Despite my better judgment (and the fact that I need sleep), I started today by waking up at 6:30 for a birdwatching trip! Jeff Davis, an RVA professor, led Mrs. Rispin, Luke, John Lommel and myself up the mountain looking at birds and monkeys and whatever else we came across.
Due to my less than extensive Kenyan birding experience, I could not absorb nearly all the information Jeff had to share. However, I decided to happily step back and just enjoy the morning. We saw many species of beautiful birds, some very interesting plants, baboons, and Colobus monkeys!
The baboons were along the path as we went out of RVA. There were four or five of them, including a mom and baby who we couldn't see very well. The males started coming down the trees little threateningly, I don’t think they liked us there much! ;) They never got all the way down, just stared and bared their teeth a few times.
The Colobus monkeys have coloring that looks a lot like a skunk, and they were swinging through the tree tops right above us! We spotted another mom and baby, absolutely adorable. These monkeys are gorgeous to look at, and I am very excited we got to see them.
My legs weren't too happy about the fact that I was hiking again! It was often more like bush wacking than hiking…at many times I questioned strongly whether the “trail” was actually a trail! This made it all the more adventurous, though. Much of it was uphill, since we were going up the mountain, so at this rate, I’ll be super fit by the time I get home!
Church was at RVA today, the Titchie church! The kids performed a musical about Joseph and his brothers. They did quite a good job, introducing all the characters in the story and sharing what we can learn from Joseph’s example.
After lunch at the RVA cafeteria once again, we headed back to Thika. We stopped twice along the way, once at the overlook to see the view of Rift Valley zone last time and experience the persistent vendors characteristic of Kenya markets. The second was at Brackenridge, the African Encounter base, and the gift shop there. And it was great to see the place I’ll be staying for a few nights when switching from Wheels to African Impact.
Due to my less than extensive Kenyan birding experience, I could not absorb nearly all the information Jeff had to share. However, I decided to happily step back and just enjoy the morning. We saw many species of beautiful birds, some very interesting plants, baboons, and Colobus monkeys!
The baboons were along the path as we went out of RVA. There were four or five of them, including a mom and baby who we couldn't see very well. The males started coming down the trees little threateningly, I don’t think they liked us there much! ;) They never got all the way down, just stared and bared their teeth a few times.
The Colobus monkeys have coloring that looks a lot like a skunk, and they were swinging through the tree tops right above us! We spotted another mom and baby, absolutely adorable. These monkeys are gorgeous to look at, and I am very excited we got to see them.
My legs weren't too happy about the fact that I was hiking again! It was often more like bush wacking than hiking…at many times I questioned strongly whether the “trail” was actually a trail! This made it all the more adventurous, though. Much of it was uphill, since we were going up the mountain, so at this rate, I’ll be super fit by the time I get home!
Church was at RVA today, the Titchie church! The kids performed a musical about Joseph and his brothers. They did quite a good job, introducing all the characters in the story and sharing what we can learn from Joseph’s example.
After lunch at the RVA cafeteria once again, we headed back to Thika. We stopped twice along the way, once at the overlook to see the view of Rift Valley zone last time and experience the persistent vendors characteristic of Kenya markets. The second was at Brackenridge, the African Encounter base, and the gift shop there. And it was great to see the place I’ll be staying for a few nights when switching from Wheels to African Impact.
This picture is one I managed to get during our birding hike. :) We were at the top of that mountain yesterday!