Jambo rafikis! (Hello friends!)
I’m in Kenya, and my time here has been incredible!
After a sleepless 14 hour bus ride, Jessamy and I made it to
Limuru on Monday morning at 8 am. We were lucky that Easy Coach allowed us to
be dropped off before Nairobe, where a friend of hers picked us up. Last
summer, Jessamy worked with a program called Uhuru Child, which helped to build
greenhouses in an IDP camp called Jikazi. Her friends, Lydiah and Frances,
invited us to stay with them for a few nights in Limuru so we could explore the
area. We went to Lydiah’s house to
drop off our luggage and eat a nice omelette breakfast. Lydiah works for Uhuru
Child and so she took us to work with her in Jikazi on Monday and Tuesday. The
IDP camp is in the Great Rift Valley, and about a 15 minute drive from the
house. The road that winds down from Limuru to the valley is called the
Escarpment. It’s super narrow and as it is the main highway between pretty much
all the East African countries, it’s overcrowded with huge cargo trucks, which
play the game of who can pass each other before the oncoming car gets there.
Not safe. It’s been raining a lot in that area of Kenya (North of Nairobe), so
the roads are flooded and crumbling. Despite all of this, the view from the car
as we drove down the Escarpment was breathtaking, and the rain has made all the
vegetation so lush and green. Additionally, it was fun to see families of
baboons running alongside our car as it crawled down the edge of the mountain.
In Jikazi, we spent some time with Jessamy’s host family
from last summer, and her namesake, baby Jessamy. Her host mom took us under
her wing for the day and gave us chores to do. We helped her dig and weed in
her Shamba (garden). Then we picked skuma wiki, which is a spinach-like
vegetable, and she helped us cook it and oogali (corn flour added to water and
boiled, same as Ugandan posho) for lunch. Her kids, Joseph, John and Hannah all
came home from school for lunch, so it was fun to see them! Then we got to
clean all the family’s dishes from the past few days. It was a lot of work, but
I didn’t mind since I was spared most house chores all semester from my Kampala
homestay family. It was really amazing to see how hospitable and giving she and
the other residents of the IDP camp were to us, when they have so little. I
could literally feel it in my heart how loving and selfless they were.
On Tuesday, after visiting with the families again, Jessamy
and I decided to explore the valley around the camp. We went for a long walk
across the fields. Just a few days before our arrival, the plates under the GRV
shifted and a huge crack appeared. It’s right near the camp, so we got to go
explore the crack and climb down into it. We walked through herds of goats,
sheep, donkeys and cows, being herded by the nomadic Masai warriors. There are
a few Masai villages in the area, and it was neat to be able to see them
strolling nobly across the open plain. They’re all tall and dress in red cloth
and beaded jewelry and carry big walking sticks. I think they’re the most
beautiful people I have ever seen. After our walk, we helped out with some of
the Uhuru Child staff in the greenhouses by planting iceberg lettuce. I am glad
that my time after my program ended hasn’t been a complete tourist experience.
Afterwards, Jess and I sat in on a meeting with the head of the program and the
community leaders of Jikazi discussing future plans of involvement. It felt
good to be contributing to the settlement as opposed to just observing it and I
really enjoyed learning about the behind-the-scenes work of this NGO. At the
end of the day, Lydiah drove us to where she grew up and where her mom still
lives. Limuru is known for its tea fields, and boy oh boy is there a lot of tea
there! Unilever actually owns a large portion of the tea fields, including the
plantation where Lydiah’s mom lives. We got to take a nice walk through the
fields at sunset, which was absolutely beautiful. Then we went to her mom’s
house and drank the freshest chai I’ve ever had. It was delicious!
Tuesday night, we made a big dinner for Lydiah and Frances
of rice, beef stew and (fresh!) mango salsa. So delicious! Finally, on
Wednesday, Lydiah didn’t have to work at Jikazi, so we made a plan to hike Mt.
Longanot. If you have never heard of this mountain before, stop reading and
google it! It’s a dormant volcano right in the GRV. It’s huge and beautiful! The
four of us left early in the morning and started the hike. The three of them
had done the hike before and knew it would take about an hour to reach the rim,
and then three hours to hike around the rim, and another hour to hike back
down. As we were just beginning out ascent, we saw four zebras run out of the
trees across a field. The view from the rim was unbelievable! You could see so
far, and the inside of the volcano was completely overgrown with vegetation.
Halfway through our rim hike, a thunder and lightning storm rolled in and
engulfed us. However, we were literally halfway, so there was no turning back,
so we finished the hike in the pouring rain. It was a challenging hike, and the
rain only made it harder, but it was still a blast. We also got to see buffalo,
antelope, and a snake. It was cool to see the rocks, we thought we had been
hiking on, turn into volcanic ash MUD. It was nice when the sun came back out on
our descent. After pushing our car out of the mud, we left the park feeling
accomplished, tired, dripping, and muddy.
The next day, we woke up to Lydiah coming in at 6 am to tell
us that the next house over had just been robbed. Apparently three robbers
broke into the house next to Lydiahs in an attempt to steal their cow. The
neighborhood is actually really safe and well guarded though, so the security guard
from across the street heard what was going on and intervened. He ended up
shooting and killing one of the robbers, who was lying in the bushes next to
Lydiah’s house… The other two robbers got away, but Lydiah said it was good
because they’d spread the word that the neighborhood was heavily guarded and
they wouldn’t return. Everything was fine, but the sound of the gun shots
really shook up Lydiah.
After breakfast, we drove 45 minutes to Nairobe to the
Nairobe National Park and went on a safari walk. It was a mix between a safari
and a zoo, which was fine because the animals were actually in their natural
habitat, just with fences. We saw a hippo, lion, cheetah, leopard, baboons,
warthogs, buffalo, antelope and white zebras. Still no giraffe, but “it is
okay”. After the safari walk, we went to see a traditional dance performance
called Bomas of Kenya. It was a series of different tribal dances, songs and
performances by various indigenous groups. My favorite was the Masai warrior
dance. The costumes were so colorful! We ended our long day with a homemade
dinner, made by Lydiah and Frances’ friend Kelvin. He made the most delicious
and colorful fruit salad and a gourmet rice and cabbage dish. Mmmm!
Friday, Jess and I woke up at 6 am and said our goodbyes to
Lydiah and Frances. We had arranged for a taxi ride to Nairobe, where we hopped
on a quick plane flight to Mombasa! We arrived and got to our hotel in Bamburi
before noon and were able to spend the majority of the day by the pool,
overlooking the tropical Indian Ocean. It feels strange being here, in this
muzungu, touristy paradise after having such a worldly experience in Uganda,
Rwanda and Kenya. It feels like I shouldn’t be here. With our half-board hotel
package, we get free breakfast and dinner. That night, when we walked into the
hotel restaurant, we were completely overwhelmed with the massive buffet, and
again, felt like we were doing something wrong. I’m having a hard time even describing it because I can’t
even explain to myself what the past three months have done to me yet. But, for now we’re
trying our best to indulge ourselves in this luxurious treat. We have no
schedule (“program”) for the next three days other than lying on the beach,
drinking pina coladas and trying to mentally prepare ourselves for our return
to AMERICA!!
Between now and the next time I write, I will have been to
Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rome, Washington D.C. and Charlotte, NC (airports :) )
I look forward to seeing you all!
GOBAMA!
