A Day in the Life - Episode 3

Side Note: I think I've realized why I don't write about work that often...when I analyze it daily it's simply too depressing.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Jumped out of bed this morning as I was excited for my early morning Skype date with Stephen. It's always a nice way to start my day but I was left feeling a little down as he was super tired after a long day and had to cut it short. It's definitely a challenge communicating through an 11 hour time difference. But there's always the next time so I'll look forward to that.

I was off to work at 8am as usual, ready for all the challenges I knew the day would bring (or so I thought). We started with our daily meeting between me and my employer where we take stock of what we have done and plan what we need to do today. We haven't advanced to planning more than one day in advance yet but this is already a huge improvement so as they say in Kenya, "slowly by slowly".

At 9 our treasurer arrived for a special financial meeting I had called to determine how exactly the money was being processed. Turns out I was only getting 80% of the documentation and 20% was being disbursed with no record. This was a scary discovery as documenting finances is a critical component to maintaining the grants we are receiving. It was a productive meeting though as everyone agreed on the importance of accurate tracking so it was decided that we would have a cash box made by the welder in town (you can't just buy one at the store) and start keeping the money in the office rather than in the treasurer's pocket. We also agreed that nothing could be taken out of that box without leaving some sort of documentation in its place. I'm feeling optimistic about this project so hopefully this problem has been sorted.

At 9:55 we started discussing who should go to a 10am meeting at the local school that Francis had been invited to. This turned out to be a rather heated 20 minute argument about who we would send and what they would need to know. Finally the office manager was sent and Francis and I set out on what was to be a 2 hour job. We first had to stop at the mechanic and have the odometer fixed as it wasn't working and we need to document our mileage for the funder. He also tightened and oiled the chain and the entire job cost only 100 shillings ($1.30). Then we went to the welder for an estimate on a grill for the front of the bike to protect our new baby. We then had to head back to the office to let the accounts clerk in so she could take care of things while everyone else was away.

At noon we finally got on the open road and started our chore for the day. We needed to visit 5 homes of AIDS patients that we had targeted to participate in our food security project. Our goal was to see what land they had chosen to have the kitchen gardens planted on and give them instructions on preparing it before we deliver seeds next week.

Our first stop was a woman that I have met a few times in the office. At that time she was refusing to take ARVs and was in terrible shape (too thin, slurred speech, drooling, etc.). I was happy to see her looking much better today as she had finally agreed to start taking the ARVs. She is still far too weak but I was encouraged by the improvement. However, I was discouraged by her living situation. She lives in a very remote area on the side of a steep hill in a mud house. She has no bathroom, not even a pit toilet so she has to climb the hill and walk down the road to use a neighbor's. We discussed the area she can used for the garden and came to realize that her only water source is at the bottom of the gully her house sits on. I can't really describe how steep the hills are here but I have trouble walking down them without slipping so they are no place for a very weak woman to be trekking on.

Her 18 year old son lives on the property as well but he works long days to try and support them so she is alone most of the time. I felt absolutely terrible leaving her as she followed us down the path still talking, obviously incredibly lonely. The kicker was when, on the way out to the gate, she showed us where her husband was buried in an unmarked grave under a coffee tree. He died of AIDS of course.

On to the next heartbreaking story where we stopped to investigate a reported case of child abuse. Another very remote location with a small mud house where we found 7 children under the age of 12. Some of them definitely should be in school but education is not completely free here and they were being kept out over a matter of 300 shillings ($4). Probably also because the older ones were needed to watch the younger ones. The father has left the family and the mother was out doing day labor. She comes home around 8pm and they don't eat until she comes home.

Francis had come and rescued these same children 6 months ago when they all had chiggers so bad they couldn't walk. A local community health worker has been coming by to administer their medicine every day so they are looking much better but the youngest is suffering the most. He is 2 years old but had chiggers so bad when he should have been learning to walk that his legs have atrophied and he can't even stand up. The living conditions are appalling and the children were sleeping on a dirt floor before Gatanga Kiiga donated a bed. We weren't able to find the daughter who had been abused and were told that she was staying at the local CHW's house who had put her in school. So off to the school we went.

We pulled the girl out of class and sat with her, the principal, and the local CHW to take down the details. I can't imagine how tough the interview must have been for this 12 year old girl and I was wishing Kimberly was around to talk to her as a professional. She showed us where she was bitten in several places by the mother. Francis wrote down her testimony and will refer her case to social services in Thika on Monday. It's an impossible situation really--the mother has recently found out she is positive, she is dirt poor and is supporting 8 children on her own. She had a history of neglect and abuse so I don't really know what the best possible outcome is in this scenario but I'm wondering if Stephen wants to adopt 8 children...

Back on the bike and back to the food security project. The stories continued until 6pm as we rode around the countryside visiting our various clients. One man was positive, two of his children are positive, and his wife has already passed away from AIDS. They are living with the grandparents and the children are taking their drugs every day for the rest of their lives. Another woman is positive and her husband has left her so she is living on her parents' land but the mother wants nothing to do with her. One couple is discordant, the wife is positive and the husband is not. Still he refuses to wear a condom, and while Francis is convinced we should get scientists to study his genes for immunity, I'm concerned that his luck will run out soon.

We stopped for a brief lunch of Coke, a roll, and a banana at a road side stand but otherwise pressed on. We visited 7 homes and were joyfully welcomed into all. We were generously given what little they have which was touching. You hate to accept but you certainly can't refuse. Although though bare bones of the story are tragic the day was actually so much fun because everyone was so enjoyable to meet with.

And as it often seems to happen in Africa a sad situation can turn hilarious in the blink of an eye. We arrived home on the motorbike with me trying to hold onto all my gifts from the day: a bottle of fresh milk, 2 arrow roots, 2 ears of corn, 8 baby bananas, a few sprigs of thyme, and a pumpkin...without falling off. Grace and Martha had to laugh at us as we pulled up to the office as did the rest of the neighborhood.

A Day in the Life - Episode 2

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Didn't pull myself out of bed until 7am today but had no early appointments, no early morning Skype dates, and no empty promises to myself that I would exercise before work so it was no problem. I started the day with my first warm shower in this apartment. 3 months was a long time to wait but that made the experience so much sweeter! I made banana pancakes for breakfast and was out the door by 8am. 

I met my employer as he was rushing out the door. He was supposed to have left by 7am to make the 3.5 hour trip to Nyeri to pick up the motorcycle that ICAP had been promising to provide the organization since my arrival 3 months earlier, but was running late as usual. He left me with some hurried instructions regarding my upcoming trip to Mabanda and disappeared. I went into the office, greeted the office manager and set about giving her some tasks for the morning. The treasurer arrived at 9 on the dot and we set out to run our errand in Mabanda.

We had received a grant from the government the week prior and were tasked by Francis to deliver the revised work plan and budget. We arrived at the office with reports in hand and submitted them to the appropriate person. She looked them over as if she was looking to find fault and then decided that the whole thing would need to be resubmitted because we had titled the project "Indigenous Vegetables" and in our budget we included money for banana trees. I didn't like this lady's attitude so I asked to see the original copy of our proposal which she produced and I pointed out to her that banana seeds were listed in the original proposal which had already been approved. She seemed unwilling to budge until her colleague piped in and said that Nairobi shouldn't have a problem with it if they had already approved it in the original proposal. She seemed annoyed and set about looking for something else to pick on. 

She asked for our bank form and Julius and I had no idea what she was talking about as Francis hadn't left it for us. She proceeded to try to make us feel like idiots for not knowing what it was. I don't play that game so I asked for a copy that we could fill out right then and there and she seemed taken aback. I got the sense she was used to pushing country folk around and riding her power horse all over the place. She didn't have the form so we had to sit and wait for her boss to come to work and give us the form. We waited for 40 minutes and finally received a copy of the form which had no need of a signature and required only 3 pieces of information that we had already submitted to them in our report. Fine. Whatever. We filled it out and submitted it to the boss who looked it over and tried to make the same stink about our banana plants. I tactfully pointed out the obvious again and we got the hell out of there before they found something else to nitpick.

While waiting for a matatu back to Gatura we witnessed two guys fighting just outside a bar. It was the awkward pull someone around by the foot kind of fight that you can’t even break up so they were left to their own devices. I was told the one guy was crazy but I couldn’t tell which one they were talking about as they both seemed to be acting a little crazy to me. 

We made it back to the office just in time to go home for lunch.  I used my new soy sauce from Nairobi and made a delicious stir fry with all the random vegetables left in my cupboard and a few cashews thrown in for some protein.

Back at the office I checked in to see what had been done since I'd been gone. It turns out not much because the electricity went out shortly after we left. Oh well, this happens at least once a week so we readjusted our schedule and got to work. We had to send out 3 reports, type up the outreach schedule for February, and prepare for a financial meeting the following day. We were cruising along pretty well when the accounts clerk stopped in and told us of her good friend who had been murdered in a car jacking the day before. We obviously had to take time to discuss and offer sympathy. Car jackings are in the paper fairly often here but I had never actually had any connection to a victim so this was a sobering wake-up call on the dangers of travelling in Kenya.

5:0pm0 rolled around and we closed up shop. Still no Francis but we figured he would be back soon. The office manager is also my language teacher so we decided to have language lessons there in the office while we waited for Francis to return with the new bike. I learned the Kikuyu words for different items in the house and we were just moving on to family members when we got a call from Francis. He had run out of fuel in Gatunyu and wanted us to go buy some fuel and bring it to him. 

So we walked across town to the gas station but were told we'd have to go to the store for a jerry can to hold the gas. Back to the gas station to purchase the gas...Francis calls. He has gotten a ride to the nearest town and we should hang out on standby with the fuel in case he needs us. We headed to Martha's place to finish our language lesson and wait to hear from Francis. We made it through members of the family and I had just learned that you pronounce the word cucu (show-show) when we got a call from Francis. He was at the office, where were we?

Back across town to the office to see the new bike and give Francis his keys. It's a brand new bike and I will have to try driving it tomorrow. It's been about 6 weeks since my motorcycle lessons now so I hope I remember how!

We decided to give up on the language lesson and try again tomorrow so I made it home by 6:30 and cooked more rice to go with my lunch leftovers for dinner. By the time I finished eating it was 8pm so I had some time to read before hitting the hay around 9:30.

Tonight I will dream of driving the piki piki!

A Day in the Life - Episode 1

I have been asked by VSO to write an essay for their series of volunteer stories "A Day in the Life". This is supposed to showcase a typical day in the life of a volunteer. I'm happy to do it but I'm struggling to come up with a typical day since every day is so unique here. I've decided to let The People help me decide so I will write about a few of my days this week and you can vote on which is most interesting.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I woke up at 6am to start getting ready for the day which would involve an early morning trip to Thika, the nearest town. I tried to start the day with a simple glass of water only to find that my water filter wasn't draining properly because the filters had become clogged. Since I'd been lazy about boiling water lately I'd already drank all my emergency back up water so this suddenly became a critical issue that needed my immediate attention. So  I took the filter apart, scrubbed each cone, washed the entire thing, and put it back together and started boiling more water for filtering. This process took about 40 minutes so the workout I had planned to do before work was out. I got dressed, packed my bag, and prepared breakfast just in time to make my Skype date with Stephen at 7:15. We had a nice chat then I rushed to finish my dishes and be at work by 8am as my employer and I had plans to leave for Thika at 8am.

I really should have known better. I arrived by 8 but we didn't end up leaving until 10:30. First my employer had a long discussion with me about a new grant we would be receiving the following day. Then we moved directly into some business that was supposed to be finished the day before. Then the treasurer showed up and we realized that some of our finances haven't been reported so we set a meeting for Friday to take care of those issues. Then a client came in to see Francis so he went to the other room and we all sat around waiting for him for 40 minutes. I went in to remind him that we'd be late for our appointment in Thika and he realized he'd forgotten to tell me that it got moved to the afternoon. When he finally returned we prepared to leave and another client came so we waited for another 10 minutes...he doesn't do appointments and he rarely says no to people who come in to see him so this is a common occurance.

On our way to the matatu we stopped by the post office to finally pay for a post box. Francis had told me the wrong post box when he gave me our address (we didn't actually even have one) so it's amazing I was receiving any mail at all. Fortunately, this type of a thing isn't a problem here like it would be at home because not many people get mail from Canada or the States in my small town so the post lady had been holding my mail for me.

At 10:30, 2.5 hours later, we finally boarded the matatu to Thika. We arrived a little after 11 and our first order of business was to meet up with a partner and deliver our monthly report. Francis sent a quick text and we went to the city park to wait. Within a few minutes James arrived and we started chatting...then a fellow from social services happened by which was fortunate because we were delivering some paperwork to him that day to so we simply handed it off in the park. Of course a few other people came by that Francis knew so we had to chat with them as well. Our partner decided we should go to a hotel for tea so we wouldn't be disturbed. Being with Francis is like hanging out with a celebrity because he literally knows everyone. We talked shop for a bit in the quiet of the hotel and received our grant money for the month.

Next on tap was the rabbit exhibition. This was not on the schedule but Francis heard it was in town and decided we should go. We entered the soccer stadium to find several tables with absolutely packed crowds around them. We weren't able to actually see the rabbits but of course ran into several people that Francis knows. I never would have guessed a rabbit exhibition could draw such a crowd!

After extracting ourselves from the mass of people we headed back into town to find the Aphia II office. We had heard about several projects this organization was working on and they seemed quite complimentary to the work we were doing so we thought we should check it out. We were able to meet with the in-charge and learn more about the organization and walked away with the promise of a site visit.

Back on the street we got a text from James who realized that he didn't have us sign for the money we had received so we needed to meet back up with him. We met him in an internet cafe where a cousin of Francis works. But by now it was after 1 and we had decided we were hungry. We headed over to the Arcade and found a restaurant with a Githeri Special (beans and cabbage) that was fantastic. I invited a fellow VSO and Francis invited our next appointment (Monica) so we ended up a group of 5 and everyone enjoyed meeting each other and exchanged numbers at the end.

Monica wasn't quite ready for us so Francis and I rushed to the National Health Insurance office to pick up some blank application forms for the office before meeting her in a taxi downstairs. We then drove a little way out of town to a very run-down part of Thika that Monica described as a "mini-slum". We were here to visit a girls rescue home and explore a possible partnership.

The home houses 23 orphan girls from age 5-13. There are only 2 bedrooms and one indoor bathroom. The kitchen is very primitive and there is a family room but that is it. A very small space for that many girls and needless to say they are 2-3 girls in a single-sized bed. The yard has a large garden and 2 cows which they are able to get most of their food from. They have also built a very rough outbuilding that functions as a nursery school for the youngest children so they don't have to leave the compound for school. Most of the children were at school during our visit but we were able to meet the nursery students and one other student who arrived home early. We saw the need was incredible in this facility that has no permanent donor and has gotten by for 4 years on one-time donations month to month. We hope to assist where we can in sourcing shoes, clothing, sanitary pads, etc.

We would have liked to spend more time at the home but Monica had made another appointment for us with a local politician. We drove back towards town but turned off into the country where we met a brand new Range Rover with tinted windows parked in a cornfield. It all looked very suspicious to me but 2 guys in fancy suits came out of the car to talk to us. I found out later that Monica was showing them a piece of land out there but at the time I felt like I had gotten myself into a dicey situation.

At 5pm we were finally done! But then we realized James had given us too much money so we texted him to meet us at the gas station for a third time that day where we made the exchange. Then we remembered that we had a computer in the repair shop that needed to be picked up as we had a computer student starting class this week. The computer is ancient and we invested a decent sum of money to get it fixed but didn't really have other options as the organization can't afford a new one. I'm hoping it lasts at least until we can source money for some new computers.

I put Francis on a matatu with the computer and headed back into town to shop for a few odds and ends I can't get in Gatura (which is most things other than vegetables and plastic buckets). I returned to the matatu stage around 6pm and boarded a matatu that smelled like someone had an accident on it. I was joined by a local government official from Gatura who had been to the rabbit exhibition and thought it was amazing. We talked the whole way home about farming, family, religion, etc.

I arrived back at my apartment at 7:30 and no sooner walked in the door than my neighbor came by to see where I had been all day. This neighbor had promised to help me get hot water for my shower. Once he confirmed I was home he sent a missed call to the fundi as a signal to come over. He took a look at my equipment and informed me that he needed to buy some wire for the project. So I gave him some money and off he went to the store. Back 15 minutes later he started working and realized I needed a different shape of pipe. More money, 15 minutes later, really into the work. I loaned him my miner's lamp since he was trying to do the wiring in the dark and he was awed by the invention. I wish I could give him mine as it would be so useful in his job but maybe later, when I don't need it anymore. My neighbor and I had a good chat about Ugandan politics while he was working and by 8pm I had warm water in my shower!

Since it was already so late I decided to save the shower treat for the following morning. I made myself a light dinner of crackers and jam, just enough food so I could take my malaria pill as I was still quite full from the massive plate of githeri. I closed out the day by checking my e-mail and doing a little writing. By 9:30 I'm ready for sleep and ready to dream about my hot shower!

Condom Corner

I got a rare chance to talk with Shaela on the phone last night and after catching up on all sister issues, she subtly pointed out that I never write about work in my blog. Touche! Even though I love my job here, I spend a lot of time on it so I guess I'm ready to switch gears when I'm writing blogs. But I do it all for The People so you get what you want.

We have 3 grants right now but for this post I'll focus on PSI or Population Services International. Our PSI program has two components: condom distribution & education, and public outreach education. We received 2,000 condoms from PSI in December and distributed them all by the end of the year. We are currently waiting for more. We give them out to the hotels and bars in town, the local government offices, and any place we can think of that people will have easy access. The prostitutes and truck drivers are a big focus for us as they are disproportionately affected with HIV/AIDS and are most likely to spread the disease.

Most of our condoms are male condoms but we do have a small supply of female condoms as well. These generate a lot of interest and usually don't last long. I've heard of women using them when they go on long journeys because car jackings are slightly common here and this preventative measure can protect them from contracting HIV/AIDS in the event of rape.

The comment I have most often from men is that having sex with a condom is like eating candy with the wrapper still on. I always remind them that candy can't give you AIDS, only cavities :)

We have a penis model in the office and are happy to demonstrate proper use and disposal to anyone who asks. We have a lot of fun with this in the office and I've been pleasantly surprised with how open most people are in talking about condoms. The conversation usually turns quite entertaining when we try to explain how to use the female condom to a man who has never heard of one. The concept pretty much blows their minds :)

The other component of the PSI project is public outreach education. The volunteers in our organization go out to schools, churches, tea factories, women's groups, clinics, etc. and give talks on self efficacy and mpango wa kando (basically cheating on your spouse which is a big issue in a society that has a very recent history of polygamy). We give 20 talks in the community each month and each one focuses on facilitating healthy behavior change. These talks vary from informal small groups as people wait to see the nurse at the clinic to presentations with video for several hundred students at a school.

And what exactly is my role in all this? Well, my main focus is to develop easy to follow systems that ensure volunteers are creating an outreach schedule in advance, actually doing the talks that are scheduled, and then reporting on them to the donors so they can be funded for the following month. This may sound unimportant compared to the actual outreaches but planning and follow through are actually huge challenges for this organization and real obstacles to sustainability and future funding.

I'm really excited about the work we are doing in this project and am very pleased with the support we have received from PSI. I would love to see a focus on birth control added as a third component but that is a tough topic in a very Christian society that values large families. We have had a request to talk about abortion when we do a follow-up visit to one of our secondary schools. Apparently home abortions are relatively common in the secondary schools so that could be a very interesting outreach...

Anyway, that's a little update on what we are doing with PSI. I'll try to write later in the week about one of our other projects. Thanks for your interest!

The Coast

After Safari I felt like I'd already had the best vacation ever but my office wasn't set to re-open until Jan 6 so we decided to explore another part of Kenya. I'd like to see as much of the country as I can while I'm here so this was a great opportunity to travel to the east coast.

We took the very old overnight train from Nairobi to Mombasa. We boarded around 6pm and the train started moving shortly after dark. We booked a second class compartment so it was just big enough for 4 shelves for us each to sleep in. Cozy but fine with friends...awkward with strangers :) Since the train is old it is very lurchy and we were about 8 cars away from the dining car so traveling to and from dinner and breakfast was an adventure in balance and agility. I got up early with the sun and enjoyed watching the more tropical scenery we had entered during the night. We arrived in Mombasa around 10am and headed straight to the coast.

Well, straight including an hour wait for the most ridiculous ferry I've ever encountered. It was absolutely jam packed with all kinds of vehicles (trucks, cars, bikes, push carts, etc) as well as a could thousand human bodies that all piled on and off in one gigantic mass. All this wouldn't be entirely unexpected except that the distance of water we were crossing was less than 100 meters. I'm no engineer but I would think a bridge would be much more economical and efficient. Our taxi driver said this is a big controversy in town because studies have been done showing that a bridge would be simple to build here but some big money in town must have a hand in the ferry business because it isn't happening.

We finally made it across and drove a very bumpy road through a mass of forest well out of town. We pulled into our lodge driveway and the ocean suddenly appeared before us. Our lodge was very rustic but picturesque and right on the end of the beach so it was very secluded and quiet. The bungalows had thatched roofs and windows with no screens so the monkeys were free to move in and out as they pleased. We couldn't have any food in the room and no shiny things could be left out or they would disappear. A little inconvenient but they were so fun to watch!

The Indian ocean was clear and warm. In fact, in the afternoon when the tide was out the water was actually to warm to be pleasant. A fun change from the Pacific in Vancouver! Also very different from Vancouver was the sun...it was so strong I had to stay in the shade of the palm trees most of the time. A fact I learned a little too late unfortunately. The second morning two of us walked down the beach to meet some friends at another beach. We thought it would be an hour walk but it ended up being two. I wasn't worried though as I had been over-protective and wore a long-sleeved shirt for the walk. I was sweating like an idiot but I knew Andrea and my mother would be so proud of my responsible choice. Sadly, I neglected to put sunblock on under the shirt and got a fairly decent burn on most of my back as the sun was behind us. I felt so cheated!

But of course I could not stay angry at the equatorial sun for long and made my peace with it by the evening. We had a lovely and relaxing time on the beach for 4 days. I did a little swimming but mostly just frolicked in the water. Fortunately I was in good company because most of the Kenyans from inland aren't very good swimmers either as they don't get much opportunity to practice.

We were there for New Year's and got to see a great fireworks display incredibly close. So close in fact, that pieces of firework fell on me during the display. Oh well, it's all sand and water, right? What could catch fire?

Notice the very sexy strapless shirt I'm wearing in this photo? It's actually another volunteer's headscarf tied around my chest. It was the only thing that didn't irritate my sunburn...sad!

The only part of the trip that wasn't enjoyable was the place we stayed at. Unfortunately we were stuck there for the duration as the entire beach sells out over the holidays. We were 11 in our group so we had 3 cottages. One cottage had no water so they had to shower and use the restroom in the other cottages. Another cottage had too much water with a leaky water tank that dripped into the hallway and bathroom. And a vacation classic: two of the beds had bedbugs.

There were a myriad of other issues but none so unbearable as the uncooperative hostility of the owner. When the people from the no water cottage suggested they shouldn't have to pay full price because they couldn't shower or use the toilet she turned it around on them and accused them of using more electricity than anyone else so they were costing her more than full price. Not exactly a customer service attitude. When the people from the too much water cottage told her their place was flooding she told them they needed to flush the toilet and use the shower more...not easy to do when you are at the beach all day and sleeping all night. When she reconsidered the deal she had struck with the no water cottage for a reduced rate she chose to come collect when only one girl who was incredibly sick was home alone sleeping and brought a heavy with her for intimidation. Finally, the very last morning I was awakened at 6am by a small flood surrounding my bed. Several items were ruined, including my book of Sunday NYT crosswords. For me this was the final straw. For someone who doesn't have any of the normal entertainment outlets: movies, tv, book selection, music or even a radio my crosswords had achieved a level of importance in my life that most wouldn't understand. When she was informed of the issue there was no apology for her lack of action the previous night when we told her it was getting worse, just a demand that we come and pay her for the final night.

So by that last day the tension was palpable and we all just wanted to get away from her. One small problem was that several people had given her their passports and credit cards for safe keeping since one of the cottages didn't have a secure lock. All of this had been returned but she wrote down all the numbers in her little book. Now that we had determined she was a little crazy and very possibly vindictive we didn't want to leave with that info in her hands. So I kicked into negotiator mode and got her to bring us the book, scratched out all our information and then got us out of there without paying her any more money. She was quite a piece of work and one of the girls wrote a parody of the experience to the tune of Hotel California...very appropriate :)

Fortunately we were able to end the vacation on a good note by staying in Mombasa for a day before heading back to Nairobi. Our hotel there had running water, security, and friendly staff so we were more than happy. We spent a day shopping on market street, sightseeing at Fort Jesus (an old castle), and eating Swahili food (which is much better than Kikuyu food as they actually use spices).

I'm happy I was able to get to the coast and see this part of Kenya. It is very different from where I live as it is much hotter (between 40-50 Celcius much of the time), Swahili is spoken more (as opposed to local dialects), and a good portion of the population is Muslim. This is a noticeable difference because where I live it seems to be 99.9% Christian. In addition to the amazement of seeing people wandering around in the long black cloaks with headscarves and veils in the summer heat I was shocked at how safe the city is after dark. All in all Mombasa has a very different feel from any other place I've been in Kenya.

Great holidays for 2010 and now it's back to work!

Masai Mara

After years of playing Wildlife Adventure with my siblings, watching Planet Earth with Stephen, and going on wildlife drives with my parents I've gotten to experience a safari first hand! This was an absolutely incredible experience that I will never forget. My only wish is that I could have shared this experience with my animal loving family. I guess this blog entry will have to suffice.

The day after Christmas six other volunteers and I headed out bright and early for the Masai Mara, a national reserve on the southern border of Kenya and Tanzania. Well, not terribly bright and early as our vehicle had a flat on the way to pick us up. But after a slight delay we were off on a scenic 5-hour journey. We stopped at a lookout point over the Rift Valley and then headed down into the valley where we saw giraffes and zebras just kickin it by the side of the road. As we got closer to our destination the road took a rough turn and the last hour was some pretty bumpy off-roading.

We arrived at the camp in the early afternoon and had a quick lunch so we could get to the park. We rolled in around 4 and left about 6:30pm but I think we saw several hundred animals in that time. We saw so many different animals but the theme of that evening was lions. I truly thought I'd be lucky to catch one lion the entire trip but we must have seen 20 that first night. And they weren't just lying around. We saw lions mating (coitus was brief, but perfunctory), 4 male lions eating a very fresh water buffalo, and a female lion so close I thought we might not make it home that evening.

This leads me to our vehicle and driver. When I first saw our vehicle I was very exciting because it was like an oversized jeep. No windows and the top opens like a convertible so I thought it would be excellent for viewing animals. My suspicion was confirmed when we drove into the park and saw that almost all the other safari vehicles were weak little mini-vans with windows that don't open and a roof that only raises up so you have about a foot of viewing space for your head.

But then we spotted a female lion laying in the grass. Our guide decided we needed a closer look so we drove right up to her and were within 10 meters. As the lion was staring straight into my eyes through the non-window of the car I started to wonder if our vehicle truly was the best design. Fortunately we didn't linger and as we pulled away the driver told us we couldn't stay long because the lioness is the hunter and very dangerous... I considered having an impromptu heart attack but I quickly decided Nick had been doing this a long time and must know what he is doing. Fortunately that worked out for me and I was able to comfort myself with this thought many times during the trip: when he drove through such high standing water I was sure we would drown, when he droved through such sloppy mud I was sure we'd be stuck, and when he drove so fast over the rocks I thought someone would be thrown from the vehicle. He was a very skilled driver and probably missed his calling as a rally driver.

We started heading back to the camp just at dusk and got to watch an absolutely amazing sunset. There is really no way my photos can do justice to the skyscape in the valley. A sunset there is worth the trip in itself.



Camp was also a fun adventure. It's nestled in the forest right next to the park and since there is no fence animals wander in and out at will. We had monkeys in the trees and one afternoon 2 baboons just sauntered through like we weren't even around. We had a night guard (a Masai warrior who carried a spear and a club) and he monitored the animal situation all night. One morning he told us there had been a lion stalking some water buffalo right outside the camp. None of us heard it but we were glad he was around. The camp mostly consisted of big tents. The tents were the type you can walk into and housed 2-3 single beds. Nice but there was one other option for sleeping arrangements and I was all in. About a 3 minute walk from the rest of camp was a tree house! I have wanted to stay/live in a tree house ever since I saw Swiss Family Robinson years ago. It was fabulous! The birds seemed to come alive at night and it was a riot-like noise for awhile. Fortunately there was a little Victorian toilet in the tree house because we were too far from the camp for the night guard to see us flashing for a bathroom escort.


The next day we got to spend the entire day in the park complete with a picnic lunch. I couldn't get over how easy it was to spot most of the animals and how many of them there were. I was also surprised how unfazed they seemed by people. I guess they see people all the time in the park and no one tries to harm them so they don't see us as a threat. This is a bit of a problem but it is illegal in Kenya to kill any wild animals. Unfortunately there are still poachers but not in this park.

We had a hard time getting our driver to stop for zebras, elephants and giraffes because he doesn't consider them worthy of a look since they are so common. We saw baby elephants, baby hyenas, baby lions, and a baby water buffalo that could barely stand up because he had just been born. I saw an elephant drinking so close I could hear it slurping. I saw a hyena running around with a buffalo face and several other things that might gross people out. We also saw a ton of crazy looking birds. They were my surprise favorite because they were so giant and so colorful. And I saw a lizard that was so brightly colored I thought he was a plastic toy! I'll list out all the animals we saw so Conor is happy. Our guide was a naturalist so he new the names of all the animals...I may or may not be spelling them correctly.

Animals: zebra, lion, buffalo, giraffe, waterbuck, bushbuck, hartebeest, vervet monkey, olive baboon, spotted hyena, golden jackal, silver-backed jackal, mongoose, Kirk's dikdik, impala, Thompson's gazelle, cheetah, warthog, hippo, agama lizard, topi, wildebeest, giant millipede.

Birds: secretary bird, crown crane, guineau fowl, hamerkop, black bellied bustard, Butler's eagle, lilac-breasted roller, weaver bird, vulture, hornbill, wattled pluver, red-billed ox pecker, ostrich, crazy looking stork I can't remember the name of.

It goes without saying that we had a fabulous time and were very sad to leave. The last morning we got up early and David took us on a nature walk around the camp. We watched an army of carpenter ants on their way to attack a termite colony, saw the biggest, grossest millipede you'd ever want to see, and learned about the different leaves the Masai use for deodorant, medicine, and cooking.

The drive home was as beautiful as the drive there but with a little more adventure. On the off-road portion we got a puncture. No problem, Nick drove the flat tire up onto a rock and put the spare on. The next town we got to we stopped and he bought a new tire. When we stopped for a picnic lunch Bart noticed another tire was losing air so fast we could here it. So we piled back in the car and drove it to the nearest town. We were here for about an hour while they replaced the tube and it didn't take long before every kid in the town got wind that there were 7 mzungus standing by the side of the road. So we had a lot of questions, some singing, some dancing, some jumping, and a lot of feeling my hair.

Finally we got back on the road and rolled into Nairobi just in time to catch our train to the coast....but that story I'll save for another day. Hope you enjoyed the photos and I'll post more on Facebook soon!

Sunset Safari

These three days of extra vacation aren't turning out to be as full of free time as I had anticipated. With doing my absolutely filthy laundry, walking for hours all over town since there is a matatu strike, and using Trixie's real kitchen (sink with running water, actual stove, refrigerator) to cook incredibly delicious meals, I seem to run out of time at the end of the day to write in the blog. Tomorrow for sure there will be safari photos. Here's a taste of things to come....

Comments, Concerns, Matatus?

I have heard from several people that they had trouble posting comments on the blog. I've changed the settings so please try again and let me know if it worked. I am sad when a post gets no comments...then I think no one is reading it or if they did read it, they absolutely hated it.

I'm back from my trip to the coast but have been waylaid in Nairobi for 3 days because of a nation-wide matatu strike. The only way to get from Nairobi to my town is on a matatu so I'm here until Thursday when everyone else will be trying to use the matatus as well so it might be a challenging trip home. Fortunately, I'm at a friend's house here in Nairobi and there are 5 of us stranded here so it's been quite nice. I'm thinking it will give me time to catch up on my blog so check back soon for safari photos!