Hippos and nightlife

Hi

Just in case you didn't know, I am loving it here.

Last weekend we went and lived the highlife in Kisumu. We left early on the saturday after a really nice night of goat,beer and dancing. The place we stayed at was called "Sooper Guest House". We definitely took a picture of the sign because we liked the spelling so much. The place was really clean but most importantly it had hot showers (when the electricity was working). We pretty much thought we were in heaven. It was my first none bucket shower since I have been here. We dumped our stuff and then went for delicious fresh fried Talapia. Angela and I also tried to ride a camel but the camel ran away before we had a chance.

After lunch we were on route to hippos. We took a little three wheeled Tuk Tuk which was new to me. Alastair almost fell out but we tried to hold on to him. I forgot to mention that all five of use took our personal bike taxis (boda boda) to the guest house. We were all about new forms of transportation. We finally got to Hippo point. I must say that we did some fantastic barganing and then hop into the boat. For a while we were a little confused and thought that hippo was some sort of code word for naked people because all we saw were people bathing. Apparently there use to having tourists watching them bath, or so said our captain. All five of us just really enjoyed being on a boat. So relaxing. On the way back, that was when we saw the hippos. They are so weird looking. The have amazingly little ears. We actually got to see one stand up and yawn. How annoying would I be if I said "You haven't lived until you see a hippo yawn"? Annoying, eh.

After all the fun with the hippos it was time for group napping. That night we were pretty determined to find live music. Boy did we ever succeed. We ended up at this place called Bomas. Not only was the music good but we were shocked at how these kenyan men can girate. We were the only white people there. Right before we left they dedicated a song to us. Surprise surprise it was an Obama song. I have now heard three different songs about Obama. It is also a common greeting. People will come up to us and just say Obama. We have started replying with "He's my brother".

The next day we went to the huge Kisumu open air market. We stuck very closely together because there were so many people. We didn't buy anything, but it was a complete cultural experience. I saw a woman holding her child in one hand and a live chicken in the other.

Next weekend we are going to the extinct volcano Mt Elgon. We are going to go clambouring around in caves with a small chance of seeing elephants. We are also celebrating Dave's last night on Friday.

As an end note I am also running away from Valentines day. My life as managed to get dramatic even over here.