A little r&r

This weekend the Kenya team has been able to get in a little r&r. This was technically supposed to happen later next week, but with the playground delay, they moved up the beach day and safari, just in case the playground does arrive before the end of next week.

I do need to point out that the images I am using are not mine. I have been using some pictures from the Education for Life website, to hopefully give a little glimpse into what life might be like for Rob. I suppose we'll find out when he gets home if I was on base, although I'm pleased to hear that he is taking an uncharacteristic amount of pictures, yippee!

On Saturday they spent the day at Diani beach which is south of Mombasa. Which you can see on the map below...

Photo credit: Forest Dream

Rob said the beach is literally picture perfect. White sand, vivid blue water. Apparently he got a decent sunburn, despite his slathering of sunscreen. He also made a rookie mistake when it came to a cactus. Apparently they were sitting on a telephone pole that was on its side, in the shade. He knew there was a cactus behind him, but what he didn't realize was that the back of his shirt would end up filled with these tiny spikes from it (not entirely sure how they got there). The Africans knew this and told him to take off his shirt right away. Cute.

Photo credit: Real Adventures

With our current Albertan temps hovering in the -15° - 25° range, I'd take some of that beach action any day!

On Sunday they were attending church, and then heading off on safari. Very exciting. I must admit, my husband wasn't so sure of this safari business. He figured you're there to work, so work. I figured, you're in FREAKING Africa, go on the bloody safari, Dear! I guess I finally won out, because that's where he currently is. I couldn't get a specific location, as I don't believe they are in the actual Tsavo East National Park, but in a private reserve not far from there. Interestingly enough, you may have heard of Tsavo from the book, The Man-eaters of Tsavo which was made into the 1996 movie, The Ghost in the Darkness. Two lions happened upon some workers, and apparently this scene is in the movie (which I saw far too long ago to remember). Anyway, moving on from man-eating (ahem, preferably not my man) lions...

So the trick with this safari business is there is no guarantee what animals you will see, as its supposed to be au naturel although I must say I'm really hoping for some good pictures of some elephants and giraffes. I'd be quite fine if they didn't happen upon any carnivorous animals (that's what zoos are for really). I believe they will spend two nights on safari, which sounds rather posh. In the little "what to wear while on safari" it was recommended that men have a "suit jacket" (really, people still own these?) to wear for the evening meal. Well, we didn't exactly have a suit jacket, but I figure a nice collared shirt might be a good compromise.

Here are my two "I really hope Rob gets to see" animals...
Photo Credit: Acacia

Photo Credit: Kevin Williams Wildlife Photography

That's the latest news as of yesterday morning. We seem to have a nice phone schedule with Rob phoning around 8:30am (6:30pm his time) every morning. The kids and I are doing well. It's definitely lonely, but I'm also really trying to appreciate the "me and them" time. Some days its definitely trying but as long as I make a point to have 1 hour of me time in the afternoon, I seem to be doing OK. Another bonus has been that this past week has been reading break, which has really helped. Of course, as all good things must come to an end, I do have a paper due tomorrow night.