My Kenyan Pen Pal

I thought it would be fun to share with you my wonderful penpal from Kenya. His name is Nimrod and it's a great story. In 2000, our family had the amazing opportunity to travel to Kenya. We spent 2 weeks and our favorite place was the Masa Mara where we went on safari and saw the most incredible wildlife. We fell in love with the landscape, the animals and the people.

I gave the Snowmass Fraser book to our guide, Wesley. Several years later, I received in the mail a letter with a photograph. In the letter, I found out that Wesley had given the book to his son, Nimrod. Nimrod was writing me to tell me how much he had enjoyed my book and that he had learned to ski in his mind. He asked if Courtney could be his pen pal. Courtney at the time was so busy in school, that I knew she would not be able to write on a consistent basis, so, I jumped in.

Over the years, Nimrod and I have stayed in touch. Then, when Courtney graduated from college in 2008, we went back to Kenya. I wrote our guide to see if it was possible to locate Wesley and to be able to meet Nimrod. She told me she had lost track of Wesley and no, it was not really possible. Long story, but when we were in the Masa Mara for our second time, I came to the lodge for cocktails and dinner. I walked in and everyone looked at me at once. Because the sun was behind them, I couldn't really see right away. But then, I was astounded to see Wesley sitting on a couch with 2 kids by his side.

It was such a wonderful reunion and fantastic to finally meet Nimrod and his beautiful sister, Miriam. This photo is Nimrod and myself. I had brought some gifts, just in case. Here, Nimrod has on a T-shirt from the US! My gift from them was their presence!

They even saw us off from the tiny air strip the next day. Nimrod and I continue to stay in touch. I miss his beautiful letters, but now we email!