This morning we left Maisai Mara Game Reserve. I am beginning to realize that the end of my vacation is drawing near. At first it seems like 12 days is ever so long but soon I will go home. I've been asked many times where I am from. Some people thought I was British. I tell them I am from the USA, in the middle, near the top, next to Canada. One of my companions has lost her cell phone between the pool, her room and the van. Her ring tone was a frog chirp so it does no good to ring the phone as there are frogs chirping everywhere. Last night it was turned off for a time. We thought maybe a baboon got it or it was left in the rain. Now today it is ringing again. This seems to indicate someone took it and is playing games with her. I have been told that the Maisai people will take things that belong to you because you have it and they need it and they don't consider that stealing. I imagine who ever has it felt they needed it more than she did. As we leave the park we see a herd of over 100 cape buffalo moving in the same direction - an indication that a lion is near. Yep, then we see the lioness walking along after the herd. Between the lioness and the herd of buffalo we see 6 vultures and 2 jackals feeding on a buffalo carcas. The jackals are working on the head. The ribs were already picked clean and they gleam white and big and flat in the morning sun - like huge curved yardsticks. I am reminded of the Samburu tradition of leaving the dead in the wild for the animals to eat and it makes sense now. We leave the gate and the aggressive Maisai sales women are still there and oh, yes, they remember that they are owed 300 shillings by someone in our group. I am smarter this time and leave the window locked. I don't want to buy anything and I don't want to get hit in the head again. We head north. Not too far out of the reserve I see a Maisai boma in the distance and what is that? I see a Maisai person in a wheelchair sitting outside the boma. This is my first wheelchair sighting in Africa and it's way out here in the wild. We stop at another craft gallery. Craft galleries have the most modern bathrooms. I bargain for a cane. I do pretty well. I get a cane, a batik with a giraffe and an acacia tree, plus a wood carving of a warthog for my sister who is watching my dog while I'm gone. She likes pigs. I never thought I would be comfortable bargaining. Sometimes the most exciting experiences come when I push myself out of my comfort zone. I chat with the man selling me the crafts. He has 7 children. He looks to be about 32 years old. I tell him that is a lot of children. He says no, in Kenya it is typical to have 20 to 30 children. Seven is a small number. We head north through the Rift Valley again only this time we are east of where we crossed before. The road is under construction and very bumpy. As we drive up the escarpment to the north side of the Rift Valley, I look down and behold the beauty. The valley is full of farms and fields and pastures and houses. I can see the road we came across on but no others. The land looks fertile and beautiful. Kenya is a beautiful country. We stop for a pizza lunch on the outskirts of Nairobi. This simple lunch tastes delicious! We are headed to a hotel downtown, near a shopping center. Muthoga tells us this will be a safe place to stay. We can feel free to walk to the shopping center as long as we are back by dark. We get stuck in traffic in a traffic circle. Cars are honking and no one is moving forward. I see lots of people on the sidewalk. We see lots of public transport vans parked on the side of the road. Do my eyes deceive me? That van has a Minnesota Timberwolves advertisement on the windshield - how bizarre. We're still not moving. I notice that everyone on the sidewalk is looking alert and looking in the same direction. I turn my eyes to where they are looking but I can't see anything. A man comes to Muthoga's window and they talk quickly in Swahili. The man leaves and Muthoga turns to us and says, "Change of plans, we're going back to the suburbs to the Methodist Guest House." We stayed at the Methodist Guest House the first night we arrived. Muthoga explains that the man at the window was a friend who is also in the tourism business. The President of Kenya (see photo) has closed downtown Nairobi to prevent any peace 
rallies or any protests. Everyone must go home. People can leave downtown but they can't come in. It takes a blizzard to shut down Minneapolis. The cost of shutting down the only metropolitan city in the country must be enormous. No business can be done this afternoon: no private business, no government business, no exporting business, no tourism business. Later I hear the President shut down Parliament today too. I don't think he liked the fact that his opposition party was elected Speaker of the House so he shut Parliament. I can't imagine this happening in our country. But then I start to think about the election between Bush and Gore. The results were contested just like these elections are in Kenya. The difference is that Gore conceded. What if Gore didn't concede? What would have happened? Did Gore do the United States of America any favors by conceding? I also can't compare Kenya to the USA without remembering that we have already celebrated our bicentennial while Kenya's independence was started in 1964 - only 44 years ago. Where was the USA in 1820? Maybe we were just as unstable as Kenya is today. We get out of our traffic jam and head to the suburb and check in at the Methodist Guest House. This hotel has the most confusing layout. I get lost getting to my room. We go from the lobby up stairs and across, down a step, up a step, across, up three floors, across, down half a flight, across, up half a flight, across and around the corner. Our plan is to go the the Carnivore Cafe tonight. This Carnivore Cafe is a world wide top rated restaurant. I try to watch the news to hear more about the political situation. I skip through the stations and watch BBC and CNN and AlJazeera. I see some talk shows and some soap operas and only one American show - Faith and Hope, the silly sitcom about 2 sisters. Is that the image of USA that we want portrayed? Faith and Hope? I guess there could be worse ones. We are to meet a certain time for Migwe to pick us up and take us to the Carnivore. He and Muthoga are late. We get a call that the roads are closed and we may be eating at the Methodist Guest House tonight. That would be fine too. Another call comes in, the roads are open and they will be here in 45 minutes. They arrive in only 10 minutes because the roads are clearer than they thought. We don't have to go through downtown to get to the Carnivore. In fact we will be heading to an outer ring suburb called Karen to get there. Karen is named after Karen Blixen - the character portrayed by Meryl Streep in the movie, "Out of Africa." As we drive through Karen, I can see this is a wealthier area, even in the dark. We drive by a mosque and I can hear the prayers being broadcast. The mosque is lit up with neon blue lights - that doesn't seem very traditional. We are among the few diners tonight at the Carnivore Cafe. Normally this place would be full of guests but the politics has driven people away or driven them to stay home tonight. We are welcomed profusely and brought to our tables where the rules are explained. Our table has a turntable with many sauces on it. Each meat comes with a different sauce. There is BBQ sauce for the beef, raspberry sauce for the pork, something for the chicken, something else for the ostrich meat balls, and something else for the lamb. We are served salads, rice and those deep fried whole potatoes. There is a flag on top of the turntable. Meat will continue to be brought to the table until we take the flag
down and surrender to the fullness of our stomachs. Meat is broiling over a huge rectangular open fireplace on these long "sword like" meat holders. They bring a kind of meat, lets say beef, put the point down on your plate, and ask you how rare and how much you want. You can point to a spot and say, "I'd like a little of the well done," and they'll carve it off and the meat falls onto your plate. Besides beef, there were chicken wings, chicken legs, lamb, pork ribs, crocodile, and ostrich meatballs, each with it's own special sauce. The Carnivore Cafe, much to my surprise, has a huge vegetarian menu. I chose baby peas and mushrooms in a spiced yogurt sauce over rice. It was delicious!
rallies or any protests. Everyone must go home. People can leave downtown but they can't come in. It takes a blizzard to shut down Minneapolis. The cost of shutting down the only metropolitan city in the country must be enormous. No business can be done this afternoon: no private business, no government business, no exporting business, no tourism business. Later I hear the President shut down Parliament today too. I don't think he liked the fact that his opposition party was elected Speaker of the House so he shut Parliament. I can't imagine this happening in our country. But then I start to think about the election between Bush and Gore. The results were contested just like these elections are in Kenya. The difference is that Gore conceded. What if Gore didn't concede? What would have happened? Did Gore do the United States of America any favors by conceding? I also can't compare Kenya to the USA without remembering that we have already celebrated our bicentennial while Kenya's independence was started in 1964 - only 44 years ago. Where was the USA in 1820? Maybe we were just as unstable as Kenya is today. We get out of our traffic jam and head to the suburb and check in at the Methodist Guest House. This hotel has the most confusing layout. I get lost getting to my room. We go from the lobby up stairs and across, down a step, up a step, across, up three floors, across, down half a flight, across, up half a flight, across and around the corner. Our plan is to go the the Carnivore Cafe tonight. This Carnivore Cafe is a world wide top rated restaurant. I try to watch the news to hear more about the political situation. I skip through the stations and watch BBC and CNN and AlJazeera. I see some talk shows and some soap operas and only one American show - Faith and Hope, the silly sitcom about 2 sisters. Is that the image of USA that we want portrayed? Faith and Hope? I guess there could be worse ones. We are to meet a certain time for Migwe to pick us up and take us to the Carnivore. He and Muthoga are late. We get a call that the roads are closed and we may be eating at the Methodist Guest House tonight. That would be fine too. Another call comes in, the roads are open and they will be here in 45 minutes. They arrive in only 10 minutes because the roads are clearer than they thought. We don't have to go through downtown to get to the Carnivore. In fact we will be heading to an outer ring suburb called Karen to get there. Karen is named after Karen Blixen - the character portrayed by Meryl Streep in the movie, "Out of Africa." As we drive through Karen, I can see this is a wealthier area, even in the dark. We drive by a mosque and I can hear the prayers being broadcast. The mosque is lit up with neon blue lights - that doesn't seem very traditional. We are among the few diners tonight at the Carnivore Cafe. Normally this place would be full of guests but the politics has driven people away or driven them to stay home tonight. We are welcomed profusely and brought to our tables where the rules are explained. Our table has a turntable with many sauces on it. Each meat comes with a different sauce. There is BBQ sauce for the beef, raspberry sauce for the pork, something for the chicken, something else for the ostrich meat balls, and something else for the lamb. We are served salads, rice and those deep fried whole potatoes. There is a flag on top of the turntable. Meat will continue to be brought to the table until we take the flag
down and surrender to the fullness of our stomachs. Meat is broiling over a huge rectangular open fireplace on these long "sword like" meat holders. They bring a kind of meat, lets say beef, put the point down on your plate, and ask you how rare and how much you want. You can point to a spot and say, "I'd like a little of the well done," and they'll carve it off and the meat falls onto your plate. Besides beef, there were chicken wings, chicken legs, lamb, pork ribs, crocodile, and ostrich meatballs, each with it's own special sauce. The Carnivore Cafe, much to my surprise, has a huge vegetarian menu. I chose baby peas and mushrooms in a spiced yogurt sauce over rice. It was delicious!
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