Bovines, Bugs, and Birds

First, here is a picture of Nicole and the kids outside of our house.

Now get ready for a very random post about random things in Kenya.

Today I had to wait for about five minutes while a small herd of cows slowly moved out of the road. The man herding them seemed in no more of a hurry than the cows. I am not sure what the cows were eating in the middle of the road as it is just dust, but they certainly were in no hurry to find greener pastures - like the side of the road out of my way. A funny site in a city of 2 million people.

Nate and I had a run-in with safari ants on Saturday. Safari is Swahili for journey or travel. The ants just kind of keep moving in a thick, straight line from who knows where to somewhere else. I found out first hand that it is best to let them be as they have a terrible bite. They sort of dig into your skin a little, which would be really interesting to watch if it weren't for the pain. Nicole stripped Nate's pants off and brushed them off of him, I ran inside to do the same; though I thought about "dropping my drawers" in the out of doors as well!! The gentleman who takes care of the yard told me I should avoid those ants. We have given the backyard a break since then.

We have two to three birds (I think they are ibises) they are a little larger than a chicken and sound as loud as a semi, and about as pleasant to the ear. They generally wake us up each morning. I actually kind of enjoy them, but seem to be the only person living on this compound who feels that way. I will try to get a picture of them for all of you, and post it here.

That is about all the news of animals in and around the house. Well, actually we have several geckos that live in the house and there is a guard dog named Buster who likes to hang out around our house during the evening when he is let out. He desperately misses his real family who are back in the States, and Lexi and Nate give him lots of attention as they miss Emma. So it is a win-win situation for everyone.