Kenya with the Fam

We had a great trip to Kenya! The travel there was rough and adjusting to 8 time zones proved to be challenging for all of us. We successfully had zero sunburns. I got in decent running until I caught a cold and then maintained for the last week. The kids had a lot of fun playing with other kids and seeing different animals. Here are a bunch of photos from the trip…

 

The Kitale Nature Conservatory (KNC) was pretty neat. We saw Lions, hyena, crocodiles and a bunch of other interesting stuff.

The KNC had a bunch of bible scenes. I could do a whole photo dump on the peculiarities of this place.

 

Mount Elgon Guest House was a really neat place to stay. Such a great little place in a remote area of Kenya. The last 30km of driving was slow going on a bumpy dirt road. Can’t believe this place exists where it does but they are getting a big road through the area. The big road is being built to help South Sudan get their goods via Mombassa (port city on Kenyan coast).

This picture was taken in Uganda. The river is the border between Kenya and Uganda. Locals can cross the border without showing ID or even stopping. Once the new road is built there will likely be a beefed up border crossing.

I found an unmanned border crossing off a really small dirt road (a car wouldn’t be able to drive on the road, too rough). I crossed the border and did a loop in Uganda. There was a stick, rope and sandbag (behind me in pic) on the other side of the river in Uganda for border security.

 

In between the two countries.

 

Kids sharing a Fanta.

Louis pointing to some Rhinos at Nakuru Park. We spent one night in the park and had a 2.5 hour game drive the next morning. We saw zebras, giraffes, a leopard, a lion and her cub, rhinos, hippos, monkeys, baboons, water buffalo, antelope, gazelles and many birds.

 

At breakfast we saw hundreds of water buffalo making their way down towards the lake.  A little later we got up and close with a few.

The kids especially liked the giraffes.

Spent some time at the pool at Lake Nakuru Lodge after the safari.

 

Hanging with some kids who live close to my massage therapist in Iten. It costs $4 for an hour massage.

Hill overlooking Iten. We bought Supreme x Polo Sport shants for Louis at the Iten market.

Lake Nakuru Park.

Safari fun.

View from our room at Lake Nakuru Lodge.

John was our neighbour at HATC. Judging by his hat this is Christmas day.

We had a Christmas tree in our room. Santa came and the kids got a couple local gifts and treats for the flights. (Elodie had a few falls and her forehead took a beating.)

Iten, Home of Champions.

 

Moving Day.

Bucket bath.

Overlooking Rift Valley. I never tire of this view.

 

 

Met up with friends. We met Rop (red shirt) 5 years ago, when he was about Louis’ age.

 

Travel there was rough. It went much more smoothly on way back. Big gaps between flights and night flights (kids slept easily) helped.

 

On our way home we had a 17 hour layover in Cairo. Plenty of time to see the sights of the city. We were lucky it was Friday as that allowed us to get around the city much easier (it’s their day of rest).

 

Giza Pyramids.

Louis slept a lot of the day but when he woke up right in front of a 159m pyramid he was pretty excited.

Tea break at Kahn El Kahlili market. I think it’s the oldest market in Africa. The lanes of shops are very impressive.

 

Lunch with a view.

Inside Kahn El Kahlili market.

Kahn El Kahlili. We didn’t buy anything in the market but apparently you should pay about 20% of what they ask for.

***

My first race in 2020 will be the Robbie Burns 8km (Burlington) January 19th. I’m targeting an April marathon but I don’t know which one yet. Still waiting to hear back. Will update in January once I have that nailed down.

 

Happy New Year!

 

John and I running some 200’s at Tambach track on Christmas Eve. Tambach is down a little bit into the Rift Valley (Iten is the height of the top of the escarpment in background). It’s hotter down here but has more available oxygen. (Photo: Sean Tilden)