Saturday, November 14, 2015

At Nairobi airport

Sandra and I are at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after clearing security.  She graciously bought a coupon for each of us to get 12 hours of good wifi for my laptop and her Ipad.  Dr. Zoch and Diana went for a stroll to check out food and drink in the rest of this very nice terminal.  I have already posted on Facebook that we are well and that the Kenya Airways staff and security personnel we have talked to all say that the airport in Paris is safe at this point after the horrendous attacks we learned about early this morning as we tried to check-in online for our itinerary.  I flew to London for Thanksgiving shortly after 9/11 and it was the best vacation we ever had.  Nobody was flying, all of the castles and museums had no lines and all of the guides in every attraction were happy to take the time to explain things to us.  I honestly think that flying into Paris at this point is as safe as it will ever be.

We have about 2 hours until boarding our Kenya Airways 787 Dreamliner for the trip to Charles DeGaulle Airport.  We arrive at 6am local time and our next flight is at 10am to Houston.  I just hope that is enough time to clear security and continue on our way.  We thank everybody here and at my Facebook page for their prayers and we promise not to go any faster than our guardian angels can fly!

Sandra, Barrack and I had planned to go to Lake Naivasha for the boat ride out the river full of hippos to the island with lots of water birds and various animals including giraffes, wildebeests, zebras and many kinds of gazelles and other deer-like creatures.  I looked at weather.com and there was a 77% chance of rain at 10am as we would be getting in the open small boats.  We decided to regroup and find something to do around town.  We settled on the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center afterwards.  The program at the Elephant Orphanage was fascinating, as they introduced us to more than 30 elephants of varying size and age, giving the story behind each one.  Some babies had fallen into water wells and had hurt themselves badly trying to escape, others were left behind as too small and sickly while many were orphaned due to poaching for ivory.  Each one has two individual handlers that care for them 24/7.  I got a few pictures, but since I didn't get to go on any of the safaris this time, I turned my attention to the beautiful landscape with dramatic clouds and to the few birds that flew overhead or were in nearby trees.  A warthog came running through the elephant area and out through the crowd, causing a stir among the people.  Our narrator pointed out that animals always have the right of way in the Kenyan reserves.  He came near me and I got a few images of him. After the program, Sandra sponsored an elephant, and will get email updates on how here baby is doing.

At the Giraffe Center, we were given a handful of food each and were able to feed them eye to eye from a balcony on the 2nd floor.  I gave my feed to Sandra and she used it up also.  She said their tongues were really slimy.  None of us held a pellet of food in our teeth as some people do to get a picture where it looks like you are getting a giraffe kiss.  

After the two attractions, we drove back to the Galleria Mall, another upscale mall in Karen, a very nice suburb and had lunch at the Java House there.  We then went to the Little Daughters of St. Jospeph and I got our footlockers in order and made a manifest of what was in each one.  I needed it at the airport and we didn't get torn apart for once.  Catherine had pizza and sodas delivered and he other teams ate heartily, we were exploding, so we took a pass.

We spent time sharing stories of our clinics with each of the other teams, phoning home to assure our families and friends and freshening up in a couple of rooms, one for the men and one for the women.  I went outside to make a call and saw a couple of stunning birds, so I snagged my camera and got a few shots with another bird aficionado, Bill Goodoff. It was my mini-safari.  I guess I have to get back to Texas and practice, practice, practice.  Catherine has said she could book me an extra 3 days after some mission for around $700 to go to the Masai Mara for a bird and animal safaris.  I'd like to try that sometime with a few other people.

That's about it for now.  We'll all try to get word back from Paris.  Keep the prayers coming.

  

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