S'mores?

Over the past week we have been settling into the first official week of school, which so far has gone well. To end the week we took a trip to the Great Rift Valley (about 2 hours away from our compound) to climb Mt. Longonot. Mt. Longonot is a 9,107 foot stratovolcano which has thought to last erupt in the 1860s. The hike was like nothing I had ever done before. Unlike in the Adirondack Mountains where you are enclosed in the woods on dirt paths for your climbs. Mt. Longonot was open the entire climb with small bushes and tress on the side of the path. Also the ground was a combination of gravel and sandy clay. Sadly it was so foggy the entire time that when we got to the top of the crater we could not see at all. So for the 10 mile hike we pretty much walked in the fog. Another downside is none of us thought to bring snacks so we were all STARVING during the hike, but I guess that is our own faults. On the upside on our way down we did see zebras, which was very cool.

At night we camped at Lake Olodien, at a beautiful camp ground over looking the lake. Kenyans really love bonfires as we have had multiple since being here, however anytime you mention s'mores they look at you funny. This is defiantly an American tradition I believe should be introduced since we all know it makes a campfire that much better. In the morning a few of us woke up to see the sunrise over the lake. I will say getting shocked by the electric fence that is used to keep the hippos away was worth it for the picture :) don't worry I am fine! And for those who know me, they will attest that I would pretty much do anything to capture the sunrise. We ended our weekend get away by taking a boat ride on the lake where we got to see hippos, giraffes, more zebras and lots of birds. Sadly the fun had to come to an end as we have Swahili class starting at 7:30am tomorrow morning.