Arrived at Africa Nazarene University late Sunday night, Monday was a “Pole pole” day (slow, gradual) as we toured the campus and got more info on the project. We are going to be updating some common areas into conference rooms, doing demolition and paint work to start.

Interesting “Safety Brief” on one of the local hazards… (Hyenas killed two people on campus last year)

We were told to stay inside from 6pm to 6am and they have roving patrols with dogs at night.




Had this guy checking me out yesterday morning about 100 from the visitor’s quarters…





First bird shot of the trip - “Little Bee-Eater” About the size of a sparrow.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

You know, of all the things in Africa that will kill you, I never considered hayeenas, but when you think about it it makes sense. Can't run from them, can't play dead, they can climb trees, they move in packs, and they'll laugh at you while they're tearing your guts out. That's a scary critter!

Your trip is going to be a unique experience for sure. Thanks for sharing the pics. Have fun and don't get eaten!

Cool little bird. Be safe and have a great trip! The hyena, Africas version of the coyote, just way more vicious and scary.

Yeah…..interesting recommendation to stay inside at night! You’re not in the States and you’re certainly down on the food chain a few more notches than we are used to…”hazards”…too funny!
Sounds like a great experience in an exotic place….be safe and have fun!!
Looking forward to more pics!

Cool pix. Thx Boss

For us WeatherBuff's keep us updated on the weather plz.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Cool pix. Thx Boss

For us WeatherBuff's keep us updated on the weather plz.

Weather is perfect! Sunny with highs in the low 70s

Great update!

I really am enjoying your photos!

Bill

Ten miles to your north there are protestors burning down government offices and rioting over some local political BS. so steer clear of downtown Nairobi.

quote:

Originally posted by ltz400:
Ten miles to your north there are protestors burning down government offices and rioting over some local political BS. so steer clear of downtown Nairobi.

Yes, saw it on the news yesterday. Protesting govt tax hikes. I guess there were some protestors injured and they broke in the parliament offices.

Our guide was actually in Nairobi doing some banking when it all kicked off. We won’t be going into town, so hopefully won’t be an issue.


In other news, the campus WiFi is kind of flakey, so my updates may be sporadic until that is sorted out. I was able to get an eSIM for my phone (10 days, unlimited 4g/LTE data for $37) but it looks like it won’t work as a hotspot to my iPad. So when WiFi is down can only access by phone and the forum on a smaller screen is a little difficult.


Not expecting too many photos from the campus work that you all might be interested in, but will post a few. We head to Amboseli on Monday, that is when the “good” pics should start…

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

Cool, understand the flakey internet thing, but I'll be watching for updates when you can. The service project part of the trip sounds pretty interesting, too, and I'd love to see pics of that if you get the chance.

Our family has been involved in a number of ministry trips over the years, and my wife and daughter actually just left today on a trip to Budapest where they'll be helping run an English Camp for HS kids, and my wife is also going to teach a couple of art classes while she's there. It's always interesting to see the outcomes of these sorts of trips, both for the hosts and the folks on the trip.

Some pics…


Animal shots from the school campus…

Superb Starling




Hadada Ibis




Sacred Ibis





Baboon





Some of the work. Large room that was divided into 4 offices with ceiling to floor partitions. Tear out all the partitions and re-wire from individual switches to each light fixture back to original wiring of two fixtures each to two wall switches.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

Very cool! Always satisfying to see tangible progress on a project at the end of the day.

What's the electrical like in Kenya? Is it 110 or 220? Pretty well regulated or is it a free-for-all? When I was in Brazil in 2001, it was either/or with the same plug, and a lot of it was pirated by illegally tapping into utility lines. You never knew what you were going to get when you plugged something in, and a lot of stuff got fried. Lots of adventures with electricity on that trip...at on point we had to run our own ground for the reel-to-reel projector we were using by shoving the end of an extension cord a few feet down into the swamp.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Very cool! Always satisfying to see tangible progress on a project at the end of the day.

What's the electrical like in Kenya? Is it 110 or 220? Pretty well regulated or is it a free-for-all? When I was in Brazil in 2001, it was either/or with the same plug, and a lot of it was pirated by illegally tapping into utility lines. You never knew what you were going to get when you plugged something in, and a lot of stuff got fried. Lots of adventures with electricity on that trip...at on point we had to run our own ground for the reel-to-reel projector we were using by shoving the end of an extension cord a few feet down into the swamp.

It is 240-250v, no where near the code or standard we are used to. Of quite as bad as you describe in Brazil. All outlets seem to have switches on them, a lot of surface mount conduit for the outlets while lights seem to be behind the wall.

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All outlets seem to have switches on them

That's interesting...any idea why they do it that way? I've not seen a lot of that other places, but I imagine they have a reason as it requires extra work and materials.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

All outlets seem to have switches on them

That's interesting...any idea why they do it that way? I've not seen a lot of that other places, but I imagine they have a reason as it requires extra work and materials.

This is the way it's done in the UK for a slight amount of added safety. Yeah, kind of a pain if you have a computer connected and it gets switched off. Just part of their standards.

I would guess Kenya has inherited the UK electrical standards from the days when they were under British rule. Kind of like driving on the 'wrong' side of the road

First trip into the park this afternoon, these are the best shots of the day.

Sunrise trip in the morning and then another afternoon trip. “Amazing” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Awesome pictures ….. that elephant pic could be a postcard! Very cool

quote:

Originally posted by cgode:
Awesome pictures ….. that elephant pic could be a postcard! Very cool

I was going to say exactly that, but you beat me to it! Absolutely gorgeous! The hippo and lion pics are pretty crazy, too...both of those things can kill you, and you'd never even know they were there if their heads weren't sticking up.

My thought about the elephant picture was “Wow, that’s amazing!".

Our driver is a Nat Geo photographer so not only does he know where to find the animals, but he positions the Landcruiser taking light and background into consideration. Then suggest framing, etc.

Here are some more shots…


Sunrise in Amboseli














Misc…













The “combo platter”





A few of the birds











Predators








And prey…











We have one more trip into the park this afternoon, hopefully more lions and hippo.