Exciting day! We had our first adventure outside of the IU House today. We started the morning off by driving (off-roading) 30 minutes away to Umbrella Falls - a hidden waterfall in the middle of nowhere behind an old man's farm. It took some courageous rock-scaling and sliding on our butts to get to the viewpoint, but it was well-worth it. To make the experience even cooler, we were able to walk behind the fall and see a giant rainbow.
After the waterfall, we drove about 1.5 hours along unpaved, pothole-damaged dirt. We had the pleasure of sitting in the very back seat of the van the entire way...at one point, Lindsay hit her head on the ceiling as we crashed through an enormous pothole. We finally arrived at Kreuger Park, a family-owned giraffe preservation alongside a mountain. The family rescued 14 giraffes several years ago to protect them from being killed on their way to Uganda. We took a 3 hour hike around the mountain - saw several impalas and plenty of cows (strangely enough). Two and a half hours into our trip, we finally stumbled upon a single giraffe peering from the bushes. Eventually, we saw the entire herd with a two-day old baby giraffe. Spectacular. We'll never forget the thunderous sound of the stampeding giraffes across the mountainside (as they ran quickly away from us).
We ended our day by driving to Kerio View, a restaurant overlooking the Rift Valley. We sat for several hours eating great food, drinking Tusker beer, and taking in the breathtaking view. What a great way to end the day, despite our sore butts and sunburned skin.
After the waterfall, we drove about 1.5 hours along unpaved, pothole-damaged dirt. We had the pleasure of sitting in the very back seat of the van the entire way...at one point, Lindsay hit her head on the ceiling as we crashed through an enormous pothole. We finally arrived at Kreuger Park, a family-owned giraffe preservation alongside a mountain. The family rescued 14 giraffes several years ago to protect them from being killed on their way to Uganda. We took a 3 hour hike around the mountain - saw several impalas and plenty of cows (strangely enough). Two and a half hours into our trip, we finally stumbled upon a single giraffe peering from the bushes. Eventually, we saw the entire herd with a two-day old baby giraffe. Spectacular. We'll never forget the thunderous sound of the stampeding giraffes across the mountainside (as they ran quickly away from us).
We ended our day by driving to Kerio View, a restaurant overlooking the Rift Valley. We sat for several hours eating great food, drinking Tusker beer, and taking in the breathtaking view. What a great way to end the day, despite our sore butts and sunburned skin.
What a great day - and your pictures are really terrific! I especially liked the giraffe pictures (as you know, Erik, it's one of my favorite animals altho' have only seen them live in the zoo!) Hope you get a full night's sleep tonight and that your butts and sunburn are recovering. We went to Wrigley Field today to watch the Cubs lose the 10th game out of the last 11 - would have been MUCH happier spending the day with you in Africa! Love you both, Dad A.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear the day went well...I am so glad to hear that you are eating good food, I was worried that you would be eating grubs and wild spinach all day every day (learned about in my travel to Botwanna, Africa) Miss you both. Kirby,especially, miss the weekend family pool time. Chase had the weekend off and starts back at Gradient on Monday. We are getting closer and closer to me moving out there. I love the pictures and hearing all about your daily adventures. Enjoy your first day Lindsay, I will be thinking about you tomorrow. Both of you take care and have fun. Love you!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures...sounds like a great day. Lindsay - hope your first day goes well. I like the statement about the thunderous sound of the stampeding giraffes. Looking forward to reading your next post. Love, Dad B.
ReplyDeleteI found you guys! Hey this is great stuff! Wish I was there with you! OMG! I am. C u for dinner!
ReplyDeleteIt is so fun to live vicariously through your blog. I can't believe how you were on a giraffe chase today. I'm just so excited for you guys to have this experience with each other. We are super glad to hear that you've decided to steer clear of the Chingha beer. Sending mad love from SF.
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