Making Out With A Giraffe

4/05/2012
Today is a very sad day. It marks the final day of the Gorillas and Game Parks leg of trip, and it will be our last day with my tent buddy Vicki, Amy and James (James will rejoin us in 10 days). So it was with a heavy heart that we piled into the truck for the final drive back into Nairobi. Our spirits were lifted somewhat by an impromptu singalong on the back of the truck, kicked off by the Glee song 'Don't Stop Believin'. In honour of final goodbyes to Vicki and Amy, Grace and I started singing 'Don't Wanna Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith, unaccompanied, and surprisingly we knew all the words! Unfortunately for us, I'm pretty sure Julia caught the entire out of tune rendition on camera.

We made our way to the Giraffe Sanctuary in Nairobi to get up close and personal with, you guessed it, a giraffe. Here we were given pellets and were able to hand feed a Rothschild giraffe, as well as pat it. Yeah, I touched a giraffe! Not only that, there's this handy trick whereby you put one of the pellets in your lips, and the giraffe gives you a kiss / licks your face to get the pellet! And yes, I did it twice. Giraffes saliva is a natural antiseptic, so it was perfectly clean and hygienic!


One of the keepers at the sanctuary also gave us an informative talk about giraffes, and as part of that he passed around the femur bone of a giraffe. The thing is very, very heavy, and I absolutely believed it when he informed us that a kick from a giraffe can decapitate a lion.

Back to Karen Camp, where it all started 19 days previously, for a truck clean (it was definitely needed!). Jozi and Iain dropped us all (and Calum, one of the newbies joining us for the rest of the trip) into Karen shops on their way to fuel up, and a group of us had a local meal at a local eatery. The place was full of smoke, and James informed us that it was very posh for a local joint, as it had menus! I had meat stew and ugali. The locals didn't know what to think of a bunch of wazungu eating at a local, let alone eating the traditional way (rolling the ugali in your hand to make a ball, then scooping up the stew). It was tasty and cheap, about $1.50 for a large plate of ugali and stew.

After lunch we caught three packed taxis back to Karen camp, and the new guy, Calum, was in the boot of one as he wouldn't fit anywhere else. Not a bad way to welcome him to the trip! Everyone had a few beers at the camp bar, and i decided to upgrade to a dorm for $5. Best decision ever - there wasn't a dry piece of ground anywhere, it was covered in at least a centimetre or two of water. The grass looked ok, but was actually a sodden mess that you sank into. Not pleasant camping conditions at all!

As a big group farewell (and welcome to the three newbies: Clare, Calum and Charity) we went to Talismans for dinner - a restaurant that's very popular with the expat population by the looks of it! It was quite a nice place, and I felt a bit underdressed, even though I was wearing my nicest African outfit (a casual dress, tights and thongs!). I got the best spot In the house, right next to the fire bucket. I wouldn't really say it was cold, but all the rain certainly added a chill to the air.

The food at Talismans was awesome - a complete change of pace from the ugali at lunch. Very much a westernised, modern restaurant, and it was nice to look at a menu with familiar dishes on it. I ordered feta and coriander samosas with chilli ginger jam (not very African at all!) for starters, and chicken ala limone for main. I only spent 2200 kenyan shillings, or about $25, which is quite expensive compared to the rest of food out here, but worth the splurge. Cheap compared to australian prices, when you consider I got entree, main, and a few beers.

Way too soon, it was time to head back to camp for a couple more goodbye drinks with Vicki, driver Dave, Amy and James as it was their last night with us. :(