Our last day in Arusha, we went to the Rwanda genocide tribunal (the ICTR) in the morning to watch the proceedings. After an hour-and-a-half delay (during which we went to the library and marveled at all the American law journals collected there), we finally got to hear some testimony. The witnesses are hidden behind a curtain, but we could see the defendant and his American counsel clearly. We heard the witness's testimony about the events of April 7, 1994 (the day the genocide started), and left feeling quite somber and sad after about an hour. We headed back to the Impala Lodge (the nice hotel we stayed in our last night) to catch the shuttle to Nairobi.
The first two hours of the shuttle ride were uneventful as we passed through northern Tanzania toward the Kenyan border. We saw lots of Massai people leading their cows, sheep, and goats across the road and I cowered in horror as our driver came within inches of the animals and their handlers. We got to the border and had an uneventful crossing (contrary to some of the stories we'd been hearing, and much to our relief), then continued driving through Kenya for about 30 minutes before the entire bus was filled with the delightful smell of a burning clutch. We stopped off, but apparently the driver decided to keep going (after he got all the people hurrying to the airport out of our bus and into another one), and we almost made it to Nairobi before we broke down on the side of a dark, dusty, and unpaved road. It wasn't long before the driver got another shuttle, and we were ONLY an hour late meeting Justin's friend, Kevin, at the Silver Springs hotel.
Kevin took us to Mercury Bar, a very nice bar in a cute area of Nairobi. We had lots of appetizers and he introduced us to our new favorite African beer, White Cap. After we were done, we headed to Kevin's beautiful house inside a gated community with about 8 houses (in Nairobi, "gated" means gated, walled, electric-wired, guard-dogged, and with 6 locks on each door to the outside). Kevin's house is huge and beautifully decorated, and Kevin is an incredibly gracious host. We sat on his beautiful back porch in his yard and drank some more beer, then went to bed.
The next morning, Kevin had to work, so he arranged for a driver to take us around Nairobi for the day (told you he was a good host). We started off the morning at -- those of you who know me will know how excited I was about this -- an ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE. It's run by a trust that saves baby elephants orphaned by poachers, and for an hour each weekday visitors are allowed in to watch the baby elephants (there were about 8 of them) play in the water and with each other. The elephants were completely and utterly adorable, but one elephant just stood there, not socializing, trying to eat rocks. I decided his name should be changed to "Dumbo," but I felt like a jerk when the handler told us that he arrived at the orphanage only 4 weeks ago, and he was still grieving the loss of his family, who were killed by poachers. :( There's nothing wrong with this guy, he just had a little trouble standing up once he lay down --
After elephant viewing time was over, we headed out to see the baby rhino and the warthogs (my favorites!) that hang around the elephant sanctuary. We didn't see any rhinos on safari (apparently there are only 16 in the entire Serenghetti and another 20 in the Ngorongoro area), so we were excited to see a couple of them up close (though I felt really sad at the one depressed baby rhino whose mother had recently abandoned him). I petted and hugged a warthog (HIGHLIGHT!) and we headed off.
Next stop: Kitunda glass factory. We drove for about an hour down rocky, dusty, unpaved roads (getting stuck a couple of times) and pulled into the most eccentric place I think I've ever been. There were sculptures everwhere, horses, donkeys, and camels roaming around, and a "beware of Rottweiler: do not run" sign in the entrance. The only way to accurately describe this place is Willy Wonka-esque. We walked around and saw the workers blowing glass, toured the shops, and were amazed by all of the cool stuff at the factory.
We left the factory and headed off to the place Kevin recommended for lunch: Le Rustique. This place was adorable -- a huge outdoor space that was like the restaurant's backyard, with a few little shops in it. We ate some delicious food, had beers (and milkshakes), then headed back to Kevin's for a little rest before going out for dinner. When Kevin came home, we headed out for Ethiopian food with a few of his work friends (it was delicious!), then went to Casablanca, a fun bar in Nairobi, where we sat indian-style and drank beers before heading home to bed.
This morning, we decided to continue our tour de animals at the safari walk, which one of Kevin's friends recommended because -- for the right price -- you could pet a cheetah. We walked around, saw lots of cool animals (including albino zebras and a unicorn ... ok, a deer-like creature who got in a fight, but it was still cool), and Justin told our guide that I had been dreaming of petting a cheetah my whole life (...). He got the handler who unlocked a gate and took us through the back of the cheetah enclosure, then (to my total shock) let the cheetah in a smaller cage and invited us in. The guy was a little pushy, telling us to lie down next to the cheetah, and I had just started petting her when she growled at me! I jumped up in horror but he told me that she was just PURRING. I was petting a purring cheetah. We took lots of pictures, and petted her for a long time (she was like a housecat, she would roll over on her back to get us to scratch her tummy), then headed out (after paying our guides, of course).
After the safari walk, we went to the giraffe sanctuary to continue with the theme of this part of the trip. We got to feed giraffes out of our hands (and mouths -- the guy got us to put pellets between our lips and the giraffes kissed us, I'll try to add a picture) and kiss and hug them. It was a pretty amazing experience.
After the giraffes, we went to see the Blixon (?) house from the movie "Out of Africa", then went to another bead factory that employs 350 women (mostly single mothers) and pays for almost all of their medical expenses. The factory was cool and we hit up the shops (again) and tried to figure out how to order all of our cups and plates from there (FedEx ships things to the US for a mere $100 USD per kilogram) when we grow up.
We headed back to Kevin's house after another delightful lunch (can't remember the name of the restaurant at the moment) at a gorgeous outdoor space with a big green lawn. Now we're at the internet cafe, waiting for him to get done with work, and we're going to go eat traditional Kenyan BBQ and go to a cultural show tonight. Tomorrow, we head to a lake filled with pink flamingoes and stay there for a night before returning to beautiful Nairobi for another few days.
Rach
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