We left hot and humid Togo for a
totally different climate! Who was expecting this?? We needed
hoodies and pants in Kenya. With hot, sunny days interrupted by
afternoon rains and quite cool evenings and nights, it was a far cry
from the hot and humid 'round the clock that we experienced in
southern Togo.
After arriving in Nairobi, we checked
into Hampton House, a small Christian guest house that has a nice
little setting a couple of blocks off one of the main roads in the
city. Once inside the gate, it was quiet and tranquil. We spent a
couple of days in the city, being tourists. We visited the Nairobi
Museum, the Snake Park, the Elephant Orphanage, a giraffe sanctuary
and a really neat bead-making company, called Kazuri.
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I was invited into the python cage by the museum director
so I could 'get better pictures' at the Snake Park. Crazy... but I went in!
Only in Africa. |
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| The gorgeous-but-deadly green mamba |
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| Fair warning has been given. |
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| The boomslang |
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Here a boomslang just struck a chameleon and is pumping in
the venom |
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| Grasping the chameleon to get ready to eat it. |
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| and this is the last expression on the poor chameleon's face. |
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| Baby elephants at the orphange |
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| This one can serve its own breakfast |
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| His first kiss!!! |
Kazuri started
years ago as a micro-company to employ a couple of single mothers who
were having a hard time making ends meet caring for their kids and
maintaining a home. They now employ a couple of hundred women and
ship their colourful bead necklaces and bracelets all around the
world.
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| Hand-making each bead. |
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| Looking at the finished products. |
Somehow, inexplicably, Christine ended up bringing a couple
of their offerings home with her! At least she was supporting a good
cause...
We shopped for some groceries and
supplies to take to our final destination – Tenwek Hospital guest
house - just outside the town of Bomet.
On Safari
On the way out to Bomet, after
descending into the great Rift Valley, we stopped for a couple of
days for a safari experience on the Mara. Since we were driving
right past the Masai Mara Conservancy, and since we may never get
here again, it just made sense to see this amazing wildlife area of
the world. We were fortunate to see so many animals, in such great
numbers!
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| Heading out on safari early in the morning |
Photos justice don't do it justice, as we could drive and drive and
just keep seeing more animals.
Here's a quick list of most of the
animals (and a few of the birds) we were able to see:
Topi antelope Eland
Thompson's Gazelles Impala
Wildebeest Zebra
Giraffes Lions
Cheetahs Warthogs
Maribou Stork more Wildebeest
Secretary Birds Fish Eagles
Ostrich Cape Buffalo (and
Oxpeckers)
Rhinoceros Hippopotamus
Hyenas various vultures
many small birds like the acrobatic bee-eaters, crafty constructors like the weavers and brilliant rollers... and probably a bunch more that I have
overlooked.
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The very tall Maribou Stork, some vultures and the pied crows
finish of what's left of a wildebeest. |
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| A long line of wildebeest |
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| Rin blowing across the Mara |
Our driver / guide named Joseph was the
best. He had retired from guiding a couple of years earlier but had
been called out of retirement to help during the busy time. He could
read the posture and actions of the animals and lead us to some
really neat sights.
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| Posing for a picture on a cool and windy morning |
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| Rhino hike! |
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| Just a cute, docile two tonnes of rhino! |
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| Sun setting over the Mara |
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| Look up, look way up. |
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Whether facing the sun or looking away from it, like the picture below
this one, the views are dramatic. |
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All I did was turn around right where I was standing after taking the
picture above. God painted the picture. |
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| The kids at play. |
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| Topi antelope |
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| Buffalo |
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| Many buffalo |
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| Hyena tearing up a wildebeest |
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| A huge fish eagle |
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| Vultures waiting for the alpha predators to finish eating... |
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| Little oxpeckers, well... ox-pecking, I guess. |
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| The elegant Secretary bird |
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| A Ruby-Breasted Roller hitching a ride on the centre wildebeest |
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| And then taking flight . |
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| Some male impalas hanging out together |
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| Green birds??? No, White-Fronted Bee Eaters |
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| Breakfast on the open grasslands |
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| Elephant on the horizon |
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| Another bee eater |
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This little guy snagged a dragonfly out of mid-air, then came to
perch in front of me to gobble it down. |
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| A mother cheetah and her two cubs |
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| Another Ruby-Breasted Roller |
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| A Velvet Monkey. Okay, it's actually the eyes of a male velvet monkey. |
We also stopped at a small Masai
village (population 80) for about an hour. The Masai are somewhat nomadic, living
out on the grasslands. They are famous for their bright red dress
and living in the savanna.
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| Singing and dancing at the welcoming ceremony |
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| Logan showing his manliness by jumping into the air |
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| Hudson, in full Masai dress, doing the same |
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| Showing how they make their fires |
They are mostly shepherds and cattlemen,
but have the reputation of being fierce warriors when called upon.
We were welcomed in to participate in some traditional (and rather
bizarre) songs and dance (the men compete by leaping up in the air)
and to view their huts and see their bushcraft skills. They also
make handcrafts and which we were offered for purchase, of course. I
like the bright red fabric used as a robe, a blanket, a shawl –
very similar to the pagne used
in Togo.
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| An elderly Masai woman |
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| Some of the bead crafts they were selling |
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Hudson - or 'Maasai' - getting a hug goodbye
from one of the warriors |
Hudson was warmly accepted into the
tribe, and was given the name 'Maasai'. By the time we were ready to
leave, Hudson was decked out in a nice red blanket/robe, a small
ceremonial staff and a couple of the decorative necklaces the warrior
men wear! We discussed leaving him there with the Masai people, but
brought him home with us after all.
To Tenwek
After the safari was over we were
picked up by a hospital driver and taken a couple of hours further
from Nairobi to Tenwek. We were put up in a nicely sized apartment
in the guest house. Christine's friend Annette, a Respiratory
Therapist at the hospital, showed us around and got us settled in.
Tenwek has been around for decades, and is well respected in Kenya as
a top level hospital to receive care. The hospital has a waterfall
power generation system and a waste water treatment system. It covers
most of a hillside with hospital care, community health, a nursing
school, a chaplain school, an orphanage, a church, residences and
staff quarters. There are many differences between Tenwek and HBB in
Togo. Nothing bad, just different.
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| The sign says it all. |
Christine was busy
helping Annette with some of the work around the hospital, testing
equipment and assisting with some training lectures and hands-on
teaching. The boys were chasing chameleons and playing with a
whole pack of missionary kids here.
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Heading off to the hospital. Hudson is jealous of the fancy
lab coats all the staff wear. |
Logan and I were able to join a bunch
of others from the hospital for a trip to Mount Longonot. It is an
extinct – for 100 years or so – volcano that formed a large
mountain with a large bowl, the caldera, in the centre.
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| Beautiful daybreak on the way to the volcano. |
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| Mount Longonot in the distance. |
There is a
hiking trail up the side of the mountain and around the entire rim of
the caldera. In typical Kenyan fashion, it's a direct trail up to the
rim, no switchbacks. Making switchbacks in the trail would be too easy! The entire trail covers
about 9 miles. We made it the whole way up and around the rim –
almost 3000 feet of elevation gained – in 5 hours, but we suffered!
After living in Tsiko for five months at an elevation of maybe 900' of
elevation and then trying a strenuous hike beginning at 6500' of
elevation... we felt the difference. At the top we were at 9000'
feet. Logan wondered what happened to him! “Dad, why can't I
climb up this trail without huffing and puffing?” A few more days
to acclimate to the altitude would have been nice. (A big reason why
Kenyans are such great Olympic level distance runner, for sure!)
It was hot, sunny and dusty. The worst
part of it was the fine dust, the texture of baby powder, that puffed
out from underfoot. It covered everything that was exposed, filled
your nostrils and went in your mouth when you took a deep breath or
talked. However, the views into the caldera and out to the
surrounding countryside made the strain and pain worth it! It was
amazing. Steep drops on both sides of the trail, lush vegetation on
the slopes and caldera floor below, and views for miles were the
reward. I met Alan on the trail. He's the Longonot record holder
for making 233 ascents up the trail to the rim of the volcano. He
was aiming for 100 ascents up the mountain initially, but he forgot to stop!
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Alan, who has probably now surpassed
ascents numbers 234 and 235, loving the view
up here. |
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Logan, also enjoying the awesome view into the caldera of the
old volcano. |
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| At the summit we found the sign in a bit of disrepair. |
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| Fixed it! |
Homeward Bound!!
There were a few opportunities to help at the hospital, see
the countryside and rest up before a long trip back home. We did go
to the Tenwek-supported orphanage. We took some big bags of rice and
oranges to them, played with the kids for a bit, and looked around
the site.
The boys and I also were able to help
unload a truck for one of the missionary ladies. She had a bunch of
furniture, appliances and boxes delivered and needed some help with
getting them off the truck. We sorted a bunch of
donated clothing into gender and size categories to be distributed to
the kids at the orphanage, too.
Goodbye, Africa
Leaving African will be bittersweet. We're looking forward to being home.
The flight – layover – flight – drive to London will not be a
highlight. Seeing some familiar faces will be! Our first Sunday in
London will be October 18th. We're anticipating rejoining
our church family after being away for so long.
From The Cutting Room Floor
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Our safari truck. A canvas topped and sided Toyota Land Crusier.
It had raised rear seating, like a theatre, for good views all around. |
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Masai women building while the men are tending to the large
herds of cattle and flocks of goats and sheep. |
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| Traffic jam on the road to Bomet. |
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| A very young chameleon |
