Hanging with the neighbors


Out on the veranda with neighbor Lynn
      Joan and I spent a lot of time visiting and hanging out with all of Emily's well-to-do retiree neighbors at their lovely homes, sitting on their airy verandas, admiring their gorgeous gardens, and watching the birds.  These people love to entertain, and do a great job of ensuring that their guest's glass is always filled.  Most of them are British, so much so that expressions like "bloody" and "brilliant" have started working their way into my speech.

There was even a pool house
    One day we were visiting with Neil and Lynn, a wonderful couple who lived next door.  They have a little dog named Checko, who sat at the edge of the veranda the entire time, on full alert, watching …  And then suddenly, Checko bolted out across the lawn at full speed!  She covered the hundred yards or so in about five seconds.  I looked at Neil inquisitively.

     "Monkeys", he explained.
Just another party on the lawn




      Whenever you reach your destination from a Kenyan street or road, you will likely encounter a large, fortified gate.  Its obvious purpose is security, but here in Naivasha it has another important function:  to keep wildlife away from people and their homes.  Some animals, such as hippos, are dangerous, but many can also destroy the residents' meticulous gardens and lawns.  The security gates that face the road are manned 24-7 by guards called ascari.  You just drive up, identify yourself, and they open the gate for you. 
      As mentioned earlier, labor in Kenya is not expensive.  Ascari, gardeners, maids, or cooks can be hired for a fraction of what they would cost in the USA.  It may sound like "exploitation", but in fact, it's a win-win all the way around.
      Emily's neighbor Sandy is being plagued every night by a bull hippo who has evidently been ejected from the pod.   Every night, he comes up from the lake, and with unimaginable strength and determination, attempts to break through his gate to get to Sandy's garden.  (I'd heard a loud banging in the night and wondered what was up.)  In the morning, major repairs and reinforcement work was underway.

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