Day 0/1: Travel to Kenya
I left for Kenya on a Friday night, 8 days after I bought a ticket. I was excited for my first trip to Africa, although I had made very few plans. I just assumed that after 18 hours of travel (KLM through Amsterdam), when I arrived in Nairobi that a driver would meet me and taken to my hotel and all would work out well - and it did. I made it safely to Africa by Saturday night.
Day 2: Rest in Nairobi
I was staying at the Methodist Guest House in the Lavington suburb of Nairobi. Sunday was very much a day of rest, spent reading books, sitting by the pool and just adjusting to a new time zone. I have not had a day without worry in a long time, and I think I needed the break and chance to work on relaxing. This was the start of a real holiday.
Day 3: Lulu Works and Value Chain Analysis
Monday morning came and Jimmy picked Adina and I up at the hotel and took us two blocks to the Lulu Works site. I was there to meet up with the Belknap family (brother and sister in law of one of my old IBM co-workers Will) and Adina was there to help the Lulu team do a Value Chain Analysis and Mapping as part of a case study on NGO efforts in conflict areas. It was interesting to learn about the history and economics of working and aid in this region.
Lulu Team
After the day of work, Adina and I walked down the road to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. It was amazing food and a good chance to hang out Nairobi style.
Day 4: Nairobi Exploration
Tuesday was my chance for a grand adventure in Nairobi. I hired a driver for the day and set out to explore in the area. First stop was the Tuesday Maasai Market. I wandered through the market buying gifts for friends and family and just enjoying all of the people and colorful crafts around me.
After grabbing some pineapple from a vendor, we headed out to the Nairobi Game Park and the Animal Orphanage. Here I got to see some rescued animals and even pet a cheetah. I am not sure this is really allowed, but it was cool to do. It turns out their fur is not very soft but more bristly then I expected.
After this we headed out to the Giraffe Center. I loved this place, mostly because it was so cool to feed the giraffes, give them a hug, and have them lick you. They are such gentle creatures.
On the way back to Nairobi, we stopped by the Karen Blixen House (author of Out of Africa), for a look at early 1900's life in Kenya for the whites. Then it was back to Nairobi to meet up with the Lulu team for dinner.
Day 5: Nairobi to Nakuru
I spent the morning at the Lulu Works site, reading The Zanzibar Chest, a good book on the regional conflicts written by a Kenya born Brit. I know there has been conflict in the regional and I knew the colonists had reshaped the area, but being and reading about the region made me realize how unsettled the region is and just the shear amount of British influence - from clothes to schooling - the "West" is not American, but the impact of the British colonial system.
In the afternoon, Kristina and I drove the 100 miles to Nakuru. Now this should have taken 2 hours, but there were a number of diversions onto rutted dirt roads, so it took almost 4 hours. We went up a hill, and then down into the Rift Valley. It is absolutely beautiful. This is the Africa of the Lion Kin. Mountains, lakes, and trees I had never seen before. I loved it.
The sun was setting through the clouds, as it had been raining a lot. This rain was unseasonable and had led to flooding in Uganda. Luckily, Wednesday was the last day of rain during my trip and the country had a chance to dry out.
Around dark we arrived at the JB compound. It was good to arrive and sleep.
Day 6: Rest in Nakuru
It was another day of holiday, sitting outside with the dogs, reading and enjoying peace in Nakuru. The JB compound has 5 families and the JB Drilling group, described by one worker as “a private borehole water drilling company which operates three rigs in Kenya and 10 in Sudan. On site, I learn about drilling techniques and the art of diesel mechanics, and have learned how to drive a variety of trucks.”
During the morning I read A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, by Gil Countemanche. It was an amazing, but depressing look at Rwanda.
Walking around the compound, one of the plants I really liked was the Euphorbia Candelabrum - it looks like a cactus on top of a tree trunk! So cool.
In the evening, Kristina and I went for a walk up to the Rifle Range, just outside of the Nakuru Game Park.
Day 7: Nakuru and Operation Sugar
On Friday, I watched some of the Lulu Works ladies work on a Lulu Life order. They had a formulation area in the compound.
One of the orders was for some Sugar Scrub, and they needed 70kg of Brown Sugar, so Kristina and I headed to town to find some Sugar. We visited several markets, before finding a distributor with course enough sugar for the scrub.
On the way back to the compound we passed by one of the drilling sites. It was great to see the actual drilling site and what it looks like to drill boreholes.
That night, we walked the dogs along the old Delemere land. When we were driving from Nairobi to Nakuru, we stopped at the Delemere dairy farm for Milk and Yogurt. Lord Delemere owns quite a lot of land in Kenya and is slowly selling it off to get cash.
It was nice to see all the trees in the evening light, although a bit sad to think all of this land will probably have home on it by the time I return to Kenya.
Day 8: Nakuru Game Park
Saturday morning we headed out to the Nakuru Game Park, one of the most visited sites in all of Kenya, with arguably the best animal viewing. I certainly thought all the animals were amazing.
There were baboons and many types of gazelles and elk.
This is also the site of a huge number of pink flamingos. There are literally thousands, although the number may be getting smaller, as we saw a hyena eating one.
There were also many buffalo sitting and walking around.
I enjoyed all of the Zebra, they seemed to be everywhere.
This park is know as a Rhino sanctuary, and we were lucky to see several with their young.
We stopped at the Makalia Waterfalls, which were overflowing with water given all the recent rains. Usually during this season, you can walk behind a trickle, but that was just not possible with the roar of water we saw.
After the waterfall, we had to change a tire. I didn't really expect to change my first tire in Africa, but it was a fun addition to the game park for me.
To me the best part of the park was the giraffes. They just wandered across the roads.
After the day in the game park, back on the compound there was a party for Jojo and George's birthday. There was endless grilled meat, drinks and dancing.
I hung out with two of the wives from the compound, along with a number of the younger crowd.
It was good for me to stay up late, and party local style. That night, once the moon set, there were also amazing equatorial stars. Given the elevation (around 6000 feet), it was cool in the evenings and hot during the day, reminding me of the bay area more then the tropics. But the stars were definitely tropical.
Day 8: Lulu at the Fair
Sunday morning we headed up to Greensteds School for the annual fair. Here we set up a booth to sell Lulu. From the South Sudanese Lulu Formulation workers, Gisma joined us to work on her English and sales skills.
I had a wonderful time exploring the fair and buying this amazing wooden stool for my house. At about 40 pounds, it was an interesting addition to my checked luggage.
That evening, Juma cooked up 40 hamburgers and we had a quite evening getting ready for the work week.
Day 9: Crafts then Return to Nairobi
In the morning, after packing, I wandered over to the crafts workshop to check out all the wood and leather work. I ended up spending the rest of my money on some just amazing crafts from the JB Art & Crafts shop.
I wandered through the compound one last time to enjoy the trees and plants.
My hosts in Kenya, Tom and Kristina Belknap were wonderful. I think staying with them gave me a feel for everyday life in Kenya, which was a great experience to have.
I took a cab to the airport and then boarded a flight to Amsterdam. My time in Africa was over.
Day 10: Home
I had a few hours in Amsterdam, before boarding the flight back to Boston. The trip was finally over.
Many more pictures of my time in Kenya can be found here: Kenya Adventure Pictures
