Shagz

They each had their own stroller but this one was the favorite to push each other in.

On Tuesday the 31st we headed back to the Nairobi airport so that we could take the short flight to Kisumu, Kenya. Michael's Mum/aka Winnie, Dani, Grandma Winnie lives outside of this city. I felt fortunate that even with all of the hurry up then waiting, and traveling by plane/car/stroller rides our girls remained in great moods. We tried to strike a balance in letting them run free and play before they'd be constrained again in their car seats. For the majority of the time it worked out that they were happy, playful, and smiling as in the pics above. 

Upon first arriving to Kisumu we met our hired driver Jonathon (who remained with us the entirety of our time in this region) and boarded our Matatu/Mathree rental.  We made a quick stop at the Nakumatt in town for some few supplies that would be difficult to attain out in the rural countryside where Mum lives. (It's similar to a Walmart chain and Savannah was excited that there were grocery carts just her size to push along.) 

Once we'd loaded up on a few groceries, we began the drive to Mum's place aka Shagz. It's about a two hour car ride direct from Kisumu. (Side note: It took a few days of excursions for the girls to relax enough for naps and so after a couple of cranky crying and tired car rides, Lexi and Savannah would often fall asleep in the car and this was a good thing for all riders and our kind driver who fortunately was relaxed with little ones because Savannah was first to be "friends.") About an hour into our ride from Kisumu, Lexi began to get very restless and was tired of being contained. An opinion that she voiced loudly - crying for nearly forty minutes before falling asleep shortly before our arrival. With all of the racket Lexi was making in the back, the darkness of night fall with no street lights, and changes in the landscaping due to new road construction we found ourselves lost minutes from shagz. After a few direction phone calls to Mum and some pointers from local motorbike taxi drivers Michael was able to get to a point that he started to recognize the route and we found our way along the bumpy road. We arrived to a greeting committee of beautiful smiling family members Mum, Molly, her children Stephanie & Gilbert, Sandra (Paulines' daughter), Geoffrey (Mum's foster son of sorts), and Michael (Mum's dear friend). After giving prayers of gratitude for safe travels we ate some dinner, exchanged gifts, and then got ready for bed.

Mum lives on the shores of Lake Victoria. It's a very picturesque setting with the lake, sky and beautiful foliage on and surrounding her property.  We were so inspired to take pictures of the beautiful surroundings but I'm saddened to say that the pics just don't do it justice. Take my word for it - the view of the lake and the clear sky is incredibly beautiful at all hours of the day. Our favorite hang out was under the Tamarind tree in front of Mum's house. It's a large beautiful tree that provided a great shady area where a tire swing was attached to a limb so the kids could swing for hours. (Savannah's most favorite activity!) So we would sit outside in chairs under the tree enjoying the view, the breeze off of the lake, and the kids squealing in their fun.

That was our favorite thing to do at Mum's place. The next two collages are of Savannah's and Lexi's favorite activities to do at Grandma Winnie's home.

Another favorite activity for us all was taking and posing for pictures. As you can see the Lake is behind everyone in this next collage but with the lighting and sun glare I didn't come close to capturing the beauty of the view...though I do think that I got some mighty fine shots of my modeling subjects!

The downside of living rural is that many of the things that come easy to us are not so for Mum. Because there isn't electrical lines and sewer/water lines where she lives, she has to do things the hard way. She has solar panels attached to a generator for some limited electrical power. So at nightfall she is able to turn on some lights in the house and during the day she can charge her cell phone battery and whatever else she needs. Fortunately Mum has helpers on her property who assist in collecting water from the Lake and then boil + treat it so that it can be used for various things such as laundry, dish-washing, cooking, drinking, etc.

When traveling with little ones it is important to establish something regular/consistent such as sleeping accommodations. So we took a lot of day trips and then returned to our same beds by evening. One of the trips we enjoyed  was to Kisumu and to the property Michael and I purchased some years ago that overlooks the city. It's a beautiful plot of land and it was fun to be able show it to my Mom and envision the future development of a house and the landscaping, etc. 

Another fun day trip was to Kit Mikayi which is a large rock formation on the Kisumu-Bondo road in western Kenya, about 29 kilometers west of Kisumu. Kit-mikayi means “Stones of the first wife” or “First Wife Rocks” in the Luo language... The landscape around is of rolling green hills with beautiful trees and then these massive boulders that look like they were just dropped from the sky are lying in precarious piles.We followed the signs to the visitors center where we were given a guide who told us the story of how the stones were named and then led us on a little hike through the stones. It was not a difficult hike but a little tricky for Mum (who still uses a crutch/cane to walk after suffering a stroke last year) and for us all carrying Savannah + Lexi because of the climbing and stooping involved. The funny thing is that when we got to the point that we said we've seen enough and should head back, our guide pointed to a cave room (that has been used as a chapel of sorts) and said the tour ends here. So we made it to the top! No we weren't standing on the top of the table but we were up a significant height where we could see the beautiful valley below and snap a few pictures. When we made it back down to the welcome area there was a group of local women who began to sing and dance for us. The tradition of these women was that if you sang and danced along after visiting Kit Mikayi you would never leave your husband. So once our guide and Mum explained the custom, we joined in. It was a cool experience and a fun bonding moment with these beautiful women.

After several beautiful days staying with Mum, we loaded up in the mathree first thing Saturday the 4th and headed to the Kisumu airport. This trip we took Winnie along so that we could all be together in Nairobi for a little more time and a few more adventures together.