Nairobi (Museum etc.)

The great Rift Valley. This is how you know you are getting close to Nairobi!

Holly was SO happy to find REAL coffee (latte) at the museum in Nairobi after the safari. Mike was happy for his strawberry milkshake, and I was happy to have such a nice view from the patio and a rest before we took a night bus to the coast! (this pic was taken just before we went to the coast, but I put it with the other museum pics anyways.)

When the safari guide brought us back to town, we had lunch, then filled out an evaluation form about our experience. This was a good idea, as we all had plenty of suggestions to make the trip more enjoyable for the next folks. Then the driver brought us to the Mennonite guesthouse where we would be staying just before leaving the country, so we could drop our excess baggage there. We finally said good bye to them when they dropped us at the national museum for a rest.

The new entrance to the museum. Its renovations are fabulous. After being closed for two+ years, I suppose they should be!


Traditional milk jugs, made of gourds in the museum.

Butterflies of Kenya on a map of Kenya. Taken for my dad, the entomologist.

An amazing collection of stuffed birds. I wouldn't be surprised if all of Kenyas 1000+ species are represented there. It was so cool to see my bird book life size, and in three dimensions!
A stuffed hippo. There were also an elephan, zebra, and countless other animals stuffed nicely for display.My friend Lucy with a stuffed lion we bought for her son. I got to know Lucy five years ago, and was happy to be able to catch up a bit and introduce Mike to her. Conveniently, she works at the museum.

The legendary Masai Market. Where you can get deals on any craft in Kenya. It was considerably less harrowing of an experience than the first time I went. I'm not sure why. People relaxed somehow, or I relaxed... it wasn't stressful at all, and Holly, Mike and I left feeling fairly satisfied that we hadn't been cheated and that we hadn't given anyone too low of prices (those are the two feelings I always left with on my other visits to the market). this market is there 1-2 times a week, but when it is not there, it would be difficult to imagine that all those people and wares could fit in those sloped bits of roadside space!

The Mennonite Guesthouse, our accomodation for the day/night before our flight. They had full board catering, family style, where we met folks like us who were coming or going to all sorts of interesting projects. It was a convenient half hour walk from the museum, and they arranged taxis to pick us up from our night bus from the coast at 5am, then from the guest house to the airport at 5am the next morning! Highly recommended. Beautiful grounds, friendly people, and hot showers!