Alarms went off at 5AM so that we could pack up and head out to meet our safari guide by 6:30 at the National Park main entrance. Nick and I managed to have time to get caffeinated and Millie lay in silence on the couch like this. I feel bad for her that she can’t drink coffee yet.

We arrived and it took a while to check in. In some ways, Kenya is technologically advanced—they have had mobile payments with M-Pesa for way longer than any other country—but then we have had many moments like this, where systems are down and we just have to… wait.

Eventually the stars aligned and we were on our way. Our safari in Nairobi National Park spoiled us with a high density of easy-to-spot animals in open fields. This park is much larger and views were not as expansive, but after about an hour I was already satisfied with just seeing the beautiful lake, birds, and baboons.

After we had circled the lake, the plants opened up a bit and we spotted a rhino mama and her baby. Millie’s eyes light up every time we see something. I hope I’ll never forget the look on her face and her deep excited breaths.

We stopped at a Yoo-hoo waterfall and our guide took a family photo of us. We have been so terrible at getting non-selfie photos of all three of us on this trip. I have about 300 photos of Nick’s back while he’s carrying Millie, and only 4 of us all together.

We drove for a while, not seeing much, and Millie fell asleep. I kept looking over and thinking about how much she still looks like she did as a little baby.

We bounced along the dirt road for over an hour. Our guide kept telling us that the animals go into hiding when it gets hotter out. Then, right as we were nearing the exit back to the main gate, another vehicle waved us over and told us they had spotted a lion up ahead. Our driver hightailed it over to the area and we saw a single female lion walking slowly in the brush. She crossed the road in front of us and we followed her. Then we realized she was slowly walking towards a group of warthogs. She crept, and crept, and then stopped at looked at them for about 5 minutes. We waited silently to see what she would do. Then she crouched down, and started sprinting full speed at one of the smaller ones. The warthogs all scattered and she didn’t get her target, but it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. It really felt like watching a nature documentary.

We were done at about Noon and started the 3 hour drive back to Nairobi.

We stopped at a restaurant that was sold out of anything we tried to order. Nick and I met while studying abroad in Ghana and still say “it is finished” as an inside joke, because restaurants there were the same. They would have large expansive menus, and only two of the dishes were actually available. It’s menu Russian Roulette until you ask for the thing they actually have. I ended up just asking them to bring me anything, which means I ended up eat goat ribs for lunch.

As we drove we noticed that every green patch of grass had people sitting all over it. Some were families having picnics or playing, but mostly it was just men sitting there or taking naps. We assume it’s some sort of Sunday thing? Like the equivalent of taking a nap at a park, but these are the parks.

We arrived in Nairobi at about 4 and checked into our hotel. It is a brand new hotel in the nicer part of town. We played a bit and then had an early dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Millie asked me to draw a female lion (not my best work) and then she added the grass, warthog, and our family (nick with the spiky hair, her in the middle, me with the bun) in the safari van. I hope she remembers what we saw today.