Hi everyone! We all hope by reading this blog it’s taking away some of the stress from gearing up for the Fourth of July celebrations coming up right around the corner! We started today with our own little celebration sitting around breakfast enjoying the scrambled eggs, toast, juice, and deliciously fresh fruit salad that our waiter Joseph presented to us. We all exclaimed how bittersweet it would be leaving Dea’s Garden, our newfound piece of Kenyan paradise. Yet we celebrated what the days there had brought us, like the boat safari and amazing bike ride and hike through Hell’s Gate. Kristen and Kieran both said how much they would miss their new puppy friends of Wolfy (Saint Bernard), Habatu (Black Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix), Snappy and Lassie (two Dachshunds), and Bobby (an old terrier and leader of the pack).
However they were still able to say their good-byes, to these new friends, as the group was getting ready to head out on their next adventure to Aberdare National Park. The vans arrived promptly at eight o’clock and our trusty drivers Moses, Steve, and George loaded up the vans with our bags. We then all hopped in, hoping that our ride would only take four hours as expected, with no unknown detours like our earlier trip from Rondo to Dea’s Garden.
After saying our final good-byes to Dea and her team of amazing staff and animals alike, we headed into town so Elizabeth and Ben could withdraw some money and get some daytime cold medicine from the “chemist” (pharmacist) for some of us travelers who were feeling a little “under the weather” (not to worry just some stuffy noses is all). As they were inside, Kieran saw a street vendor who was selling some very intricately made beaded bracelets that he couldn’t resist at least looking at. So he called the man over who showed him, Kristen, Jake, and Izzy all his goods of beaded belts, bracelets, and sandals. The other van looked on astonished as if wondering what the heck they were doing talking to this guy out the window. However this man was like a walking souvenir shop and they couldn’t pass up this chance as Kieran, Jake, and Kristen all purchased gifts, as Izzy looked along laughing hysterically at the surprised faces of the other van as more and more vendors began to swarm the windows.
Elizabeth and Ben returned as Jake was in an intense bargain with one of the vendors over a beaded belt. Jake outwitted the man, getting the belt for only ten U.S. dollars, which saved him 1,250 shillings! We drove away content with our purchases with remaining high hopes for the car ride to only be the expected four hours. Luckily this estimate remained partially true, as the trip only took about four and a half hours with minor delays of stopping as the drivers decided on the best route to take and a pit stop at a gas station for a bathroom break. Lily bravely got up the courage to use the very unsanitary bathroom (to say the least), but she wouldn’t regret it with the three-hour car ride still ahead.
As we drove Kieran slept after taking the cold medicine, which he described as, “Making his whole body feel numb. It was great!” Kristen, Jake and Izzy all also took the opportunity to take naps, along with Ben too. In the other van Monica went catapulting out of her seat as the van hit a bump, and the clip underneath her chair unhooked. She is fine now however, but Amelia would question this after Monica managed to lock her eighth grade iPod Nano, for which she had no idea what the password was. Luckily Monica was able to fix it quickly when randomly plugging in numbers (it was 0001 if anyone’s wondering). This all occurred as Haley and Lily snuggled up cozily in the back of the van trying to get some rest. We finally arrived at Aberdare Country Club at around one thirty in the afternoon. Jake was closest to guessing the E.T.A with his guess of 1:45. Izzy came in at a close second with a guess of 1:05. We had a great buffet lunch before loading onto the busses to bring us over to the Ark. On the drive over the bus drivers/guides stopped along the way, as we passed by animals including water buffalo, "pumba's" (warthogs), and elephants. They gave out interesting information about each animal, which shows as promising for what our safari's will be like in the coming days. When we arrived at the ark we were given instructions for how to act around the animals on the viewing decks, and what to expect to see. We then made our way over across the boardwalk into the Ark. We wasted no time going straight to the viewing decks, where we were immediately greeted by over 30 elephants and many buffalo (seen below).
However they were still able to say their good-byes, to these new friends, as the group was getting ready to head out on their next adventure to Aberdare National Park. The vans arrived promptly at eight o’clock and our trusty drivers Moses, Steve, and George loaded up the vans with our bags. We then all hopped in, hoping that our ride would only take four hours as expected, with no unknown detours like our earlier trip from Rondo to Dea’s Garden.
After saying our final good-byes to Dea and her team of amazing staff and animals alike, we headed into town so Elizabeth and Ben could withdraw some money and get some daytime cold medicine from the “chemist” (pharmacist) for some of us travelers who were feeling a little “under the weather” (not to worry just some stuffy noses is all). As they were inside, Kieran saw a street vendor who was selling some very intricately made beaded bracelets that he couldn’t resist at least looking at. So he called the man over who showed him, Kristen, Jake, and Izzy all his goods of beaded belts, bracelets, and sandals. The other van looked on astonished as if wondering what the heck they were doing talking to this guy out the window. However this man was like a walking souvenir shop and they couldn’t pass up this chance as Kieran, Jake, and Kristen all purchased gifts, as Izzy looked along laughing hysterically at the surprised faces of the other van as more and more vendors began to swarm the windows.
Elizabeth and Ben returned as Jake was in an intense bargain with one of the vendors over a beaded belt. Jake outwitted the man, getting the belt for only ten U.S. dollars, which saved him 1,250 shillings! We drove away content with our purchases with remaining high hopes for the car ride to only be the expected four hours. Luckily this estimate remained partially true, as the trip only took about four and a half hours with minor delays of stopping as the drivers decided on the best route to take and a pit stop at a gas station for a bathroom break. Lily bravely got up the courage to use the very unsanitary bathroom (to say the least), but she wouldn’t regret it with the three-hour car ride still ahead.
As we drove Kieran slept after taking the cold medicine, which he described as, “Making his whole body feel numb. It was great!” Kristen, Jake and Izzy all also took the opportunity to take naps, along with Ben too. In the other van Monica went catapulting out of her seat as the van hit a bump, and the clip underneath her chair unhooked. She is fine now however, but Amelia would question this after Monica managed to lock her eighth grade iPod Nano, for which she had no idea what the password was. Luckily Monica was able to fix it quickly when randomly plugging in numbers (it was 0001 if anyone’s wondering). This all occurred as Haley and Lily snuggled up cozily in the back of the van trying to get some rest. We finally arrived at Aberdare Country Club at around one thirty in the afternoon. Jake was closest to guessing the E.T.A with his guess of 1:45. Izzy came in at a close second with a guess of 1:05. We had a great buffet lunch before loading onto the busses to bring us over to the Ark. On the drive over the bus drivers/guides stopped along the way, as we passed by animals including water buffalo, "pumba's" (warthogs), and elephants. They gave out interesting information about each animal, which shows as promising for what our safari's will be like in the coming days. When we arrived at the ark we were given instructions for how to act around the animals on the viewing decks, and what to expect to see. We then made our way over across the boardwalk into the Ark. We wasted no time going straight to the viewing decks, where we were immediately greeted by over 30 elephants and many buffalo (seen below).
After taking many pictures and quickly becoming accustomed to the Ark's wifi, the group split up as some took showers, and others began playing card games. Now we are listening to the ecosystem talk in the main room, before dinner in about half an hour. We're going to fuel up and get some sleep for our safari tomorrow morning at 9:30. We hope to see loads of animals tomorrow and can't wait to share the pictures!
(Written by Kieran)
(Written by Kieran)