Banquet Season

The school year at Rosslyn  is from August to May.  As we enjoy the last 5 weeks of school here, the year end events are already beginning.  We have attended the Middle School Banquet and the High School Banquet (because Tim is the Principal for those schools).

The Middle School Banquet was held on campus and catered by an Italian Restaurant.  Having pizza for appetizers was so fitting for a Middle School!  This year Max was able to attend also. He and his friends enjoyed getting dressed up for the event.  The Grade 6 boys looked much cleaner than usual!

We also attended a beautiful banquet for the High School held at the Holiday Inn Hotel nearby.  The theme was the "Enchanted Garden of Bombay".  This Indian theme meant the room was decorated in metres and metres of brightly coloured fabric, the students wore a variety of Punjab dresses and Sari, and there was a woman giving free henna tattoos. 

Hell's Gate

Max's Grade 6 class visited the Hell's Gate National Park for a field trip.  This is a small National Park in Kenya and has great soil and rock formations.  Max`s Science class went there to study the rock.

In 1981, Africa`s first geothermal station was built near Hell`s Gate.  It harnesses the heat of the underground hot springs and geysers.  There is one area of the gorge where the water coming from the rock is boiling hot.  Some say this is where the name came from..... the explorers believed that wall was very close to the gate of hell.  The geothermal station provides almost 25% of Kenya`s electricity.  The steam locked 1500m underground is said to be one of the hottest sources in the world.

Legend also says that the park is named Hell`s Gate because when Mount Longonot erupted a hundred years ago, the lava and ash spilled into the nearby gorge.   The bodies of hundreds of Maasai people were found under many layers of ash.

The hike is spectacular for its scenic cliffs, volcanoes, gorges, and geothermal steam.  The trek is not always easy and a local guide is helpful to point out the variety of plants and animals, like the rock hyrax.  Max`s class stayed close to the guide as he described the sighting of a puff adder snake (Africa`s most dangerous snake) earlier in the day. 

Obsidian rock is also visible on the ground and in one cave in particular.  Obsidian is formed when a volcano erupts.  The lava spills out and cools extremely quickly to form the glass-like rock.  We have several large pieces of obsidian in our home being used as door stops.

Allergy Time!

The last few weeks we have all had itchy eyes and runny noses.  We have been sneezing and stuffy.  So we went looking for the culprit.  

We discovered that during the rainy season there is a tree which makes beautiful yellow blooms.  Last year we did not experience these trees in their fullness because we had such a dry season.  But this year we are blessed with rain -- and flowering trees.  And as you can see, the blooms are huge and plentiful!

Furusato

Here are some other pictures of the delicious Japanese meal we had at Furusato.

Max and Simon were not sure if they would like the sushi (even though they love Korean Kymbop).  But Simon loved the Teriyaki chicken and Max was keen on the tempura vegetables. 



Below are Max and Simon with Sam and Lily standing in front of the Sushi bar.  The staff are a mixture of Japanese and Kenyans.

The food is all prepared in front of us at the Teppenyaki table.  There is some heat that comes from it but the view is worth a bit of heat!