Canada Day 2015

Canada Day 2015

This Canada Day, our family camped out on the shore of Lake Naivasha, about 100 km Northwest of Nairobi in the beautiful Rift Valley. The lake is home to dozens of pods of hippopotami (also known as bloats). We had the fun of boating around them by day in the rippling waters of the lake and watching them lumber along the shore a few meters from our tents at night, safely separated from us by a 1x1 meter ditch (apparently it is all that is needed to keep these giants away).

Ava ready to welcome the sunrise on the dock of Carnelley's Camp

A family of hippos under the shadow of Mt. Longonot

The lake is also home to hundreds of bird species from Great White Pelicans and Fish Eagles, to Kingfishers and Hamerkops. While the nights are filled with the boisterous grunts and calls of the hippos, by 5 am the predawn light is met with a chorus of bird song. It is a great incentive to get up and meet the rising sun.

Back at the camp

A little woodpecker visiting our campsite

This year, our Canada Day was a wonderful time just for us to be together as a family. We explored the beautiful shores of the lake, cooked together over our camp stove and fire, and played lots of games. It was a great time of appreciating the gift of our children and our identity as Canadians -- yes, we had lots of maple syrup with our early morning french toast!

Our family

Losing to our kids in games of Love Letters, Euchre and Bonanza

Fun on the water

Emma, Tristan and Ava making supper

The Ants Come Marching!!

Canada Day 2015 will also go down in the annals of the "fivekennys" as the adventure of surviving the ATTACK of the SAFARI ANTS. It began around the campfire as our marshmallow roasting was interrupted by a sharp bite from the pinchers of a safari ant (an aggressive army ant in East and Central Africa). Whether they were attracted by the sweet marshmallows or crumbs from our picnic table, the column of ants had swept through our camp, and we had to quickly pick up Tristan and Emma's tent and moved it a "safe" 20 feet away. 

Lesson One. Respect the Ants! Little did we know that this was only the first wave of their attack. This scouting group must have gotten word out that these sweet maple syrup loving Canadians were camping out by the water. When we got up early the next morning, streams of these black and red little monsters were pouring into our campsite. Two and half inch wide columns of hundreds of thousands of ants were coming from practically every direction. We were surrounded.

Lesson Two. Safari ants don't just bite, they climb. They climb up your pant legs, up your back, and about anywhere you could imagine. Think getting jabbed with a thumb tack. 

Lesson Three. Safari ants are the pit bull of the bug kingdom. They bite and don't release. There is no brushing these little monsters away. You have to pull them off, and for the big ones you can pull the body off and the head will still be biting you. Seriously,... they are like the hordes of Mordor.

Lesson Four. Run! We have since learned that pioneer missionaries (and entire Masai villages) have been known to vacate their homes for more than two days as they waited for armies of millions of these ants to vacate. The ants would actually have the benefit of eating nuance vermin and other pests in their feasting.

As for us, we pulled up our stakes early this morning and picked the little biters off each other. Our morning coffee at Delamere's on our way home was never so sweet! 

Pre-ant invasion bliss!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer!