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It was time to brush off the dust of the morning’s hike and settle in for some lunch (and yes, an ice-cold Tusker or two). As we had come to expect, we had a beautiful spread, and we stuffed ourselves silly in the pretty little open-aired dining room overlooking the pool. After everything we had seen and done over the past 36 hours, we felt that it was time for a little brainless fun. We ran back to our rooms, grabbed our bathing suits, and met back up at the awesome infinity pool. I settled in with my journal with every intention of trying to get some thoughts down on paper; my good intentions, however, were apparently being used as paving stones in hell that day, since all I could do was watch the spectacle unfolding before me.
It started with Andrew throwing in the stick for the dogs to chase. Soon enough both Andrew and Nic were diving in. From there, it got downright crazy. With Kevin behind the lens, they each tried to outdo the other with ridiculous (okay, hilarious) feats of gymnastic diving. This all evolved into some pretty funny staged photographs, complete with one of Nic “punching” Andrew in the face. It wasn’t long until Dad decided to jump in followed quickly by Katharine (where were Dana and I, you ask? Dude. That water was COLD, and there was NO way I was jumping in, so I stayed wisely on the sidelines). Out of nowhere, Andrew scooped Katie up and tossed her unceremoniously into the drink, which of course elicited nothing but laughter from the rest of us, and although Kate feigned indignation, I secretly suspect she loved it. After that, things started to settle down, and Kevin struck a pose by the edge of the pool.

We were starting to show a little wear, and we had a little over an hour before tea (I may have neglected to mention yet another wonderful part of our Kenyan routine: afternoon tea. Coffee in the morning, meals on a schedule, tea in the afternoon…..can we go back now?), so we headed back to our rooms to recuperate a bit before the next adventure. I have to confess: I REALLY needed a nap, so I laid down and was out in no time flat. Kevin took the opportunity to enjoy our patio, and he spent some time on his computer while the hyrax watched curiously from a distance. It’s a good thing he was working on it, too, since he was able to fully recover the photos he thought were lost forever (I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet in our little story, but while we were in Buffalo Springs, the MacBook got a little bit hungry and decided to eat around 700 photos that he had taken, both in London and in Kenya, and we were sick about it). Hot on the heels of his technological success, he decided it was time to join the others for an evening horseback ride. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel compelled to say that I sat out this particular evening’s adventure and sundowners. I was simply too overwhelmed, and I opted to remain back in the room with my journal, my camera, and a verrrrrry long bath, so the rest of the story is being told through the eyes of others. Also? In hindsight I *almost* wish I would’ve gone along for the ride that night, but I was honestly in deep sensory overload.

The boys and Dana mounted up and headed out. At one point, the were mere feet from a family of giraffe; it seems that as long as you’re on horseback, the giraffe could care less and will wander right up to you. Kevin, unfortunately, had a rather…let’s say “sedate” horse, and when they wandered a little too close, he had to give his poor steed a little extra “oomph” to get him going. Katie wisely chose to follow along with Nic in the Rover, and everybody arrived safely at the sundowner site where a roaring fire was awaiting.

Andrew quickly manned the grill, complete with more steak and yummy sausages. Against all odds (and I have to say that I can’t prove that this really happened since I wasn’t there to witness it firsthand) Katharine actually tried a {{{gasp}}} sausage. This is a very big deal (and seriously? I know I said it already, but those sausages were the bomb!). More Tuskers were opened, I’m fairly certain that a decent quantity of wine was consumed, and stories were undoubtedly told. There were certainly plenty of smiles to go around.

By now, it was time to head back for some dinner. I had more than enough time to decompress in the super-cool crocodile bathtub, and after Kevin had a chance to wash the horse off of him, we headed back up to the main house for dinner. We ate inside on this night, and it was delicious, as always. After the meal, Dad, Dana, and Katie headed back to their rooms (I suspect they needed a little decompression, too), while Kevin and I joined Nic and Andrew in the living room for a little ginger tea (way yummy, and just what we needed at the end of such a full day). We looked at a few pictures, told a few more stories, saw a genet cat prowling around in the rafters on the porch outside, and then we hit the hay, too. It had truly been an overwhelming couple of days, and I mean that in the absolute best way possible.