Nairobi City Tour

Day 42
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Leave for Nairobi City
12:30 Lunch
1:15 Trip to Karen Town
5:00 Wildlife Conservation
7:00 Dinner

Photo From Wikipedia

   A girl who is doing her graduate work here in Kenya offered to act as a tour guide and show us around Nairobi. We all boarded the trucks and our guide did a wonderful job telling us about the buildings and roads. We even got to get out and walk around in the city, although we did have to stay together as a group. Nairobi city is nothing like Karen town, and when we went to town in the afternoon I felt myself relax as I walked around on the now familiar streets. In the evening I did some studying and reflected that "going back to Canada will be weird since I'll be indoors all the time." 10 years ago today I was touring Nairobi!

Eating Well In Kenya

Day 41
8:00 Breakfast
10:30 Trip to Karen Town
1:00 Lunch
3:00 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner

   I can't believe I've been living in Kenya in a tent for 41 days! Not much happened today so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you about the FOOD! The staff does such a marvelous job cooking for us every meal. Being a vegetarian I always ate a delicious alternative to the meat dish. For Breakfasts we had omelets or boiled eggs, fruits like watermelon, passion fruit, pineapple and toast. Lunches and Dinners consisted of menu items like eggplant parmesan, chickpeas, pasta, potatoes, carrots and beans. We are treated to a nightly desert and the cooks enjoy flexing their creative muscles with this! We had caramel flambé, lemon cake and mango crumble, just to name a few! 10 years ago today I was enjoying Kenyan camp style cooking!

Hosting The High Commissioner of Canada

Day 40
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Leave for Karen
1:30 Arrive in Karen
2:00 Lunch
6:00 Party for The High Commissioner
9:00 Dinner Served

After a long drive back to our home compound in Karen we were all very keen to get in the swimming pool! It's funny how much this compound now feels like 'home.' We all put on our cleanest and nicest clothes and even put on makeup! The High Commissioner of Canada to Kenya came for a party. His name is Jim and his wife is Heather. "We had tables set up and even had real plates! It feels so fancy!" There were caterers and bartenders too. It was a lovely evening of socializing. 10 years ago today I was a part of a party for the High Commissioner of Canada!

Lake Nakuru National Park Game Drive

Day 39
5:30 Breakfast
6:30 Leave for Game Drive
1:00 Lunch
4:00 Arrive Back At Camp
6:30 Dinner
9:00 Wildlife Conservation

Impalla, Zebra, White Rhino, Buffalo and Black Rhino

   After a very early breakfast we boarded the trucks for an hour drive to the National Park. "The sunrise was gorgeous, the clouds were a florescent red, they looked like they were bleeding. The colour changed to a softer red and violet. It was beautiful." While we were at the gate, the drivers fed the monkeys cookies and they got really close to us, even jumping on the trucks! "Once we were in the park Kasoi quickly spotted a rhino and kept saying to us "okay guys, I need all eyes to look, not just Kasoi" because he really wanted to see a leopard and wanted us to help look." We saw amazing things while on the game drive in the park. Zebras galloped across the road, there was a multitude of wildlife grazing in the savanna; rhino, warthogs, baboons, waterbuck, buffalo, impalla, zebra and flocks of birds flying overhead. "I just stared and stared! It was very "lion-king-esque" and beautiful." On the shore of Lake Nakuru we were allowed to get out and take photos of the flamingos. There were millions of them!!! The shore was white from the salt, poop and feathers. We saw pelicans in the lake that swam in rows of 5. "They all drove downwards together in unison. It reminded me of a funny cartoon with instrumental music, like Fantasia or something." We drove upwards to a cliff overlooking the lake; it was breathtaking.

Flamingos on Lake Nakuru

   On the cliff we had our lunch and a Natural History class, what a perfect location to have a lecture! We drove around the park for another couple of hours in the afternoon and saw more wildlife. 10 years ago I was hard pressed to find synonyms for the words "beautiful" and "breathtaking" when describing the beauty of Lake Nakuru Park.   





"Gimme Cookies!"

"Got Cookies?"

Travel Day to Nakuru

Day 38
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Leave for Nakuru
1:00 Lunch
4:30 Arrive at Nakuru
7:30 Dinner

   Lee lent me the book "Life of Pi" which I pretty much devoured today on the long truck ride to Nakuru. At our campsite our tent was on a slope (like Socian) and I wrote in my journal that I kept sliding off my pillow while sleeping! 10 years ago today I was on a road trip across Kenya! 

A Trip To Town

Day 37
7:30 Breakfast
10:30 Natural History
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Trip To Kitale Town
6:00 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner

   Several people have been getting sick here. Fortunately I wasn't sick but felt so bad for those that were! The trip to town was an hour drive which passed in a flash since we're used to endless hours on travel days! After shopping around in town I had decided to go back on the "early" truck. It was drizzling rain and then turned into a downpour. "We were supposed to have class but two of the trucks weren't back yet. Turns out they had both slid into a ditch! Everyone had to get out and they pushed one of the trucks out. So many people were covered in filthy red mud, all over their shoes and feet! They had to leave the other one there (I'm guessing locals helped push it out). Everyone said it was an amazing experience with all the locals coming out to cheer them on and they all seemed to have a lot of fun despite getting really dirty!" It poured rain all night and I heard that there were about fourteen people that were sick. I felt so bad for them. 10 years ago today I wasn't sick in Kitale.

Kitum Cave Visit

Day 36
6:30 Breakfast
7:00 Leave for Mount Elgon National Park
1:00 Lunch
4:00 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Natural History

Going Into The Caves

See The Bats?

   It was a long drive to Mount Elgon National Park. There is a cave, Kitum Cave, where elephants go to scrape salt out of. In the park we saw buffalo, bushbacks, baboons and colobus monkey's but no elephants! "We had a guide (with a gun) take us up to the caves, it was a pretty steep climb. The entrance was wide and low. It was also so dusty and I stepped in elephant poop! It smelled like a stale stable. Inside the cave I was glad I had a flashlight to shine on the walls, they were covered in BATS! Their furry little bodies were all clumped together and when we shone our lights on them, they all took flight! I couldn't believe how many there were, they really pack it in to a tiny crevice! The scrapings on the walls were from the elephant tusks. When we turned the lights off it was PITCH black. it's so amazing that such large animals can have such agility and make their way into the cave in the dark." 10 years ago today I learned about a new ecosystem!

"Being Elephants"

Elephants Scrape The Walls With Their Tusks

Inside The Cave

Hanging Out in Kitale

Day 35
8:00 Breakfast
12:30 Lunch
5:00 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner
9:00 Natural History

   "I now know my limit, I can go 8 days without a shower!" I wrote in my journal that I was feeling yucky and sick of 'sponge baths' using my water bottle and my wash cloth. I stood in line to have a shower since everyone is doing their laundry and having showers today. "It was so nice to wash my hair, my skin actually felt different - cleaner!"
   I was enjoying the view from my tent when I heard a very loud, and very near, call of a monkey. I darted out of the tent to look and saw the monkey very close, he was so big. He walked across the branch bridging the stream and then crawled down the tree and walked along the ground. "Jen and I decided to go monkey hunting again. We found the log bridge across to the other side and found the monkeys. We looked at them in the trees. We treked around the trees to get a better look and suddenly my ankle was caught on something. I pulled and it got tighter. You know you watch too many fairytales when your first thought is that a tree reached out with a vine to pull me in! It turns out it was a metal snare, I got caught in a snare!! Jen helped me out of it and giggled over my fairytale freak out." 10 years ago today I learned firsthand that it's important to be careful when walking through a forest!  

Sunrise Over The Rain Forest

Day 34
6:00 Nature Walk to Nandi Escarpment and Isiukhu Falls
9:00 Breakfast
10:45 Leave for Kitale
2:30 Arrive at Kitale
3:00 Lunch
6:00 Wildlife Conservation
7:00 Dinner

Lisa Watching The Sunrise

   Getting up at 5:45am in the middle of a rain forest in Kenya was difficult. It was PITCH BLACK out and we needed flashlights just to see the ground in front of us. "We all walked along the path for quite a while, then entered the forest and climbed. It was really steep and I was afraid that a snake would come down from the branches above and bite me. We finally reached the escarpment and it was really worth it. We were looking over a canopy of trees with mist snaking through it, billowing up in places, it was so amazing. The sky flushed red before the sun rose over the hills. It was quite a sight, very scenic and beautiful." After the sunrise we went to a waterfall which was very loud. They were a nice treat to the morning. It was so humid here and after the arid cool mornings, I was uncomfortable to be covered in sweat.


Isiukhu Waterfall

   The drive to Kitale seemed long but it was "only 3 1/2 hours" and on the truck I enjoyed the amazing landscape. There are brilliant red flame trees along the road. We were camping on a farm; it's a large property and we are very safe so we're allowed to walk around freely. 10 years ago I witnessed the most amazing sunrise of my life (later to be rivaled by the sunrise atop of Mount Fuji, but that's another story!)

Mel and I

Visiting A Kenyan Orphanage and A Rain Forest

Day 33
7:30 Breakfast
9:00 Leave for Kakamega
10-12:30 Stop at Kip Keino's Orphanage and Primary School
1:30 Lunch
4:00 Arrive at Kakamega Rainforest
5:15 Nature Walk
7:30 Dinner
8:00 Natural History



Kip Keino's Orphanage

   Kip and Phyllis Keino run an orphanage in addition to the wonderful work they do for aspiring Olympians. At the orphanage there are 20 children that live there, but they support about 60 total, and send them to boarding school. There is an agriculture farm that is used to make money as well as produce food for the children. We saw where the children live, their nursery school and the playground. We went to the primary school after that, it was NOTHING like Eremit Primary School. "The school is for richer Kenyan students who pay about 900$ a year to attend. The orphaned children attend free of charge because the other student's funds cover their expenses too. We had a tour of the facility. The school is one level, a square around a courtyard. It was very beautiful. The children are very well behaved and said "Welcome Visitors" when we visited the classrooms."


Kip Keino's Primary School

   On the drive towards Kakamega it rained and the scenery was breathtaking, all very green and lush. This was my first experience with a rain forest and of course, it was raining! It was also very humid and hot. When we set up the tent I noticed the ground was very soft and the pegs slid in easily, not like the dry hard ground of some of our previous camp sites. The nature walk was incredible. "The guide was very informative and told us a lot of useful information. The trees were so huge and magnificent! We saw blue monkeys and red tailed monkeys high in the trees." 10 years ago today I was on a hike in the Kakamega Rain forest, my first time visiting a rain forest!

Kakamega Rain Forest

Exploring Kakamega



Visiting Kenyan Athletes

Day 32
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Visit Kip Keino Training Centre
1:00 Lunch
3:00 Wildlife Conservation
5:30 Archaeology Final Exam
7:00 Dinner With Athletes

Meeting Kip Keino

The Athletes Having Dinner At Camp With Us

   Kip Keino is a two time Olympic gold medalist for running. He has a training centre here in Kenya for atheletes to train for upcoming races and the Olympics. We were priviledged to be invited into the training centre and shown around. The manager gave us a tour. "It was a very high class area, the house was huge with an open living room and a t.v. room (satelite t.v.) and a beautiful kitchen and dining room. Everything was so clean and big and spacious. They have 3 beds per room in the bedrooms. There are aproximately 20 athletes that live there now, between ages 19-25." In the evening the atheletes were invited to our camp to have dinner with us and I met Kip Keino himself! It was so exciting to meet him.
   Today was our archaeology final exam, this was my favourite course here and I was sad that it was ending. I spent the afternoon studying with the other girls, putting out blankets to sit on and study in the sun. "I am a true camping girl; I put my blanket on the ground - over dried up cow poop - and I am going to use it tonight to sleep with!" 10 years ago today I met an Olympic gold medalist!



Travel Day to Eldoret

Day 31
7:15 Breakfast
8:30 Leave for Eldoret
12:30 Lunch Stop
4:00 Arrive at Eldoret
7:00 Supper



Julia and Kasoi Singing to "So Cool"

   It had rained all night and I didn't get a good sleep. Our tents are great quality though and never leak when it rains. The drive to Eldoret was a long and uncomfortable one. "For the first three and half hours I was dedicated to reading my archeology text." We had a lunch stop on a grassy hill. For the second half of the drive we talked about our lives back home, showed each other pictures, played the card game Uno and snoozed.
   We are camping at Kip Keino's training centre, there are lots of trees around us. I had to get up and pee in the middle of the night and was scared, I was reminded of the movie "Blair Witch Project" because of the woods! 10 years ago today I was on a road trip across Kenya!

Our Last Day At Lake Naivasha

Day 30
6:30 Hippo Drive
8:00 Breakfast
10:15 Archaeology
11:30 Metal Statue Trip
1:30 Lunch
5:00 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner


   On this morning's hippo drive we saw a lone buffalo that was being aggressive towards the truck (we didn't get out!) which was a great photo opp! "The sunrise was beautiful. All the water and land was covered in a mist, it was beautiful. A hippo out of the water was waddling into the bushes, they're pretty quick." After an interesting archaeology class we went to a shop that sells metal statues, they're made from recycled metal by locals in the Naivasha area. Some of the girls are having a 'Shower Survivor' competition (after discussing it with our camp doctor of course!) and tonight there was a discussion on the use of one of the girl's using aloe to clean herself. After talking about the 'issue' it was decided she wouldn't be penalized for using it, but couldn't continue to use it. I included this little story to give you a better idea of what we do in the evenings to entertain ourselves! 10 years ago today I learned the value of enjoying the little things.

Archaeology Trip To Crescent Island

Day 29
6:30 Breakfast
7:00 Leave for Crescent Island
11:30 Picnic Lunch on Crescent Island
12:30 Weavers and Heidi Lang Batik
2:30 Wildlife Conservation
6:30 Dinner



Crescent Island

   This morning was so cold, I didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag, but the exciting prospect of a visit to Crescent Island made it worthwhile. The sunrise was beautiful. Our Archaeology class had an amazing opportunity to visit Crescent Island; it has tremendous archaeological value. The obsidian rock tools and clay pottery pieces found on the island can be dated to the Neolithic period. It is also a rare location where we can get out of the truck and walk around among wild game! "Kasoi came up to us as we were walking along a ridge on the island and said "We're very lucky today, come over to see" so we walked over. Slowly over the ridge as I walked forward it was like a scene from the Lion King; a herd of zebras were right beneath us - amazing!" 

"Eyes Down!"

   The scenery was beautiful, the island curved and Lake Naivasha and mountains could be seen in the distance. "While walking with Mzalendo, we kept looking around at the herds of game, they were so close, and Mzalendo would say "eyes on the ground!" since we were supposed to be looking for Neolithic tools! Herds of gazelle, impala, wildebeest and waterbuck's were very near to us. Then I started following a family of giraffes, a male, female and a baby. I kept getting closer and taking more photos. It is indescribable how amazing it was to see these huge giraffes and to be able to follow them!" We were also looking for beads made from ostrich eggs and when I asked Mzalendo what size they were, he picked up a piece of poop and said "It's about the same size as this poop" which I found great! 

Getting Close To Giraffes

   On our way back from the island we visited a couple of the local arts and crafts shops. Kasoi hid in the bushes and made his animal sounds which freaked out some of the girls. He couldn't stop laughing, it was a great class trip. 10 years ago today I was walking around trying to get as close as I could to the wildlife on Crescent Island, Kenya.


Kasoi Discovering a Crayfish



A Hippo Drive

Day 28
8:00 Breakfast
10:15 Archaeology
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Wildlife Conservation
4:30 Hippo Drive
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Natural History

  

At Lake Naivasha

"On the drive to the hippo site we saw huge pelicans flying, it was beautiful. The hippos were amazing. They are VERY big. We parked and we were allowed to GET OUT of the truck to walk around this beautiful lagoon area. The grass was perfectly mowed, but it wasn't from a lawn mower, it was from grazing hippos! It looked fake it was so lovely. Everyone was making hungry hippo jokes. There was a herd of buffalo with their babies. Kasoi said that was a very special sight. It was neat to watch the hippos watch us, some opened their mouths up wide. Two hippos were being aggressive to each other. It was so amazing to be this close."

A Valentines Day Dinner

We also saw a herd of impala, Thompson gazelle, and a herd of zebras that didn't impress us (oh how jaded we've become to Kenyan wildlife!) There was a female bushback laying down. Kasoi wanted us to see the tail so he got out of the truck to make it get up!
    For Valentines Day we all did a "Secret Valentine" and most of us made cute cards and exchanged chocolate hearts. I was very lucky, Lesley had me as her Secret Valentine and I found a dinner invitation in my tent when I returned from the hippo drive. Lesley and Zoe had put down blankets, borrowed a lantern, had flowers in an empty coke bottles and laid out a picnic dinner for Sara and I. It was really special and a fun dinner. 10 years ago today I enjoyed an adventurous Hippo Drive and a fun evening with friends.

A Student in Kenya

Day 27
8:00 Breakfast
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Archaeology Exam
4:00 Swahili Lesson
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Wildlife Conservation

•    Some students went to an agriculture farm today but I stayed at the camp to study. I reviewed my archaeology notes studying with Jackie for our exam this afternoon.
• We discovered that the electric fence is to keep out the wildlife and that the wildlife around here is ostriches! They came up close to the fence, they can be quite aggressive so we stayed back.
• "There are fever trees everywhere around here, almost like a forest. "Forest of Fever" - heehee, sounds like a bad disco song!"
• In the Swahili lesson I learned the alphabet and some simple phrases, it was neat.
• The professors don't stay with us for the entire time. Our courses run for different durations and start at different times. Today was our first wildlife conservation class, the Canadian professor had just arrived in Kenya today.

10 years ago today I was reveling in the fact that I was studying abroad!

Studying Archaeology With Jackie

Lake Naivasha

Day 26
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Leave for Lake Naivasha
1:00 Lunch Stop
2:30 Arrive at Lake Naivasha
4:30 Hippo Drive
7:00 Dinner
7:30 Archaeology



Kasoi Having A Nap

   On the long truck drive today Kasoi told us a bit about himself; "His ears were cut (in the Masai tradition) the day after his birth. Since he didn't cry he was given cattle. He told us about bringing cattle up from the Mara to sell in Nairobi. It's a 9 day walk. He will bring approximately 6-10 cattle every two years. They sell the bulls for about 600$ and back in the Mara he can buy 4 young cattle for selling 1 bull. He can take a bus back to the Mara when he's got his money and his family does the shopping. On his 9 day walk the only meat he eats is sheep. He puts his cattle in a wooden fence that he makes every night and builds fires around it. he sleeps outside the fence on a bed of grass. The Masai people are amazing!"
We are camping in a fenced in compound. The fence is an electric fence. One of the camp staff put his wet laundry on the electric fence and got zapped, poor guy! There are cabins for the professors and we have two building for studying in. There were stinging nettles in the grass, a lot of people found out the hard way and got stung. 10 years ago today I got an inside look at the Masai people and came to appreciate the differences between cultures.





Driving Past Suswa

 



Mount Logonot

Lake Naivasha

  

Some Down Time

Day 25
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Trip to Karen
1:00 Lunch
1:30 Natural History
5:00 Archaeology
6:30 Dinner

   I can't believe how well adjusted I am to this camping lifestyle.

• Today I did some laundry. I commented in my journal that I'm getting strong forearms from wringing out my clothes!  
• We have one laptop that we all share and write emails home on. It's exciting when the Internet is connected and emails to us from our friends and family arrive.
• The town of Karen is so familiar that I easily find my way to the grocery store (for chocolate) and the post office (for stamps) before walking around the alleyways and streets while licking an ice cream.
• Our teaching tents are equipped with a generator to power an overhead projector and we sit in camp chairs while studiously taking notes and try to ignore the insects that are flying around. "I was taking notes beside a light while moths were flying INTO me - I wouldn't be this relaxed about that in Canada!"

As I reflect back on 10 years ago today I realize how well adjusted I was. I know the camp staff needs to replenish our supplies and not every day is going to be an exciting safari adventure, so I made good use of my down time.

Masai Market

Day 24
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Shopping at the Masai Market
1:30 Lunch
3:00 Trip to Karen
5:00 Archaeology
6:30 Dinner

   "The Masai Market was a long open area that people laid down their things. I thought it would just be beads like in the villages, but it was everything you could dream of. The strips between the shops was very narrow and were littered with garbage. It was very tight with lots of people. It was annoying that people would grab my wrist and want me to look at their things. Eventually a guy introduced himself, he was what I guess was called a 'buyer' and he took me to the places I wanted to buy things. The way a 'buyer' works is he will hold all your things from all the places and at the end give you a price. It's an easy way to get ripped off and I soon realized this so I struck out on my own again." After comparing some of my purchases with the other girls, I found that I got some good deals but overpaid on other items. I didn't mind because it was a fantastic experience and I came away with several banana leaf pictures, soapstone carvings, wood carvings and some jewelry all for thirty bucks! 10 years ago today I got my first taste of bartering, a valuable skill for an international traveller!