SAFARI !!!

After my ride on the Matatu I was able to go on a 1 day Safari to Lake Nakuru, it is about a two hour ride away from Nairobi. Upon arriving i was greeted by the safari guide, Simon, and I met two other volunteers, Gloria and Allison.

Nakuru means "Dust or Dusty Place" in Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park, close to Nakuru town, was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the famous lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity. Now it has been extended to include a large part of the savannahs.The lake is world famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth - myriads of fuschia pink flamingoes whose numbers are legion, often more than a million maybe two.
They feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters.The park now has more than 25 rhinos, one of the largest concentrations in the country, so the chances of spotting these survivors are good. There are also a number of Rothschild's giraffe

While there I saw only two of the 'African Big Five' (Elephant, Lion, Cheetah, Rhino,Buffalo) I only saw the Rhino and the Buffalo, but I am going on another Safari tommorrow and then hopefully another one in a couple weeks to Massai Mara...I guess we'll see!!! Also While i was at Lake Nakuru I saw Zebra's a plenty, Pumba, and Giraffe's!!! (which i have recently decided is my favorite Animal)

After Lake Nakuru, we went to Lake Naivasha, which has Hippos, i'm sorry to everyone who told me not to, i didn't heed your advice and I did go into the Lake (but don't worry, i was in a boat :) The Hippos were Hideous, but quite captivating...Their Mouths are HUGE!!!

Picked Up

Hello friends and family, yes, i am in Kenya, and I am alive...for now :) There is so much that I have done/I am going to do, that i could fill numerous blog posts, unfortunately i don't have the time right now...so instead i am going to tell you a quick story about right when i arrived.

Upon leaving you last i was about to get on the plane to finish my journey and arrive in Nairobi. On the plane i was able to sleep quite a bit, about six hours so i was fresh to begin my adventures here. When the plane landed I was led to the visa entry place and got to pay only half what i was expecting so that was good :)
As i picked up my baggage and walked outside i found about fifty people holding signs waiting to pick up others arriving in Kenya, after walking up and down the row of people frantically searching for my name a man started asking who I was looking for and if he could help...needless to say i was a big scared seeing as i was just arriving here a million miles away from home and there was not a familiar face to see...everyone i was talking to was a stranger!!!

Anyway, this man was actually really helpful and called Joe, the project manager person, who then talked to me and apparantly my plane arrived not only a half hour early, but it only took about a half hour to get through customs, which it usually takes about an hour, so he would be a few minutes...by this time i was calmed down and led to the cafeteria area, by the man with no name who helped me. (yes, the thought that i was going to disappear and not be found did run though my head, but it's not like i couldn't trust anybody...don't worry, i was wary and careful)...yes, i was!
So, after about five minutes of waiting i was found by Joe and Eunice, my things were collected and i was shown to the car (i accidentlly started to go the the drivers side because, of course, the sides are oppisite america). After driving a few minutes i was informed that i was going to take my 1 day safari that day. I wasn't able to go home or freshen up, which was okay, other than feeling a terrible mess and not having looked in a mirror for two days, but maybe that was for the best :) I was promptly taken to the Matatu (public transportation) Eunice got me a ticket and led me to the bus and then commenced the two hour journey to Lake Nakuru where i met up with Peter (tour guide), Victor (driver), Allison (volunteer from NY), and Gloria (volunteer from CA) but that is another story, i will tell you however that Jason (volunteer from Vancouver BC) deemed me the bravest person, not only because i came to Kenya alone, but i rode the Matatu alone...he got pickpocketed the day before as he was getting off...but again that is another story.

Next time i get on, i promise pictures and the safari story, I love most of you, and don't worry, i'll be safe!

A Foggy Day in London Town

Hello to all my friends, family, and anyone else who might randomly read this blog. I only have about ten minutes to write because i only had one pound, so please forgive the mistakes. I just wanted to let you know about my little side trip into London today, i was here for approx. 10 hours before my flight to Kenya so i decided to get past customs and explore a bit :)

My first stop was the British Museum, here I found amazing artifacts and info about the ancient Greeks and Romans and then also Africa and a bit about money around the world and clocks. It was truly amazing. But about an hour and a half roaming the british museum my drive to see more took hold and I made my way to Parliment to see Big Ben! it truly was an amazing sight, unfortunately it doesn't take to long to see it. So i started wandering down the street looking for an adventure and lo and behold I found Trafalger Square. By this point my time for exploring London was almost finished, but i still had not found a Pasty that i promised my sisters i would enjoy for both of them. Unfortunately none of the approx. Fifteen restaurants/cafes has any :( but i still had my adventure. I made my way back to the airport and now i have and hour and a half until i finish my long journey to Kenya...perhaps next time i can write more about my adventures in London, perhaps I'll have too much to say about Kenya...however, until then, i Love most of you reading this :)


i'll add in pictures later ;)

About to Go...Somewhere New

Alright Everyone, here it comes, C here, starting a new epic page in this blog we call life...or rather a travel blog :) Next sunday, May 10th 2009 I am going to travel halfway across this planet we call Earth to Kenya. Just me this time...

I am going to spent three weeks working at an Orphanage in Kenya near the big city, the largest city,and capital, Nairobi. I hope to spend the weekends traveling and the weekdays serving.

How I started
Last November a roommate and I started talking about traveling and she mentioned that she wanted to travel and serve people, i agreed and spent the next three days on the internet. after I had decided to go some friends supported me (Kandice and Trish :) and other friends discouraged me (Hernan) which only pushed me harder to actually go. Now here it is, six months later and I AM GOING!!! (ha ha to Hernan :P )

I don't know how much I will actually get near the internet but my hope is to blog every few days about the AMAZING experience I am about to have. I will be staying about a half hour bus ride away from the Orphanage with my Host family, a woman named Mercy and her 8 year old daughter. :)


Some stats about Kenya

Kenya is found in Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania

Population: approx. 39,002,772

Ethnic Groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%

Religion: Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2%

Languages: English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages

Gov't Type: Republic

Independence Day (From UK): Dec. 12th 1963

President: Mwai Kibaki

Spring Break Happiness!!

I LOVE TO TRAVEL!!!!! If I am not on a trip, I am planning one. Right now I am lucky enough to be on a trip. We have just concluded Day 7 and I am in one of my favorite places in America. I am in Bluff. It is my first time back in nearly 7 years and I am so glad to be here. J and I shared a Navajo taco at the Twin Rocks Café pretty soon after the sun went down and right after checking in with our AWESOME hostess Elda. Perhaps I should give a short rundown of the trip so far.

Day 1 –(Friday March 20) – WICKED!!! This show is AMAZING! If you have an opportunity to see it – GO! I got chills and tears and I left the show wanting to be a Broadway star. J and I went to see it with some of my Vancouver peeps. It was the perfect end to a crazy finals week.



Day 2 – Cannon Beach. Ginger and I had a photo shoot. I read my book on the beach for a bit and then worked for a couple of hours. This means that I got a delicious meal prepared by my FAVORITE chef and the best father I know – MY DAD!



Day 3 – Sunday with the family. We had a pseudo-impromptu birthday party for J, since she is leaving to go to school and won’t be home for her bday in May. She received gifts such as dishwashing soap, cleaners and tp from Costco!!



Day 4 – driving, driving, Multnomah Falls, driving, driving, driving, driving, driving, breakfast at the last Burgerville for 24,000ish miles, driving, driving, driving, driving, driving, sighting of the Boise temple, driving, driving, driving, driving, driving, SURPRISE CASEY in Rexburg!!!!!! We talked to her when we got to Idaho Falls and through some sneaky investigative conversation we discovered that she would be at home studying. We text messaged her a pic of Multnomah Falls and one of the Welcome to Idaho sign and the last was a pic of J and I standing in front of her door. Much to our sadness she had left and was not home for the surprise. We got to see her about an hour later and visited until curfew.



Day 5 – Enjoying all that Rexburg has to offer! We went to visit C at work and then her boss let her off early (thanks Ryan!). We enjoyed Bajio for lunch and went to Brother Baron’s Book of Mormon class where J got to tell everyone her favorite movie from each genre and I admitted that if I could be any Disney character I would be Ursula the Sea Witch ( I think I scared them. Really). We went to the Spori Gallery where there was a VERY COOL show about creativity where they featured senior projects from the year. I found a book I wanted at the bookstore and resisted buying BYUI paraphernalia. We met C’s roommates and friends and relaxed at the apartment until some of us went to Craigo’s for pizza buffet (Oreo pizza = yum!) then off to the cheap theater to see He’s Just Not That into You. It was pretty funny how interactive that movie became. For example, one of the characters cheats on his wife and every time he came on screen, several people were heard to say “CHEATER!” and at the mushy parts, there were audible sighs.



Day 6 – J, C and I went to JB’s for breakfast where C’s hot chocolate smelled like play dough. Erika had told me to go to the cupcake place. WOW! We got 5 different kinds of cupcakes and they have all been delicious so far. The pictures will say everything. After saying “later” to C outside her job, J and I drove to Salt Lake City. We met up with Russ and watched an episode of Wife Swap. What a weird show. Dinner was Crown Burger, which happened to be delicious but made me feel not so vivacious. Jen and I got to use Mike’s tickets to the Utah Grizzlies hockey game!!! We were on one end about 7 rows from the ice. There was some pushing and shoving, 2 broken hockey sticks and a few almost altercations, but no full on fights. A little disappointing.





Day 7 – TODAY!!! Thursday March 26th. We took it easy this morning and I got my rear end kicked at Dr. Mario. I am not as good at the game as I remember. Jen’s youngest, Ryan, really wanted me to come say hello so we stopped by on our way out of town. Then we drove and drove and drove. We had a miracle and this is what I will conclude with. We were trucking along on the mountain and there was some blowing snow, but nothing serious. I was coming up pretty fast on this semi, so I pulled into the passing lane. It was at this point that I had to turn on the wipers and wash the windshield of the road spray from the truck. I did not see that there was ice on the road, but I sure felt it. I lost traction and I was VERY afraid that we would slide into oncoming traffic. At exactly the right moment, I jerked the car into the other lane and after a slight fishtailing maneuver the tires found the blacktop and we were safe. My senses were on full alert by this point and my heart took several miles to calm down. While some may say that they are exceptional drivers and can handle anything that comes, I know that our recovery was due to a higher power than my own. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father that is mindful of his children and the times when he needs to direct specific movements of theirs. I know that I was guided on the road today.

Our Day In Hollywood!

Our Day in California!
Unfortunately because we had to take…I mean, got to take a side trip to Lake Havasu, we only got one full day in the sunny California. However, that day was filled with all sorts of adventure! We woke up early, at the crack of 8am, and took our time getting ready, at about 9:30 we left the house and made our way to Porto’s Bakery, HOLY COW! Talk about a bakery! It was a truly amazing sight! And the taste was even better! We got there too late to eat breakfast, so we ordered sandwiches which were so tasty, I think J’s was the best, I forget what it was, but it was great! We also got to see Kate, she was headed up to Oregon from San Diego, so we got to visit with her for a bit.
Portos Goodies

Us...

We then took a trip to the Americana Mall, just so we could look at all of the stuff rich people like to buy. I found probably the softest leather jacket that anyone in the history of the world has ever felt…it was $750, I don’t wish I had that jacket, I just wish I could afford to buy that jacket . Anyway, we went to another mall, I forget what it’s called, but we went to buy toys (no, not because we were bored). Earlier that morning David was looking online for stuff we could do that day and he found that Knott’s Berry Farm was doing a Toys for Tots drive. If we brought a toy valued at $10 or more you get in for free! So we went to buy toys.
After we got the toys we headed to Hollywood. We didn’t explore Hollywood Blvd. as much as I wanted to, but we also didn’t have as much time as I wanted…We got to take a tour of the Kodak Theatre, it was so cool! We found out a lot of interesting stuff, like if you go out of the public eye for too long, you won’t get invited to come back to the Academy Awards, you’ll be put into a lottery…it’s sad. However we also found out that in the year 2010 the Kodak Theatre is only going to host the Academy Awards and…CIRQUE DU SOLEIL!!! Yes, that’s right, they are going to make a special show for Hollywood and play it exclusively at the Kodak Theatre, we are definitely going to see it! After the Theatre tour we headed outside to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to see the Handprints! It was fun to see all of them and the Theatre is AMAZING! I found my hand twin…Jack Oakie…I have no idea who he is…I should look that up .
In Front of the Kodak

My hand twin!



Tomoko was supposed to meet us for the Kodak tour, but she got really lost, so instead she met us at Pink’s, pink’s is the best Hot Dog stand ever! Truly amazing…and everybody thinks so! We waited in line for about and hour and a half, and it was gone in about ten minutes. It was so so tasty! And we got to see Tomo, which was a major plus!





To top off our night we headed to Knott’s Berry Farm. Knott’s Berry Farm is a theme park of sorts, I mean, of course you’ve heard of their jam, and cookies, and yummyness, but they also have rides and shops and Snoopy. We got there at about 7:30 so we only had 2.5 hours to play before they closed. The first ride we went on was the Supreme Scream, if you’ve been to Vegas it’s called the Big Shot, except this one is bigg. In fact it is the largest descending ride in the world…you sit in a chair with your feet dangling below and it takes you way up to the top and then drops you, it brings you up again, and drops you again. You must know that I have not been on a ride since I was about 8 years old, so to go on a ride like this was either the worst, or the best thing I could have possibly done…I’ll let you decide. By the end of it I was practically hyperventilating, and laughing, and almost crying. It was truly amazing, that was the only ride that J went on, but D and David and I wanted more! We went on another ride called the Boomerang and then the Park was closing, David and I ran to another ride and got in right as they closed the ride. We were the last ones they let on . That was the best one, I don’t know if it was because it was the longest, the last one, or if it was because we barely got on…maybe it was a mixture of the three . D and J didn’t make it to the ride in time, but that was okay, because J wanted to go find the gift shop anyway.
One of the coolest parts of the night was driving in David’s Mercedes convertible, it had screens in the headrest’s and we watched a U2 DVD. Wow, I didn’t know I liked U2, but I really do . We also got to watch a Dave Matthews Band DVD as well. So fun! It was a Blast!!!
After the ride

David and Grace

Day 6: London Bridge Is Falling Down!

We left early to get to Lake Havasu. D drove Uncle David’s car with Uncle David in it, and C and I drove Sid. D was in an e x t r e m e l y bad mood.

****** this is D interrupting... I am adding pics to the blogs and just read this post...and I have to say in my defense that I only got 4 hours of sleep and things had been frustrating*********

I was actually pretty grateful that I was not in the car with her. We drove through the exact same places that we had driven on Wednesday, but they were now almost completely devoid of snow and ice. It was a little strange. We passed by the fateful casino that had unintentionally caused so much trouble, and then moved on towards Arizona. The car ride was long, boring, and uneventful. That was probably a good thing, considering the events of the last one. We got Uncle David home, and he insisted on treating us to lunch. We went out after lunch and saw the London Bridge. It was pretty. We found out all sorts of info about the bridge, and C donated some coins to the huge Salvation Army donation thing that they had there. It was a pretty cool ‘donation thing’. It had a slot for every state. C donated for both Oregon and Idaho, since her heart belongs to both for various reasons. I didn’t donate to either, since my change belongs to my pocket for various other reasons. C is insisting over my shoulder that her heart does not belong to Idaho, it belongs to Rexburg. She wants that made very clear. Distinguish between the two. Idaho, no… Rexburg, yes. Sorry to all you Idahoans that are not from Rexburg. Anyway, back on track. We decided that it would be downright rude to pass through the area and not say Hi to our Grandma (Hi Grandma! (she reads this blog continually)) So we stopped in Earp (yes, named after Wyatt, who was born nearby) and had a short visit with her. We met the newest addition to our family, a little yapper-dog named Arrow. (Sorry, Grandma, I don’t know breeds, just size and sound). He was absolutely adorable, for all the noise he made. (I think I remember saying the same thing about my little brother when he was born. ;) )


When we finally made it out on the road to Cali, it was almost 5pm. We were all a little tired, but very anxious to get to LA and meet with David (Not Uncle). We were supposed to meet with David (not Uncle) late Thursday, and we were excited to see him and feeling guilty about missing almost a whole day with him. We drove FOREVER and finally made it to LA. We did a few things on Friday night, but I will leave them for C to describe, as LA is her territory. Thus ends the record of J Pappas on Vegas times.