Todd And I The Morning After The Bee Sting Before Heading Back To Kijani
The Elephant Outside Of Our Patio Door
Saturday, June 10th, 2017
After
falling asleep to the sounds of a hippo, Todd and I woke early today to the low
sounds of an elephant just 50 meters off our little patio. We had breakfast and prepared to check out of
our safari resort. First our Team had to
say goodbye to our server, and had a picture taken with him, as he had been
with our group throughout our whole stay.
His name was Peter (like our guide), and as a Team we appreciated his
efforts. He was soft spoken,
hardworking, and went out of his way to serve us each time we ate. Peter has a great smile, and after a few
meals we all got used to each other and joked back and forth; especially about
the order in which we ate our meals (soup, salad, and meal or visa-versa). I left him with a hand written thank you letter.
Our Team With Peter, Our Server At Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
On
the ride out of the park we took some different roads. The land here was hilly, rocky, and barren
except for the thorny trees; beyond that was what looked like the salt flats
again. Even still we saw giraffes, and
each of the aforementioned herbivore animals from the past blog journal
entries.
Purple Heron
Long Toed Lap Wing
Weaver Bird Nests
Close Up Weaver Bird Nest
One mammal that was new, was
the long necked giraffe gazelle known as the gerenuk. It was an animal that I had literally just
talked to our guide Peter about that very morning after seeing a list of
various animals in the resorts directory.
That was exciting, especially since it was right in front of an actual
giraffe. The gerenuk can go without
actually drinking water, as it gets its water from the leaves it eats.
Giraffe With A Gerenuk In Front Of It
A Gerenuk - Giraffe Gazelle
The
ride out from the park entrance to the main road, in the border town of
Namanga, was simply crazy bumpy at times.
I tried to capture some of it in a video. I napped for a little bit, even with the
jostling, as it sort of rocked me to sleep.
Our Driver Sylvester Gripping The Wheel
TWO VIDEOS:
After
we returned to Kijani Farm, we said good bye to our guide Peter and our two
drivers, Nicholas and Sylvester. I
really appreciated all of those guys, so Todd and I had a picture taken with
them. I also gave each of them a
personal letter that I wrote out late last night while at the resort. I’m hoping the letters capture the essence of
what I wanted to say to each of them. They
are good men indeed. Todd gave his hat
to Sylvester. Perhaps it’s one he’ll
wear for his next safari with someone else.
Me, Sylvester, Peter Our Guide, And Todd
The Water Tank On Top Of The Shed - Fed By Free Gravity!
Once
the vans left, we unpacked and had a quick lunch as new lumber was being delivered. Brian Dellamater and Jake Rogers had been
busy around Kijani in our absence; negotiating roadways to get supplies brought
out to the farm, and walking boma to boma to meet and talk with the nearby land
owners. Brian estimated that he and Jake
had walked 10 to 12 miles yesterday while we were on safari. In the end, they worked through the various
issues and misunderstandings. In fact,
it even involved the local Maasai chief who did a masterful job of helping to
bring understanding and compromises. Our
Maasai friend and neighbor, John, had helped as an interpreter.
Some Of The Lumber Being Delivered
With
that, less than an hour after coming back, we jumped into our work; each with a
share in the process. The housing
structure we are working on is being referred to as the “STEM House,” which
stands for “Short TErm Mission” Housing.
The Dellamater Family will be leaving Illinois and moving into this
structure towards the end of this year.
Once their own house is built, the STEM house will be available for
those who come to help with the different community aspects of the farm (health
care, education, church, work on the farm, and clean water). Most building structures in Kenya are made of
brick and cement, but those materials couldn’t be brought into Kijani at this
point, although the plan is to have the Dellamater’s main house build from
these materials. The STEM house was
going to be built from metal storage units, but those too were impossible to
haul back into the farm’s location. So,
the result of these facts was that the STEM House is going to be built with a
wood frame and wrapped in metal sheeting.
This is ok with me, as I like Kijani’s remoteness. Hopefully a blend can continue to be maintained
between the natural wilds that surround this property and the viable needs that
it will address.
Kristin And Nyles In The Background, And Brian And Jake In The Front
The Calves Watch Us Over The Boma Wall
Every
member of the Team was involved in setting up equipment, measuring boards,
cutting boards, ripping out warped boards and replacing them on the roof,
nailing in spacers for the floor joists, and adding ceiling joists. Thicker joists were added in the center of
the house to support the water tanks that will be added in the future.
Noah
Dellamater and I worked on the warped boards specifically. Todd helped where he could. The Team members who had been stung by the
bees yesterday were doing OK, despite some being sore after being stung
multiple times. Todd on the other hand
was having a difficult time as his eye continued to swell, which impeded his
vision and balance for climbing around on the STEM structure.
Looking Great From This Side
Hmmm...I'm Hoping That Starts To Go Down By Tomorrow
Some
of the warped boards had to be removed completely. Others we managed to clamp down and use long
screws to straighten them out and secure them flat to the trusses. To “clamp” them we used a little bit of
ingenuity. We would loop a strong piece
of rope over the warped board, down under a ceiling joist, and tie it
tight. Next we slipped a small piece of
scrap wood through the middle of the loop, and then by spinning the scrap board
we were able to shorten the rope as it tightened the warped board into
place. The whole process worked very
well. The only issue came after one of
the warped boards had been secured in place, and I commented to Noah that it
would be fun to watch the scrap board unwind like a helicopter propeller. The rope, when plucked, sang like a guitar
string. When I let go of the scrap
board, it spun around so quick that it hit the back of my right hand before I
could even begin to move it out of the way.
It hit with a force just short of a splitting mall on a piece of
campfire wood. It was a stupid thing to
do, especially so far from a hospital, and we’re not even supposed to say the
word “stupid.” Anyways, it wasn’t
broken…much, but it hurt like crazy. To
date, two weeks later, it still has a lump on it, and my whole hand goes numb
if I bump it on that spot. As my wife
Cindy’s boss in the screw machine shop used to say, “It’s a badge of honor.”
Dusk And The Long Shadows Before Dinner
We
all worked hard that afternoon, having enjoyed the once in a life time
safari. We were also elated to be back
in the bush at Kijani Farm; now our home base on the flip side.
No comments:
Post a Comment