Sooper (pronounced super) guest house is the kind of place that deserves its own post. According to our original plan sooper guesthouse (at $14/night) was going to be the place were would stay for the next three nights. We had to find a cheap place to offset the $225 we just blew on the Naivasha Country Club disaster.
When we arrived in Kisumu, the third largest city in the country. We found it to be a bit dirty, very polluted air and like any large city in a developing country; without someone to show you around there isn't much to do. We drove around a bit until we happened upon the guest house which we almost missed. It was nestled between a paint shop and a car parts store. There was one small blue sign hanging which read "sooper guest house." Both our lonely planet and rough guide books said this was one of the best places to stay in Kisumu so even though Justus wrinkled his nose we decided we were going to check it out. Five street boys were hanging out by the door and asking for money. It was getting dark so we wanted to hurry upstairs to check in and then head out to a grocery store or restaurant to buy some food. As we walked up the narrow, dimly lit hotel we had a few reservations but again decided to withhold judgement. The reception staff were nice as we found their desk nestled in a little nook in the lobby which appeared to be a construction site.
A young man grabbed our suitcases as we said goodbye to Justus and headed to our room. We walked up a rickety stair case then down another one until he opened a door under one of the staircases directly across from a very foul smelling bathroom. We walked into the room with two tiny single beds, a small window overlooking an old elevator shaft that now housed construction refuge (wheelbarrow, pieces of iron, lots of dirt and dust). We pulled back the sheets to discover that several hairs (from at least three different heads judging by the length and texture) were resting on the pillow cases. Instead of mattresses the beds were a series of folded up wool blankets and pieces of fabric with a sheet wrapped around them. The bathroom was basic, mostly clean with someone's old mismatched flip flops in the shower - were they for us to use we wondered?
We decided to walk around to see what else was there in the hotel. As we said there was a construction site taking up part of the hotel which was built on top of other stores. There was a series of stairs leading to various makeshift floors. We were trying to find the famed terrace which the guidebooks said was such a cool place to hang out on. As we reached the third set of stairs, each more trecherous than the last, Jessie refused to climb the final one which was made of old plank boards and thin metal. Mer, the daredevil, climbed up to the top to a tarred roof with one chair which served as the terrace. We passed the communal kitchen on the way down which was a windowless room with a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The place was filthy and we decided we wouldn't be cooking our own dinners there tonight!
Now was the moment that we realized we were no longer 19 year old college students. Sure this was acceptable if we were traveling on a shoestring budget and without a nice grant from the Fund for Teachers, but we were almost 30 and had become accustomed to certain things, like mattresses and clean sheets. This was not going to cut it for us.
We debated just sticking it out the night but when we looked outside into the dark, industrial area outside we thought our chances of finding a place to eat or a store would be slim. We called Justus to come pick us up and we found a hotel that was more in line with our needs.
We ended up having to spend $65 to stay at the famed Sunset hotel. Had we started out there we might have been disappointed at the rooms given the price (our sliding glass door was missing two inches of glass and left a big hole for bugs to come in and the bathtub was elevated while the shower head was lowered forcing us to shower in crouched warrior yoga pose in order to wash our hair). However, we were so happy to find that our pillow cases were clean that we agreed there was no complaining in order. We headed downstairs for one of the best meals we've had yet, ugali, greens and chicken!
Reflection on money and value in Kenya: In the US we've stayed in hotel rooms for $70 a night that were just fine so its hard to imagine how $60 in Kenya are hardly comparable. However, when you think about the cost of importing (and producing) some of the materials, electronics, televisions, etc you can understand how hard it is. Most of the places are suffering from lack of repair and maintenance but though the fees are high money doesn't go far here. It has helped us to understand better why it is so difficult to modernize without huge capital investment AND how even these comforts that we take for granted are largely still reserved for very few people in Kenya. We feel like we aren't getting our money's worth but this is largely compared to what we'd be able to get in the states for the same amount and not in the Kenyan context.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Meeting Mama Sarah, Obama's grandmother!!! (and our evening in Kericho)
On the morning of the 8th, we were happy to wake up at Sunset Hotel (it really was sooooper...internet access and all!) which allowed us to do our last update. After coffee and blogging, we anxiously awaited the arrival of Justus (who is always on time) to get back on the road to head to Kogelo, the home village of Obama's father. We had the highest of hopes to actually meet his grandmother, Mama Sarah, who still lives in the home in which she raised her son, Barack Obama Sr. We knew that she was often there for tours (because we researched them and decided against formally taking one, as they were charging $250 per person for one night of accomodations and transport to Kogelo from Kisumu), so we were hopeful that we could roll up and meet her. We even jotted down some interview questions, just in case.
After an hour and a half drive, we pulled onto a winding dusty road with a sign indicating that Senator Barack Obama Secondary School was just a few kilometers down the road. The school in the village was renamed after Obama's visit in 2006 (and there is a new school under construction and waiting for more funds). We were so excited and it felt a bit unreal to be there...one part of Obama's memoir, "Dreams from my Father" that Mer particularly enjoyed were the reflective walks Obama took down that road when he was there visiting at the age of 25...it just felt cool to be on that road. It was also a bit sad driving down the road, too, because the extent of poverty was quite obvious. So many of the people, especially kids, were so thin and malnourished.
Like tourists, we missed the unmarked turn off for Mama Sarah's house and continued on until we felt like we had gone way too far and stopped to ask the group of about 20 women and children washing clothes in the river, where the house was. Yet another reason we were so thankful to have Justus as our driver rather than attempting these trips alone...our Kiswahili is pretty much limited to, hey how are you, thank you, and i'm doing great. They directed us back down the road and to make a left at the turn off. We pulled up to find a tour bus parked out front and two army officials sitting at the front of the lawn.
We showed our passports, signed in, and made our way from the unfriendly guys in uniform to the circle of about 15 handmade wooden chairs sitting under a huge mango tree (also often referenced in Obama's memoir). Nelson, who would be the translator, seated us amongst the 4 other American tourists (who were in Kenya working at an orphanage) and the two gigantic turkeys wandring about the lawn. Not two minutes later, Mama Sarah came walking up and welcomed us to her home by coming around and shaking each of our hands, saying "welcome" in Luo, her mother tongue, and in English. (Though that seemed to be nearly the extent of her English...every other word spoken was in Luo). It was a beautiful day and we sat for just over an hour on the lawn having a conversation with her and couldn't believe how lucky we were.
She asked for questions and the others spoke up first, asking questions we thought were silly, such as, "did Obama's father grow up here?" Uhhhh.... We were able to ask questions about what the village thought of Obama Sr. when he headed to Hawaii for college (they were very proud but shocked, yet confident that he would return). We asked what she thought high school students in the US should know about Kenya, and she responded that it is a beautiful country with a lot of potential but also with a lot of struggle. Jobs are scarce and poverty is high. The desire for education is everpresent but the money for school fees is not available. When food is scarce, particularly in a drought, any money is spent on food and not school uniforms, so kids are unable to attend. She thought that our kids should know that they should travel to Kenya and share their ideas and help motivate children (and if at all possible, any financial assistance). We had an interesting conversation about the obvious importance of education and the barriers that stand in its way, for both kids in Kenya and some kids in certain contexts in the States.
She also shared information about the work she was doing with orphans (mostly of parents who are dying from AIDS). She said she was grateful for Obama's election for many reasons but especially for the assistance the tourism is affording her village. She asked for any small donation for school fees for the orphaned children, and for the farming school that was underway next to us on the other half of her front lawn. She has hired a tiny staff to train individuals how to make wells and pump water and how to farm more productively. About 10 women were partaking in the training while we were there, which was so awesome to see. Mama Sarah is quite the activist and said multiple times how, despite getting tired sometimes (she's 87), she apprecieates every single visitor and sees them as blessings she would never turn away.
After our chat, we took picutres with her and then walked over to the gravestones of Barack Obama Sr. and his father, which are just 10 steps to the left of where we were sitting. We paid our respects, shook hands with Mama Sarah once again, thanked her, and headed out feeling so lucky for the hour just spent. We couldn't believe we had just chatted with an incredible woman whom we admired so much for her life and her work (and, of course, her grandson). What an incredible morning. (we video taped almost the whole thing so you can watch it when we get home!)
Back on the road...we stopped back through Kisumu at a grocery store to get some bread and PB&J for a quick eat on the road. We spent most of our time in the store looking for the least expired food...we found some that had only expired in June of 09, so we were on our way (that sandwiches tasted like doodoo, by the way, but it was all good). We had planned to drive to Kisii, a town south of Kisumu, so that we could go meet Justus's mother and brother who still lived on the land on which he was raised. His mother had just gotten out of the hospital that morning so since we were so close (well, about two hours south and then about 2 hours back to Kericho where we planned to stay for the night), we thought we'd make the trip. This plan, however, would have given us only 1/2 hr to visit so that we could get back to Kericho before nightfall. Although we really wanted to meet his family, we thought it best that he take us directly to kericho where we could find a hotel among the crazy beautiful and lush tea fields, so that he might be able to go to Kisii and stay the whole night and also have the morning to be with his mom. He loved the idea, so we found a great hotel, The Tea Hotel, and had the whole late afternoon to sip tea and read our books on the beautiful lawn.
We had a great little cottage, quite inexpensive for the quality, and especially in comparison to some of the other places we had stayed (we def. underbudgeted cost of hotels here...and we are finding the quality of some of the midrange are nearly as nice as the high cost places...overall, we might say tourists don't quite get what they pay for in terms of hotels here). Anyway, the Tea Hotel was great, the staff incredibly friendly (and LOVED seeing the pics of Obama's grandma). We had a very relaxing and reflective night and went to bed early so that we could be up early for our tea plantation tour the next morning! We love Kericho! (and had fun fantisizing about moving there and teaching at the Teachers College...don't worry, it was just a thought).
After an hour and a half drive, we pulled onto a winding dusty road with a sign indicating that Senator Barack Obama Secondary School was just a few kilometers down the road. The school in the village was renamed after Obama's visit in 2006 (and there is a new school under construction and waiting for more funds). We were so excited and it felt a bit unreal to be there...one part of Obama's memoir, "Dreams from my Father" that Mer particularly enjoyed were the reflective walks Obama took down that road when he was there visiting at the age of 25...it just felt cool to be on that road. It was also a bit sad driving down the road, too, because the extent of poverty was quite obvious. So many of the people, especially kids, were so thin and malnourished.
Like tourists, we missed the unmarked turn off for Mama Sarah's house and continued on until we felt like we had gone way too far and stopped to ask the group of about 20 women and children washing clothes in the river, where the house was. Yet another reason we were so thankful to have Justus as our driver rather than attempting these trips alone...our Kiswahili is pretty much limited to, hey how are you, thank you, and i'm doing great. They directed us back down the road and to make a left at the turn off. We pulled up to find a tour bus parked out front and two army officials sitting at the front of the lawn.
We showed our passports, signed in, and made our way from the unfriendly guys in uniform to the circle of about 15 handmade wooden chairs sitting under a huge mango tree (also often referenced in Obama's memoir). Nelson, who would be the translator, seated us amongst the 4 other American tourists (who were in Kenya working at an orphanage) and the two gigantic turkeys wandring about the lawn. Not two minutes later, Mama Sarah came walking up and welcomed us to her home by coming around and shaking each of our hands, saying "welcome" in Luo, her mother tongue, and in English. (Though that seemed to be nearly the extent of her English...every other word spoken was in Luo). It was a beautiful day and we sat for just over an hour on the lawn having a conversation with her and couldn't believe how lucky we were.
She asked for questions and the others spoke up first, asking questions we thought were silly, such as, "did Obama's father grow up here?" Uhhhh.... We were able to ask questions about what the village thought of Obama Sr. when he headed to Hawaii for college (they were very proud but shocked, yet confident that he would return). We asked what she thought high school students in the US should know about Kenya, and she responded that it is a beautiful country with a lot of potential but also with a lot of struggle. Jobs are scarce and poverty is high. The desire for education is everpresent but the money for school fees is not available. When food is scarce, particularly in a drought, any money is spent on food and not school uniforms, so kids are unable to attend. She thought that our kids should know that they should travel to Kenya and share their ideas and help motivate children (and if at all possible, any financial assistance). We had an interesting conversation about the obvious importance of education and the barriers that stand in its way, for both kids in Kenya and some kids in certain contexts in the States.
She also shared information about the work she was doing with orphans (mostly of parents who are dying from AIDS). She said she was grateful for Obama's election for many reasons but especially for the assistance the tourism is affording her village. She asked for any small donation for school fees for the orphaned children, and for the farming school that was underway next to us on the other half of her front lawn. She has hired a tiny staff to train individuals how to make wells and pump water and how to farm more productively. About 10 women were partaking in the training while we were there, which was so awesome to see. Mama Sarah is quite the activist and said multiple times how, despite getting tired sometimes (she's 87), she apprecieates every single visitor and sees them as blessings she would never turn away.
After our chat, we took picutres with her and then walked over to the gravestones of Barack Obama Sr. and his father, which are just 10 steps to the left of where we were sitting. We paid our respects, shook hands with Mama Sarah once again, thanked her, and headed out feeling so lucky for the hour just spent. We couldn't believe we had just chatted with an incredible woman whom we admired so much for her life and her work (and, of course, her grandson). What an incredible morning. (we video taped almost the whole thing so you can watch it when we get home!)
Back on the road...we stopped back through Kisumu at a grocery store to get some bread and PB&J for a quick eat on the road. We spent most of our time in the store looking for the least expired food...we found some that had only expired in June of 09, so we were on our way (that sandwiches tasted like doodoo, by the way, but it was all good). We had planned to drive to Kisii, a town south of Kisumu, so that we could go meet Justus's mother and brother who still lived on the land on which he was raised. His mother had just gotten out of the hospital that morning so since we were so close (well, about two hours south and then about 2 hours back to Kericho where we planned to stay for the night), we thought we'd make the trip. This plan, however, would have given us only 1/2 hr to visit so that we could get back to Kericho before nightfall. Although we really wanted to meet his family, we thought it best that he take us directly to kericho where we could find a hotel among the crazy beautiful and lush tea fields, so that he might be able to go to Kisii and stay the whole night and also have the morning to be with his mom. He loved the idea, so we found a great hotel, The Tea Hotel, and had the whole late afternoon to sip tea and read our books on the beautiful lawn.
We had a great little cottage, quite inexpensive for the quality, and especially in comparison to some of the other places we had stayed (we def. underbudgeted cost of hotels here...and we are finding the quality of some of the midrange are nearly as nice as the high cost places...overall, we might say tourists don't quite get what they pay for in terms of hotels here). Anyway, the Tea Hotel was great, the staff incredibly friendly (and LOVED seeing the pics of Obama's grandma). We had a very relaxing and reflective night and went to bed early so that we could be up early for our tea plantation tour the next morning! We love Kericho! (and had fun fantisizing about moving there and teaching at the Teachers College...don't worry, it was just a thought).
Heading West - Naivasha and Kisumu
Heading to Naivasha - August 8th
Naivasha Country Club, Elsamere Conservatory
We got up early to go pick up the car and head westward to Naivasha. As we are learning here, sometimes getting up early doesn't guarantee you'll get out on time, however. With the traffic jams and matatus it is sometimes difficult to get much done, let alone on a tight schedule. We often think how much more Kenyans would be able to accomplish if not for the terrible traffic, "the jam" as Nairobi residents call it. It's everywhere at everytime in all directions.
We finally made it to the office to pick up the rental car. For $40 USD/day we didn't expect a Mercedes of course but the tiny little toyota that was covered in mud on the outside and smelled of stale smoke with a layer of red dust on the inside was still shocking. As we pulled out of the parking lot the red fuel light began to blink, not even enough to make it out of the city so we made our way to the nearest gas station. Justus, who was our very capable and outstanding driver, just told us it was ok. He is very positive and always reassures us when we think things are going badly.
We drove about 2 and a half hours until we came to Naivasha where we were to spend the night. We were told we just "had to" stay at Naivasha Country Club both for its historic importance (the place the colonists liked to chill) and it's beauty. So we decided that we'd go ahead and pay the expensive rate (which we'd end up balancing out by staying at a "sooper" cheap place the following nights). We walked in and were in awe at the beautiful grounds. There was a well maintained lawn and gorgeous view of Lake Naivasha. We were escorted to our rooms and were a bit shocked at the shabbiness of it all. The room was dank and smelled of mold, the beds were a bit lopsided, the bathroom was crappy and the shampoo bottles were old bottles with the lettering rubbed off that were obviously refilled for each new guest. For a whopping $225/night we were obviously a bit shocked at what our money was buying.
We decided to drop our stuff and head out to see what was around Naivasha. We passed by the Hell's Gate National Park but when we found the price was $30/person to enter plus a car fee we decided we'd think on it and drove to a nearby nature conservatory that Mer found in one of the guide books. The Elsamere Conservatory turned out to be the highlight of our Naivasha visit. It is the former home of Joy and George Adamson who were big conservationists in Kenya (and both murdered oddly enough at separate times). She is famous for her book Born Free about an orphan lion cub named Elsa who she helped to re-introduce to the wild. She seemed to be a nut (in a nice way) and we watched a 20 minute video about her life as she hugged various big wild cats (lions, cheetahs, leopards) and other animals. The center not only hosts tours but also holds classes for school children on the importance of conservation, leads nature hikes and does other things to raise awareness about environmental issues in the Rift Valley area. Very interesting and the place was quite cool. After watching the video we had a tour of the museum and artifacts and then sat for a great afternoon tea on the lawn overlooking the lake.
Here's where it gets funny (and where we wish we could insert a video). We put down our plate of cookies and tea and Jessie went to grab a chair to pull up to the table while Mer turned to wave Justus over to come sit with us. Within seconds a larger Colobus monkey swoops down to our table and grabs a cookie from each of our plates. She sits there and eats it all ravenously, double fisting cookies and looking wildly at us as her baby clinging to her chest tries to understand why the fifteen other tourists who had just happened to walk out to the lawn began crowding around the table snapping photos and videos. Justus stood away from all the mayhem as people crowded around the table to take pics and we stood there cracking up. He couldn't decide if it was funnier that the monkey had stolen our tea snack OR if the real funny part was all these people snapping pics!
After a nice afternoon at Elsamere we drove past a flower farm (there are tons in this town - Naivasha is home to one of the largest flower exporting regions in the world and sends huge shipments to Europe daily). We wanted to see if it was possible to get a tour (not only because both of our mothers are gardening fans but also because we read a lot about the environmental impact of this industry on the region and the conflict with economic interests of local people). We drove up to a few gates before one of them was kind enough to give us the number of a person we could call for a tour. We were thankful for Justus because he helped us get a foot in the door at this place and we were able to schedule a tour of the Nini Farms facilities which would happen on our way back to Nairobi at the end of our Western trip.
We returned to Naivasha country club for a nice evening and to plan the rest of our trip in more detail. We played snooker (it's like pool but the table is double the size almost and there are a ton more balls). It was fun to learn. Then we played gin on the lawn before taking dinner in their dining room - again as disappointing as the rooms with green mashed potatos, curried eggs and an assortment of foods that we found a bit off-putting. We realized that while buffets seem like a nice idea we were tiring of hotel buffet food. We finally headed to bed where we had a very difficult time sleeping because of a very loud party that was taking place on the lawn. We thought of calling the front desk but there were no phones in our room so we each threw a pillow over our head and tried to make it to sleep. It was a long night.
Hells Gate Park, Delamere Estates and Sooper Guesthouse - August 9th
The next morning we awoke at 6:30 to grab breakfast, check out and try to make it to Hell's Gate National park for a morning hike before we hit the road for Nakuru. However, the hotel phones were down and they somehow couldn't accept our debit Visa cards. They called from a cellphone but were unable to get approval for our cards. We asked if they could do the carbon swipe machine that so many other places had done with our cards but they refused citing the inability to get approval. We were quite frustrated at this point and without any cash to pay the bill. We let the front desk clerk know that we were overall very upset about the entire experience from the rooms to the loudness at night and now this but he just kind of smiled and said sorry. Another gentleman came to check out and we noticed he also held in his hand a hotel review form with negative ratings that he wanted to turn in. Erin Jesse would have been upset to know that this former Starwood Hotel member (now independently operated) did not offer to comp or discount anything and then insisted that he send someone with us into town to go to an ATM machine and send the money for the bill back. We were utterly frustrated by the time we got out of the hotel at 8:30.
We finally arrived at Hells Gate National park and decided that the $30 entrance fee might be worth it to walk around, see the park and work out some of our stressful morning. We drove up to see the geothermal plant that had been set up within the park. This enormous plant with pipes weaving in and out of the hills with billowing clouds of sulfur smelling steam is currently providing power to large sections of Kenya but they are hoping that they can eventually use this natural energy source to power much of the country. Very cool to see.
Next we headed to the lower gorge to go for a quick hike (only one hour as we had lost time with the Naivasha Country Club and couldn't do the full thing). We pulled up to the departure point and started to walk around looking for the start of the trail. After five minutes we realized this would be impossible without a guide (no trail markers at all). We went to the rangers booth and paid for a local guide to lead us through the gorge. Bushman Joe was a young masaai man with a big smile and a skinny build. He was wearing a nike track suit and running shoes. The first thing he wanted to know when we said we were from NYC was if we liked 2Pac and Biggie. We laughed and talked briefly about rappers, wishing our friend Debbie was with us - she would've loved to see the smile on this guys face when he asked about 2Pac. What a contradiction it seemed this young masaai guy who still lives in a Masaai village and a huge hip hop fan. He was a great guide and very patient (especially with Jessie who is so scared of heights at having to climb down into the gorge with nothing to grab onto).
As we scaled the side of the gorge over a creek Bushman described his manhood initiation tradition where after circumcision at 18 he and eight other young men went out into the bush for 3 years - their assignment was to kill 3 lions. He reported he was the first to kill one with a spear and his bare hands; this was after a year out there all alone. He reported that 2 of the young men died in the bush and it was a very long and hard period. We cracked up when he said if he had seen us right when he got out of the bush he probably would've taken a bite out of us he was so wild! Funny guy and very open to our questions. Before climbing back up he took us to a warm spring where steaming hot water was pouring out of the rock - very weird!
On our way back in we stopped to buy two bracelets which he explained would be used for the whole community. He explained that all the money he and the other guides earn goes to the village chief who uses the money for the benefit of the whole community. They live communally and he explained how it worked, what money went to and how people got along. Very interesting. We were so glad we had him to take us around instead of wandering about on our own - we might still be there!
We got back into our car and headed for Kisumu. We wanted to stop on our way at the Delamere estates - home to one of the largest land-owning families in Kenya. They were the big colonial lords of the Rift Valley area and notoriously racist and mean to the locals, having stolen thousands of acres of land from local Masaai. One descendant had twice killed Kenyan men who he said were "Poaching" on his land. It wasn't until the 2nd time that he was actually tried in court and only received 8 months in jail for the crime. People are very angry about the whole incident. We were interested to pass by the estate to take pictures of it and show our kids what a traditional colonial estate might have looked like. Unfortunately the estate is not marked by any signs and we had to continually stop and ask directions going back and forth. Finally we found on a small dirt road a sign for "Soysambu Conservatory" and then a small sign behind a bush that said "Delamere Estates".
The guard came to the gate and asked what we were doing there. We told her we were interested in seeing the Delamere Estates and she said why? After we explained we were there studying Kenyan History she radioed to some distant office for permission and we were denied with the excuse that the manager was not there. She told us if we came back on a weekday (it was a sunday) he'd be there to show us around. We said ok, a little frustrated but cool and drove another four hours to Kisumu.
Along the way we passed through tea fields, saw the company housing for workers, happened upon several make shift camps where Post Election Violence victims still live in tents since the violence in January of 2008, looked at the changing scenery and appreciated the opportunity to be seeing Kenya up close and personal. We had considered visiting each place via plane but went with a driver because we thought it would be easier and more helpful in getting to places off the beaten path. What we hadn't really thought about was how informative it would be to just drive through and observe the small towns and villages along the way.
Naivasha Country Club, Elsamere Conservatory
We got up early to go pick up the car and head westward to Naivasha. As we are learning here, sometimes getting up early doesn't guarantee you'll get out on time, however. With the traffic jams and matatus it is sometimes difficult to get much done, let alone on a tight schedule. We often think how much more Kenyans would be able to accomplish if not for the terrible traffic, "the jam" as Nairobi residents call it. It's everywhere at everytime in all directions.
We finally made it to the office to pick up the rental car. For $40 USD/day we didn't expect a Mercedes of course but the tiny little toyota that was covered in mud on the outside and smelled of stale smoke with a layer of red dust on the inside was still shocking. As we pulled out of the parking lot the red fuel light began to blink, not even enough to make it out of the city so we made our way to the nearest gas station. Justus, who was our very capable and outstanding driver, just told us it was ok. He is very positive and always reassures us when we think things are going badly.
We drove about 2 and a half hours until we came to Naivasha where we were to spend the night. We were told we just "had to" stay at Naivasha Country Club both for its historic importance (the place the colonists liked to chill) and it's beauty. So we decided that we'd go ahead and pay the expensive rate (which we'd end up balancing out by staying at a "sooper" cheap place the following nights). We walked in and were in awe at the beautiful grounds. There was a well maintained lawn and gorgeous view of Lake Naivasha. We were escorted to our rooms and were a bit shocked at the shabbiness of it all. The room was dank and smelled of mold, the beds were a bit lopsided, the bathroom was crappy and the shampoo bottles were old bottles with the lettering rubbed off that were obviously refilled for each new guest. For a whopping $225/night we were obviously a bit shocked at what our money was buying.
We decided to drop our stuff and head out to see what was around Naivasha. We passed by the Hell's Gate National Park but when we found the price was $30/person to enter plus a car fee we decided we'd think on it and drove to a nearby nature conservatory that Mer found in one of the guide books. The Elsamere Conservatory turned out to be the highlight of our Naivasha visit. It is the former home of Joy and George Adamson who were big conservationists in Kenya (and both murdered oddly enough at separate times). She is famous for her book Born Free about an orphan lion cub named Elsa who she helped to re-introduce to the wild. She seemed to be a nut (in a nice way) and we watched a 20 minute video about her life as she hugged various big wild cats (lions, cheetahs, leopards) and other animals. The center not only hosts tours but also holds classes for school children on the importance of conservation, leads nature hikes and does other things to raise awareness about environmental issues in the Rift Valley area. Very interesting and the place was quite cool. After watching the video we had a tour of the museum and artifacts and then sat for a great afternoon tea on the lawn overlooking the lake.
Here's where it gets funny (and where we wish we could insert a video). We put down our plate of cookies and tea and Jessie went to grab a chair to pull up to the table while Mer turned to wave Justus over to come sit with us. Within seconds a larger Colobus monkey swoops down to our table and grabs a cookie from each of our plates. She sits there and eats it all ravenously, double fisting cookies and looking wildly at us as her baby clinging to her chest tries to understand why the fifteen other tourists who had just happened to walk out to the lawn began crowding around the table snapping photos and videos. Justus stood away from all the mayhem as people crowded around the table to take pics and we stood there cracking up. He couldn't decide if it was funnier that the monkey had stolen our tea snack OR if the real funny part was all these people snapping pics!
After a nice afternoon at Elsamere we drove past a flower farm (there are tons in this town - Naivasha is home to one of the largest flower exporting regions in the world and sends huge shipments to Europe daily). We wanted to see if it was possible to get a tour (not only because both of our mothers are gardening fans but also because we read a lot about the environmental impact of this industry on the region and the conflict with economic interests of local people). We drove up to a few gates before one of them was kind enough to give us the number of a person we could call for a tour. We were thankful for Justus because he helped us get a foot in the door at this place and we were able to schedule a tour of the Nini Farms facilities which would happen on our way back to Nairobi at the end of our Western trip.
We returned to Naivasha country club for a nice evening and to plan the rest of our trip in more detail. We played snooker (it's like pool but the table is double the size almost and there are a ton more balls). It was fun to learn. Then we played gin on the lawn before taking dinner in their dining room - again as disappointing as the rooms with green mashed potatos, curried eggs and an assortment of foods that we found a bit off-putting. We realized that while buffets seem like a nice idea we were tiring of hotel buffet food. We finally headed to bed where we had a very difficult time sleeping because of a very loud party that was taking place on the lawn. We thought of calling the front desk but there were no phones in our room so we each threw a pillow over our head and tried to make it to sleep. It was a long night.
Hells Gate Park, Delamere Estates and Sooper Guesthouse - August 9th
The next morning we awoke at 6:30 to grab breakfast, check out and try to make it to Hell's Gate National park for a morning hike before we hit the road for Nakuru. However, the hotel phones were down and they somehow couldn't accept our debit Visa cards. They called from a cellphone but were unable to get approval for our cards. We asked if they could do the carbon swipe machine that so many other places had done with our cards but they refused citing the inability to get approval. We were quite frustrated at this point and without any cash to pay the bill. We let the front desk clerk know that we were overall very upset about the entire experience from the rooms to the loudness at night and now this but he just kind of smiled and said sorry. Another gentleman came to check out and we noticed he also held in his hand a hotel review form with negative ratings that he wanted to turn in. Erin Jesse would have been upset to know that this former Starwood Hotel member (now independently operated) did not offer to comp or discount anything and then insisted that he send someone with us into town to go to an ATM machine and send the money for the bill back. We were utterly frustrated by the time we got out of the hotel at 8:30.
We finally arrived at Hells Gate National park and decided that the $30 entrance fee might be worth it to walk around, see the park and work out some of our stressful morning. We drove up to see the geothermal plant that had been set up within the park. This enormous plant with pipes weaving in and out of the hills with billowing clouds of sulfur smelling steam is currently providing power to large sections of Kenya but they are hoping that they can eventually use this natural energy source to power much of the country. Very cool to see.
Next we headed to the lower gorge to go for a quick hike (only one hour as we had lost time with the Naivasha Country Club and couldn't do the full thing). We pulled up to the departure point and started to walk around looking for the start of the trail. After five minutes we realized this would be impossible without a guide (no trail markers at all). We went to the rangers booth and paid for a local guide to lead us through the gorge. Bushman Joe was a young masaai man with a big smile and a skinny build. He was wearing a nike track suit and running shoes. The first thing he wanted to know when we said we were from NYC was if we liked 2Pac and Biggie. We laughed and talked briefly about rappers, wishing our friend Debbie was with us - she would've loved to see the smile on this guys face when he asked about 2Pac. What a contradiction it seemed this young masaai guy who still lives in a Masaai village and a huge hip hop fan. He was a great guide and very patient (especially with Jessie who is so scared of heights at having to climb down into the gorge with nothing to grab onto).
As we scaled the side of the gorge over a creek Bushman described his manhood initiation tradition where after circumcision at 18 he and eight other young men went out into the bush for 3 years - their assignment was to kill 3 lions. He reported he was the first to kill one with a spear and his bare hands; this was after a year out there all alone. He reported that 2 of the young men died in the bush and it was a very long and hard period. We cracked up when he said if he had seen us right when he got out of the bush he probably would've taken a bite out of us he was so wild! Funny guy and very open to our questions. Before climbing back up he took us to a warm spring where steaming hot water was pouring out of the rock - very weird!
On our way back in we stopped to buy two bracelets which he explained would be used for the whole community. He explained that all the money he and the other guides earn goes to the village chief who uses the money for the benefit of the whole community. They live communally and he explained how it worked, what money went to and how people got along. Very interesting. We were so glad we had him to take us around instead of wandering about on our own - we might still be there!
We got back into our car and headed for Kisumu. We wanted to stop on our way at the Delamere estates - home to one of the largest land-owning families in Kenya. They were the big colonial lords of the Rift Valley area and notoriously racist and mean to the locals, having stolen thousands of acres of land from local Masaai. One descendant had twice killed Kenyan men who he said were "Poaching" on his land. It wasn't until the 2nd time that he was actually tried in court and only received 8 months in jail for the crime. People are very angry about the whole incident. We were interested to pass by the estate to take pictures of it and show our kids what a traditional colonial estate might have looked like. Unfortunately the estate is not marked by any signs and we had to continually stop and ask directions going back and forth. Finally we found on a small dirt road a sign for "Soysambu Conservatory" and then a small sign behind a bush that said "Delamere Estates".
The guard came to the gate and asked what we were doing there. We told her we were interested in seeing the Delamere Estates and she said why? After we explained we were there studying Kenyan History she radioed to some distant office for permission and we were denied with the excuse that the manager was not there. She told us if we came back on a weekday (it was a sunday) he'd be there to show us around. We said ok, a little frustrated but cool and drove another four hours to Kisumu.
Along the way we passed through tea fields, saw the company housing for workers, happened upon several make shift camps where Post Election Violence victims still live in tents since the violence in January of 2008, looked at the changing scenery and appreciated the opportunity to be seeing Kenya up close and personal. We had considered visiting each place via plane but went with a driver because we thought it would be easier and more helpful in getting to places off the beaten path. What we hadn't really thought about was how informative it would be to just drive through and observe the small towns and villages along the way.
addendum to safari blog
Two other funny things to note from that part of the trip:
1. Mer was approached by one of the Masaai guys on the last night who offered 10 cows for her "sister" Jessie's hand in marriage. Mer responded at least 20 but that was too much and Jessie wasn't feelin living in the bush and cooking and cleaning for her husband. The clincher was Jessie was informed that on her wedding day, she would be in the house preparing for the marriage while the ceremonies and celebrations were going on outside. Shoot.
2. The night we sat outside late playing cards and chatting with the security guard, we chatted about how the security guard was there to keep elephants and lions out of the hotel grounds. Ten minutes after we had gone to our room, we heard some odd animal sounds. Five minutes later, Phillip, the security guard, came knocking on our door to tell us we had just missed 5 lions who roamed into sight and gave a lot of animals a scare (hense the strange cries we had heard). Though we missed seeing those lions (we only saw one sleeping from afar of one of our safari drives), we fell asleep hearing them roar outside our door. Pretty cool!
1. Mer was approached by one of the Masaai guys on the last night who offered 10 cows for her "sister" Jessie's hand in marriage. Mer responded at least 20 but that was too much and Jessie wasn't feelin living in the bush and cooking and cleaning for her husband. The clincher was Jessie was informed that on her wedding day, she would be in the house preparing for the marriage while the ceremonies and celebrations were going on outside. Shoot.
2. The night we sat outside late playing cards and chatting with the security guard, we chatted about how the security guard was there to keep elephants and lions out of the hotel grounds. Ten minutes after we had gone to our room, we heard some odd animal sounds. Five minutes later, Phillip, the security guard, came knocking on our door to tell us we had just missed 5 lions who roamed into sight and gave a lot of animals a scare (hense the strange cries we had heard). Though we missed seeing those lions (we only saw one sleeping from afar of one of our safari drives), we fell asleep hearing them roar outside our door. Pretty cool!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Safari at Amboseli National Park
On Wednesday, August 5th, our Safari guide Moses picked us up at Pat's house at 8am to begin our long trek through, what we were told, "bad roads" to get to Amboseli. We were amped and prepared but man, they were not lying about bad roads....Jessie almost passed out on the way for fear of the van tipping over and the excessive amounts of dust that billowed in through the cracks on the bottom of the vehicle. As we drove it was interesting to see the change in scenery the futher we got from Nairobi. The villages became more scattered and smaller (though none less interesting). There were many more Masaai people herding on the very dry land and the savannah we were driving into was beautiful. We saw our first zebra and we kenw it was on. It was an interesting ride and we arrived safely. Moses loved that we were Americans because he was sure we were very rich and would tip him well...he told us that quite a few times along the 5 hour ride!
We checked into our beautiful hotel, Serena Lodge, and were greeted with warm hand and face towels and a glass of fresh OJ. The grounds at the hotel were amazing...a fence seperated the lush green tourist ammenitites from the dry land with many animals grazing just 5 feet from us. The room had great details with beaded lampshades and beautiful bright Masaai colors everywhere. The numerous monkeys running around the hotel was something we just couldn't get over! (We later blamed one for taking Mer's cookie while we were sitting outside reading one afternoon).
On our first game drive that afternoon we saw lots of animals: elephants, wildebeasts, zebras, hyenas, gazelles, buffalo, tons of birds, and much more. Because of the three year drought, the savanna is dangerously dry with one big lake completely dried up, leaving only a couple small lakes, more accurately described as marshes. Sadly, this is having a hugely visible impact on the animals. They appear more dejected or weak than one might think (Moses, our guide, agreed) and the amount of dead zebras was alarming. Many carcuses litter the land, not from animal kills, but from starvation. It makes us see "global warming" in a much different way now. Despite this, there were literally hundreds of animals roaming about, and we kept pinching ourselves to see if we were, in fact, experiencing this very personal safari. It was just the two of us in our vehicle, standing up out of the roof, watching the sun set in the west and reflect pink light on Mt. Kilimanjaro just to the south. That evening was among the most beautiful sunsets either of us had ever seen.
We headed back to the hotel after our two hour game drive for a great buffet dinner that was part of our package and some card playing and drinks. It was such a great atmosphere in which to chill out and reflect. One thing we both found a bit odd, however, was the 4 or 5 Masaai men that Serena Lodge had hired to stand around and talk with the guests. We get it...it's a nice opportunity for guests to talk with people rather than just stare at them out their windows, but in some ways it exacerbated the feeling that Masaai people were "things" to look at and be studied. We did chat with quite a few of the guys and by the end of our 3 day stay we enjoyed talking with one in particular. It just felt odd at first. Of course, Mer had no qualms about asking whether or not strethcing the lobe of the ear hurt (which, of course, they said it did), at what age different cuttings were done (multiple ages...coming of age rituals which begin around age 8), the signifigance of the different bright colors, and whether or not men still had to kill lions in their late teens (yes...two of the men had killed lions with spears and hands, while others had not because the government offers compensation to tribes when a young man comes of age to not kill a lion).
On Thursday the 6th, we were up at the crackof dawn to embark on one of the best mornings of our lives. W were picked up by a different safari vehicle at 5am to go for a hot air balloon ride. We went off-roading into the darkness of the savannah, dodging shurbs as they entered the headlights. It is very cool to be driving around before the sun comes up but also a bit scary too!
We arrived to the take off spot where we met our pilot, Riz, a third generation Kenyan of Indian descent, and the 7 other passengers...those balloon baskets are big! We were amazed as we watched the balloon blow up and apprecieated the warmth of the fire going into the baloon...it's cold in Kenya at this time of year! (maybe 58 degrees at that hour). Guys from the Masaai tribe all work for the company and they thought Jessie, and her fear of heights as she prepared to get in a hot air balloon, was cute. Up and away we went, and it was cool as hell. Just lifting upwards in complete silence (except for Jessie's "oh my god, oh my god") was amazing. The sun was just about up...we were rising moments before it.
We lifted into the clouds, looked around for some CareBears but didn't see any, and 15 seconds after rising above the clouds, we looked East to see the orange sun slowly rising. It was truly the most amazing sight we'd ever seen. We turned around to see the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro...a peak that many don't ever get to see while there because the clouds are so heavy and always present. It was breathtaking and awe-inspiring....an experience we will not forget for a lifetime. We were "in flight" for prob 45 minutes before we had a smooth landing (though pretty close to landing on a "manyatta" (Masaai village). About 10 kids came running up to the balloon and it was cute to see their giggles and fascination.
We then hopped in vehicles to drive us to where we would go for an awesome "champagne breakfast". The drive was as bumpy and dusty as ever but AMAZING...we encountered giraffe and elephants (and of course the many zebra and gazelles) up close and personal. Since we were not on roads, we would just come across the animals eating and the driver pulled right up next to them! (which was cool but scary as I don't know what to be that close to a momma elephant and her baby...). The bacon and eggs and champagne in the middle of the savannah was awesome and we felt like the luckiest people in the world.
We then had the whole late morning and afternoon to relax and read before another game drive at 4pm. We enjoyed the great hotel and on our afternoon drive, saw many hippos chillin out...those things have HUGE mouths! Moses, our driver, who was such a character, was all about trying to get us to spend money, and just HAD to show us another resort where we might stay "the next time we came". Ha...it was really pretty though.
THat night we had a "bush bbq" back at the lodge. We were served many skewers of meat and enjoyed the candle lit tables set up down the hill and in the savannah. They monkey's down there wanted food too...a woman at the table next to us shrieked as one tried to join her for dinner before one of the employees could chase it away...very funny! The BBQ concluded with a traditional Masaai dance, one that is performed at weddings. It was quite interesting...lots of jumping...you'll have to see the video of that! (um....we forgot the camera cord that enables us to upload pics and video at home...you'll get flooded with them all when we get home...sorry bout that!). That night, we also had a great convo with a security guard named Phillip. We were the last ones up at the place, just playing cards and hanging out, so we got to have a nice chat with him. He told us about the difficulty of being Masaai and living in modern Kenya, his dreams of being a marathon runner, the challenge of saving money to buy 5 more cows so that he can offer 10 to the father of his future bride, and many other things. It was a great chat, and we felt lucky to have met him.
The last day we had a relaxing morning, one last game drive, and the 5 hour trip back to Nairobi. Pat greeted us and we told her how nice it was to come "home" and how grateful we were to have her home as our home base. We had a nice homecooked meal, unpacked and repacked, and went to sleep, ready for our next journey which would start at 9am the next morning.
Our time at the computer is up now...we are behind on our blogs but plan to catch up as soon as we have more internet time. We are keeping notes and will be sure to provide more reflections later. We are in the western part of Kenya now, in Kisumu, getting ready to head to Kogelo, Obama's father's village. More updates coming! We are loving Kenya!
(no time to proofread...sorry bout the errors!)
PEACE
We checked into our beautiful hotel, Serena Lodge, and were greeted with warm hand and face towels and a glass of fresh OJ. The grounds at the hotel were amazing...a fence seperated the lush green tourist ammenitites from the dry land with many animals grazing just 5 feet from us. The room had great details with beaded lampshades and beautiful bright Masaai colors everywhere. The numerous monkeys running around the hotel was something we just couldn't get over! (We later blamed one for taking Mer's cookie while we were sitting outside reading one afternoon).
On our first game drive that afternoon we saw lots of animals: elephants, wildebeasts, zebras, hyenas, gazelles, buffalo, tons of birds, and much more. Because of the three year drought, the savanna is dangerously dry with one big lake completely dried up, leaving only a couple small lakes, more accurately described as marshes. Sadly, this is having a hugely visible impact on the animals. They appear more dejected or weak than one might think (Moses, our guide, agreed) and the amount of dead zebras was alarming. Many carcuses litter the land, not from animal kills, but from starvation. It makes us see "global warming" in a much different way now. Despite this, there were literally hundreds of animals roaming about, and we kept pinching ourselves to see if we were, in fact, experiencing this very personal safari. It was just the two of us in our vehicle, standing up out of the roof, watching the sun set in the west and reflect pink light on Mt. Kilimanjaro just to the south. That evening was among the most beautiful sunsets either of us had ever seen.
We headed back to the hotel after our two hour game drive for a great buffet dinner that was part of our package and some card playing and drinks. It was such a great atmosphere in which to chill out and reflect. One thing we both found a bit odd, however, was the 4 or 5 Masaai men that Serena Lodge had hired to stand around and talk with the guests. We get it...it's a nice opportunity for guests to talk with people rather than just stare at them out their windows, but in some ways it exacerbated the feeling that Masaai people were "things" to look at and be studied. We did chat with quite a few of the guys and by the end of our 3 day stay we enjoyed talking with one in particular. It just felt odd at first. Of course, Mer had no qualms about asking whether or not strethcing the lobe of the ear hurt (which, of course, they said it did), at what age different cuttings were done (multiple ages...coming of age rituals which begin around age 8), the signifigance of the different bright colors, and whether or not men still had to kill lions in their late teens (yes...two of the men had killed lions with spears and hands, while others had not because the government offers compensation to tribes when a young man comes of age to not kill a lion).
On Thursday the 6th, we were up at the crackof dawn to embark on one of the best mornings of our lives. W were picked up by a different safari vehicle at 5am to go for a hot air balloon ride. We went off-roading into the darkness of the savannah, dodging shurbs as they entered the headlights. It is very cool to be driving around before the sun comes up but also a bit scary too!
We arrived to the take off spot where we met our pilot, Riz, a third generation Kenyan of Indian descent, and the 7 other passengers...those balloon baskets are big! We were amazed as we watched the balloon blow up and apprecieated the warmth of the fire going into the baloon...it's cold in Kenya at this time of year! (maybe 58 degrees at that hour). Guys from the Masaai tribe all work for the company and they thought Jessie, and her fear of heights as she prepared to get in a hot air balloon, was cute. Up and away we went, and it was cool as hell. Just lifting upwards in complete silence (except for Jessie's "oh my god, oh my god") was amazing. The sun was just about up...we were rising moments before it.
We lifted into the clouds, looked around for some CareBears but didn't see any, and 15 seconds after rising above the clouds, we looked East to see the orange sun slowly rising. It was truly the most amazing sight we'd ever seen. We turned around to see the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro...a peak that many don't ever get to see while there because the clouds are so heavy and always present. It was breathtaking and awe-inspiring....an experience we will not forget for a lifetime. We were "in flight" for prob 45 minutes before we had a smooth landing (though pretty close to landing on a "manyatta" (Masaai village). About 10 kids came running up to the balloon and it was cute to see their giggles and fascination.
We then hopped in vehicles to drive us to where we would go for an awesome "champagne breakfast". The drive was as bumpy and dusty as ever but AMAZING...we encountered giraffe and elephants (and of course the many zebra and gazelles) up close and personal. Since we were not on roads, we would just come across the animals eating and the driver pulled right up next to them! (which was cool but scary as I don't know what to be that close to a momma elephant and her baby...). The bacon and eggs and champagne in the middle of the savannah was awesome and we felt like the luckiest people in the world.
We then had the whole late morning and afternoon to relax and read before another game drive at 4pm. We enjoyed the great hotel and on our afternoon drive, saw many hippos chillin out...those things have HUGE mouths! Moses, our driver, who was such a character, was all about trying to get us to spend money, and just HAD to show us another resort where we might stay "the next time we came". Ha...it was really pretty though.
THat night we had a "bush bbq" back at the lodge. We were served many skewers of meat and enjoyed the candle lit tables set up down the hill and in the savannah. They monkey's down there wanted food too...a woman at the table next to us shrieked as one tried to join her for dinner before one of the employees could chase it away...very funny! The BBQ concluded with a traditional Masaai dance, one that is performed at weddings. It was quite interesting...lots of jumping...you'll have to see the video of that! (um....we forgot the camera cord that enables us to upload pics and video at home...you'll get flooded with them all when we get home...sorry bout that!). That night, we also had a great convo with a security guard named Phillip. We were the last ones up at the place, just playing cards and hanging out, so we got to have a nice chat with him. He told us about the difficulty of being Masaai and living in modern Kenya, his dreams of being a marathon runner, the challenge of saving money to buy 5 more cows so that he can offer 10 to the father of his future bride, and many other things. It was a great chat, and we felt lucky to have met him.
The last day we had a relaxing morning, one last game drive, and the 5 hour trip back to Nairobi. Pat greeted us and we told her how nice it was to come "home" and how grateful we were to have her home as our home base. We had a nice homecooked meal, unpacked and repacked, and went to sleep, ready for our next journey which would start at 9am the next morning.
Our time at the computer is up now...we are behind on our blogs but plan to catch up as soon as we have more internet time. We are keeping notes and will be sure to provide more reflections later. We are in the western part of Kenya now, in Kisumu, getting ready to head to Kogelo, Obama's father's village. More updates coming! We are loving Kenya!
(no time to proofread...sorry bout the errors!)
PEACE
Time in Nairobi - Days 2 and 3
(Sorry for the late posting - internet access is not always easy and we've been ripping and running since we got here).
We were really happy that we stayed up those 24 hours on the trip here, jet lag was not really a problem and we hit the ground running (and haven't stopped!). We are tired but so happy for this opportunity.
Day 2 (8/3)
We decided to hit up Kenyatta University (where Pat's husband Daudi works and which houses a collection of different model homes from the various tribes here in Kenya). Before heading to KU we spent about three hours on the phone and pouring over our guide books looking for places to stay in Mombasa. The Nation (Kenya's big national paper) was reporting that the AGOA conference (trade conf that Hillary Clinton was in town for), some big student music festival and the countries holiday period all meant that the big vacation spots were completely booked up. We called about twenty hotels trying to find spots to squeeze us in. Pat was a great help and we burned through about 2 phone cards but finally we secured hotels both in the west (Kisumu, Naivasha) and in Mombasa. A lot of the hotels are much pricier than we had anticipated so we spend a lot of time crunching numbers, reviewing receipts and fretting over whether or not we'll be able to stay in budget - eek!
Next we headed out to a local beauty parlor where Njeri and Mer wanted to get henna temporary tattoos. Jessie was also persuaded to get one as well. It was really cool and VERY basic - the beauty shop was really just five plastic chairs, one sink to wash hair (though there was no water), one display counter with a few pairs of earrings and a shelf of a few bottles of shampoo. The walls were painted bright orange and there was a lace curtain that hung to separate the shop from the street. Several muslim women came in and out to a mysterious back room, we weren't sure why. The tattoos ended up taking about two hours to apply, pause, wait for them to dry, apply the next one, etc. By the time we left it was quite late.
We departed for KU finally and this was our first chance to ride a matatu - we had to take two to get to KU (each cost between 40 and 50 kenyan shillings). The matatus come in a variety of styles but are basically mini vans with four rows of seats tightly packed in - you can get about 12 in a matatu. The driver (who sits on the right because they have those british style cars and drive on the other side of the street) just drives while another guy hangs out the side of the van calling passengers and collecting fares. Each matatu has its own style, most have loud reggae, afro-beat or hip hop/R&B blasting. They are brightly decorated, have paintings of famous people - we've seen 2Pac, Brittney Spears, Kanye West, Puerto Rican flags, and a lot of Obama, and some even have black lights and Video screens.
The matatus are scary and dangerous and a lot of times we are clinging to the seats, other times we are stuck in never-ending traffic. On the second matatu ride headed towards KU the traffic suddenly slows and there's obviously something ahead causing traffic to merge to one lane on the highway. As we drive by we see a young boy face down on the road with people taking pictures and a video camera trying to collect evidence. It was a hit and run incident, the young boy was killed and the driver had not been apprehended. We looked around on the matatu, everyone looked at the body, shook their head, and there was silence in the van for a while afterwards. We felt the same way - we kept thinking about the boys family. What was missing from the scene was shock. No one seemed surprised and though there was a sadness in it, it wasn't a big enough event to warrant conversation from our hosts. When we started to discuss it they sort of waved the conversation off and moved on. The image of the boy is still fresh in our head.
Finally when we arrived at KU after the two hour matatu ride we were delighted by the campus. We sat down to have some ugali (think grits but finer and cooked drier) and meat with cabbage. It was Jessie's first time with the Kenyan staple and she loved it though wished for sugar and butter on hers! We sat there relaxing and taking in the gorgeous campus. It was already 6 p.m. and the campus was closed so there wasn't a lot to see. We also found out that the models of the different Kenyan villages had been torn down. Still we enjoyed a walk around the large campus, it was a beautiful night, fresh air and a really relaxing environment. Nice to take the edge off the day.
We headed home in a taxi (Daudi paid for it because he thought it was too dark to take a matatu) and that night we had a nice long talk with Daudi. We talked about political corruption, the diversity of religions in Kenya, tribal divisions (and how they disappear abroad), and even how to get out of meetings with a phone program called "call interupter manager" which basically allows you to fake a call from someone to get you out of a conversation or meeting (BOBBIE!). Daudi is a really nice and interesting guy and had some new perspectives on some of the questions we had.
Day 3 - 8/4/09
Today was the day that matatus stopped being fun for us. Though the previous days incident with the boy on the highway already had us heading in this direction, on this day we discovered that after one or two rides in a matatu it is worth looking in your budget to see if you can afford taxis!
We headed out in the morning for Nairobi's National Museum of Kenya which is the most famous museum in Kenya. We got a late start but when we got to the crowded stop we had to wait for a matatu. We got on one that was really loud and fun - it had a video screen which was bumping all old R&B and hip hop videos from our college years. We had fun singing along. Jessie was also really taken by the four young muslim women in full hijab (bui-bui) who got in the matatu with us. One was fully covered with only small slits for her eyes. We wondered, why are some allowed to show their faces and others not. The one with her face covered was bumping and dancing to the music and kept getting annoyed when the person in front of her was blocking her view of the videos. It was an interesting and perplexing thing to watch. There are a lot of muslim people in the section where Pat lives (south c) and a mosque that wakes us with its call at 5 am every morning. What has been really interesting is to see how the different cultures of people influence how they dress and practice islam (even in the same country). The Somali muslims are very different than some of the other tribes. Some people where clothing we'd imagine people in arabic countries to wear, while others where wearing scarves made from more traditional african fabric. There is so much diversity here of religion, ethnic groups and cultures all in Kenya - what we should, but don't often, expect from a country that proudly calls itself the birthplace of humanity.
Finally we arrived at the museum which was a bit of a disappointment. The museum had undergone some renovations and had a very modern (and expensive) coffee shop and a new gift shop but the exhibits were a bit neglected. There was a wonderful (read REALLY wonderful) photography exhibit by a man named Patrick Armory but was curated very poorly - no captions for photos, very short explanation of the exhibit, and the only thing with any info was a copy of the exhibit brochure taped to the wall (they had no other copies and no books of his for sale in the museum shop but we have vowed to find it online). There was also an interesting (but very elementary) exhibit called the "cycles of life" which showed the traditions and routines of various cultures through the different stages of life from birth to death. On the first floor we were really impressed with an exhibit on evolution showing skulls found from early humans until today. It was really amazing to see skull pieces over a million years old and we couldn't help but think that Jessie's grandmother would've loved to see it. The Kenyan's are very proud of their place in history as the craddle of humanity and love to show all the fossils that have been found here. We enjoyed seeing this exhibit.
We left the museum at 5 pm and walked to the matatu stop with Pat and Njeri. After waiting 30 minutes and seeing that every matatu was full we decided to walk down town to catch a different one. We walked for about 45 minutes and happened upon this really well maintained, pretty area of downtown which housed the famous Norfolk Hotel, the National Theater and a pretty park. We were surprised to find it in the middle of very noisy, crowded and often gray downtown Nairobi.
We stopped for a hot chocolate and then as soon as we turned the corner we found ourselves back in the downtown Nairobi we had passed through several times. We had to walk about ten more blocks to the matatu station that would take us home. On the way Pat decided to head into the big supermarket to pick up bread for the next day so Njeri, Mer and Jessie waited outside. By now it was dark and all of a sudden Nairobi felt a lot more tense and dangerous. People were staring at us as we waited against the wall but no one really bothered us and we started to relax. Pat was taking a long time and we were laughing about something when a young man, obviously high, extremely dirty, with yellow eyes and brown teeth approached us and reached for Mer's coffee. When she said no he couldn't have any he kept reaching, now grabbing her arm. Njere told him to leave us alone in Swahili but he looked at us with there really wild, jaded eyes and seemed desperate for this coffee Mer was holding. He reached for her again while he waved an old glass bottle with yellow gooey stuff at the bottom (he was sniffing glue). Pat walked out just at this moment so we began the trek to our matatu stop. The guy began following us so Njere and Jessie crowded around Mer and pushed her out of his reach. We'd cross the street and he'd appear again. For some reason none of us thought to just hand over the coffee! We crossed another big street and he was heading towards us again so Jessie turned around and yelled "Stop" at him and he looked up at us, stood still and turned around and walked away. After that Jessie wouldn't let Mer (or her purse) go and was holding on to both with white knuckles. Mer couldn't stop laughing (though she was also scared) at the situation and how the man was so thirsty for the coffee but for some reason she hadn't thought to just give it to him.
When we arrived at the station finally it was packed so we stood at a nearby corner where there was an illegal matatu station. Still three matatus came and went and we still weren't on one. By now everyone, Pat, Njere, Mer and Jessie, were tired of matatus, downtown nairobi and the dark. We were anxious to get out of there and feeling desperate to leave - it dawned on us to take a taxi since we had the money and get out of there.
After a stop for some dinner we were finally home where we had to hurry and pack for our trip to Amboselli and our safari the following day!
We were really happy that we stayed up those 24 hours on the trip here, jet lag was not really a problem and we hit the ground running (and haven't stopped!). We are tired but so happy for this opportunity.
Day 2 (8/3)
We decided to hit up Kenyatta University (where Pat's husband Daudi works and which houses a collection of different model homes from the various tribes here in Kenya). Before heading to KU we spent about three hours on the phone and pouring over our guide books looking for places to stay in Mombasa. The Nation (Kenya's big national paper) was reporting that the AGOA conference (trade conf that Hillary Clinton was in town for), some big student music festival and the countries holiday period all meant that the big vacation spots were completely booked up. We called about twenty hotels trying to find spots to squeeze us in. Pat was a great help and we burned through about 2 phone cards but finally we secured hotels both in the west (Kisumu, Naivasha) and in Mombasa. A lot of the hotels are much pricier than we had anticipated so we spend a lot of time crunching numbers, reviewing receipts and fretting over whether or not we'll be able to stay in budget - eek!
Next we headed out to a local beauty parlor where Njeri and Mer wanted to get henna temporary tattoos. Jessie was also persuaded to get one as well. It was really cool and VERY basic - the beauty shop was really just five plastic chairs, one sink to wash hair (though there was no water), one display counter with a few pairs of earrings and a shelf of a few bottles of shampoo. The walls were painted bright orange and there was a lace curtain that hung to separate the shop from the street. Several muslim women came in and out to a mysterious back room, we weren't sure why. The tattoos ended up taking about two hours to apply, pause, wait for them to dry, apply the next one, etc. By the time we left it was quite late.
We departed for KU finally and this was our first chance to ride a matatu - we had to take two to get to KU (each cost between 40 and 50 kenyan shillings). The matatus come in a variety of styles but are basically mini vans with four rows of seats tightly packed in - you can get about 12 in a matatu. The driver (who sits on the right because they have those british style cars and drive on the other side of the street) just drives while another guy hangs out the side of the van calling passengers and collecting fares. Each matatu has its own style, most have loud reggae, afro-beat or hip hop/R&B blasting. They are brightly decorated, have paintings of famous people - we've seen 2Pac, Brittney Spears, Kanye West, Puerto Rican flags, and a lot of Obama, and some even have black lights and Video screens.
The matatus are scary and dangerous and a lot of times we are clinging to the seats, other times we are stuck in never-ending traffic. On the second matatu ride headed towards KU the traffic suddenly slows and there's obviously something ahead causing traffic to merge to one lane on the highway. As we drive by we see a young boy face down on the road with people taking pictures and a video camera trying to collect evidence. It was a hit and run incident, the young boy was killed and the driver had not been apprehended. We looked around on the matatu, everyone looked at the body, shook their head, and there was silence in the van for a while afterwards. We felt the same way - we kept thinking about the boys family. What was missing from the scene was shock. No one seemed surprised and though there was a sadness in it, it wasn't a big enough event to warrant conversation from our hosts. When we started to discuss it they sort of waved the conversation off and moved on. The image of the boy is still fresh in our head.
Finally when we arrived at KU after the two hour matatu ride we were delighted by the campus. We sat down to have some ugali (think grits but finer and cooked drier) and meat with cabbage. It was Jessie's first time with the Kenyan staple and she loved it though wished for sugar and butter on hers! We sat there relaxing and taking in the gorgeous campus. It was already 6 p.m. and the campus was closed so there wasn't a lot to see. We also found out that the models of the different Kenyan villages had been torn down. Still we enjoyed a walk around the large campus, it was a beautiful night, fresh air and a really relaxing environment. Nice to take the edge off the day.
We headed home in a taxi (Daudi paid for it because he thought it was too dark to take a matatu) and that night we had a nice long talk with Daudi. We talked about political corruption, the diversity of religions in Kenya, tribal divisions (and how they disappear abroad), and even how to get out of meetings with a phone program called "call interupter manager" which basically allows you to fake a call from someone to get you out of a conversation or meeting (BOBBIE!). Daudi is a really nice and interesting guy and had some new perspectives on some of the questions we had.
Day 3 - 8/4/09
Today was the day that matatus stopped being fun for us. Though the previous days incident with the boy on the highway already had us heading in this direction, on this day we discovered that after one or two rides in a matatu it is worth looking in your budget to see if you can afford taxis!
We headed out in the morning for Nairobi's National Museum of Kenya which is the most famous museum in Kenya. We got a late start but when we got to the crowded stop we had to wait for a matatu. We got on one that was really loud and fun - it had a video screen which was bumping all old R&B and hip hop videos from our college years. We had fun singing along. Jessie was also really taken by the four young muslim women in full hijab (bui-bui) who got in the matatu with us. One was fully covered with only small slits for her eyes. We wondered, why are some allowed to show their faces and others not. The one with her face covered was bumping and dancing to the music and kept getting annoyed when the person in front of her was blocking her view of the videos. It was an interesting and perplexing thing to watch. There are a lot of muslim people in the section where Pat lives (south c) and a mosque that wakes us with its call at 5 am every morning. What has been really interesting is to see how the different cultures of people influence how they dress and practice islam (even in the same country). The Somali muslims are very different than some of the other tribes. Some people where clothing we'd imagine people in arabic countries to wear, while others where wearing scarves made from more traditional african fabric. There is so much diversity here of religion, ethnic groups and cultures all in Kenya - what we should, but don't often, expect from a country that proudly calls itself the birthplace of humanity.
Finally we arrived at the museum which was a bit of a disappointment. The museum had undergone some renovations and had a very modern (and expensive) coffee shop and a new gift shop but the exhibits were a bit neglected. There was a wonderful (read REALLY wonderful) photography exhibit by a man named Patrick Armory but was curated very poorly - no captions for photos, very short explanation of the exhibit, and the only thing with any info was a copy of the exhibit brochure taped to the wall (they had no other copies and no books of his for sale in the museum shop but we have vowed to find it online). There was also an interesting (but very elementary) exhibit called the "cycles of life" which showed the traditions and routines of various cultures through the different stages of life from birth to death. On the first floor we were really impressed with an exhibit on evolution showing skulls found from early humans until today. It was really amazing to see skull pieces over a million years old and we couldn't help but think that Jessie's grandmother would've loved to see it. The Kenyan's are very proud of their place in history as the craddle of humanity and love to show all the fossils that have been found here. We enjoyed seeing this exhibit.
We left the museum at 5 pm and walked to the matatu stop with Pat and Njeri. After waiting 30 minutes and seeing that every matatu was full we decided to walk down town to catch a different one. We walked for about 45 minutes and happened upon this really well maintained, pretty area of downtown which housed the famous Norfolk Hotel, the National Theater and a pretty park. We were surprised to find it in the middle of very noisy, crowded and often gray downtown Nairobi.
We stopped for a hot chocolate and then as soon as we turned the corner we found ourselves back in the downtown Nairobi we had passed through several times. We had to walk about ten more blocks to the matatu station that would take us home. On the way Pat decided to head into the big supermarket to pick up bread for the next day so Njeri, Mer and Jessie waited outside. By now it was dark and all of a sudden Nairobi felt a lot more tense and dangerous. People were staring at us as we waited against the wall but no one really bothered us and we started to relax. Pat was taking a long time and we were laughing about something when a young man, obviously high, extremely dirty, with yellow eyes and brown teeth approached us and reached for Mer's coffee. When she said no he couldn't have any he kept reaching, now grabbing her arm. Njere told him to leave us alone in Swahili but he looked at us with there really wild, jaded eyes and seemed desperate for this coffee Mer was holding. He reached for her again while he waved an old glass bottle with yellow gooey stuff at the bottom (he was sniffing glue). Pat walked out just at this moment so we began the trek to our matatu stop. The guy began following us so Njere and Jessie crowded around Mer and pushed her out of his reach. We'd cross the street and he'd appear again. For some reason none of us thought to just hand over the coffee! We crossed another big street and he was heading towards us again so Jessie turned around and yelled "Stop" at him and he looked up at us, stood still and turned around and walked away. After that Jessie wouldn't let Mer (or her purse) go and was holding on to both with white knuckles. Mer couldn't stop laughing (though she was also scared) at the situation and how the man was so thirsty for the coffee but for some reason she hadn't thought to just give it to him.
When we arrived at the station finally it was packed so we stood at a nearby corner where there was an illegal matatu station. Still three matatus came and went and we still weren't on one. By now everyone, Pat, Njere, Mer and Jessie, were tired of matatus, downtown nairobi and the dark. We were anxious to get out of there and feeling desperate to leave - it dawned on us to take a taxi since we had the money and get out of there.
After a stop for some dinner we were finally home where we had to hurry and pack for our trip to Amboselli and our safari the following day!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Day One in Kenya
We arrived incredibly excited and tired to Jomo Kenyatta Airport around 7:30pm last night (7 hours ahead of nyc)! We were so grateful to be greeted by our friend Pat, who had come to pick us up and take us to her place. Though exhausted, we were giddy to finally be here and were staring out the window like little kids the whole ride home. We sat around and chatted with Pat, her husband Daudi, and Njeri (her good friend/"daughter") and ate some money mangos. Shortly after, we could keep our eyes open no longer, and went to bed. aahhhh.
Anyway, we slept forever, not waking up until 10:30am! We were happy to have slept so long so that our jet lag might not be so bad, but were a bit frustrated because we were looking forward to going to a 10am churh service at which Njeri was singing. Luckily, however, there was another service at noon so we got to attend and hear her band perform.
It was an interesting and fun service...the music was great and we even had to stand to be recognized as guests! After much singing and individual prayer, the pastor finally addressed the congregation for a short while. (English is national language so no prob's understanding anything). His message was short so that he could introduce another pastor to give the sermon...ironically, an American guy. He gave an interesting presentation (powerpoint included...with video clips from LesMiserables) that focused on ways that Kenyans need to love one another as God loves, so that the country might begin to combat violence that is so prevelant in the country. It was a good message, and conveyed well, but as two Americans, it felt a little strange to be sitting in a chuch filled with Kenyan parishioners, listening to a lecture about how to bring about change in Kenya from an American missionary. Pat and Njeri said they enjoyed the sermon as we discussed it over lunch, and we did too, it just felt kind of weird. Nonetheless, attending an uplifting service with beautiful singing on a beautiful day was really a nice way to begin our trip.
We hopped in a matatu (taxi-vans into which many many people pile) and then another, to head to a great resturant for lunch that was walking distance from the festival we were going to dip into. The festival was a Hay Festival (it was a literary festival to celebrate reading for fun and for local writers to share their work...harvesting literature, hense "hay festival"). The festival involved a bunch of tents showcasing local art and writing with people milling around and having some drinks.
Then, on center stage, Story Moja (One Story) began. There was a comedic emcee who did his short funny productions before introducing each short story writer. It was the short story finals and the six finalists presented their work. Many of them were quite good, and it was really nice to sit outside in the 78 degree weather and listen to people tell stories. We loved it. The girl who won was a high school student (her story may not have gotten our vote though!) and it was cute to watch all of her friends freak out and wipe their tears of excitement as their friend's name was called as the winner, which earned her a trip to the UK for their upcoming story telling festival!
We got back into the matatus (40 bop, the slang for shillings...exchange rate currently is 7.6 to 1 USD) and headed back home. We are here in this little internet cafe now, just below Pat's flat, getting ready to head up for a homecooked meal.
Today was a great way to start the trip! We are feeling so lucky and grateful and happy to be here. We hope you are all well, too. Keep reading!
Anyway, we slept forever, not waking up until 10:30am! We were happy to have slept so long so that our jet lag might not be so bad, but were a bit frustrated because we were looking forward to going to a 10am churh service at which Njeri was singing. Luckily, however, there was another service at noon so we got to attend and hear her band perform.
It was an interesting and fun service...the music was great and we even had to stand to be recognized as guests! After much singing and individual prayer, the pastor finally addressed the congregation for a short while. (English is national language so no prob's understanding anything). His message was short so that he could introduce another pastor to give the sermon...ironically, an American guy. He gave an interesting presentation (powerpoint included...with video clips from LesMiserables) that focused on ways that Kenyans need to love one another as God loves, so that the country might begin to combat violence that is so prevelant in the country. It was a good message, and conveyed well, but as two Americans, it felt a little strange to be sitting in a chuch filled with Kenyan parishioners, listening to a lecture about how to bring about change in Kenya from an American missionary. Pat and Njeri said they enjoyed the sermon as we discussed it over lunch, and we did too, it just felt kind of weird. Nonetheless, attending an uplifting service with beautiful singing on a beautiful day was really a nice way to begin our trip.
We hopped in a matatu (taxi-vans into which many many people pile) and then another, to head to a great resturant for lunch that was walking distance from the festival we were going to dip into. The festival was a Hay Festival (it was a literary festival to celebrate reading for fun and for local writers to share their work...harvesting literature, hense "hay festival"). The festival involved a bunch of tents showcasing local art and writing with people milling around and having some drinks.
Then, on center stage, Story Moja (One Story) began. There was a comedic emcee who did his short funny productions before introducing each short story writer. It was the short story finals and the six finalists presented their work. Many of them were quite good, and it was really nice to sit outside in the 78 degree weather and listen to people tell stories. We loved it. The girl who won was a high school student (her story may not have gotten our vote though!) and it was cute to watch all of her friends freak out and wipe their tears of excitement as their friend's name was called as the winner, which earned her a trip to the UK for their upcoming story telling festival!
We got back into the matatus (40 bop, the slang for shillings...exchange rate currently is 7.6 to 1 USD) and headed back home. We are here in this little internet cafe now, just below Pat's flat, getting ready to head up for a homecooked meal.
Today was a great way to start the trip! We are feeling so lucky and grateful and happy to be here. We hope you are all well, too. Keep reading!
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