Africa Expedition 2025
Today’s update may be a short one…
Overall today was fairly uneventful. We woke up a bit later than normal, took our usual breakfast at the hotel and soon we were off to Nairobi. Nothing much happened as we drove through the countryside of Kenya. It was a blessing that George was able to find a mechanic to fix the van that was having some issues with the turbo, but with a little “DW 40” we were off like a heard of turtles. The turbo actuator was sticking and creating a power issue, but some knowledgable fellows got us back up to the blazing fast speed of 80 kph in no time.
For Americans, driving in the slow paced Kenyan traffic can be frustrating. We slow down when we should speed up, and then out of nowhere a Texas size speed bump brings us to an abrupt halting stop. I swear these speed bumps would total half the vehicles in America. They must be 20” tall and 8’ wide on average, and without warning you are upon them.
We were honored once again to be invited into the home of George and Prisca Kimani. Figgy Farm has been a part of West Mountains legacy here in Kenya for over a decade now and the hospitality shown to us by them is always such a treat. Although our visit was a short one, it was a sweet time to finally have my family and George’s family all together. Many of you know, but some might be unaware of the relationship we have built with this family over the years. It is a wonderful story that I would be honored to share more about with you if your interested. As we return home come find me and we can sit down and you can learn more about all the things that we have been able to do to help make a few lives better here on this great continent.
Today’s only real excitement came with supper. We went to the “Carnivore” for a tasty meat meal including crocodile and ostrich. As the waiters came along to offer us more meat options ox balls were on the table. Only Robert choose to take them with any seriousness, but Chip had other plans. He offered Uriah a $20 bill to take a taste and being fourteen years old it was worth the sacrifice…I’m sure many of you have already seen the video but the boy couldn’t handle the idea of what he was eating. I don’t know if it was the flavor or the idea behind it, but he almost lost his meal on the table and it gave the entire restaurant quite a laugh. The waiters all came over to check on him and made a new house rule that he was not allowed to have any more of the mountain oysters, knowing that was the common name in the USA. We may have also convince the wait staff it was Peter’s birthday, and gotten them to sing to him. (Peter is George’s little brother and our second driver this year)
Tomorrow morning we will have our last few hours of fun before heading to the airport and boarding the 14 hour flight back to NYC. I’m tired, and for good reason, but we will get up and make the most of our last morning in Africa.
Everyone seems to be doing well here, and we are in a American style hotel tonight. Real showers, real mattresses, and a pillow thats actually fluffy, makes for a nice comfortable stay…much needed considering our next time to lay down will be around 41 hours from the time we wake up in the morning. Rest never feels so good as when you finally get home from a trip like this one. As much as my love for Kenya calls me to this place, I have to admit it will be nice to be back in the land of the free.
I am excited to see you all soon. To tell you even more stories than I have had the opportunity to write about in these updates. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update you all again, I may even be home before the opportunity is there.
In the meantime please pray for us as we travel. Many things need to work and stay on schedule to get us all home safe and sound to you who are on that side. We appreciate all the prayers you can send to the one who created it all with just a word.
From Kenya once again…Asante sana,
Todd Crabtree
Overall today was fairly uneventful. We woke up a bit later than normal, took our usual breakfast at the hotel and soon we were off to Nairobi. Nothing much happened as we drove through the countryside of Kenya. It was a blessing that George was able to find a mechanic to fix the van that was having some issues with the turbo, but with a little “DW 40” we were off like a heard of turtles. The turbo actuator was sticking and creating a power issue, but some knowledgable fellows got us back up to the blazing fast speed of 80 kph in no time.
For Americans, driving in the slow paced Kenyan traffic can be frustrating. We slow down when we should speed up, and then out of nowhere a Texas size speed bump brings us to an abrupt halting stop. I swear these speed bumps would total half the vehicles in America. They must be 20” tall and 8’ wide on average, and without warning you are upon them.
We were honored once again to be invited into the home of George and Prisca Kimani. Figgy Farm has been a part of West Mountains legacy here in Kenya for over a decade now and the hospitality shown to us by them is always such a treat. Although our visit was a short one, it was a sweet time to finally have my family and George’s family all together. Many of you know, but some might be unaware of the relationship we have built with this family over the years. It is a wonderful story that I would be honored to share more about with you if your interested. As we return home come find me and we can sit down and you can learn more about all the things that we have been able to do to help make a few lives better here on this great continent.
Today’s only real excitement came with supper. We went to the “Carnivore” for a tasty meat meal including crocodile and ostrich. As the waiters came along to offer us more meat options ox balls were on the table. Only Robert choose to take them with any seriousness, but Chip had other plans. He offered Uriah a $20 bill to take a taste and being fourteen years old it was worth the sacrifice…I’m sure many of you have already seen the video but the boy couldn’t handle the idea of what he was eating. I don’t know if it was the flavor or the idea behind it, but he almost lost his meal on the table and it gave the entire restaurant quite a laugh. The waiters all came over to check on him and made a new house rule that he was not allowed to have any more of the mountain oysters, knowing that was the common name in the USA. We may have also convince the wait staff it was Peter’s birthday, and gotten them to sing to him. (Peter is George’s little brother and our second driver this year)
Tomorrow morning we will have our last few hours of fun before heading to the airport and boarding the 14 hour flight back to NYC. I’m tired, and for good reason, but we will get up and make the most of our last morning in Africa.
Everyone seems to be doing well here, and we are in a American style hotel tonight. Real showers, real mattresses, and a pillow thats actually fluffy, makes for a nice comfortable stay…much needed considering our next time to lay down will be around 41 hours from the time we wake up in the morning. Rest never feels so good as when you finally get home from a trip like this one. As much as my love for Kenya calls me to this place, I have to admit it will be nice to be back in the land of the free.
I am excited to see you all soon. To tell you even more stories than I have had the opportunity to write about in these updates. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update you all again, I may even be home before the opportunity is there.
In the meantime please pray for us as we travel. Many things need to work and stay on schedule to get us all home safe and sound to you who are on that side. We appreciate all the prayers you can send to the one who created it all with just a word.
From Kenya once again…Asante sana,
Todd Crabtree
Posted in Africa Updates