KITHENGWANI & BENGONI – REPORT 5

Day- We’ve Lost Count  .. or maybe 9!?

We apologize for the disruption of our regularly scheduled program - The travel team took a much needed break to blow off some steam and visit a very large “zoo” known as Kenya! We were all so grateful to take in the sights of the local wildlife and witness the most beautiful orange, pink and yellow sunsets we have ever seen. One could never tire of seeing the sun dip beneath the horizon in under 5 minutes and soak in the cooler night temps. Every trip out on the jeep provided new animals for our jaws to drop for- almost all of the Big Five! The leopards and rhinos were a little too shy to come put on a show for us but the lions, elephants, hippos, cheetahs, impala, zebra and giraffes were all too happy to come up for a quick hello. We even had the pleasure to meet members of the Masai Mara tribe and learn more about their culture and walk through the open-air market the women run to raise money for the families. Zach also impressed the tribe with his jumping abilities. As with other villages before this, we left as part of their family, and they a part of ours.

Due to a lot of travelling between the last two days, I’ll combine the events that past on the 8^th and 9^th day of our journey. After one last safari yesterday morning, we traveled back to Mombasa (which is very important to the Grant Victor Family)- the carvers where the wooden figurines are fabricated! We were able to bring home a couple suitcases of this year’s animal to get a jump start in preparation for sending out our customer gifts.  In a very humble warehouse of sorts, each stall had their own carver expertly shaving away the wood to free the tree of it’s hidden animals inside. Lions, leopards, Masai warriors, stools, even 7 foot giraffes are hand crafted with high skill and sold on the market to raise money for their families. Someone should show them Etsy, they could make a killing! 

After draining our bank accounts in their stores, we got to go back home to Mama Kamoti’s for another scrumptious meal and a walkabout in the village. With it being our last night with the family, we wanted to take a walk with the local children and have a farewell party to thank them all for their hospitality. We laughed, we danced, we got trampled when the glow sticks came out- great fun was had by all! DJ B to the U to the R to the T was slaying with his custom playlist and we all danced in the dark for hours until mama Kamoti insisted it was her bedtime  We had one more adventure to go on the next day and we were all glad to finally sleep in until 7 am to greet the Bengoni village one last time.