on safari

kurt and i, and the boys, live about an hour's drive to the west from

serengeti national park. we have driven through the park I don't know how many times already, since the park separates us from the mcc tz office in arusha. so on the way

to and from meetings, we pass through serengeti national park,

and then ngorongoro conservation area. Ngorongoro has a huge crater in which many animals live, it's known as an eighth wonder of the world. We have not yet been able to go into the crater to see the animals, but we enjoy the view from the top.

anyways, we live in serengeti....

so we get to see animals. driving just about 20 minutes from our home we often see giraffe or zebra or gazelle.

so I wanted to post some pictures that we've taken here and there, for the particular reading pleasure of some little boys I know back home in Winnipeg -

so Ayub and Sam, and Carter, Max and Nicholas, these are for you!

And Rosie and Jillian - we hope you get to come and see them too someday!

sunrise just outside of mugumu on our way to the park

a little safari baby

elegance

these are the cape buffalo - the fiercest animal in East Africa. you do not want to mess around with these things.

In Swahili they are called "Mbogo."

"Mbogo" is also my Dad's name, given to him by the Kikuyu more than 20 years ago.

And now, people in Mugumu call Ben "Mbogo," or "Mbogo Mdogo" (little Buffalo).

Quite fitting, really.

we had a snack at Olduvai Gorge, the "cradle of mankind" where they have found a large number of bones and ancient artifacts, including the oldest footprints ever found.


this tree was very exciting...look closely...



after 10 years of living in Africa, I finally got to see a leopard.



this was a huge pod of elephants, more than could be pictured - probably about 8 babies in this particular pod. They crossed right in front of us - very humbling.



there are more pictures of lions and giraffes and hippoes...any interest to see them?

paradise

hello everyone!

sorry for the three month silence.

we're back in Nairobi for a couple of weeks. it was a long stretch in mugumu - three months, and the only time i got out was for a game drive in serengeti one day. but, we welcomed the rhythm of daily life, waking, eating, working, sleeping. ben and aaron have continued to sprout and are happy, happy kids. Aaron has gained 6 pounds in the last 3 months - bananas and uji (millet porridge) work wonders.

we're up here for kurt to conduct an MCC meeting about technology in developing countries. right after those meetings are over, he will be climbing Mt Kenya for a week with Morgan, a long-time friend from Canada. They will be making their second attempt to summit "Batian" the actual peak of Mt Kenya, which is quite a technical climb. So if you think of these two fellows anytime from April 1-8th, please say a prayer for their safety.

So as to not worry back here in Nairobi, I've weaseled my way into going to Malindi, on the coast of kenya, to a beach resort for a few days. the only catch is, it's along-side the senior class of Rosslyn Academy. Forty-seven 18 year olds to share the pool with!! my mom is one of the senior class chaperones, so it will be a fun time. we leave tomorrow and will be back on friday.

i would love to be able to put up some more posts about our life, but that is contingent on how much the boys sleep! :) aaron is a cat-napper during the day and that makes everything a bit tricky. but i will try. it's recently been deeply impressed on me how much we need to be sharing with our friends and family back home about our life. It would be nice to be able to post more often!

for now, here's a picture of Ben learning to ride a tricycle in Arusha last year. hopefully, more to come!!