Maasai Mara to Kolping Conference Centre – Monday June 17

Kearsten, Katie & Sarah

Happy birthday to Vikas!!!!

Last night, we rung in Vikas’ birthday by staying up with him until 12am and serenading him with our scratchy, Tusker influenced voices. Furaha ya kuzaliwa! Nonetheless, it put a smile on his face.

A bittersweet last morning it was in Maasai Mara today. As the camping experts we have become, we all quickly disassembled our tents and enjoyed our last breakfast out in the field, being sure to take in the taste of the chai as much as possible before heading home. We all gave a hand to the Bunduz crew in packing while we tearfully said our goodbyes to our newfound friends at the Tayari Luxury Tented Camp, Alex and Jackson. Some of us were rinsed of our Kenyan shillings by the Maasai vendors, but you all will be thankful for this back home when you see the beautiful souvenirs. I think it’s safe to say this was a favourite place of many of ours. We then set out on our travels back to the Kolping Conference Center. It’s a crazy thing to think about that we were once at this center still learning each other’s names and faces – and now we can’t imagine going back home away from each other.

On our way back, we made the long awaited stop at the Sandgrouse Curios Souvenir Shop. Given only 20 minutes to look around at the whole store and bargain, we all rushed around the store. Annnnd all made it back after about an hour and a half. Laughable that we were thought to be capable of making quick shopping decisions. It’s like rounding up cats as Dr. Lougheed would say. After making one more stop for the bathroom (but some of us ended up getting reeled back in for more shopping) we completed the last stretch back to Kolping. We got some amazing things to bring back, even though it may have broke the bank for some of us (ahem Adam) – but when will we get a chance to do something like this again. There’s no doubt that we will all be thankful for the memories as well as these physical items as a reminder of this life changing experience.

What a bittersweet feeling for us all to be back in the Kolping Conference Center where we began this adventure. While the rooms appeared way bigger and the bathrooms more luxurious, our group felt much smaller and closer now that we have lived as a family for over two weeks – it’s safe to say many of us have gained a greater appreciation for the different ways of life we have experienced over the last couple weeks.

For our last dinner together we had an amazing pizza party with a variety of toppings, some familiar and some unfamiliar (like tiki vegetarian). After dinner we watched an emotional slideshow that Dr. Lougheed put together for us – each of us contributed 4 pictures, two of people and two of wildlife/nature. Right when the slideshow ended Lukas walked in with the cake that we all got to surprise Vikas for his birthday (thanks to Olin for orchestrating). Needless to say it was a very emotional evening and we will miss all the memories and friends we’ve made on this “safari” (journey in Swahili). We cannot thank Dr. Lougheed, Dr. Wang, Dilini, Carol, Lukas, Kevin, John, John, and Harrison and all the other amazing people that were part of this experience for all of their hard work and dedication in making this the most memorable and informative trip I’m sure most of us have and will ever have.

Now off to go play our one last final game of mafia together. Kwaheri kwa sasa (goodbye for now!) <3.