8/12 Return from the West, Flower Farm and Delamere

Today we took off early from Lake Baringo ready for our drive back to Nairobi. On the way we planned to make 2 stops in and near Naivasha that we hadn't made earlier - the flower farm and the Delamere estates. We decided we wouldn't have time to get to Lake Bogoria or the Menegai crater because of time but these two other stops would be important for our research into Kenya history and economy.

First stop was Delamere estates - on our way out we had been denied entry because it was a Sunday. This time there was no getting lost and it was a weekday so we expected no trouble. WRONG. First of all the guard said she knew not of what we spoke. She didn't know who told us we could visit but we would have to drive to Naivasha make a reservation and then come another day. We asked her to call the manager but she said she had no phone. She would have to radio and there was no response. She said the general manager was on the property but she was not allowed to call him directly she'd have to ask the manager to ask the secretary to call him to let us in. We tried being nice and sweet, tough and demanding, and even stubborn but to no avail. There was no way we were getting in. We couldn't figure it out! We could walk into Kenyan National Parliament with hardly a check but to get in to see a famous colonial estate (hidden under the name of a private conservation park) was impossible. As we headed out the guard confessed that if we had wanted a game drive to see animals it would've been quite easy but because we mentioned the Delamere name they were not going to let us in. Thought streets, bars, restaurants, schools and all kinds of buildings have the name of Delamere, the estate from where the colonial dirty work and business was run was off limits.

Still today the Delamere's own thousands of acres of Kenyan land and dispute the claims of local Masaai who want their land back that was stolen. Though Kenya is now independent you can't help but feel, and Kenyan's say this too, that there is still some work to be done on that front. Even Justus was surprised at how secretive and weird the whole visit was. Hmmm...


On to the Nini Flower Farm where we received a much warmer and informative reception. We were greated by George, an assistant to the manager of the flower farm who walked us through the entire place. He explained the way the farm works, the different kinds of roses they grow, where they ship them to, how the workers are treated/paid, what chemicals they use and the new and different ways they are using to conserve water and prevent pests and diseases without chemicals. We wished our mothers were with us. Bobbie would've especially found the part about microscopic spiders that eat harmful algae flies and the fly tape that they hang in the greenhouses as ways of controlling pests. Rita would've loved the explanation of a process used by a Japanese florist which sucks the sap and color from roses, then replaces them with color and a chemical which basically freeze dries them so that they look fresh but are really preserved flowers. At the end of our tour George gave us a bouquet of the "reject roses" which we thought looked pretty damned good. We took them back to Nairobi for Pat as her birthday was coming soon.

We arrived back in Nairobi and crashed for the evening.