Brunch in Karen (where colonialism seems to still be envogue)

JR, M, V, and I decided that we wanted to head out to Karen to try a place called Talisman.  Talisman is known for it's food, ambiance, and organic Farmer's Market on Saturday's.  We piled into the Prado and headed to Karen.

Our sweet ride (with model for the shot):

This is the security Caboose, which is at the entrance of the restaurant:

The lovely Farmer's Market:

 A horribly taken 'self taken' group photo (minus J):

My handsome husband enjoying the ambiance

 

The shoes that I wore to 'Salute' (insert irony here) colonialism!

Pickle's got a new play mate and a birthday weekend.

I am pleased to report that after many trips to the forest and cutting back on the food, Pickle is looking svelte and healthy again, which happened just in time for this new friend to arrive on the compound.  Our landlords just got a brand new baby Labrador puppy (of the chocolate variety).

Pickle seems to be tolerating the little ball of fur, and even welcomed Bouncer for a sleep over last week:

Bouncer even showed Pickle one of the tortoises that lives on our compound this weekend - which Pickle had not yet noticed:

All an all a nice Birthday weekend for Mr. Pickle the Grump.  We got him 4 years ago, February 15th! 

We had big plans to take pickle for a long walk in the forest for his birthday, but the long rains that shouldn't arrive until April seem to have made a very early and unwelcome appearance, which means the forest is a MUDFEST!  Hopefully, the new playmate provided enough birthday fun for our favorite pal!

To the Birthday Boy!

Friday, JR and I both took the day off in honor of J's 33rd birthday!

Cheers to the Birthday Boy:

To celebrate, we took the opportunity to explore Nairobi National Park, which turned out to be an amazing experience!  We saw 3 rhinos, a lion, lots of gazelles (hartebeest, impala, Thomson gazelle, eland, etc), Ostrich (both mom and baby), zebra, giraffe, crocodiles, beautiful and not so beautiful birds, cape buffalo, wildebeest, and got assaulted by baboons during what was supposed to be a delightful birthday picnic.  All and all it was an amazing day!  We then went to Purdy Arms for a lovely dinner.  Below are some clips of the day in picture form:

Gherkin needs to shed a few lbs. to earn the title of Pickle, again

After driving lessons, a break from left hand drive during the holidays in the states, and a renewed motivation to get over my fears of manual transmissions, chaotic roads, and Nairobi traffic in 2014 - I have started driving to the forest more regularly for running and hiking with Pickle.  It turns out that this has not only been a good thing, but necessary since Pickle, as we found out at the vet, has put on a whopping 10 pounds since coming to Nairobi and now he is on the dog version of Biggest Loser: Kenyan Style.

When we were in the states over Christmas and New Year's, our landlords were kind enough to help in watching Pickle.  Sadly, they fell victim to the sweet and pathetic lab eyes and began feeding him a daily chapati (fried dough) because 'he looked hungry'.  As you can imagine, this addition to his diet was not the healthiest and most certainly was a contributing factor to his new physique.

Below is a picture story of Pickle's adventures:

Pickle at the vet, where he got his nails cute and found out that he was getting rather portly.

 A walk in the woods...Karura (Dogs off leash area)

Getting a bath after a fun adventure in the woods.

Better Late than Never

Below are some pictures that I should have posted a while ago, but didn't..

Our Monkey friend who frequently hangs out at our house

Some giraffes crossing the road on our drive back from Naivasha after running a relay from Nairobi to Naivasha

Our Rustic Farm Table hand built by a Kenyan Carpenter from African Mahogany

Fresh Produce from the Market

Post vinegar cleaning the veggies

A tired Pickle on Thanksgiving

A Rose in our garden just outside the front door.  My hand is huge - so let that give you some perspective on how ENORMOUS that rose is!

 

Dik-diks, Morning Hikes and Prior and Forthcoming Adventures

This morning J, Pickle and I went over to Karura Forest for a morning hike.  Karura has become one of my favorite things/places in Nairobi.  There are two parts of the forest (the East and West Side) - which connect to create mile of miles of linked paths.  The West side of the forest is less traveled than the East, but the East side has caves and waterfalls and more options for trails (5K, 10K, and 15K routes).  Pickle especially loves the parts of the forest that are 'Dogs Off Leash.'

Pickle has quickly shifted from sniffing out squirels to pointing at dik-dik and getting agitated by the noisy monkeys high up in the trees instead.  He seems to be adjusting quite well!

Pickle in his element

On our hike this morning, John and I were discussing what we should do with Mr. The Grump for his upcoming birthday (Feb 13th - the day we got him) and decided that he might like to visit a place John and I went before heading back to the states in December; Castle Forest Lodge.  The lodge is on Mount Kenya and offers oppoortunities to hike and be out in the wild - two of Pickle's favorite things.

Below are pictures from our trip there in December.  Grump couldn't join us because we had stayed at the Bush hut - which is a 5km hike into the forest (somewhere Grumps are not allowed due to wild animals, particularly Elephants).  If we go for Pickle's birthday trip then we will either camp or stay at the lodge, where Pickle is very welcome.

John at the lodge prior to hiking to the bush hut

The view of Mount Kenya from our porch at about 6 am on our last morning there

A little hut out in the forest (directly next to the bush hut)

We are hoping that our car doesn't break down this time like it did last time :)

Summer in January?

Summer in January

J and I are back in Nairobi after spending the holidays in the States.  I went from the Polar Vortex (-15F) to 85F degree weather in a matter of a week.  Thus begins our summer in what I have always endured as the darkest of the winter months (Jan-Mar).

I must admit, it is hard to remember that it is January since it is sunny and hot here right now.  

A new year filled with new adventures lie ahead for us.  The first of which is welcoming our first visitor at the end of this month.  A friend that we met during our travels in Nepal is going to spend 4 months traveling throughout E. Africa and will start and end his journey with us in Nairobi.

We are going to work on starting to explore our new home in 2014 which will hopefully lead to more exciting blog posts.  For now, I will leave you with a picture from our Thanksgiving in Nairobi, which was filled with new friends, great food, and lots of laughter.

Thanksgiving 2013 with some awesome people we have met thus far