July 16, 2025

The Residences at Karen

Karen Country Club, Karen, Karen Rd, Nairobi, Kenya

My post from Facebook: “After 25 hours in airplanes or airports (17 hours in the air) I made it to Nairobi. Arrived at my hotel around 9:30 pm (East African Time - 8 hours ahead of Iowa). After settling into the room I went to bed around 11:15. I was awakened by the sound of loud screeching coming from right outside my room. We are on the edge of Nairobi and near Nairobi National Park, so I did not go out to investigate. At breakfast this morning another traveler described the sound as coming from a Pterodactyl-like creature. A hotel employee told us the animal was a Hyrax and showed us a picture (I’ve included a picture below), and while they are cute, they sound vicious. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m pretty tired, but believe I’ll be fine tomorrow for our first day of exploring.

My plans were to take it easy today because of the suspected jet-lag, but when I looked out over the lily pond and flowering bushes from my 2nd floor balcony I saw my first African Wildlife. I grabbed my camera and snapped pictures of around 10 different species of birds in about 30 minutes. I was in heaven. So, as requested, here is the beginning of the photo sharing.

Tomorrow is our first game drive in Nairobi National Park along with visiting an elephant sanctuary, a giraffe sanctuary, and the Karen Blixen Museum (author of “Out of Africa”). I’ll try to share some pics as soon as I get time.”