Vision Kenya Trip
The photos below are from our trip to Kenya in partnership with Robyn Emerson's Global Citizenship course. We're on a mission to create a curriculum for youth worldwide to rise up as visionaries who take full responsibility for humanity's future. This is a pilot project that we will be duplicating and "viralizing" so that any school, church, company or organization can bring vision to their youth and communities. For more info, see our blog at www.visionforce.com/blog
Days 1 - 3 in Dubai, Nairobi, Nakuru and TreeTops
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After a good 16 hours of travel, the girls are ready to sleep. Here they are in the lobby of a Dubai hotel next to the airport.
This cute little Indian boy in the blue shirt kept sneaking up on us behind the couch.
They had a Fudruckers in Dubai!
In the background you see the temple. What was in the foreground though was more noticeable to me... we were in a different land with a different culture.
Sophia and Brittney joking around on the way to the airport. These girls have been a blast. They're a non-stop comedy crew.
One of the many faces of 13-year-old Desi, short for Desiree.
You get the sense in Dubai that it's rising out of the sand... everywhere we looked we saw new construction.
The uniforms of airport staff were quite different from what we see in the U.S.
Rockstars of the new revolution, making our way through the Dubai airport on our way to Nairobi!
Another of the many faces of Desi Ray.
Robyn, our fearless leader, and mother of Desi and Brittney, asks for directions.
Finally, Nairobi! I leaned out the window to snap this shot of a giant bird at the very top of the tree ahead in downtown Nairobi.
A little bit closer look.
And these would be baboons! In the wild on the side of the road as we entered the Lake Nakuru wildlife reserve.
On a safari through Lake Nukuru wildlife preserve!
Baboons were everywhere along side the road.
Here's the first of many wild buffalo we saw.
A heard of gazelle and a zebra.
The sky is big in Texas, but it's even bigger in Africa! Everywhere we looked, it was beautiful and breathtaking.
I believe this is more wild buffalo. There was no zoom on my camera, unfortunately. (Those of you who contributed financially to make this trip possible, however, will see many more photos from the other cameras, as promised.)
Lake Nakuru, home of a million pink flamingos!
Look very closely and you can find baboons on the side of the cliff.
I would call out to the baffalo to get them to look up at us. Sometimes they seemed ready to charge.
This is the entrance to the lodge where we stayed. We stayed in small bungalos.
Who is she?
Why that would be the beautiful Miss Robyn Emerson, the one who made this trip possible.
Can you see the white rhino on the other side of the pond?
The zebras looked tame, but our driver wouldn't let me ride them.
An ostrich!
Several more ostriches in the distance. The black ones are males.
A bufallo crossing. These were large beasts.
A closer look at some white rhinos.
Aha! We captured a safari driver in his natural habitat! We've become good friends with Shei, a very generous man who has kept us safe and sound on our journey.
A self-portrait.
These photos are ones I snapped from the window of our van as we drove through the town of Nakuru.
The girls are non-stop... singing, joking, teasing, laughing. (At this point on the trip I was still entertained by their antics.)
I've forgotten the name of this waterfall.
Everywhere we stop, we are approached by the local people who each have something to sell us. The small lizards the girls are holding were rented for the photo.
"Jambo,jambo!" These kids, barely young enough to speak kept calling out the Swahili greeting that is used mostly with tourists.
Robyn's daughters putting on a show.
Robyn's reaction. ;)
Desi
Desi
Desi
Lunch before our next destination: TreeTops!
Posing with a Kikuyu tribesman after lunch.
Kikuyu dancers in a mock Kikuyu village.
And the tourists join in the dance.
The first elephant we've seen! This photo is taken from the TreeTops lodge pictured in the photo below.
The dark brown spots are baboons.
Wild animals of all kinds come from all directions to feed from the watering hole and to cool off.
They rang bells all through the night as different animals would show up. We saw black rhinos, hyenas and more through the night. The next several photos are from early dawn and form the full 360 degree view.
A snapshot from the bus the same morning.
I believe this is Mount Kenya, the second tallest mountain in Africa, covered in clouds. Before we leave Africa, we'll pass by Mt. Kilamanjaro, the third tallest mountain in the world at near 20,000 ft!
More photos from the bus.
And here we are back at the reception area of TreeTops for breakfast.
Sophia giving us a forced early morning smile.
Stay tuned, there's much more to come!