It was Anne's turn to hear the sultry whine of mosquitos in the night...hey, that would be a great song, just like Frank Sinatra - Mosquitos in the Night. . . . Anyway, we were up and out early the next morning. We checked out of Samburu and, stopping on the equator on our way, arrived at Sweetwaters. We only crossed the equator about 17 times during our trip . . . wait, that isn't possible . . . make that 18 times.

So how did they demonstrate this? Not by flushing a toilet, I'll tell you that. Perhaps I should have mentioned how much fun it is trying to flush a toilet in Kenya. It took my sister and I about 3-4 tries each time until we got to the Mara. We finally figured out the secret and I am proud to say that I was able to flush toilets on the first try 10 times in a row! I would just sit there in the bathroom instead of going on game drives. . . . Ok, well maybe not. The point is, although I am thankful for the toilets we had, it could have taken several hours to do the demonstration if we had to rely on a toilet. Instead they used the bucket-o-water shown at left. Oh, I forgot to mention, within 20 meters - about 60 feet - of the equator the water drains straight down without rotating at all! That is what is being demonstrated in the picture. Notice the stick? It isn't moving is it? Of course not, because it is a still photograph. But notice that it is floating off to the side. If the water was rotating the stick would be near the center and slowly spinning.

I even have an equator certificate from Kenya. OK, enough Mr. Science for today. After watching the water rotate in various directions and extracating ourselves from the vendors, we headed off to Sweetwaters. Yup, that is Sweetwaters tented camp. Yeah, we are roughing it now. That is our tent for 2, just my sister and I to the right. Yup, elevated a mere 5 feet off the ground (for enhanced viewing of the water-hole) with a concrete foundation, more electricty than the Nairobi Airport, and a separate bathroom with shower and occasionally working toilet. I did manage to break the handle off of this one. Yeah, don't flush for me? I'll learn you.

The camp is ringed by an electric fence and a slight moat (without water) to keep the animals out. Ha, ha, ha. It is really to keep the tourists in. I decided to take a walk around the perimeter to take some pictures. When I got to the far side, which was wooded and a couple hundred yards from the tents, I saw a family of warthogs walk (from our side) under the fence. I also notice some large dung on our side. I decided that, since noone really knew where I was and the fence obiously didn't stop the animals from crossing, maybe it would be a good idea if I didn't walk by myself away from everyone else. So I decided to, uh, see what everyone else was up to.

There was a Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in the park and we headed over to check out the Chimps. Although chimpanzees are not native to Kenya, what the heck. The center is for protecting the chimps, most of which were being held or sold illegally, and increasing their numbers in the wild. You could stand up on a tall platform and watch the chimps which were surrounded by a very tall electric fence. You could also learn fascinating things about chimpanzees but I apparently did not take advantage of this opportunity because I can't remember anything.

After leaving the Rehab Center we went on our afternoon game drive. We saw some Black Backed Jackal, Common Ostrich and Common Zebra as well as the Defassa Waterbuck as opposed to the common waterbuck which looks almost identical. We also saw a number of olive baboons including mothers with young and reticulated giraffe. When we got back to the camp there was a warthog eatting by the pool.

I decided to go on the night game drive, hoping to see an ardvark, ardwolf, cats and maybe some constellations of note. I did in fact see the Southern Cross, so that was nice. So I had a quick dinner and headed out with a couple who were touring by themselves. It turns out that it gets pretty cold at night here. Despite being on the equator we were at 5600 feet so it was not exactly balmy. We were in a jeep with no roof and there was a driver and a spotter. The spotter had a spotlight so that we could see the animals. We saw a pair of lion and the remains of a zebra, a couple of jackel and a Serval which is a spotted cat that looks similar to a leopard. The serval ran off and I was unable to focus quickly without any light. Odd.

In the meantime, back at camp, a black rhino walked up to the watering hole while I was out on the game drive. Doh! When I returned I found that they had hot water-bottles in the beds. Some tentmate of mine had apparently confiscated one from my parents' bottles, hugging hers and having theirs down her pants to stay warm. I put mine in her bed and she got to snuggle up to three of them. Who's the bestest brother in the world?!?

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