G is for giraffes and grenades

Both were features of this weekend in Nairobi. The grenades were thrown at a bus station, killed six people and injured over 60, were the main news story for a day or so but haven't really touched our life here (or apparently that of most people living in Nairobi). There are a few more men in uniform wandering around with large guns (which isn't in itself particularly reassuring for me!) but otherwise it would be tricky to spot a reaction. Whether that's because death (particularly in connection with busses given the state of the roads and the way they are driven, maintained and always over crowded) is more part of everyday life is hard to tell. In complete contrast the giraffes were gentle and beautiful, living at a small centre in Karen (a rural and relatively affluent suburb of Nairobi named after Karen Blixen of "I had a farm in Africa" fame). The centre was set up to protect the endangered Rothschild Giraffe - did you know there were different varieties of giraffe? I didn't. It has a viewing/ feeding platform where you can get up close and personal with these lovely creatures. I baulked at putting a piece of carrot between my teeth and being "kissed" by the giraffes as they retrieved their snacks, as (I'm glad to say) did Tim and the kids. But we had lots of fun having carrots nibbled from flat hands and holding out small branches so the giraffes could strip off the leaves. I took a couple of snaps which inspired me to work out uploading photos to this blog. It looks straightforward with some intuitive functionality built in to the system. But after a frustrating morning I've decided that I'm either lacking in intuition or the functionality is lacking. So Im seeking some technical advice from fellow bloggers and I will try and add the pics in later. There was a nature walk too but it was the height of the afternoon sun (having spent the morning at some local cricket nets - looks like sport will be just as big a part of our life here as it was in London!) - so we decided to leave that for another day and headed home for a swim. Everyone is doing lots of swimming - its my alternative to cycling and the kids swim once a week in a school pool and most evenings after school to cool down. Matthew is keeping a tally of the distance he has covered. I'm not sure of its accuracy and suspect an element of double counting but it's motivating him to keep going as, I suspect, is the 8 year old girl who is a stronger swimmer than him and is often in the pool swimming alongside (and ever so slightly in front of) him. Makes me smile.