Visitor's Perspective

Hi everyone, here's a post from my mom about my parents' trip to visit me. I'll be posting about the safari part soon.

Hello-This is Mary (Lizzie's Mom) posting. Steve and I and friends Lauren and Jane have just returned from a week long Safari and 3 days in Oyugis. I will leave the Safari details for Lizzie to post. It was a big relief for me to see how well Lizzie and her organization are working together. The Imani Community Development Organization is a dedicated, hard-working group that also knows how to laugh. I know Lizzie feels things are not happening fast enough for her usual Lizzie USA speed, but she is definitely making a difference. We were spoiled by being driven to all the sites where Lizzie usually walks to. Jane left her a pedometer for her to get an idea of how much she walks. At all the Imani sites we traveled to in Oyugis we were presented with gifts, serenaded with songs, and entertained with skits and traditional dances. Hopefully, some of the supplies we brought to Oyugis will help out these groups. I know Lizzie is comfortable there when she said "I miss being in my own house" after all her traveling with us.
Since our 11 days in Kenya I have developed a great appreciation for first-Water,water.water! Clean, safe, cold water from the faucet for drinking, bathing cooking and water to keep the dust down on the roads. We had definitely underestimated how much traveling on bumpy, dirt roads we would be doing. I felt like I was in a Toyota commercial several times with our safari Toyota Land Cruiser, especially in Nairobi traffic. We avoided a huge truck backup on the highway driving in and out of a ditch sideways!

Second: electricity-Even in our safari lodges it was available only part time. Electricity for refrigeration: when we got a cold drink (whether water, wine, soda or beer) we felt like we had gone to heaven! Most of the electricity in the national parks was supplied from generators, not power lines.

Third: screens on windows. We had mosquito nets over our beds just about everywhere, but leaving our windows and balcony doors open proved to be an adventure. The temperature went down at night, and we often had a cool breeze. The windows with no screens had to be closed for "security." Little did I realize that also meant protection from wildlife! My nickname became "bat-girl." We are back in the US now with all the comforts of home. Most of all we are so proud of our Vineyard daughter, halfway across the world making a difference.