Havana and the Giraffe Center

Kevin met us at the airport and took us to a bar called the Rusty Nail. Sounds like a dive bar in Anytown USA, but it was a really nice place. Kevin ordered fried cammenbert for a snack- yum! After drinks we came back to Kevin's and Mark and I showered and changed for dinner. Kevin knocked on our door a little while later and when I opened it, there was a tray. On the tray: a bottle of white wine, 2 wine glasses, a bowl of mini Cadbury eggs (he knew they were my favorite based on an earlier converstation) and a white lilly. He said "Happy Easter!" 

We had our wine on the back patio before leaving for dinner. I forget the name of the restaurant, but it was in a mall called "The Mall." Simple enough, right? The menu was a mix of Asian and African foods. We ordered Kachos which are the African version of nachos: arrow root chips with cheese and guacamole on top. Very good! Kevin ordered us pre-dinner drinks called Dawa. It's Kenya's version of the mojito or caprihnia (sp?) but made with vodka and brown sugar. It was yummy. For dinner, I had a lamb dish called lamb tajine. It was in a sauce flavored with honey. On the side, cous cous with spinach. The spinach was cooked in garlic- my favorite way to have it! So, don't worry, Aunt Mary. I'm definitely eating well here! After dinner, they boys thought it'd be a good idea to order tequila shots. I declined but they enjoyed them. For the time being anyway. 

After dinner, Kevin took us to a bar called Havana. Yes, like Cuba. It was started by a guy from Cuba. Kevin said it's a place where ex pats and locals mix. It was an interesting place. It seemed the ex pats stayed outside on the patio while the locals (mostly ladies of the night, as Gram would call them) stayed inside. So, I'm not really sure how much mixing was going on. We had a good time there. Kevin ordered us 2 shots: 1 was a flaming shot that tasted like black licorice. The other was straight vodka. Sick. I took both of those and I'm glad I did. I'll tell you why in a minute. 

So we climbed in a cab around 12:30 a.m. or so to come home. I went straight to bed, but Kevin and Mark stayed up until God knows when. They hung out on the patio, drinking whisky. Not a good idea, on top of all the food, wine, dawa, shots and beers they'd drank. Kevin paid the price. Mark did, too, but Kevin's grass definitely got some fertilizer courtesy of Kevin. I'm glad I had the few cocktails and shots in me, since Mark and Kevin were being super loud on the patio, which is below our bedroom window. And there also was an incident with the freezer and trying to chop ice out of it with first a knife (which was damaged as a result) and a glass (also broken). The knife apparently hit a tube of some sort in the freezer, causing a loud, hissing noise. See? Glad I slept through all this. 

This morning, we tried our best to wake Kevin up at 10:45 a.m. His friends where here to pick up some camping gear he agreed to let them borrow. So with no help from Kevin, the  4 of us ransacked his place searching for the items he'd promised. 

Kevin finally got up and showered. First on the docket: bloody marys and food for the boys. I was starving, too. We ate at a place called The Talisman. The outdoor space was beautiful and the weather was perfect. After lunch, we went to the giraffe center, where they take in injured or orphaned giraffes. You pay an entrance fee and then they give you food to feed the giraffe. Of course, I loved it! Mark did it after me and the faces he made are classic. We caught them on camera. After the giraffes, we went to a place to buy some souvenirs. It was a large building with a bunch of different vendors inside. I could have spent hours in there. However, we had to leave to get Kevin home in time to attend a wedding with Bel. If he was late, Bel, it's our fault! 

Kevin had Donga, the taxi driver, come pick us up to take us to get groceries so we could cook dinner at home. We made steaks and corn on the cob on the mini Weber. We just finished eating and are moving onto dessert soon: German chocolate cake from the bakery at the super market. 

Tomorrow, we fly to Zanzibar for 3 nights! Can't wait!