lake nakuru

What a busy 2 weeks we have had! We have both gotten more involved in the community and the days have flown by. Lindsay started her pediatric rotation at the hospital and continues to volunteer at Sally Test and even gave a presentation to mothers in the community. Meanwhile Erik worked on a micro-finance project to support HIV+ people as well as continued his work with the kids at Tumaini. In fact, he got so involved that he picked up ringworm from one of the boys! The other med students now call him "Ringy". We've even been able to do community service projects together, like volunteer at a local farm that grows vegetables to donate to members of the community with HIV. We will miss all these great opportunities to help back in America! We spent last weekend at the picturesque Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake is known for it's phenomenon of drawing thousands of flamingos. Just look at the picture of the lake that we got from a cliff above! Yes, those are all flamingos! The park is also a hotspot for having almost all of Africa's safari animals. In fact, we had our first encounters with 3 of Africa's "Big 5"! We had the pleasure of getting very close with black Rhinos, buffalos, and even lions! We were a little scared for our lives every time they looked at us. One of the neatest experiences we had in the park was when we were able to sit and watch families of baboons and vervet monkeys (acting like humans) from a couple feet away. The similarities are absolutely stunning but almost scary. But, the highlight of the afternoon came when we went up to the top of a cliff just in time to watch a quick storm angrily take over the lake. It was one of those breathtaking experiences of nature that pictures don't even fully grasp. This was our last weekend excursion before our "real vacation". We will be off to Zanzibar island, then a safari excursion to hopefully see a male lion, cheetah, and wildebeests (all animals we have yet to encounter). Thank you all for your continued support on our journey!