In the event we see a lion ready to pounce... here is our course of action:
Friend #1: Grab lion's tongue
Me: Grab lion's tail
Friend #2: Hit lion with stick
---haven't quite figured out how we'll run away from it yet...hmm
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It’s interesting how I find giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, lions, etc to be so exotic… but the truth is, they’re relatively common outside of Nairobi. For instance, when driving on the roads, instead of cows or horses on the side (animals that we see in the states)... we see zebras grazing. Or when hiking, instead of rabbits and deers, we see giraffes and gazelles. It’s crazy.
On Saturday, we drove out of the city to hike Longonot—an expired volcano… and it owned me. It took us 5 hours to hike to the top, around the volcano rim, and back down… and by “us,” I really mean I slowed everyone down, haha.. everyone was nice and said, “Oh, you’re just not used to the altitude and climate here in Kenya.” I was more frank and said, “No, I’m just out of shape”
While hiking, as a [ongoing] joke, one of my friends asked, “Yvonne, what will you do if a lion jumps out onto the path?” With that question, came forth the development of our lion escape plan (above) Perhaps we should patent it? Haha—but the “pulling on the lion's tongue” step is another story saved for another post—it really works!
But it was breath-taking at the top—in the middle of the volcano grew a forest… it was seriously like a hidden city. And when we looked out onto the country, it was a wide array of geographical features--- there was a rainstorm in one area, a lake in another, a forest, a rift... I kept repeating: this is so beautiful… but after describing what I saw as “beautiful” by the ump-teenth time, I finally realized there really aren’t any words that could adequately describe it. Seriously, God is amazing…
Since pictures are worth a thousand words:
On Saturday, we drove out of the city to hike Longonot—an expired volcano… and it owned me. It took us 5 hours to hike to the top, around the volcano rim, and back down… and by “us,” I really mean I slowed everyone down, haha.. everyone was nice and said, “Oh, you’re just not used to the altitude and climate here in Kenya.” I was more frank and said, “No, I’m just out of shape”
While hiking, as a [ongoing] joke, one of my friends asked, “Yvonne, what will you do if a lion jumps out onto the path?” With that question, came forth the development of our lion escape plan (above) Perhaps we should patent it? Haha—but the “pulling on the lion's tongue” step is another story saved for another post—it really works!
But it was breath-taking at the top—in the middle of the volcano grew a forest… it was seriously like a hidden city. And when we looked out onto the country, it was a wide array of geographical features--- there was a rainstorm in one area, a lake in another, a forest, a rift... I kept repeating: this is so beautiful… but after describing what I saw as “beautiful” by the ump-teenth time, I finally realized there really aren’t any words that could adequately describe it. Seriously, God is amazing…
Since pictures are worth a thousand words:
The hidden city.
My fellow adventurers and friends who have the two key roles in our Lion Escape Plan
We conquered!! 
My friend chillin and waiting for us on top of the ridge
Views of the country from the top
Oh-- And I never did finish posting pictures from last weekend and I haven’t finished with this past weekend… but I’ll be better, promise. In the meantime, enjoy! :)
