Sunday March 31, 2013.

After a very quiet night and an early breakfast we leave Nairobi. Things have stayed very calm after the Supreme Court elections results announcement. Those that questioned our decision to go to Kenya that time of the year were proven wrong.  It is Easter Sunday so there is not much traffic on the roads.

Kenya looks so green in the wet season.  We buy some sweets in a local supermarket in order not to arrive completely empty handed at the school.  We arrive at Mt Carmel's catholic girls secondary school around 11am and the kids are still in Easter Sunday Mass. The Sister Headmaster gives us a very warm welcome and invites us to join Mass. A Kenyan Mass is so much different from Mass in Belgium. The approximately 300 kids are singing and dancing.  As visitors we are requested to step forward and introduce ourselves. Jackson explains about the missing bag with the Belgian chocolates. After Mass we get invited for a piece of cake by the headmaster and meet Jackson's eldest daughter. She loves the school and the headmaster tries to convince my daughters to stay in Kenya and join the boarding school but she is not successful. We have a very nice morning. The school has beautiful gardens and is very well maintained. 

We say goodbye and continue to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy (and cross the Equator a few times) where we have lunch at our tented camp Sweetwaters.  Ol Pejeta is a private conservancy and it is the only place in Kenya where chimpanzees can be seen. It hosts a Chimpanzee Sanctuary for orphaned and abused chimpanzees mainly from Burundi. We leave the chimpanzee sanctuary with some mixed feelings as a number of the chimpanzees look depressed but it may be due to the heavy rain. 

Ol pejeta, Kenya

They also have a blind black rhino named "Baraka" that can be fed with grass by the children.

black rhino at Ol Pejeta, Kenya

That part of the  Ol Pejeta Conservancy has a bit of a zoo like feeling but we enjoy the rest of the park where I spot the first lion. We also see buffalo, elephants and black rhino. Four out of the big five in Ol Pejeta.  Not bad for our first afternoon in Kenya!

buffalo at Ol Pejeta, Kenya Ol Pejeta, Kenya in the wet season

Ol pejeta, Kenya Ol Pejeta, Kenya in the wet season

The Sweetwaters tented camp is a beautiful camp. As it is Easter weekend it is full.  Our tents have a view over a pond where animals come to drink.

We have a great first day in Kenya.