January 2013

January 2013 was a busy month for us as the kids went back to school the second week of January.

However, before Zara went back to school she had her hair braided by the lady who works next door, Rose. Rose came over on a Saturday afternoon & spent a few hours braiding Zara's hair.

Zoe also wanted her hair braided which we decided against because of the amount of time it would have taken. So we took a photo of her after we took Zara's.

Through out January our garden was very green & the kids had fun hanging out there.

 

In January Tim went to the US & on his way home came through Heathrow which was in the middle of heavy snow falls. Tim was stuck on the plane for a long time, but his connecting flight to Nairobi wasn't cancelled so he made it home!

Almost immediately after getting back from his trip to the US Tim's work went on their annual retreat this time to a lodge in Tsavo National Park which was an 8 hour bus trip each way on some crazy roads....

This is where they stayed.

Elephants!

Elephants would come & drink the water from under the lodge.

End of January was Australia Day for us so we went to the Australian High Commission for their celebrations. Kids got face painted: Zoe as a zombie with flowers & dolphin on her arms, Zane a pirate zombie & Zara some Mike Tyson inspired tattoo.

Zara took part in an aerial acrobatics display they had on & received tickets to attend a show because of it.

Once we got home that afternoon, the kids played with their Angry Birds!

 After less than 2 weeks of having her braids in, Zara decided to take them out.

Watamu - Gede Ruins

On our second last day at Watamu we went to Gede Ruins which is the remains of a Swahili town along the coast which has origins back to the 12th century. Sometime in the 16th century this place was abandoned for reasons unknown (several reasons have been given).

Anyway, we walked up the drive and fed the Sykes monkeys on the way with bananas which we bought especially for the tour.

 This was our tour guide Pili.

One ran up Zara to grab the banana!

There are remains of mosques, palaces & houses in the ruins. 

Excavation between 1948-1958 revealed the Muslim inhabitants there traded with people from all around the world. During this excavation they found scissors from Spain, Ming vase & coins from China, beads from Venice & an iron lamp from India. 

This place was very, very impressive!

 Recently a treehouse has been constructed there in one of the trees but we did not go up.

Watamu - injuries

As usual, it doesn't seem to be a holiday until one or all the kids hurts themselves!

This time Zoe cracked her eye open one night when she was messing around in bed & trying not to sleep... Then she ended up with a black eye!

Zane also got hurt... This time it was an injury caused by Zara. Depending on who you talk with they both agree that Zane was kicked off one bed in his bedroom onto the other bed by Zara however he missed his target & hit the wood on the side of the bed... Where they don't agree is why Zara was kicking Zane. Zara says Zane wanted her too, Zane says she just did it... Who knows, but there was a lot of screaming & crying & we had to spend a lot of time with ice on poor Zaney's graze/bruise.

Watamu - Papa Remo Beach

We went to Papa Remo Beach which was in a cove just north of Blue Bay Cove.

And as usual, we went by tuk-tuk!

This is also possibly one of the most beautiful beaches on earth.

We visited for lunch & it was low tide.

And as usual Zoe wanted to get wet... And then she rolled in sand... And then she got annoyed that she was wet & sandy... And then she took all her clothes off... Zane did the same thing in taking his clothes off as he was sandy & wet too... And then we rode home in the tuk-tuk with Zane & Zoe completely naked.