Hi everyone,  Friday 6.30 am depart from our lovely hotel in Kilgali....got to the airport to find the flight had been delayed...en route to the a/port the driver pointed out Hotel Rewanda where those who managed to escape to during the genocide in 1994 were safe as United Nations put a cordon around the hotel and had it heavily guarded...apparently a lot of people went into their churches but were slaughtered and it is said that a lot of the priests were involved in the genocide....all very disturbing..however to the airport and what a shambles...all the security checks etc but to cut a long story short we didn't get off the ground until 11 am...Keyna Airlines changed the flight this time and they didn't give any information so you didn't know what was happening and there was no lu in the holding pen...you had to go back through security again...Kilgali A/P is benbg extended but they need to up their game in public relations...and so to Nairobi...we put the clock forward 1 hour...all the way it has been one hour forward or one hour back so not big time changes thank goodness...Nairobi A/P has massive renovations going on but even though we were 3 hours late our tour company was there to meet us and so the 1 hour drive to our hotel....we came via the ring road out of Nairobi which is supposedly new but oh the traffic congestion...they drive on the left here and petrol is US$1.50 per litre..just as we imagined rubbish and dirt on the side of the road...no footpaths and people everywhere...goats crossing the road even though it is a main road...cows...side stalls with people selling things of all sorts....40% unemployment but our driver told us that all the stall holders are considered unemployed as they are not on the tax books!! Keyna 40 million people with 4 million living in Nairobi....lots of land being sold out beside this ring road as Nairobi extends out there but I can't imagine the traffic as it was a very slow journey and the building is only getting started on all the land....a very big university we passed all fenced but looked quite impressive....our driver told us that the Keyna's start the weekend early and it was 3 pm by now and all the bars and restaurants on the road side were packed.... I can't imagine the road accidents as they tried to find their way home...people walking everywhere as we saw in Ethiopia and Rewanda as public transport is pretty thin on the ground in these countries but they just seem to walk everywhere regardless....the currency is the Keynan schilling and there are 84 to US$1...and so to our hotel..Safari Park Hotel ...we seemed to be miles away but we were still in Nairobi...the hotel set in 65 acres of land and an absolute park...so good to get here and stop the world and get off....owned by a Korean we were told...6 restaurants to choose from within the complex.....and so we chose the Italian restaurant...had pizza and beer and bed...we were shattered...another day of 1 and 1/2 hours flying that took all day!! We even felt like a wine but so expensive we gave it a miss....Saturday and we had a lie in which was just heaven after all our early starts.....had breakfast and then found ourselves at a Keynan wedding in the grounds...4 weddings at the hotel on Saturday but we went to the wedding where an Aussie guy married a Keynan girl...it was all in English and a very Anglican service and oh the singing....really had a day of catching up on washing etc and just walking in the park like grounds and catching up on a bit of news as we had TV but no free internet...in fact very expensive so we had to leave the PC in its bag....Sunday and again an early start as we left the hotel at 7am...we have been joined by 2 Canadian couples for our Keyna/Tanzania safari....they had come to speak at a conference in Nairobi, 2 years in the planning but it was cancelled as apparently there have been 2 more bombings in Nairobi...we were oblivious to that!!  It has been a mostly rural drive today to the Masai Mara...rough roads and villages so dirty and rubbish everywhere and mud and puddles at the shop front doors...animals everywhere....the people really are very poor....we have had a 6 hour drive and most of the road was sealed apart from the last 100 kms...80 km per hour speed here which seems so slow and our van isn't that great, disappointing in fact to think this is what we have for 12 days....Sunday must be wash day as there was washing hanging on bushes everywhere and some just lying on the ground....we encountered lots of animals en route....giraffes, zebra, gazelles, wilder beast and lots of Masa Mara people...they wear bright clothing, like a shawl always draped over their shoulder and they always carry a spear...earlier on there was lots of cultivation and we are told the Masa Mara people lease this land to the people to grow their crops...again corn and beans but lots of wheat being grown too...when we left Nairobi this morning we first climbed a bit so we were looking down into the great rift valley and travelling on the road the Italian prisoners of war built and the we went by a nice little chapel they also built and then we descended down into the great rift valley and drove through it and that's where most of the cultivation was....so much poverty here but we have seen some very flash houses...2 storied substantial homes but in Nairobi they all seemed to be in gated communities but even the odd big house in the country...the locals built their houses from cow dung and at times today the smell was terrible as we passed through some of the villages....we stopped off at Narok which is the biggest town of 50,000 in the Masa Mara area....no fences anywhere so I don't know how they keep track of their stock...some picket fences in some places to build a karal for the animals but there sure are a lot of animals...they really have big herds....the Masa Mara park is 1,570 sq kms in size.....we got to the around 3 pm and had lunch...one hell of a road to get here and then at 4 pm we went out on a game drive....saw a few animals but then it poured with rain and so back to the hotel...we couldn't get over the rivers that formed so quickly....if we had stayed out another 1/2 hour I don't think we would have made it back to the hotel as one lot of water we had to go through was touch and go!! tomorrow morning 7.30 am we go on another game drive and we have been assured it will be fine so we are hoping to see the big 5..lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino.....the hotel is a bit different out on the Masa Mara...no power...they turn it on at 6 pm and off at 9 am ...monkeys in the trees surrounding the hotel so I hope they don't jump on us as we walk to our outside premises....the kids all put their hands out here but we have realised they want lollies...someone has started a bad habit and they all want lollies, not money...60% christians and 30% muslims......in general the people very friendly and helpful and we have to say we haven't felt threatened anywhere....we've got used to security every where but hopefully  that is keeping us safe!!  Thanks for the comments...we love to hear from you...M & F