Tan’s Birthday in Nairobi

Baby elephants are quite possibly the cutest animals I've ever seen. And I have the pics to prove it! We went to the David Sheldrick Elephant and Rhino Orphanage just outside Nairobi. In line we met several people from Houston. Tan met a couple from Spring and I met a guy that used to work at Compaq until 1999. Crazy, small world! We got to the front of the pack and ran to get a great spot. The trainers stood around for a while then it was time to see the cuteness run toward us! OMG…they came galloping up and drank from baby bottles, then they played soccer and ran around. They were absolutely amazing and precious. If I could put an elephant in my bag, it would have been running around Memorial Club on a leash! I settled for the next best thing and adopted an elephant named Tumaren that was abandoned when her mother was killed by poachers. She stayed by her mom's body until she was rescued and brought to the reserve. You can tell there is a strong bond with the orphans and their foster parents as they nuzzle and touch them with their trunks. The trainers even sleep in the shelter with the baby elephants each night. We did get to pat a rhino on the nose too. J

Next stop was Giraffe Manor. They were all sizes and had all different kinds of patterns. We got to hand feed them from the ground and from a little fort with a bird's eye view too. We did a little shopping at the gift store then it was off to lunch.

The Talisman was delicious. I had artichoke hearts and crab pasta. Both were so yummy!! The service and surroundings were both incredible. There were plants, flowers and little huts with colorfully decorated pillows everywhere. My favorite area was the garden though. There was a tree I could sit and read under all day. And a sweet little herb garden was tucked away on the side, as well.

We continued our day on a city tour of Nairobi. We caught beautiful views over the city and looked down on a park that hosted a rally for the election that was coming up on Wednesday. This rally was all green, so it was the side that was voting YES to the new constitution for Kenya. We saw lots of state buildings and statues around town. The highlight for me was then driving through the poorer area of the city. It was interesting. The surroundings and living conditions were sad. They didn't appear to have electricity or water, but people looked happy in general. Some yelled at us angrily (Tan swears someone told him "I will kill you!") while most smiled, waved and even blew kisses. It looked like their primary industry was taking scraps from other businesses and converting them to something else. There were oil drums that became wheelbarrows and other metal goods and they were converting tires to shoes too. They also had many of the homes painted with sponsored ads from safaricom and other companies.

Later that evening we went to Carnivore, famous for its exotic meats. Bill also arrived that night and got to join us at the restaurant! The guys tried crocodile and ox balls. Back in the day they had things like zebra and giraffe…but those were no longer on the menu. The staff came out and sang a big 'Happy Birthday' and 'Jumbo, Jumbo' to Tan on his big day.

Then, after a huge meal and a 'few' dawas (the drink of Kenya, made with vodka, honey, lime and brown sugar) we hung out a little then discovered a playground in the back of the restaurant. We zoomed down the slides, climbed thru tubes and bounced on the suspension bridges. It was a great night and hope it was a spectacular day for our Birthday boy, Tan! J