Ndovu [elephant]

Jambo!  I have now spent two whole days in Nairobi, and we've been so incredibly busy!  Yesterday, we started off by going to the Elephant Orphanage.  This is where Kenyan Wildlife Services takes in baby elephants who have lost their mothers (sometimes due to natural causes, but usually because of human causes).  We were there at feeding time, and watched the keepers feed the elephants huge bottles of baby formula (yep, formula for human babies...I guess it would be pretty difficult to milk an elephant).  

The baby elephants are rescued from the wild, nurtured until about age 3, and then released back into a national park when they are ready.  Sometimes, they even come back to visit to prove to their keepers that they are doing just fine on their own.

They really were adorable!  I even got to touch one!  One of my fellow students and I decided that we are going to go halfsies on an elephant.  Her name will be Ophelia, and she's going to travel home on the airplane with us.

Oh, and this is my favorite picture of my journey so far -- up close and personal with an elephant pooping.  Something I never expected to see in my lifetime!

Later we went to Nairobi National Park.  We didn't see nearly as many animals as the last time I was there, but we came pretty close to a lion!

Today we hung out with students from University of Nairobi, and they showed us around the city.  Tomorrow we're heading to the UN to learn about development issues regarding the slums in Nairobi, followed by a reception at the Canadian High Commission.

All in all, life is grand!