Come to Kenya We've Got Irony.
I'm back from Kenya after two weeks, and I'll try to relate a little of my trip. However, I'm just going to make a few little observations that I took note of in the last few days of the trip, so it won't be a complete review.
First off, I think it's important to say that Weeble lied on a lot of levels. I mean, there aren't even tigers in Kenya. They just don't exist there. Also, while watching a pride of lions tear apart a freshly caught zebra, no knife or fork was used. One can't believe everything one sees apparantly.
For a moment I'm going to flash forward to the near end of the trip to a day of white water rafting. Very fun, but a current and unfortunate drought that's starving thousands in Kenya right now made the first half hour of the rafting a little inconvenient, so that sucks for me. I did get to climb some rocks and jump off a waterfall while there too. Afterwards, they fed us back at the camp, and this couple from the Netherlands was eating with us, and we were all in bathing suits while doing it...no problem. It's just that one of the oddest phrases I've ever heard is when the girl said, "I need to be excused from the dinner table so I can go put on pants." Just a selection of words I never expected to hear.
The night before we left, I got a strange feeling of disillusionment. The hotel was sending us a farewell type of dinner, and a show was about to start. It kicked off with tribal music and a bunch of appopriately dressed people doing some classic ritual dances. The whole thing felt wrong though, because while enjoying the old-age festivities, my eyes were drawn up to the stage lights and sound system at hand. It's like a weird hybrid of new and old entertainment. The whole process was made all the more strange by the menu that they were serving us. They were serving a barrage of meats at the time. Chicken, of course, lamb, goat, crocodile, and a healthy side of camel (a tough meat, but somehow quite juicy). They served all of these meats, and then brought a soup...vegetable soup. That's about the time that I looked up and saw the dancing had turned into a black light strobe show. The disillusionment continued.
To their credit, the show ended with a series of acrobatics that, perhaps with the exception of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, was the best acrobatics I've ever seen. These guys certainly had a bunch of crazy tricks up their sleeves.
Some of Kenya at a glance: some airports have dirt runways. Police almost always ask for money, but never do anything when you tell them no. Exhaust from cars is gaggingly bad. The service at hotels puts all of America at shame.
Customs and immigration getting back into America: It's good to be white. We were the 4th in line, and it was taking forever. The Hispanic, the Indian, and the African were all taking forever to go through the questions before being sent to the inspections room. Mother and I got up there, and he looked at our form and said, "Why did you check 'yes' for the livestock question?" Me: "We hand-fed a giraffe yesterday at a preservation center." Him: "Sounds good. Alright, straight ahead." Me: "Uh, don't we need to go to the inspection room to declare our items?" Him: "I don't see why you would. *shrug*" Pity, I hate waiting around in airports, and that would have killed another twenty minutes.
The worst thing is...I didn't even get my free fucking snorkel.
First off, I think it's important to say that Weeble lied on a lot of levels. I mean, there aren't even tigers in Kenya. They just don't exist there. Also, while watching a pride of lions tear apart a freshly caught zebra, no knife or fork was used. One can't believe everything one sees apparantly.
For a moment I'm going to flash forward to the near end of the trip to a day of white water rafting. Very fun, but a current and unfortunate drought that's starving thousands in Kenya right now made the first half hour of the rafting a little inconvenient, so that sucks for me. I did get to climb some rocks and jump off a waterfall while there too. Afterwards, they fed us back at the camp, and this couple from the Netherlands was eating with us, and we were all in bathing suits while doing it...no problem. It's just that one of the oddest phrases I've ever heard is when the girl said, "I need to be excused from the dinner table so I can go put on pants." Just a selection of words I never expected to hear.
The night before we left, I got a strange feeling of disillusionment. The hotel was sending us a farewell type of dinner, and a show was about to start. It kicked off with tribal music and a bunch of appopriately dressed people doing some classic ritual dances. The whole thing felt wrong though, because while enjoying the old-age festivities, my eyes were drawn up to the stage lights and sound system at hand. It's like a weird hybrid of new and old entertainment. The whole process was made all the more strange by the menu that they were serving us. They were serving a barrage of meats at the time. Chicken, of course, lamb, goat, crocodile, and a healthy side of camel (a tough meat, but somehow quite juicy). They served all of these meats, and then brought a soup...vegetable soup. That's about the time that I looked up and saw the dancing had turned into a black light strobe show. The disillusionment continued.
To their credit, the show ended with a series of acrobatics that, perhaps with the exception of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, was the best acrobatics I've ever seen. These guys certainly had a bunch of crazy tricks up their sleeves.
Some of Kenya at a glance: some airports have dirt runways. Police almost always ask for money, but never do anything when you tell them no. Exhaust from cars is gaggingly bad. The service at hotels puts all of America at shame.
Customs and immigration getting back into America: It's good to be white. We were the 4th in line, and it was taking forever. The Hispanic, the Indian, and the African were all taking forever to go through the questions before being sent to the inspections room. Mother and I got up there, and he looked at our form and said, "Why did you check 'yes' for the livestock question?" Me: "We hand-fed a giraffe yesterday at a preservation center." Him: "Sounds good. Alright, straight ahead." Me: "Uh, don't we need to go to the inspection room to declare our items?" Him: "I don't see why you would. *shrug*" Pity, I hate waiting around in airports, and that would have killed another twenty minutes.
The worst thing is...I didn't even get my free fucking snorkel.