Cora featured in ISK photo...

A few weeks ago a professional photographer came to the ISK campus to shoot a bunch of new promotional photos for the school's promotional materials. Cora was part of a group that was photographed in the biology lab and this photo is one that may surface in brochures, on the web site, etc. She's a star!   :)

Breakfast in the park...

Our ISK foodie group gathered together on Sunday morning for a lovely bush breakfast in Nairobi National Park. After game drives, we congregated for champagne and amazing food while giraffes grazed on acacias nearby. This was a beautiful way to spend the morning, not to mention we saw three new "lifers" (bird speak for new birds: the black-shouldered kite, the red-shouldered widow bird and the cape robin chat).

Working with the GISS 2013 Golden Hearts...

At the big Global Issues Service Summit in February that we all organized, there were 17 local Kenyan students who were fully sponsored to attend. These students were called the Golden Hearts (this program is a special part of the African GIN conferences). Our team is determined to forge a sustainable partnership with these amazing 17 students (who all have spearheaded projects in their communities to affect change). On Saturday, 11 of the students came to ISK and spent the day with several of our students from the leadership team (including Cora). Team-building exercises were interspersed with activities to support the students as they continue to build their action plans. It was a wonderful day.

Our trio of cluckers...

About one month ago, a new chicken from Margaret's village joined our little flock. She's the one with the black-and-white colouring and the word for this in Kiswahili is "gaga". Hence, she is named Lady Gaga and she has finally been accepted by Mrs. Cluckers and Little Miss Cluckers (who, as it turns out, has been laying her eggs in a secret spot in the garden). We love our little flock of hens!

Easter dinner with Margaret's family...

Being out of town on Easter weekend, we celebrated one week later with Margaret's family (including her daughter, son and daughter-in-law, 3 grandchildren and 1 nephew). Cora organized a chocolate treasure hunt in the garden and we enjoyed a lovely dinner together. With the rest of our wonderful family so far away, this was a nice way to enjoy a bit of holiday camaraderie.

Lake Baringo: Birds and Njemps...

While at Lake Baringo, we spent an entire morning out on the water searching for birds and hippos and learning about the Njemps people who live on islands in the lake. This tribe is a cousin of the Maasai but fish instead of herding cows and goats. They use small balsa-wood boats to fish and move around the shores of the beautiful lake.

Lake Baringo: Camping with the hippos...

For two nights over the Easter weekend we camped on the shores of Lake Baringo at Robert's Camp. We dug out our trusty Eureka and Kelty tents (that have served us so well since Cora was born) and pitched them close to the shore of the lake. We had heard hippos graze around your tents at night, and indeed signs indicated as much; we weren't really prepared for how close the grazing would get, though! The first night we were awake much of the night as hippos grunted, jostled each other and grazed right outside the tent. The ground vibrated when they ran and we could hear them crashing into the water just several metres away. The second night we got up at 4 a.m. to discover a pair of huge hippos just behind our tent, only about 1 metre away. Wow! A close encounter, indeed! Jackson's hornbills were plentiful at the camp, as well, and even came to visit while we had snacks at the Thirsty Goat restaurant, hoping for a bite of something tasty. On a nature walk we also encountered black and brown scorpions, we sampled cactus fruits and we learned a lot about termite hills and termite colonies. The water levels at Lake Baringo are much higher than normal, and for almost two years the lake has covered 40 extra kilometres. That means several properties have been flooded and destroyed, including a posh hotel close to Robert's Camp.

Lake Bogoria: Flamingos and Volcanic Activity...

On our way to Lake Baringo for Easter weekend, we stopped at nearby Lake Bogoria, a soda lake in the Great Rift Valley that hosts hundreds of flamingos. There are also some hot springs on the shores of the lake that are so hot many people boil eggs in the pools! It is a beautiful lake and provided a wonderful spot for a picnic lunch. We even saw a female Greater Kudu (a largish grazer that can only be found on the shores of Lake Bogoria).