I always loved Dumbo
It was inevitable that despite the daily doses of oregano, active acidophylus and oxygenated drops, I was bound to get sick. And such was my weekend last week - stuck in bed, in the fetal position, for nearly 3 days.
But, this weekend made up for it in more ways than one.
Friday I did nothing but watch 6, maybe 7 episodes of Prison Break. Which isn't a bad thing believe me, have you seen the main character??
Saturday I slept in, did yoga, went grocery shopping, then went to an ex-pat/NGO worker party. It was very boring at first and I thought the NGO crowd was totally dull. The conversations were superficial and pretty silent and there was no action anywhere. But as the night went on, and I guess people had more to drink, it got better. I made friends with these two spanish guys that work for doctors without borders who were very funny and we had some great conversations. One of which revolved around working in Afghanistan - and I must say that has now been added to my "to do list" They said the country is beautiful, quite safe (except in the Pashtoon belt), and the people are amazing. And since I'm doing constitutional reform here, it's a great experience for the kind of legal work I could do there. Anyway, that was a highlight of the evening. I also decided that instead of Mount Kiliminjaro, I might try Mount Kenya - although I've heard conflicting things about how hard it is. I'm thinking maybe February....
Sunday was a FABULOUS day. Again I slept in, then in the afternoon Sheila and I went to the artisan market where I got to do some shopping for the first time and I must say, for those of you who are coming to visit me, BRING SPACE IN YOUR LUGGAGE. There are BEAUTIFUL things to be had at the market - paintings, sculptures, masks, scarves, jewellery - all very cheap, hand-made and simply beautiful. It is tiring though - having to negotiate prices and batting off the vendors who sometimes physically pull you into their stand. After about an hour I had enough. Then we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch. Ethiopian food is quite something, made with a very unique blend of spices and served on a big, fried crepe, I think it's called unjali or something, and you just tear off pieces of the crepe and eat the dishes with it. You share a big plate of food and eat with your hands. It's yummy but very heavy - lots of meat and oil.
After that, we went to the elephant orphanage which was absolutely AMAZING. I've decided to sponsor an elephant there, as Sheila has, so that I can go and visit during non-public hours. It's only about $65 to sponsor and it gives you a ticket to visit for the evening feeding whenever you want.
And the elephants are just as one would imagine - small and playful and loving with big ears.
When we got there we spent some time with an orphaned black rhino that was massive - and yet, a baby. It was about the size of a small truck. Then we spent some time with an elephant that had just arrived that day. It was about 3 months old and quite small, maybe the size of a big dog. It was very traumatized because it had been branded by the Masaai tribe - its ears had huge gashes in it, and the blood was still caked on. He had fallen in a well, and its mother had tried to get it out but couldn't, so the mother mourned it for almost 3 days and then left. Then the tribe came, branded it by cutting its ears, and stayed with it for a few days before notifying the orphanage. The baby was so in need of affection and care, it was curled up with its keeper, snuggling with its snout, and drinking from a fairly big bottle of milk. It brought tears to my eyes.
Then the keepers told us to stand aside as the other babies were coming in from their day out in the park. They warned us that they would run right by us and are very playful so just to stand still. Then they came and it was a stunning sight. They ran right towards us, whining a little and throwing their trunks up, playing. They were all different sizes, but all still babies, under 2 years old (at two, they get reintegrated into the wild). One of them noticed that her stall had been taken by the new arrival and got angry - she pranced around at the door, trying to get in, then ran around us in circles with the keepers all trying to catch her. It was totally SURREAL to have this elephant literally running AROUND me. (I got it all on film - amazing...) I just stood very still, sort of hiding behind the bush, with the elephant on the other side, looking at me. She managed to calm down however and joined her friends for bedtime. What's remarkable is that each baby has an individual keeper that actually sleeps in their stall with them. During the night, the keeper gets up every 3 hours to feed them, for 2 years this has to be done. Talk about commitment. And they have to constantly shift the keepers because the babies get so attached to them, that if the keeper has to leave for whatever reason, the baby will starve itself. So they're constantly shifting.
Also remarkable, elephants bond by smell and will remember and recognize a smell for the rest of their lives. So for example, if I were to come across one in their adult life, on a safari in the Masai for instance, they would remember me by my smell. Isn't that amazing?
Anyway, I got it all on film. The best part being when they all ran in and also when one of the elephants was trying to play with Olivia and petting her with his trunk - nothing could be cuter than a baby elephant trying to play with a baby girl.
The orphanage certainly was my greatest excitment over the weekend. For those of you coming here, it is a definite stop on our itinerary.
Other news: my upcoming trip to Zanzibar is instead Mombasa. I'm leaving in 2 days on the overnight train to spend what will likely be a wonderfully relaxing 3 nights on the coast. I plan to do nothing but snorkel, read, do yoga, go for a camel ride or two, and of course, sip dawas. To make matters even better, 3 days after I get back I head to Kampala, Uganda for a legal conference. Although I will be taking a 14 hour bus there and back, I'm thrilled to be going to yet another African city centre and seeing what it has to offer me.
Until next time.
PS: still working on the pictures I promise! the internet is far too slow to upload my images but I'll find a way soon enough!
But, this weekend made up for it in more ways than one.
Friday I did nothing but watch 6, maybe 7 episodes of Prison Break. Which isn't a bad thing believe me, have you seen the main character??
Saturday I slept in, did yoga, went grocery shopping, then went to an ex-pat/NGO worker party. It was very boring at first and I thought the NGO crowd was totally dull. The conversations were superficial and pretty silent and there was no action anywhere. But as the night went on, and I guess people had more to drink, it got better. I made friends with these two spanish guys that work for doctors without borders who were very funny and we had some great conversations. One of which revolved around working in Afghanistan - and I must say that has now been added to my "to do list" They said the country is beautiful, quite safe (except in the Pashtoon belt), and the people are amazing. And since I'm doing constitutional reform here, it's a great experience for the kind of legal work I could do there. Anyway, that was a highlight of the evening. I also decided that instead of Mount Kiliminjaro, I might try Mount Kenya - although I've heard conflicting things about how hard it is. I'm thinking maybe February....
Sunday was a FABULOUS day. Again I slept in, then in the afternoon Sheila and I went to the artisan market where I got to do some shopping for the first time and I must say, for those of you who are coming to visit me, BRING SPACE IN YOUR LUGGAGE. There are BEAUTIFUL things to be had at the market - paintings, sculptures, masks, scarves, jewellery - all very cheap, hand-made and simply beautiful. It is tiring though - having to negotiate prices and batting off the vendors who sometimes physically pull you into their stand. After about an hour I had enough. Then we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch. Ethiopian food is quite something, made with a very unique blend of spices and served on a big, fried crepe, I think it's called unjali or something, and you just tear off pieces of the crepe and eat the dishes with it. You share a big plate of food and eat with your hands. It's yummy but very heavy - lots of meat and oil.
After that, we went to the elephant orphanage which was absolutely AMAZING. I've decided to sponsor an elephant there, as Sheila has, so that I can go and visit during non-public hours. It's only about $65 to sponsor and it gives you a ticket to visit for the evening feeding whenever you want.
And the elephants are just as one would imagine - small and playful and loving with big ears.
When we got there we spent some time with an orphaned black rhino that was massive - and yet, a baby. It was about the size of a small truck. Then we spent some time with an elephant that had just arrived that day. It was about 3 months old and quite small, maybe the size of a big dog. It was very traumatized because it had been branded by the Masaai tribe - its ears had huge gashes in it, and the blood was still caked on. He had fallen in a well, and its mother had tried to get it out but couldn't, so the mother mourned it for almost 3 days and then left. Then the tribe came, branded it by cutting its ears, and stayed with it for a few days before notifying the orphanage. The baby was so in need of affection and care, it was curled up with its keeper, snuggling with its snout, and drinking from a fairly big bottle of milk. It brought tears to my eyes.
Then the keepers told us to stand aside as the other babies were coming in from their day out in the park. They warned us that they would run right by us and are very playful so just to stand still. Then they came and it was a stunning sight. They ran right towards us, whining a little and throwing their trunks up, playing. They were all different sizes, but all still babies, under 2 years old (at two, they get reintegrated into the wild). One of them noticed that her stall had been taken by the new arrival and got angry - she pranced around at the door, trying to get in, then ran around us in circles with the keepers all trying to catch her. It was totally SURREAL to have this elephant literally running AROUND me. (I got it all on film - amazing...) I just stood very still, sort of hiding behind the bush, with the elephant on the other side, looking at me. She managed to calm down however and joined her friends for bedtime. What's remarkable is that each baby has an individual keeper that actually sleeps in their stall with them. During the night, the keeper gets up every 3 hours to feed them, for 2 years this has to be done. Talk about commitment. And they have to constantly shift the keepers because the babies get so attached to them, that if the keeper has to leave for whatever reason, the baby will starve itself. So they're constantly shifting.
Also remarkable, elephants bond by smell and will remember and recognize a smell for the rest of their lives. So for example, if I were to come across one in their adult life, on a safari in the Masai for instance, they would remember me by my smell. Isn't that amazing?
Anyway, I got it all on film. The best part being when they all ran in and also when one of the elephants was trying to play with Olivia and petting her with his trunk - nothing could be cuter than a baby elephant trying to play with a baby girl.
The orphanage certainly was my greatest excitment over the weekend. For those of you coming here, it is a definite stop on our itinerary.
Other news: my upcoming trip to Zanzibar is instead Mombasa. I'm leaving in 2 days on the overnight train to spend what will likely be a wonderfully relaxing 3 nights on the coast. I plan to do nothing but snorkel, read, do yoga, go for a camel ride or two, and of course, sip dawas. To make matters even better, 3 days after I get back I head to Kampala, Uganda for a legal conference. Although I will be taking a 14 hour bus there and back, I'm thrilled to be going to yet another African city centre and seeing what it has to offer me.
Until next time.
PS: still working on the pictures I promise! the internet is far too slow to upload my images but I'll find a way soon enough!
posted by Nadia at
4:22 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home