Home Safe

After 25 hours of travel, I have finally reached good old Minnesota- safe and sound! Already Africa seems but a distant memory...I'm missing my little sister JoJo, my dear friend Emily, the warm Africa rain, and the sweet smell of chapatai frying on the stove. But then again, I am very glad to be back home and to be seeing family and friends. After a long day of travelling I know I will sleep well tonight, even as visions of Kenya dance in my head.

Kwaheri Kenya

I can't believe it, but it's already time to wrap things up in Africa and pack for home! Last week I had two farewell programs, one at Kabete and one at Kibera. The one at Kabete was especially memorable because the kids made up kwaheri songs, which basically thanked me for spending time with them and wished me safe travels home. We took lots of pictures, played some games, and also ate some cookies. It was a fun last day, but it makes me really sad to think that I will mostly likely never see these kids again. The program at Kibera was also nice, but again everyone was sad to see me go and I was sad to leave them. But alas, all good things must come to an end. I'll spend these next two days buying souvenirs, packing my suitcase, and saying good bye to family and friends. And then it's off to the airport and I will officially be homeward bound! 

Holiday to the Coast

Although the coast is only two hours by plane, it is a world away from central Kenya. I've spent the past five days exploring the history, culture, markets, and beaches of Kenya's coast, and it has been absolutely wonderful. On Friday night I took at overnight bus to Mombasa, which was a long ride but it wasn't too bad. Early Saturday morning my host aunt, Carol, picked me up at the bus station. I rested in the morning, and in the afternoon we explored Mombasa old town and also took a tour of Fort Jesus. It was super interesting to learn about the slave trade and traditional Swahili culture. On Sunday I said good bye to Aunt Carol and took another bus further up the coast. After a short ferry ride, I arrived on Lamu Island- which is a fascinating place. The population is mostly Muslim, and it's a prime example of traditional Swahili culture. The town itself is small, with many twisting alleyways and narrow streets. There are no cars on the island, but there are many many donkeys! It was so interesting to just wander the streets, passing burka-clad women and docile donkeys, hearing prayer calls from the mosque and smelling fish from the market...and just being immersed in everyday life. It unfortunately rained the first day, but I found ways to entertain myself in the many shops :) The second day however, it was gloriously sunny and so I enjoyed a day swimming, sailing, and sunbathing. I also met up with some other travelers and we decided to rent a big old-fashioned Swahili house. It was a big maze, and we kept finding new stairwells and hidden rooms. The best part was the roof top rooms- which provided sea breezes and amazing views, especially at sunrise. Today (Tuesday) I flew back to Nairobi, and although it's nice to be home, I'm already missing the fresh sea air and sunny streets of Lamu. 

A visit to the hospital...

So I've decided that in order to truly know a country, you must become acquainted with it's health care system...haha, okay well maybe this isn't the ideal way to familiarize yourself with a culture, but it seems to be a trend in my travels! Last Sunday I got really sick- I was up until 4am clearing out my stomach. I will leave out the nasty details, but know that it was not pretty and certainly not enjoyable. On Monday I felt okay, but had bad aches, a fever, and chills. I didn't eat anything, and even liquids felt uneasy in my stomach. I felt better today (Tuesday) but decided to go to the hospital just to be safe. The hospital that we went to was very clean and actually quite efficient. They took blood samples and tested for malaria and yellow fever- both of which thankfully came back negative. I got half a liter of much needed fluids via IV. Then I gave some other samples which turned up signs of a stomach infection. It most likely is a result of eating some contaminated food or water. I'm now on a course of anti-biotics and I'm feeling much better. I will continue to monitor everything and keep you updated, but as for now I feel like I'm on the road to recovery!

Today I was soaring...

A few days ago I sent many e-mails and made quite a few phone calls in the hopes of finding a company through which I could do some hang gliding. But all my e-mails were returned and my phone calls were not answered...until today. Through numerous e-mails and phone calls, I got connected with a man named Tom, who offered to take me flying today. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was just hoping that it would be a fun experience, and not cost too much! He called me at 9am and I met him at the airport at 9:30am. Well, it turns out Tom has his own two-seater plane! And he even let me fly it! We flew from the airport, over the countryside (Kenya looks much different from the air!) and landed in a tea field near his home. I met his wife, Susan, and her five beautiful horses. Their home was also very lovely- an English estate with tea fields on one side and rolling forests on the other. After picking up some things, we took off again and flew to Lake Nakuru. I got to pilot the plane for about half the trip- it was hard at first, but then I got the hang of it. It was so great to soar above the fields, trees, and mountains...it was just breathtaking. Anyways, we landed and met Tom's friend Christian. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, Christian offered to take us gliding! So Tom and I got situated in a little glider plane (without an engine) and Christian attached us to his plane with a rope. We took off and he pulled us up into the air; it reminded me of water skiing! Once we found a good thermal air movement, Christian let us go and we flew on our own. We followed the thermal up and up, making tight circles to stay with the cylinder of rising air. I actually got a little nauseous from all the circles, but after we leveled out I felt fine. Once we reached about 10,000 feet we left the thermal and glided back and forth, back and forth...all the way back down to earth. It was so awesome to just glide silently and smoothly through the air- I felt just like a bird! Once back on the ground, we had some lunch and prepared to head back to Nairobi. The flight back was also nice- I even spotted the places where I was rock climbing and hiking earlier this week! It was cool to see these places from a new angle, after having spent a good amount of time trekking/climbing them. As soon as we landed in Nairobi, I wanted to go back up again! I thanked Tom and Christian- it was because of their generosity and willingness to share their passion for flying that I got to have this incredible experience (for free!). They told me that "once you get your head in the clouds, that's the only place you want to be", and I think I definitely agree!

Hawkers vs. Police

A few days ago I experienced one reason why Nairobi has a reputation of being a dangerous city. Max and I were returning from Kabete when a fight erupted between the police and the hawkers. The hawkers are illegal street vendors who inhibit the flow of traffic. The police usually try to surprise attack them, and sometimes they retaliate. Max and I were just walking along when all of a sudden we heard two gunshots fired and everyone started running. Max told me to give him my purse (which I did) and he grabbed my hand so we wouldn't get separated in the stampede. We ran until we reached the safe side of town. I was so scared because I had no idea what was going on! I was thinking gang war or terrorist attack or something terrible like that! When we stopped Max explained that the police were just clearing out the hawkers by firing shots into the air, and that he had taken my purse because often times thieves will try to snatch bags when everyone is running and it's chaos. I was relieved to know that this was a semi-normal occurrence and not something to be too scared about! Max escorted me home, but while watching the news later I learned that the fighting had escalated and that one woman had caught a stray bullet and later died. I'm glad we got out of there when we did! So moral of this story is to always travel with a local when going to that side of town, because they know what to do in a situation like that. In fact, we plan on taking an alternative route until everything settles down a bit. So just know that we are taking all precautions, and although I was scared as hell in that moment, I continue to feel very safe here in Nairobi.

Hell's Gate and Mt. Longonot National Parks

The last two days of my trip were spent adventuring in Hell's Gate and Mt. Longonot National Park. The first day we went rock climbing in Hell's Gate- it was so so AWESOME! First of all, it was great just to have some physical activity after three days in a van. And the climbing itself was sweet since we climbed Fisher's Tower, which is about 120 feet tall! (Don't worry Mom, we had ropes and harnesses and helmets). We climbed it a total of three times, each time exploring new routes. And the view from the top was splendid! It was so gratifying to work so hard to climb up, and then sit and enjoy the amazing view and the refreshing breeze. I would say this has definitely been one of my favorite Kenyan experiences thus far. After climbing we hiked through the park to the Hell's Gate gorge, which was "gorgeous", haha ;) Trekking through the park we saw zebras, gazelles, giraffes, warthogs, and baboons! And since we were walking it was a completely different experience from driving through Maasai Mara. We also saw buffalo, which can can be a bit feisty. One looked like it was going to charge, but our guide threw some rocks at it and it ran away. We hiked and hitch-hiked our way back to town and there enjoyed a meal of fish and chips. That night I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow- exhausted but so happy. 

On the last day of my trip we hiked Mt. Longonot, which is famous because it used to be an active volcano. The hike up was dry, duty, and very hot. But the view from the top was incredible! We could see across the vast landscape and all of Lake Naivasha. Plus, the crater at the top of the mountain holds a completely different eco-system- very wet, green, and lush- and very beautiful. We had lunch at the top, and then hiked down and caught a bus back to Nairobi. I am happy to be home, but I'm also quite sore after all that activity, haha!

Safari in Maasi Mara

The first three days of my trip to Western Kenya were spent on a safari into one of the most famous National Parks in the world - Maasai Mara. Since I was traveling by myself, I was placed into another group of 6 people- 3 other independent travelers and one group of three. Four of the six group members were in their mid-twenties, and we all got along really well. It was so fun to have such a great group, especially since we all just clicked from the very beginning. The first day we arrived at camp around 4pm and got settled in. The camp is classified as "basic camping" but with comfy beds, hot showers, and flush toilets it seemed to me more like "luxury camping". And the food was so delicious...lots of vegetables, chapati, barbecued meat, and fresh fruit- YUM! The first night we did an evening game drive, and although we were only driving for two hours, we saw many animals like gazelles, wildebeests, zebras, jackals, and cheetahs. We even saw a leopard sleeping in a tree! It was so cool!! The second day we drove through the park all day - from 7:30am until 6pm. We saw more cheetahs, zebras, buffalo, and gazelles. We also saw lions, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, and even crocodiles! It was so great to observe these great creatures in their natural habitat, and I even had fun when we didn't see any animals for awhile. I was just happy to cruise through the park- admiring the scenery and breathing the fresh air- which was very needed after a few weeks in dusty Nairobi. Later that night we also visited a local Maasai village, which was very interesting. All of their houses are made from sticks, mud and cow dung, so you can probably imagine the smell and the flies. But they people were very welcoming and they showed us a traditional dance. They told us that during the dance, whoever "jumps the highest wins a free wife" haha! Plus, we learned that each man should have between two and eleven wives! Each wife and her children has her own hut, and the husband gets to choose where he sleeps each night! Also, we learned that the Maasai diet consists of meat, cow and goat milk, cow blood, and corn...let's just say I was happy to be eating at the camp! We also learned that at a young age the children are selected for school (the lower front teeth are pulled to identify this group) or for cattle herding (the ear lobes are plugged and stretched to identify this group), and at the age of 15 boys go out and live in the wilderness for 3 years! And they have to kill a lion before they can return! (We later discussed the authenticity of this Maasai presentation, and decided that for the most part is was true to their culture, other than a few parts where they "told the tourist what they wanted to hear"). Needless to say, that village visit was quite the experience. Oh, and on the way out we were able to trade or buy some souvenirs. One Maasai man asked me if I would trade my watch, and I pointed out to him that it was broken, but he wanted it anyways! So I traded my broken watch for a lion's tooth and a beautiful red blanket- I think I got the better end of the deal, haha! When it got dark, we returned to camp for dinner. Later on, Maya, Nicki, Matt, Alison, and myself laid a blanket on the grass and watched the stars. We has so much fun talking and enjoying the beautiful night sky. I even saw a shooting star- and it was the most brilliant one I have ever seen. It was bright orange and traveled the whole span of the sky..it was an awesome moment! On the third day we did an early morning game drive (leaving at 6:30am!) and we saw elephants, giraffes, and a "king lion" as JoJo would say! Around 10am we headed back East, and I was sad to say good-bye to my friends, but happy to begin yet another adventure into two other National Parks!