A relaxing Sunday in Nairobi

Today was a fairly quiet, relaxing Sunday. Toby slept late (until 9:30am - I'm hoping we get back onto a pretty normal schedule tomorrow!), and after Rick and Jenny left late morning to start the fieldwork in southern Kenya, I did a little more unpacking/organizing/etc.

After lunch, Toby and I went to the Muthaiga Country Club at the invitation of a Kenyan alumna from my undergraduate college (Bryn Mawr), Agnes. Agnes and I connected through one of the Bryn Mawr alum Facebook groups I'm a member of, and we realized today that we graduated a year apart although we didn't know each other while we were in college.

We hung out all afternoon with Agnes and her daughter Lynn, one of Lynn's friends, and Agnes's sister's three kids (her sister is in Finland on work travel). Agnes said they pretty much spend every Sunday there, and I could tell that a lot of the kids basically know each other and play together and feel very comfortable there.

Lynn and Toby

Toby had fun playing on the bouncy castle slide, running around on the grass, and going in the pool - even though Agnes and I thought the kids were a bit crazy for swimming on such a cool day. While it was mostly cloudy, the sun did peek through a few times.

The poolside ice cream mid-afternoon treat was a big hit!

Waiting rather impatiently for ice cream

Mom, do they have chocolate? I want chocolate. Chocolate's my favorite. Can you check if they have chocolate?

Mmmmm chocolate!

After an early dinner with Agnes and company, we headed back to the apartment to Skype with Daddy (yay!) and finish getting things organized for starting work at the museum tomorrow. Toby fell asleep before 10pm, giving me hope that tomorrow he will finally be fully adjusted to the time difference. I have to say, though, so far the jet lag hasn't been nearly as bad as I was worried about.

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D minus a week and a day

I'm leaving for my annual migration to Kenya soon, just like the wildebeest.... well, only there's a few million less of me than there are of them. Also, I'd like to think I run in a few less circles than they do, given that they spend their year basically making a big circle between Kenya and Tanzania in the Serengeti/Mara ecosystem (though that's debatable!). I'm going through my usual 'I'm leaving soon' routine: getting together with friends who want to spend a little time before I leave for a few months; making sure I can take care of all my (as my fab friend Fire calls it) "personal admin" online while I'm gone - banking, paying utilities, etc.; adding things to the duffel bag I keep stocked during the rest of the year with my 'going to Kenya' things. It's always hectic, and no matter how well I plan - and those of you who know me know I plan! - there's always a lot to do at the last minute. So it's D (departure) mi...

moonshine (the celestial kind)

I was going to write about our excavations, but I had to change topics after the spectacular moonrise we had this evening. It's a full moon tonight (or nearly so), and early this evening this soft glowing orange orb was visible just above the horizon after sunset, rising ever higher, and becoming ever brighter, into the starry night sky. There is nothing like watching a moonrise in the African bush. I would have taken a picture of it after it rose, but I don't have the photographic expertise - here's one I took of the full moonrise last year. Last night, the moon was so bright that when I got up in the middle of the night to pee (a sign I'm keeping well hydrated!), it was casting shadows everywhere, and I didn't even need my flashlight. It's perfectly gorgeous. The moon isn't the only gorgeous thing here - beauty can be found growing delicately among the rocks, or singing a song in the trees, in the form of a colorful red and yellow barbet.

Final Fieldwork Week

We're home now - arrived yesterday. Our travel home was uneventful... well, except for running into my colleague René, his wife Susana, and their 5 year old son Andres in the Nairobi airport on the way home! René and Susana took Andres to the field in Mozambique for the first time this summer, and were on their way home to England after attending a conference in Nairobi. Toby and Andres got on like a house on fire, running around the waiting area together and calling to each other across the plane. It was very cute, and Toby kept talking about how much he enjoyed making a new friend. But back to our final week, which was pretty busy... Here are some of the highlights of our last day off. Toby imitating the gape of a hippo at "Hippo Hide", a place at Ol Pejeta where you can walk along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River Kari, Ella, and Toby walking along the river When I was doing my PhD research at Ol Pejeta, I offered to create some educational material...

Briana's Travels

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