Referendum, Kisumu, and Petting a Cheetah

So the Constitutional Referendum passed by a large margin on Wednesday, and while that is very exciting news what is even more exciting is that there was not even a hint of violence or unrest anywhere in the country. This is a huge step forward for Kenya, and the peaceful passing of this referendum is a big step forward for the East African Community. Anyways, because of the resounding success and safety of the whole deal, our Country Director lifted the travel ban that was in effect for all PCVs. Rich, Jenn and myself took advantage of this gesture and headed out to Kisumu (the biggest city in the Western part of the country) for the weekend to get some stuff for our relative places. Today we visited some of the touristy places in town, namely the Kisumu Museum and the Impala Sanctuary. The Museum was ok, with its biggest attractions being the giant tortoises, the two massive crocodiles, and the snake pit. The snake pit was a little disappointing because we only saw one snake due to the fact that it was absurdly hot and they were all hiding. The impala sanctuary, however, was awesome. It is a small little park right on Lake Victoria in which herds of impala walk freely among people. There is also a collection of orphaned animals that have been raised by the Kenyan Wildlife Service, among which are buffalo, cheetah, lions, and a hyena. Keeping with my newly created tradition of petting jungle cats, I was able to pet one of the cheetah's. It was unreal. She would come right up to the fence, purring, and essential ask us to pet her behind the ears. Right after we started petting her a group of impala walked into the area about 50 yards away and both of the cheetahs immediately shifted focus and started getting a little jumpy, causing me to come close once again to soiling myself in public. She would be pressed up to the fence acting all sweet and then all of sudden snap up and stare with incredibly wild eyes at the impala. It was simultaneously awesome and terrifying. The hyena was also horrifying, namely because I was now seeing how big they are so soon after hearing about their murderous ways close to my new home. We also took a boat ride on Lake Victoria to see some hippos. We saw a few, which was very cool as well. The views on the Lake were gorgeous, and if I wasn't so afraid of getting attacked by hippos, crocodiles, or schistosomeisis (some type of worm/fungus/parasite thing found in the lake), I would definitely have liked to go swimming. Anyways, i've attached some pictures here, so enjoy. I can only put up 5 at a time, so i'm going to try and find some other way to make this work. Take it easy.