Fun with giraffes

A few weeks ago, the Jones family and I decided we needed a little getaway and so we used Isaac's birthday as an excuse to get away to Nairobi for the weekend. We had a great time relaxing and enjoying good food that we didn't have to make.
One of the highlights was visiting the Giraffe Center where you can get up close and personal with the gentle giants. We got to feed them and got completely slimed by their long tongues. I wasn't adventurous enough, though, to let them eat out of my mouth as some others did, but I figured just letting them wrap that long tongue around my hand was enough :)
It was a great time and I'm so thankful for the friendship of the Jones family and what an encouragement they are to me.

The Jones'

Nairobi Eye

I know that I have taken an especially long hiatus from blogging and for that I apologize. So, I'll try to catch you all up on recent happenings.
This is winter in Kenya (it gets down to the 50's at night, which is very cold for here) and time for the heavy rains. The rains have been better than last year, when there was a drought, but haven't been too bad. Along with the rains, though, come a variety of critters. Thankfully not too many have made it into my house. You do, however, have to be very vigilant for one in particular - the Nairobi Eye (or fly, depending on who you talk to). It is very small (see picture below), and it doesn't bite. However, if you hit it while it is on your skin, it releases a very irritating vesicant and causes basically a chemical burn.

About a month ago, one must have crawled onto my arm while I was sleeping. I tend to sleep with my arms curled up and you can see the result below. It is just now fully healing.


Then, this past Sunday, while watching the final World Cup game (I'm not really a soccer fan, but figured since it was such a big deal here, I should watch it), I felt something crawling on my neck and absent-mindedly swatted at it. This is what resulted. I have a matching wound on my neck. And yes, in case you were wondering, it is painful. I have now started doing thorough inspection of my bed and the surrounding walls before settling in at night.

Beware the Nairobi Eye!