A Bit of Background

I have mentioned that I am actually in Kenya for work (even though it may not seem like it, even to myself). However, I am here as a representative from my organization at a conference on institutions in natural resource management in Africa. This subject area is completely new to me, but is becoming more and more interesting. I was asked to give a presentation first thing Monday morning, which makes me a bit nervous but excited at the same time. This conference is jointly organized by my program (CAPRi) and by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), which is located here in Nairobi. It will be a 3-day conference with participants from several of our partner organizations here in Africa. Some of them I met in Colombia, and some of them I know “by email.” After the conference, I will stay in Nairobi for 2 more days to process the findings from the conference and discuss the publication of proceedings. So starting tomorrow, it is going to be mostly work!

Safari, Day 2 (Saturday, Nov 23)

Happy 5th Birthday, Kandula! (little elephant from the DC Zoo)

I woke up this morning at 5:50am with the following in my head: “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.” While trying to intake the marvels of the bush morning (fresh air, sounds of birds, light refreshing breeze), I realized that the noise that I heard right before going to sleep was of zebras grazing right by my tent (later confirmed by others). Not too bad for the lullaby in the wild.

Together with the other guests at the camp we set out for an early morning game drive. Since most of the animals graze at early morning, we were hopeful to see many of them out. Almost right out of the camp, we saw several elephants (the driver told us they were an older male and 2 younger ones). We managed to get to a pretty close distance to them and take great pictures. Even though I really enjoy elephants, I did get some chills when the older male elephant turned to face us---all I could see were his huge tusks.

We then proceeded to see herds of zebras, impalas, antelopes, giraffes, and buffalos all grazing together, often intermingling. Once we entered the park, we saw some jackals, which turned out to be medium-sized smallish and skittish dogs and then some vultures (even though I really don’t enjoy looking at flesh-eating birds). One of the highlights of the drive came next when we saw a beautiful silver cat (a small predator slightly larger than a regular cat). It was hiding in the grass and didn’t pay any attention to all our camera clicking. We then ran into my friends from the day before, the mama and baby black rhino. This time, the driver got us really close to them, at which point I nervously suggested that perhaps we were too close. The reason for my brief anguish was that when the mama rhino looked straight at our car, I realized that in a confrontation between our 4X4 8-passenger Land Cruiser and the rhino, the rhino always wins! However, the mama rhino calmly led her baby into the bush, walking within 5 meters from us.

To give the visitors maximum exposure to the animals, the drivers from different safari operators communicate by radio and let each other know if they have spotted a rarer animal or something unusual. So, when our driver got a radio signal, we rushed off to where other cars were going and saw a herd of giraffes that we could get very close to. There were big Gs and little baby Gs, and there was one very tall G eating leaves off a tree. We passed within 7 meters away from him…He looked at us briefly and then continued eating his breakfast.

The next radio signal brought us to a swampy area where we saw a mother spotted hyena and her 2 cubs. The mom looked very full so she was just lying on the ground watching her silly cubs play with each other. The whole gang looked so cute and peaceful that it was hard to remind myself that these are actually predators.

While driving around, we saw many new carcasses indicating that the king of the jungle and his gang had a good feast the night before. And, in the spirit of my wake-up song, we were rewarded with seeing the king resting after a busy night amidst the grassland with his harem stretching out at a short distance away. I think that seeing this incredibly gorgeous and priestly-looking animal glancing at you in a royal-like manner is a sight that I will carry in my mind for a long time.

After rushing off back to the camp for breakfast, I had to pack and say good-bye to the camp staff in order to catch my flight back to Nairobi. Driving to the airstrip, I asked the driver to stop to take some more pictures of my night visitors, i.e. the zebras, whom I had neglected a bit the day before. At the airstrip, as I was gazing over the Mara, I saw zebras, giraffes, and buffalos coming out of the bush, as if saying “good-bye” to me. At that moment it dawned on me that human beings (or at least me) long to be around something wild, mysterious, and untainted. I cannot wait till I return to the Mara one day!

At the airport in Nairobi, I was picked up by a driver and taken to a place called Limuru 20 km outside of Nairobi to a very quaint country club/hotel where the conference will take place. It seems to be a perfect place to be away from the busy streets of Nairobi in order to relax, have a conference, and digest my experiences of the last days. The rooms all look like separate cottages and have a fire place and a veranda facing a lush green garden. I have been told that the hotel is surrounded by tea plantations, which I will explore in the near future. For now, I took a long nap, had a delicious 3-course meal, and prepared my presentation for Monday morning. Yay, I have internet in the room (though the slowest dial-up ever imagined). FYI: I have not seen any TV for the past 3.5 days…wow!

Safari, Day 1 (Friday, November 24)

Wow, this is definitely the part of the trip that I had been waiting for the most…going on a mini-safari to Maasai Mara, the most famous Kenyan National Park and home to the Maasai people, a tribe spanning southern Kenya and northern Tanzania and famous for its proud and somewhat secluded people. However, before meeting the Maasai and hanging out with all the animals, I had to board yet another puddle jumper (I thought I had already fulfilled my quota of tiny airplanes for the year---see www.heleninmexico.blogspot.com). Despite the fact that this one only had 1 pilot (btw, what happens if he suddenly has a heart attack?) and that we stopped several times to drop off/pick up more passengers at various dirt-road airstrips in the actual Mara, I managed to survive the flight and even have fun when I got to sit right next to the pilot after we picked up some more people at one of the airstrips. The coolest thing was that since the plain was flying low, you could see animals on the ground: herds of wildebeests and antelopes, groups of lions and zebras, and even crowds of hippos sunbathing on the banks of the Mara River.

Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get off the plane and see the creatures at shorter distances. Before even entering the park, I was able to hang out with some zebras (from the vehicle, of course), take pictures of buffalos and antelopes, and even see an elephant at a distance hanging out by a ballantyne tree. Maasai Mara is famous for the big 5: elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and buffaloes. Well, God is good; I managed to see all 5 in the duration of 1 day, which is basically unheard of. I had 2 game drives: one before lunch and one in the afternoon.

During the fist one, in addition to the regulars (zebras, giraffes, and the animals I put into the “deer” class, i.e. antelopes, waterbucks, wildebeests, impalas, and some other kind of “beest”), I saw a mama elephant with a baby elephant, a group of female lions chilling in the shade, a husband and wife lion chilling separately from the big group, and, to the absolute astonishment of my guide and everyone I talked to, a leopard. Oh my, that gorgeous creature was chilling on top of a tree…Im absolutely amazed at the agility of that animal since the tree had no branches it could use to climb up. My guide mentioned that leopards can even drag an antelope they kill up there so that the lions, who are their competitors and enemies, wouldn’t get a hold of it. I was also very happy to see many baboons (both adults and babies) running around (An animal watching excursion for me wouldn’t be quite complete without seeing some kind of a monkey).

During the second game drive, in addition to getting close to a group of giraffes, I managed to see a mama and a baby black rhino (!!!). Considering the fact that there are only 3 rhinos in the whole park and I saw 2 of them, I have to say that it was definitely a gift from above. Almost at dusk, we found a hippo pool and saw about 20 hippos just hanging out in the water. The sound they make startled me…I just wasn’t sure if they were not telling each other to get out of the water and run for the people standing on the bank! (apparently, the big fatsoes are quite fast runners). Anyway, that was definitely an amazing sight and made me think of the poor lonely hippo at the DC Zoo that swims in a tiny indoor pool all by his lonesome self. I also saw a decent size crocodile and a ton of cool-looking birds along the way.

For those of you who know me well and know how crazy I go over wild animals will understand the general elevated emotional state that I was in all day. The poor driver had to bear all my “wows” and “oh my goshes” all day long. He also had to remind me several times to stay in the vehicle as I was about to jump out of the car every time we stopped to take pictures. It seems like the whole experience was somewhat surreal…I could really tell a story about my impressions of “meeting” each type of animals, but it will take too long. I will try to say a few things when I post pictures. One thing before I quit rambling about the animals…you definitely get the chills driving around the park at dusk and seeing all the carcasses laying around the grassland. It makes you realize: 1) you are in the wild, not at the Zoo anymore; 2) those cats (lions, leopards) are not that cute and purry after all, but ruthless predators that hunt the cute zebras and antelopes.

About the camp: even though Mara Siria, the bush camp where Im staying, is not mentioned in any of the travel books, it is undoubtedly one of the best places I have ever stayed in (www.mara-siria-camp.com). It has a very unique character which offers you a safari experience (i.e. you sleep in a tent), but with all the comforts (beds, showers, flushing toilets). In addition, everything is decorated in a cozy rustic-looking style, with every detail carefully considered. The camp is also eco-friendly, operating on solar-power, and community friendly, employing the local Maasai people.

One of the Maasai workers gave me a brief tour around the camp, pointing out different aspects of the Maasai culture. I found out that these people still live in small polygamous villages, don’t interact much with the outside world (except for the Indian traders), and have a diet that consists of only milk, cow blood, and meat (no rice or greens) that come from the animals that they herd. The Kenyan government is now making all Maasai boys go to school for free, so the village chiefs go around encouraging parents to send their children to school. My Maasai guide, Lishao, went to a boarding school in Nairobi; he was next in line to become the village chief after his father, the current chief, would retire. The reason that he would “inherit” the title, and not his three brothers, is because he was “learned.” Even in this traditional culture, the importance of education is highly valued and recognized. By the way, Maasai also have arranged marriages based on the size of the groom’s herd.

At night, I actually had a hot shower and a delicious 3-course dinner at a lovely candle-lit tent dining hall with…the actual owners of both the safari tour company (www.phoenix-safaris.com) and the owners of the camp (same people). They are German, which explains the immaculate order and style of the lodgings, and very friendly. I, of course, asked them a hundred questions, which helped me to better understand how safaris operate in general. Now Im off to sleep in my cozy tent and a king-size bed, resting before an early morning game drive. My goal for tomorrow: see a cheetah!

P.S. New favorite phrase: When we were at a hippo pool, we saw some crocodiles lying on the banks of the river. In response to my question about who would win in a fight between the croc and the hippo, my driver said in a sort of a matter-of-fact way: “Hippo always wins.” So, there you go: “Hippo always wins.”

Thanksgiving in Nairobi (Thursday, Nov 23)

So instead of the hillsides of New England and delicious turkey and football ice-cream cake (a special shout-out to the Staley family), this Thanksgiving I spent wandering (or better put, being driven around) the busy streets of Nairobi. If I had thought that DC traffic was pretty bad, it definitely took traffic in Nairobi to realize that we are actually doing okay in DC. Despite the constant traffic jams, I managed to make it to the office of our collaborators for a bit of work and lunch, pick up my safari tickets, do some souvenir shopping (of course), and visit 2 places I have wanted to see since I have found out about the trip, i.e. the Langata Giraffe Center and the Karen Blixen Museum.

The giraffe center was an answer to the constant strife I experience when visiting the DC National Zoo and seeing Oliver (our local giraffe): I finally got to pet, feed, and even kiss a real giraffe!!! They were very gentle, sweet, a bit shy, and soooo cool! I even got to see a week-old giraffe with his Mom grazing at a distance.

The Karen Blixen museum was a neat intro into her book, which I started reading right away the very same night. Karen Blixen was a Danish woman who married her Swedish cousin, a hunter in Kenya, had a coffee plantation at the foothill of the Ngong Hills, divorced the husband some years later due to lack of love between them, and had an affair with an English pilot. All of this and more is captured in some of her books (the most famous is “Out of Africa”) and immortalized in a Meryl Streep/Robert Redford movie under the same name.

That night at the hotel I had to “process” my thoughts and emotions from my first day in Africa, which led me to realize that I was experiencing a bit of a culture shock. The poverty around me was overwhelming, even though I was in the capital city. There are some nice parts populated by mostly ex-pats and wealthy locals, but the rest of the city is just plain poor and underdeveloped (even though I did find an awesome supermarket/grocery store where I had to physically pull myself away from the tea aisle). I also got a brief look at Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa, and the size of it was overwhelming. So, in short, Kenya is poor, but has an indescribable charm to it that makes you want to explore it more and learn more about its people.

Flight and Arrival (Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov 21-22)

What can I say…I have been awake for going on 30 hours and feeling on the very edge of being delirious. This is the first time that I have traveled 2 legs of 6-8 hours, and Im beyond exhaustion. Besides, the flight from DC to Amsterdam was in an old crummy 767 with no leg room and tiny seats. Needless to say that despite my double sleeping aid strategy (herbal pills and Airborne night time), I barely slept half an hour. The Amsterdam airport did not impress me at all, despite everyone’s praises. It was smoky, somewhat Ikea-looking (but not in a cozy way), and everything was in euros (i.e. very expensive). However, I befriended a very nice lady on the flight to Amsterdam, who was also continuing on to Nairobi to see her husband who is in the navy and stationed in East Africa. While still taxing to our gate in Amsterdam, from our plane windows we saw an area at the airport that had lounge chairs where you could spread out. Henceforth, since we had about 3 hours to waste before the flight, all our energy was put into finding that particular section of the airport. Upon successfully locating it, we were rewarded by about 1.5 hours sitting in the awesome lounge chairs.

The flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was a marvel…nice, large plane, with plenty of leg room, personal TVs in front of every seat with a choice of movies and programs (!!!). Besides, it was only half-full, so I had 3 (!!!) seats all to myself, where I was able to stretch out and sleep for a bit.

Upon arriving to Nairobi I couldn’t stop saying, “Oh my gosh, Im in Africa!” However, I realized how much I have to cast myself on God’s mercy when I travel (e.g. taking taxis to hotels). The Lord kept me safe, and Im preparing to finally sleep for real and actively attack jetlag by taking a triple-edged approach: melatonin, airborne nighttime, and some herbal pills.

Brief Disclaimer

Most of the entries were typed on the actual day of the events, but since Kenya seems to be lacking coherent and fast internet access, the entries are being published after the actual occurrence. The emotions and impressions of the author described in the entries are genuine (i.e. as they were at the end of the day described in the posting). Pictures will be posted later (most likely when I get back to the land of fast-speed internet).

Hakuna Matata

I can't believe it, but in a few days I will set my feet on the African continent. I'm so excited, I can barely wait. I have started packing earlier, so that, in addition to my new medium-sized suitcase to avoid overweighing, I will be ready and not stay up all night packing the night before.It is all the more wonderful since I will be going to Kenya. Out of all African countries, this is the one I want to go to the most. The pictures of all the animals are getting me superexcited. I'm actually going for a work conference, but taking a few days to travel to a National Park and bond with some elephants and lions. I will also hang out in Nairobi trying to get a feel for the country. More posts to come!