What a day! Our alarms went off at 5AM this morning so we could be ready for our 6AM pickup. What is it about the anticipation of an early alarm that makes us sleep terribly? We were waiting at our gate by 6 in the chilly dark morning.

We had previously considered self-driving a safari in Nairobi National Park but after yesterday’s driving adventure, we decided we’d be better off leaving it to the pros. I booked a last minute group ride with Viator.

Our driver picked up one more passenger and then after about 20 minutes we were entering the park. The national park borders the center of the city which is a strange but very cool experience. One minute you’re in morning rush hour traffic, and the next you’re driving beside lions. At some points inside the park we could see the skyline beyond the animals.

Our driver told us that historically the animals have stayed far away from the city, but a month ago a lion walked into a neighborhood and ate a 14 year old girl. This terrifying story freaked Millie out, understandably, and I felt annoyed that he decided to share the details with us. It was the first of a few difficult but very real lessons about nature we learned today.

We saw so many incredible things… a group of lions drinking water.

A family of rhinos, including a very cute baby. We learned about poaching and how these ones are protected.

A wildebeest!

Giraffes fighting! Millie asked our guide what their horns were for and after he told us they were for fighting, the giraffes gave us quite a show to demonstrate.

A baby lion that had been separated from its mother and siblings. It was apparently the runt and too slow and weak to keep up, so the mother left it behind. As it walked it cried out the saddest cry. My maternal instincts kicked in and made me tear up and want to go out and save it. Millie felt similarly and was so worried about it. I wish we could have done something beyond witnessing a very real example of survival of the fittest.

A few minutes later we caught up with its family. The healthy cubs were clearly so much bigger and stronger, padding along at a good clip.

We saw a male lion hiding in a bush eating a dead zebra it had just killed. Bad photo but incredible to witness in real life. The zebra’s legs are all broken, and its guts were splayed out and half-eaten. Sweet Millie’s only question was “was the zebra old so it was going to die soon anyway?” We said yes to soften the blow.

She was excited and curious every time we saw something new. After a couple of hours, the early morning caught up with her and she passed out.

Towards the end of our personal episode of Planet Earth, Millie kept asking what we were going to do after. I thought of this tweet I had seen and sent Nick about a week ago. Kids are all the same.

We were dropped off at our Airbnb at Noon but felt like we had already had a very full day. I played with Millie a bit and made lunch. I made falafel wraps with tomatoes and hummus and she finished hers. She is finally getting less picky. My bad sleep caught up with me and I took a nap while she played cards and did art with Nick. Once I woke up we played even more and then went downstairs to run around and get some energy out. She ran in circles and said “I’m getting all the awakeness out so I’ll sleep well”.

The condo we are staying in is interesting. It has guards at the front and then everything you’d ever need inside so you don’t have to leave: a coffee shop, a gym, a kids area, a convenience store, and a restaurant. I wonder if this is typical of Nairobi, where everything feels heavily guarded and contained. Everything feels like either the “wild out there” or the “safe in here”.

We ordered dinner from the restaurant and they delivered this huge feast to our apartment. It was very, very good. Enough food for all of us, plus leftovers, for under $20.

Everything is cheaper here, which I expected. But it has been interesting to be here back to back with Turkey’s financial crisis, and then Dubai’s wealth. We spent half the amount on our life changing safari this morning than we did to take the 30 second elevator to the top of the Burj Khalifa.

The best financial lesson I ever learned was when I collected basketball cards and tallied up what mine were all worth, based on the becket catalog that listed their prices. My dad told me “they’re only worth that if you can find someone to buy them for that amount”. Of course this was before eBay and I, a 10-year-old, did not personally have a big market for Allen Iverson rookie cards.

This trip is a constant lesson in what we value most as a family vs. what others value. The economy is manmade. And it’s often very unfair.