Welcome Home

So this is home for the next 4 years or so.  Come and take a look with me - it's gorgeous ......

Here we are at the front of the house - well actually, it's the back really - but it's the door we use the most.

  And here we are at the back, (well the front actually) of the house.

 And the beautiful garden wraps around the whole of the house.  It's winter here at the moment, but I can't wait for the spring and summer to arrive to see what flowers are awaiting us.

Come and visit again soon and I'll show you around the inside.  What a privilege to be in such a beautiful spot.  We feel incredibly blessed.  Thank you Lord.

Our elephant - by Audrey

At six o’clock on Wednesday, Jasiri met the Browns.

Jasiri was born in December 2011. He was found in Amboseli National park three months after his mother was shot by poachers. Alone and frightened, he was taken to Nairobi’s elephant sanctuary at fifteen months. Here he met his new mother (a keeper) who fed and slept with him until he was 2 years old. He is now 2 ½ and he is still at the Elephant Sanctuary with other orphaned elephants.  He will stay here until he is about 3 and then he will move to a bigger orphanage deeper in the national park where he will stay until he is about 8 years old and will learn what it takes to live in the wild.  Eventually he will go back to the wild where he belongs.

Two years after he was found, Jasiri met his new foster family, Maz, Ken, Audrey, Elijah and Edie Brown. Together, they help Jasiri prepare for his future life where he belongs.  This week they came to see him have his milk from a bottle and go to bed.  They hope to come see him every few weeks to see him develop and grow into the Elephant he is meant to be.  

Bob's Blog

When Ken and I came to Kenya to have a 'look see' visit, we decided to 'adopt' an elephant at the Nairobi Elephant Sanctuary so that the children would have something to look forward to when we were preparing to move to Kenya.  His name is Jasari.
Here is Edie's (Bob's) Blog as we prepared to go to see him.

We have watched 'Elephant Diaries' over the last few days which was filmed in 2007 following other orphaned elephants at the same Elephant Sanctuary to help the children build up more of a picture of how the elephant sanctuary helps orphaned elephants.We had such a great time - pictures to follow....

My Terraphin

A Terrapin Is like a Turtle but is smaller.  He is about 5 cm long and will get to be about 20cm long when he is 3 years old.
Here  is a picture.

My Terrapin is called Shelly Bobby Brown. We brought  him on the 19th of August.  He is really cheap to keep and I love swimming animals so I think he is great.

By Elijah Brown

Home

I am sat here writing our first blog in Kenya – I can hardly believe it.  Despite everything that has happened over these last few months, we have actually made it!  Here we are having just arrived at our new house the very first night.  Everyone is very excited.  

We made it on the long journey here and all 18 suitcases made it through too!  We had to have 2 minibuses to pick us up from the airport!  The house (our new home) looked amazing when we arrived and our MAF colleagues had done an amazing job of cleaning the house and organising a hamper for us to keep us going for the first few days.  We felt so welcomed.

We have been here now for about a week and a half and it is beginning to feel like home already.   We have many of our home comforts in place: the first batch of biscuits have been baked, the bedrooms are tidy, we have unpacked all 18 suitcases and we are finally back on the internet! 

The fire is lit in front of me and is crackling away in the hearth as it is cold here today.  I know – I wasn't expecting that either – I thought it would always be warm in Kenya!  The first of many of my pre-assumptions corrected.  The children are busy playing in their bedrooms.  And all seems right with the world.  

So in the time we have arrived we have found our way around a little bit.  I have been driving a great car that we have been loaned called a 'Noah' with 8 seats!  To my surprise I have found the driving far easier than I had thought and have been enjoying it. Although I have been warned not to fall into a false sense of security as apparently everything changes when the schools go back and the traffic becomes much heavier!  

We have been to a great church.  It is amazing to hear and feel the exuberance praise from the congregation   The African drums pulsating through the air, the wonderful Africa voices - almost felt like we were in heaven!

We are enjoying the great impact on our senses - the different smells, the amazing sights, the various tastes. Although pizza tastes the same no matter which country you are in.  Here we are celebrating our 13th Wedding Anniversary with a metre long pizza!

Goodbye UK ......

We have been dreaming about this moment since before we were married!  And now it is finally here and we are living our dream. How incredible is that.  Thank you everyone for all of your love and support over theses last few months in particular.  Our  new adventure begins here .......
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