Hip Hip-po Ray!

I'm pretty darned proud of myself for spending most of today stalking wildlife in the Great Rift Valley.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to be more adventurous and start taking advantage of the amazing geography that's dang near in my immediate 'hood. The first step was booking a trip to Zanzibar. Yesterday, I vowed to go to Naivasha, about 9O minutes away from Nairobi, to explore the town and perhaps go out on the lake. Naivasha is in the heart of the Great Rift Valley, and there are lots of game parks, lakes and other natural resources to explore.

I was planning to hire a driver, but yesterday afternoon, my new friend Monique texted to see what I had planned for the weekend. I'd actually met her briefly at a Barclay's bank ATM, right before heading to the States back in October. We'd exchanged cards, but never followed up. When Monique walked up to me on Inauguration night and reintroduced herself, I was pleased to find another American sister-girl to roll with.

After I talked Monique into driving, and we survived a really horrible stretch of road before finding a smooth highway, we reached Naivasha around high noon. We did a little light shopping at the local market before heading out to the Kenya Wildlife Reserve's Lake Naivasha Hippo Camp.

The ani-mules were so freakin' cool! We saw zebras and giraffes and water buffaloes and gazelles....and of course hippos during our one hour boat trip around Crescent Island. But none of those sightings topped what happened shortly after we arrived. As I checked in with the game warden, he wanted to try and charge the non-resident fee of $15, versus the resident price of $2. I tried to explain that we both live in Nairobi, but he was just focused on my American accent, and the prospect of fleecing us both. Then I pulled out the Nation Media Group ID that I had shoved into my bag almost as an afterthought.

He stared at the name, looked up at me and said, "Oh, I saw your article in the paper!" I figured he was mistaking me for some columnist, and waited patiently as he flipped through a couple of newspapers on the counter. Hey, if it was going to get me a $13 discount, I'd pretend to be a Daily Nation staffer. Ain't no shame in my game.

But then he actually pointed to a picture of me in the paper. I was startled, but then remembered the article I'd written after the November 4th election, about what President Obama's (GOD, I love saying and writing that title!!!!!) election had meant to me as an African American.

The warden said he had saved it because it was so inspirational, and that he had just re-read it before I arrived.

Coincidence??? I think not. It was the coolest thing that's happened to me in a very, very long time. Even cooler than those humongous hippos chilling in Lake Naivasha.

(Check out my Facebook album of today's adventure: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=772031562&pid=2003317#/album.php?aid=84184&id=772031562)