275 Pancakes, One Tiny Turtle, and a Midnight Thief

My feet are hurting, we’ve been baking pancakes for the orphanage tomorrow.We thought it was a great idea… and we still do. But we definitely underestimated how long it would take to bake 275 pancakes with just two pans.

They’re finally done now, and we’re happily ready to fall into bed, excited for tomorrow.

As I was just sitting outside at the dining table writing this, an animal came and grabbed a pancake! I heard a noise, rushed into the kitchen, and there it was, a pancake on the floor. So I’ve now relocated to the kitchen to finish writing, keeping a closer eye on things until the pancakes have cooled and I can put them away. Maybe I’ll even catch the culprit… was it a cat or a monkey?

Yesterday was the last day Wenzel and Leo Ferdinand were with us. They were supposed to fly back to Europe last night, but on their way to Nairobi they found out their flight had been postponed by 25 hours! So they unexpectedly got to enjoy an extra day in Nairobi, visiting some of the places we saw at the beginning of our journey, like the Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum.

I think Leo Ferdinand especially enjoyed seeing some bigger animals, than just the monkeys and geckos we have here.

Speaking of geckos, we saw a very big one by the pool today. When we looked it up, we found that they can grow up to 60 cm long! The one we saw must have been around 40 cm.

This led to a small philosophical debate: do big geckos look more like crocodiles or more like snakes? Everyone had strong arguments. It was fascinating to see how differently the children observed the same animal.

Julius said: “The head looks like a snake, and it moves almost like one. If you took away its feet, it would be a snake.”

The girls didn’t quite agree. One of their arguments was that the skin of the gecko looked much more like that of a crocodile.

It’s fascinating how closely we observe animals here, much more than we usually would at home. Of course, partly because they’re new to us. But even now, as we begin to feel more at home here, they still completely captivate us.

Julius even picked up one of the smaller geckos and let it crawl along his arm. He wanted to feel how they move, as we’re all so intrigued by how effortlessly they climb walls.

One of the biggest highlights came yesterday, and completely unexpectedly. Our friend from Ocean Sole contacted us to say that a turtle nest had hatched and that they would be clearing it at six o’clock.

So we rushed over, met Omar and Ali, and went to the nest. They had carefully taken out the eggs to count how many turtles had made it out on their own. They still found a few tiny turtles alive, struggling to emerge, and gently placed them on top of the sand.

Out of these, eleven little turtles began their journey, and one, in particular, was very strong and made its way to the sea all on its own.

It was incredible to watch. It’s actually very important that the baby turtles make their way to the ocean by themselves, as this helps them find their way back to the same beach in 30 years to lay their own eggs.

We helped clear a path for the little one and watched until it disappeared into the ocean.

Assunta was overjoyed when Omar suggested she could name the turtle. Without hesitation, she chose the name of her new friend: “Juliette”, because, as she said, both are strong girls in their own way.

And now, I’m going to pack the pancakes into the fridge. The thief hasn’t returned for a second round, so I think they’re safe for the night.

Time to finally fall into bed.