Homeward Bound

We have already been in transit for 7 hours and are now in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They still allow smoking in the intl terminal, so there are people everywhere blowing clouds into hallways and sitting areas. We catch our flight to London in about 3 hours. Once there, we layover for 9.5 hours, and then finally get on AC 899 to YEG! We have confirmed our flights and checked in. We are supposed to land at 6:10 pm.
The landing here in Ethiopia was one of the worst ever. Swerving all over the runway when we touched down! Hoping it's clear sailing here on out.

T&K

Masai Mara Safari

It was tough, but we've done our best to keep it down to ONE shot per animal. If you want the full meal deal, come over when we get back.

Hide and seek in the Mara- find the following:
Cheetah
Leopard
Elephant
Crazy animal lover
Lion
Wildebeest
Topi
Thompson Gazelle
Jackel
Hippopotamus
Zebra
Ostrich
Vulture (of the human and bird varieties)
Grand Gazelle
Giraffe
Buffalo
Cute couple on Safari
Tree

Lamu

Kenya Pics

We have finally found a way to post photos, BUT, Internet is slow, unreliable, and hard to find here. There are lots of great pics to share but you'll have to wait.
We are off for the next three days on safari!
T&K

Wedding on Lamu

Since our last post, we've had time to explore and get the lay of the land. We're staying in a small town called Shela, about a 40 minute walk along the beach from a larger town called Lamu Town. 
Josh and Vicky's wedding was in Lamu Town.  There was a bit of a spectacle as the whole town seemed to know about the wedding. We arrived from Shela in decorated dhows (sailboats) at the jetty in Lamu Town.  Vicky and her bridal party arrived last. They were met by a singing and dancing entourage of women and Aaron Franz (Josh's best man), and then they danced all the way back to the church.  Then there was some backyard bartering over the bride to make it official. Something to do with soap and pop that I can't tell you too much about because it was for the women only. It must have gone alright because a while later Josh's mom came out arm in arm with Vicky.  The wedding from this point was a 3 hr affair of singing and dancing mixed with African style sermon and catholic rites. They said "I do" and kissed and kissed and all was well. From there we went back to Shela via decorated dhow for the rooftop reception.  All the buildings here are open to the air and breezy.  (Did I mention they are made of coral?!). The meal was amazing and there were of course more speeches and traditions before we closed it with a dance. 

What else have we been up to? Eating lots of fresh seafood and tropical fruit.  Hanging out at the beach.  And exploring the narrow streets full of kids and donkeys. Today our group (Josh's family) took a full day dhow trip around Lamu island.  

Tomorrow we pack up and fly to Nairobi on a small twin prop plane.

Settled in Lamu

Hi guys,
We are happy and have found beds on the island of Lamu, Kenya.  Our last two flights were very good.  The flight from Malindi to Lamu was on a smaller twin prop plane that landed on another island.  From there, we took a boat across to this island.  It is beautiful here.  There are only 3 vehicles on the island, the ambulance, the garbage truck, and the government mobile- it is all walking and donkeys.  All the roads are tiny, most of them you can reach your arms out and touch buildings on the side of the "road", which is why they don't have cars here. It is very layed back and tropical, where all the houses, terraces and businesses are open to the air.  There is a huge beach, but we haven't made it there yet.  Yesterday our group of 15 had a guided tour of Lamu town and then shared a meal of fresh prawns and fish.  
Internet is hard to find here, so we are all gathered around a cell phone with an internet signal.  

Tyrn has been a little jet lagged, but not bad and we have settled in nicely to the pace here.  Although, we were a little overwhelmed when we landed in Mombasa, it is just like India, or Asia or Egypt- people everywhere, same crappy vehicles going way too fast, everyone wanting to do something for you for money, etc- we thought, "man, we weren't ready for this, we were wanting the beach, the wedding and a safari and forgot about actual Africa".  But now that we are in Lamu and with the rest of the crew it has been wonderful and we are able to relax.  Ty and I are going to head to the beach this morning, Tyrn got up at 6 am to do yoga with the group, but I passed on that.  Of course with the Call to Prayer, the roosters, donkeys and kids running to school it was extremely loud at about 5 am on.  Weather is nice, about 28 degrees in the hot part of the day, feels a bit hotter because of the humidity, but great for the beach.  We saw wild millipedes yesterday, there are all over here, which is so cool.

Pictures will come soon.
T&K