Peponi Hotel

Enjoying a Tusker before sunset at Peponi Hotel in Shela on Lamu Island. Susan is getting a Swahili translation from our waiter.

More pictures from Shela

Shela

Pictures from Shela.

Back at Majlis

We are back at Majlis now. Rehydrating and cooling off in this beautiful bar area. We are the only ones in here so we basically have our own personal bartender, Rodgers.

So glad we decided to visit the coast. It is a very different aspect of Kenya compared to inland. But still very Kenya.

Indian Ocean

From Takwa, we walked a few minutes to the Indian Ocean... Then we rode our bikes back to the resort. Later this afternoon we may take a boat to Shela town across the channel.

Takwa ruins

We rode our bikes to the Takwa ruins. Takwa was abandoned in the 16th century. It is believed that the Takwa people left Manda Island and established what is now known as Shela town on Lamu Island. Archeologists believe that their wells at Takwa turned salty and that is the reason why the left. The first three pictures are of their mosque which is in the best condition of the ruins.

Boabob tree

The Boabob trees are huge! Some are around 500 years old. We saw some that were bigger than this one.

Mountain biking

We went on a bike trip this morning with our guide Katana. We were instantly pouring sweat. Wow it's hot when you're away from the ocean breezes. Our first stop was a quarry where they remove coral stone which is a common construction material in Lamu. The locals use nothing but handtools here. Axes, picks, and shovels. And I thought I was hot...

Sunset dhow trip

On Tuesday evening we took a sunset dhow trip. We enjoyed a few Tuskers and had a great time. Our "Captains" were very entertaining. Will post pix later.

walking in lamu town. very very hot. homework/riddle for hart girls. what animal works in lamu?

Welcome to Lamu

We flew on a 17 seat plane (circa stone age) from Nairobi to the airstrip on Manda Island in the Lamu archipelago. The luggage was delivered from the plane in this human-powered cart and then transferred to a metal bench out in the open. Ta-da! "luggage claim"! We then went by boat to our resort. It is very nice. The last photo was taken from our room as the sun was setting. Tomorrow we will take a morning boat to Lamu town and see the sights and in the evening go on a sunset sail on a dhow.

staying at majlis resort on manda island in lamu. will post pix tomorrow.

Monday morning

Short night. Alarm goes off on Monday morning. Check the football scores from Sunday and realize the Sunday night game is just in the third quarter. Being 8 hours "ahead" is strange...

Today we fly to Lamu, an ancient port city with lots of Arabic influence on the Indian Ocean coast. We will be staying on the island of Lamu at a nice resort.

Sent from Kyle's iPhone

Fairview Hotel, Nairobi

At last. We are finally in Nairobi and at the Fairview Hotel. Local time is a little after midnight. We've hardly slept for 33 hours. Time for a Tusker and then to bed. Got an early flight out in the morning...

Just landed in Nairobi. Hopefully our ride is waiting for us. But first we need to get in the visa line and then find our luggage if it made the same flights that we did!

After an hour+ on the ground, the doors have been closed and portable stairs rolled away. Time to go!

Captain announced passenger had a stroke. He seemed ok and was awake and alert when he left the plane. Ground crew to do checks and add fuel. Hope we can depart soon.

Welcome to... Rome? Diverted for medical emergency. Hopefully passenger will be ok and hopefully we'll be back in the air soon.

Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam. Another 8 hr flight and we'll be in Nairobi! But first a soda with our new friend Terri.

Detroit

Made it to Detroit. On the plane awaiting departure for Amsterdam. Back of the bus - next to last row. Good news: close to restrooms. Bad news: close to restrooms. Forecasting tailwind and shorter flight (7 hrs instead of 8).

Making friends

The plane we are taking to Detroit is now on its way to Indy from Minneapolis. Apparently they have a winter storm up there. Anyway, we've been rebooked on a later flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. If no further delays, we will still make our scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. We will have to hustle to make our connections. Let's hope our luggage can also hustle...

So we've had plenty of time to make friends while waiting in line at our gate. We met a Kenyan woman who is also going to Nairobi. She went to college at Indiana Wesleyan and is now married to a man originally from Haiti. She is a nurse at Methodist Hospital. She is going to Nairobi for a court date as she is working to get legal guardianship of a 10 year old who is the son of a cousin but is now orphaned.

Sent from Kyle's iPhone

Great start:(

Delayed flight out of Indy means there is a high chance we will miss flight to Amsterdam. A night in Detroit is not how we planned to start our trip. Hoping for a miracle...

Kenya, November 2010

For this trip, we are going to spend the first few days vacationing in Lamu on the Indiana Ocean coast. Then Susan will be an "external examiner" administering end-of-year oral exams to 5th year medical students at Moi University in Eldoret. Meanwhile, I'll be goofing off or helping to set up a soundproof audiology booth that Susan commandeered from Wishard Hospital when Wishard replaced it with a new one. Susan had it shipped to Kenya in a shipping container with other IU donations and supplies. We know the container arrived recently in Kenya. Hopefully it has made its way to Eldoret.

Getting ready to visit Kenya, Nov 2010

We are getting ready to travel to Kenya for vacation and for Susan to help with oral exams at Moi University for med students.
To help cope with leaving Kido behind I have installed a couple of IP webcams so we can check in on her. Above are screen shots for example. (Unfortunately they are sideways on this post.) One camera overlooks her favorite pillows in the living room while the other is an infrared night vision camera watching her crate. With the infrared night vision, her color is washed out and she looks like a ghost.
We look forward to getting to "see" her when we have Internet access in Eldoret.

Silver Beach

Silver Beach, Lake Michigan, St. Joseph, Michigan

Kido and Dad at the beach.

Eagle Creek Park

We took Kido to eagle Creek Park for her birthday. She's now a happy but tired dog!

Kido visiting Chicago

Millennium Park

Donate to help fund ENT surgeries in Kenya

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Start of 2nd half

Close game starting 2nd half.

Fwd: NCAA Championship game

Kyle & Susan at the NCAA Men's basketball championship game, Butler vs. Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Safari photos

Aerial view of western Kenya on the way from Eldoret to Masai Mara.

Our "tent", complete with tile floor, queen bed, and full bath.

Female lion in the late afternoon sun.

White Rhinos. These were under the protection of full time park rangers.

Leopard. Photo by David Matthews.

Resident Wildebeasts that do not migrate to Tanzania like most do.

Zebras and Giraffes hanging out together.

Elephant family.

Cheetah. Look at the powerful chest/shoulders. No wonder they're so fast!

We made it back home safe and sound. Lots of snow here. And it's cold. Missing our friends and the weather back in Kenya!

Heading home… in one hour we begin our 33 hour trek home. It's been a great trip! Hope to post some safari photos from home next week. Not really ready for snow…

Having a great time at Masai Mara, the Serengeti Plains. Safari is great! Have seen the Big 5 and many, many more.

Wednesday morning, departure day

It's 7:45am and the surgeons are at the hospital making rounds and saying good-byes. I've got some packing to do and need to settle up with the office here at IU House. We have a plane to Masai Mara at 11:00am. Perhaps I will have internet access there... If not, I'll upload a post after we get back home on Saturday. I hope all back home in Indiana are surviving the snow storm!