part of the trip.
Friday morning we headed down to Kisumu where we parted ways with Tom and Kiirsten. Kate and I wandered around Kisumu and took a long walk so she could see the Lake. Saturday we took the bus to Nairobi instead of flying b/c Kate wanted to seethe Rift Valley. By Saturday night we were in Mombasa. We stayed at the Castle Royal again and after a very long day of traveling, we enjoyed live music and cool beers. Sunday I took Kate for a tour around Old Town Mombasa and then headed to our hotel in Diani beach. We strolled on the beach, but not for long. The Beach boys were being very aggressive (people say its gotten worse b/c the tourist season is slow). Our hotel in Diani was lovely. It wasn't beach from, but right across the street. We had a pool and an air conditioned room- which is really all you need. The staff was so attentive and courteous. We spent most of our time either lounging by the pool or swimming in the ocean, although we did manage to get up early for a half day safari in Shimba Hills National Reserve. The pictures will be up soon- but we saw lots of cool animals. We hiked down to a water hall with two older Scottish gentlemen, saw giraffes right next to our car and a whole family of elepants walking back from a bath.
We decided to take the train back from Mombasa and arrived in Nairobi with just enought time to wander around downtown (although I got us lost and we ended up in a bad part of town I'd never been to before), get cleaned up and have one last dinner with the sisters in Nairobi. But when we got to the airport, our flight has been delayed for two hours. We didn't end up leaving until almost 3 in the morning, but Kate managed to make her connecting flight home today. I am still in Brussels, enjoying a very cushy hotel room and avoid the three inches of snow on the ground outside.
Anways, she and Kiirsten arrived in Kenya safely late last Tuesday night and Tom and I picked them from the airport n Kisumu on Wed. morning. Kate only got to spend about 24 hours in Malava, but she said it was her favority part of the trip.
Friday morning we headed down to Kisumu where we parted ways with Tom and Kiirsten. Kate and I wandered around Kisumu and took a long walk so she could see the Lake. Saturday we took the bus to Nairobi instead of flying b/c Kate wanted to seethe Rift Valley. By Saturday night we were in Mombasa. We stayed at the Castle Royal again and after a very long day of traveling, we enjoyed live music and cool beers. Sunday I took Kate for a tour around Old Town Mombasa and then headed to our hotel in Diani beach. We strolled on the beach, but not for long. The Beach boys were being very aggressive (people say its gotten worse b/c the tourist season is slow). Our hotel in Diani was lovely. It wasn't beach from, but right across the street. We had a pool and an air conditioned room- which is really all you need. The staff was so attentive and courteous. We spent most of our time either lounging by the pool or swimming in the ocean, although we did manage to get up early for a half day safari in Shimba Hills National Reserve. The pictures will be up soon- but we saw lots of cool animals. We hiked down to a water hall with two older Scottish gentlemen, saw giraffes right next to our car and a whole family of elepants walking back from a bath.
We decided to take the train back from Mombasa and arrived in Nairobi with just enought time to wander around downtown (although I got us lost and we ended up in a bad part of town I'd never been to before), get cleaned up and have one last dinner with the sisters in Nairobi. But when we got to the airport, our flight has been delayed for two hours. We didn't end up leaving until almost 3 in the morning, but Kate managed to make her connecting flight home today. I am still in Brussels, enjoying a very cushy hotel room and avoid the three inches of snow on the ground outside.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
World Day for Disabled
There are new pics up on my picasa page from out World Day for Disabled Celebration on Thursday. It was a TON of work, but I think everything went pretty well. It was certainly worth it, seeing all our clients together, having fun.
This is my last weekend in Malava and my house has been taken over by teenage girls. There are like 30 aspiring sisters here this weekend for workshops. Needless to say, my quiet little home is not to tranquil right now. I'm looking forward to having my space back to myself tomorrow.
This is also the last week at St. Julie's. We have a ton of end of the year wrap up stuff to do, like taking toy inventories. Hopefully that well help me keep my mind off the fact that I'm SUPER excited for Kate to get here. She leaves the states tomorrow morning, but won't be here in Malava until Wed. After a short 24 hour visit in Malava, we're off for a whirlwind 8 day vacation around Kenya, and then its back to the states next week. I recently discovered that I read my itinerary wrong for the flight home and I have a 26 hour layover in Brussels. Initially I was really frustrating, but now I'm kind of excited. I've never been anywhere in Europe before, so I'm going to walk around, enjoy the architecture, have some waffles and drink some of the best beer in Europe. I'll be back in Cincinnati (back to winter!) on Friday December 18th.
This is my last weekend in Malava and my house has been taken over by teenage girls. There are like 30 aspiring sisters here this weekend for workshops. Needless to say, my quiet little home is not to tranquil right now. I'm looking forward to having my space back to myself tomorrow.
This is also the last week at St. Julie's. We have a ton of end of the year wrap up stuff to do, like taking toy inventories. Hopefully that well help me keep my mind off the fact that I'm SUPER excited for Kate to get here. She leaves the states tomorrow morning, but won't be here in Malava until Wed. After a short 24 hour visit in Malava, we're off for a whirlwind 8 day vacation around Kenya, and then its back to the states next week. I recently discovered that I read my itinerary wrong for the flight home and I have a 26 hour layover in Brussels. Initially I was really frustrating, but now I'm kind of excited. I've never been anywhere in Europe before, so I'm going to walk around, enjoy the architecture, have some waffles and drink some of the best beer in Europe. I'll be back in Cincinnati (back to winter!) on Friday December 18th.
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