Tree Planting and Nap Time!

After a class this morning to prepare us for our wildlife count later this week, we went to plant trees in the community! The goal is that these native plants will grow much bigger than the seedlings they currently are and will help with erosion in the area. At one point we ran out of plants and two of the interns went to get more. They returned with plants and children! My favorite! Imagine two white girls carrying seedlings coming around the corner when a loud noise reaches your ear. Is it baboons? Is it screaming? No, it's children yelling hello! Insert some happy, climatic music! Two dozen children followed, skipping along behind the mzungus (white foreigners). Their smiles were so big that we immediately abandoned the holes we were digging and water we were pouring to shake their hands and say hello! 

Then we ate lunch and went back to camp. I took a shower and had a great nap. I woke up a couple hours later and sat on the back porch, taking in the Africaness of it all. All of a sudden, a gigantic male baboon comes gambling up to the porch! I freaked out, grabbed my bag, and fell back into the banda, waking my roommate in the process. We waited until the scene seemed safe to grab my shoes where I had literally been scared out of them! I'm starting to miss a few things from the States like diet Pepsi, long hot showers, and new socks. Surprisingly, I don't miss my cell phone at all. I love driving around here- it is always an adventure and I really cannot describe how friendly everyone is. Relationships and friendships mean so much.