Kenya

Back in African for our 170th country we celebrated Kenya, home to the father of our 44th president (or, ahem,  our 44th president, depending on who you ask. ) 

First, lets get the bad stuff out of the way. There is a US Travel alert for those wanting to travel to Kenya (the US department of state changed their alert system warning recently, and now there's different levels. Kenya is a 'Level 2', meaning exercise increased caution.  

Part of the reason for that is the terrorism along the boarder of Somalia. But, there is also a lot of crime in the capital of Nairobi. So much so, that the capital city has been dubbed 'Nai-robbery'. Not great. 

But Kenya is more than it's travel alerts, and complete idiocy of the birther movement (forgive my political bias here- but oh my lord). And, it shows. Kenya is actually the top tourist destination in Africa according to Trip Advisory. 

Take the friendliness of the people, and there is  A LOT of people in Kenya, over 44 million Kenyans- they crack the top ten of most populated countries in Africa. 

You guys, in our big travel book, Kenya's 'in a word' is Hakuna Matata!  (It means no worries........ for the rest of your days, it's our problem free philosophy... ) Sorry, I'm a child of the 80s/90s. 

Anyway, the cultures and traditions of many tribes such as the Massai, Samburu, Turkana, Kikuyu and Luhya peoples. The Massai. 

Our book focused mainly on the Massai, the ethnic group inhabiting southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known local populations due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes, and their distinctive customs and dress.

Plus, they have a famous jumping dance ritual with looks pretty awesome in the photographs. (Also fiun fact, when members of Maasai tribe greet and elder, or an important person from another village, they spit on their palms before shaking hands. 

But really, Kenya, for us, was all about the landscape and the animals. The Great Rift Valley runs right through the country creating beautiful lakes, savannahs and volcanoes. 

Our landmark was part landscape, part animal with the first national park in Africa (est 1946): Nairobi National Park. Here you'll find all those great African animals: zebras, rhinos, lions, giraffes, and the like. But what makes this park particularly unique is that it is the only national park in the whole world located in a capital city. All those awesome animals? You can see them with the Nairobi skyline as the backdrop. 

An electric fence separates the wildlife from the city, though you can imagine the close proximity of people and wild animals sometimes causes conflicts. 

This can be especially problematic for the 'great migration' that occurs over the vast plains of the Serengeti every year between April and October. 

Fun fact: the Serengeti Plains are 'featured' on Kilimanjaro Safaris at the Animal Kingdom! But, Kilimanjaro was already covered on Tanzania day.

Anyway, the great migration is when a million or so wildebeest and hundred of zebras travel across the Serengeti (mainly) in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya in search of food. It's also (spoiler alert) what killed Mufasa. It's a huge draw for tourists, best experienced in a hot air balloon (now THAT would be awesome!) 

Kenya is also home to huge herds of buffaloes, and elephants. 

And then there's the huge number of pink residents. Flamingos can be found in many of Kenya's lakes. (Lake Turkana in Kenya is the world's largest permanent desert lake!) 

The boys made their Kenya postcards, which of course included lots of animals. 

Calib went with flamingos and giraffes (notice the Nairobi skyline in the background). 

Peyton drew some zebras. 

Hayden's featured a lion trying to jump into an electric fence, so that was a little weird. 

Africa is getting a little tough in the way of 'traditional' foods, so we've been going more street food, and a little more modern and less traditional. 

Fruit for Kenya wasn't difficult to decide, since we're still working off our giant Costco jar of mango. (Did I mention mango is the most commonly eaten fruit in the world? As Americans we think its apples or bananas, but nope... it's mangoes. Anyway, Kenya's warm climate provides for a long growing season and there is  an abundance of tropical fruits. Citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons are common, as are mangoes, pears,bananas and pineapples.

Then we made Masala Chips 

And to round it all out we made our own Burger from the ‘Burger Hut in Kenya- that's really popular.  Burger Hut has been in business since 1986. It's a church-run restaurant with some of the best greasy, juicy burgers in Nairobi.

Here's what we found about the burgers: "starting from the top, a sesame bun, unknown whitish pink sauce,  fried egg, Kenyan cheese (Raka/cheddar), luscious beef, pickles, tomato, more sauce, lettuce, bun, beef, cheese, more sauce, lettuce, bun, and maybe a little extra grease and special sauce thrown in randomly for just a few extra added calories. 

We were going to have roasted corn to go with it, but I totally whiffed and forgot to pick any up, so broccoli it was. (Grilled Maize with a side of chili is popular there). 

These burgers were MASSIVE. Like, HUGE. The biggest we've ever made at home. Peyton and I only had a single, but Hayden, Asa, and Calib all took the double with all the toppings and an egg. 

This dinner earned five spoons up. 

Because... burgers! I couldn't even finish my single one and I tried. But those boys ate every last bit of theirs. 

We liked the fries enough, but honestly, just make the burger. You won't be able to eat anything other than that. But, the fries would be great any other time. 

If you're looking for something a little more traditional you could go with Nyama Choma, a Kenyan-style roasted met, or Mandazi- which we had made for Uganda (they were good though!) 

We colored Kenya in dark red, with lighter red Somalia to the northeast, dark blue Uganda to the west, and light green Tanzania to the south. 

That's 170 down, 26 to go! 

Next Up: Honduras