Kenya

Hey everybody,e

Kenya is awesome. I love it.

The end.

But in all seriousness, I did not expect Kenya to be so cool mainly because I didn't come into the trip expecting much. I only really had three or four days in Kenya, so of course I couldn't come in expecting the world. And to be quite honest, at first I was a little disappointed. I found out that I couldn't go on a safari because I didn't have enough time, I came a day too late, and a safari for a singe person ran for about $300. I also learned that the carnivore heaven or something like that, which boasted game meat (zebra, antelope, crocodile, wildebeest, etc) only had ostrich.
Luckily, I met some pretty cool people at the hostel. Shout out to Dan and Jesse from the UK. Together we went to the giraffe center on Sunday. I got to pet, feed, and kiss a giraffe (yes, sounds like the zoo, I know). Afterwards we explored the outskirts of Nairobi, went to a bead factory, and ate raw sugar cane. Afterwards, we returned to the hostel and, while munching on sugar cane, I saw my team (the steelers) win.
The next day I met a Sudanese girl named Mai (pronounced may) who showed me around Nairobi and let me read this Sudanese book. She also showed me Kenyan and Ethiopian food.
Finally today I visited a place called Hell's gate. This is where some of the recent Tomb Raider was shot. And let me tell you... That trip was an adventure and a half.

Basically, It is a 3 hour ride from the hostel to hell's gate. Hell's Gate is about an hour outside a village called Naivasha, and my hostel is in Nairobi. My options were either taking taxi for about 150 bucks, or taking a Matatu (mini-van bus) for 170 Kenyan shillings (78 to the dollar). Obviously I chose the second option. Unfortunately that meant I got lost in Kenya three or four times. One time they took me to the wrong village, and another time, the wrong side of hells gate. Then, after I finally got across that I wanted to go to the tourist version of Hell's gate (because they assumed I lived there), the Matatu driver dropped me off at a random posh hotel that was about 5km away from where I wanted to be. So I biked. By the time I got to the Laura Croft Hell's gate, it was time for me to leave. I wanted to leave early so that I wouldn't be trapped in Kenya in the dark.

Of course, however, the moment I arrived back in Nairobi, the Matatu got stuck in a traffic jam so bad that there were literally two inches between every car on the road; and for a lane that was supposed to hold two cars comfortably side by side, three max, five cars crammed by each other. So after I got dropped off in the wrong place again, I decided to walk back to my hostel, which at a good estimate is about 3-4 miles away.

One thing I should mention is that my hostel is next to the most notorious Kenyan slum, known for murder, robbery, etc. During the day, this isn't a big problem, but during the night, I have heard to stay away. Long story short, I got lost once again, and found myself in the middle of the slum at dark.

Anyways, this time I promise, pictures to follow.