Get me some internet

The first day in I narrowly managed to avoid an absurdly overpriced tour of Nairobi, and ended up meeting some Irish kids heading to the Giraffe Center.  We found a cab, made it to the giraffes, and fed them by hand.  Some parents were convincing their 10 year old child to hold the giraffe food in her mouth, so that the giraffe would lick her face.  The child was terrified.  Those are awesome parents.  Then we found a swanky hotel overlooking a park and downtown Nairobi, and had a few Tuskers. 

The second day I had to pack up and head to a new hostel, a much nicer place down the road, to meet Shannon and Deepak, returning from a safari.  I overshot the hostel by half a mile, wandering around Africa with my backpack and a guidebook.  I asked for help and a Kenyan police officer walked me back to the hostel.  Very friendly people, the Kenyans.  And they sure do love Americans, seeing as who we elected president.  Finally made it to the hostel, meeting up with Shannon and Deepak.  We headed to a place called Carnivore, Kenya's answer to the Brazilian steakhouse.  Walking in, you see a giant open oven, cooking skewers of every kind of meet, including beef, chicken, pork, ostrich, goat, and I'm assuming a zebra.  I mean, why not?  Damn things are everywhere.  Then we decided to go to the bar next door, and ended up dancing in a bar that was 100% local but for us.  Obviously, me and Deepak were foreordained to be the worst dancers in the room, but everyone seemed thrilled to have some foreigners around.  Sidenote, my fake wallet could have been stolen about 100 times while we were in there, but no one bothered any of us.  If you use some common sense, Nairobi's reputation as a crime-ridden city is pretty overblown. 

Day 3.  Shannon and Deepak leave, and I'm back on my own.  I head to Lake Nakuru, which the guidebook describes as nice.  In fact, the park is insanely expensive and the town is a frightening shithole.  And as the only white person in the entire city, I received an insane amount of attention.  I am a big dollar sign in places not frequented by other foreigners.  I got out immediately, finding a good deal on a safari.  So trying to see the lake was a failure, but the next morning I'd be escaping.

Day 4.  Maasai Mara.  Day 4 had me hopping on the local mini-buses, or mutatus, heading to join with the safari.  Met up with the group in our pop-top safari van on the way to Kenya's most famous national park, the Maasai Mara.  Note: they do not take Visa.  Visa lied about that.  Youtube the commercial if you want a bit of consumer outrage.  We got there in time for a 2-hour game drive through the park, seeing giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, antelope, and lions.  I could write all day about the safari, but I'll wait until I have photos.

I'll add more later, but for now a quick overview of Africa.  Being here makes me excited and anxious at almost all times.  I'll forget where I am for a moment, then see a herd of wild zebras foraging around the acacia trees. The place is absurdly beautiful, but also insanely dysfunctional.  There are fewer tourists here than I would expect (you can walk around Nairobi for 30 mins w/o seeing another mzungu), meaning I get more attention than I would in Costa Rica, Guat, or Mexico, but generally I've felt pretty safe.  My fake wallet is basically there for the taking, but my interactions with locals have been almost entirely positive.  I have to get to Uganda soon, but no idea how I'm supposed to pull that off.  A hostel I booked online turns out not to have existed, another hostel didn't honor my reservation.  Today is spent just finding an ATM (check), and internet cafe (check) and a way to Uganda.  Then, I think, time for a nap.

Lake Naishava, Kenya