June 28, 2005 We went down early for coffee and interpreted the sign because there were Vervet monkeys all over the patio and swinging from trees. We had an early game drive at 6:30. This was wonderful as we were able to see the sunrise and extremely large herds of wildebeests at the same time. We also saw huge herds of elephants with white birds on their backs. In the distance we could see a hippo grazing in the marsh. We felt very lucky because the ...

June 27, 2005 We had a very early wakeup call with breakfast at 6 and a 6:30 departure time. We were excited to finally see Mt. Kenya because it had previously been covered with clouds and haze. Our first stop was at the Equator for a water demonstration and group photos. For the water demonstration we witnessed how in the Northern Hemisphere water going down a drain spins in a clockwise rotation while in the Southern Hemisphere it circles counterclockwise....

June 26, 2005 Our wakeup call involved someone coming to our tent with thermoses of coffee and tea. Within minutes I spotted a zebra walking towards the watering hole. This one was followed by four more. It was very chilly this morning as we headed off for a four hour game drive. We started with a visit to the Goodwin Chimpanzee Sanctuary. This facility houses 25 orphaned and/or abused chimps. They were fenced in but thoroughly entertained us. Once again...

June 25, 2005 We were assigned to a guide named Felix as we divided into two groups. We left Nairobi and headed north to the Sweetwater Camp. Our guide was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the country. We talked about education, government and corruption. Some of the topics of conversation really surprised us. Polygamy is legal and quite common in Kenya. We also learned that several tribes have certain characteristics. In one of the 42 tribes of Kenya a...

June 24, 2005 After breakfast we were going to explore a little but having guards in front of our hotel checking the undercarriages of vehicles for bombs was a little worrisome so I took a picture of the casino and we returned to our room. We did go to the business center in the hotel so we could send e-mails home announcing our safe arrival. We met for an orientation meeting and then set out on a short walking tour of Nairobi. We were shown the statue comm...