Monday, June 24, 2013

Ups and Downs at Aberdares


Africa is much like college in that the good days are great and the bad ones are much worse (or in this case, parts of days). This past weekend decided to stick to me in both ways. The Nairobi Expat Social Facebook group organized a trip to the Aberdares and wanting dearly to depart (temporarily) from Nairobbery, I leapt at the chance. About three hours north of Nairobi, Aberdares National Park is a forest reserve nestled in the mountains and across the valley from Mount Kenya, the highest peak in the country. Staying at the Rhino Watch Lodge, it was my first time sleeping in a tent in Africa, complete with a full bathroom and electricity and views of Mount Kenya.
View from the hotel

While the group left early in the morning to avoid traffic, we did not arrive at the park until 2:30p after a late lunch, thanks to slow hotel staff. Our first stop was actually the Solio Game Reserve which was a disappointment because I wanted to visit an actual national park. Unfortunately, their rules did not allow multiple visits within 24 hours, what our group planned to do, and instead, we drove to the Aberdares headquarters to do just that. Unfortunately, each national park can set its own rules and Aberdares changed its rules to allow for single entry, full day visits and not 24 hours, and failed to make this clear anywhere. We had hoped to visit that afternoon and return the next morning.

In almost any other country in the world, visiting a national park is a simple process of paying a small fee and entering. The Kenya Wildlife Service created a different system of milking the tourists like underweight cows and for a non-resident (white Westerner), it is $50 to enter Aberdares. I thought I would pay student rate ($25) but because I did not arrange it two weeks beforehand, I could not take advantage of that. I understand Kenya is a developing country and requires its parks to fund themselves for the most part while coping with challenges such as poaching, drunk Western tourists and animals that can kill them. But at the same time, western companies and donors such as the EU and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service gave more than 1m killings to Aberdares alone. I get that they want to milk the people who are spending thousands of dollars on a Kenyan vacation but I am a student, $50 is a lot for two hours, single entry and roads that are too muddy for the van.

The fees themselves are not even the worst part. They can only be paid on a smartchip enabled Safaricard. It uses the same technology as Washington Metro’s Smartrip card without providing any training to its employees to handle the occasions (many) when it does not work. First, we had to sort out the fees yesterday at the headquarters which was confusing and took two hours in order to return early the next morning to try to see some animals. Gone went my $50, thanks to rules which made no sense, and the fact that they took Visa. Anyhow, we back to the hotel, relaxed some more in the chilly evening and went to bed early because breakfast was at 6:30a (which was 7a Kenya time).

By 8a Sunday, we hit the road for Aberdares, not unreasonably expecting to breeze through the gate and see some animals going about their morning. Unfortunately, the Kenya Wildlife Service’s gate woman was not fully awake (or maybe hung-over or high?) and could not let us proceed because the money on the Safaricards did not add up. It took 45 minutes to determine that we had actually overpaid, someone who qualified for a resident rate paid the non-resident $50. We saw a couple of buffalo in the distance but it was tremendously frustrating to spend three hours trying to enter a national park.

Once we were finally on our way, the scenery was a dramatic change from anywhere I have been. There was lush, thick forest but not tropical, with only red dirt roads and the occasional clearing or meadow area to break it up. How could we possibly see any animals here? Quiet, concentrated scanning was the only way and fortunately, 16 eye balls did the job. The van had a neat popup top and we all stood vigilant for the slightest movement. More buffalo appeared right next to the road, complete with full, curved horns. While rounding a corner, another animal was spotted in the distance, something deer like with horns.  I saw my first troop of baboons and then little else other the gorgeous scenery and more trees. The road we were one was fairly busy and most animals learned to avoid it. After two hours, one van was ready for lunch (at 11a!) and my van wanted to see animals.

We split up and my van went back to Solio Game Reserve. Shortly after entering the park, my camera’s auto-focus stopped working and many of my pictures are quite blurry. Such is Africa but fortunately Mica took some gorgeous shots! I was a little worried when I just saw miles of fence but we quickly passed through and drove along a creek. Within minutes, we began to see gazelles and more buffaloes, and then zebras! My photos came out okay but I mostly have video.

On a ridge, we saw three humps on another ridge in the distance and with binoculars, we could barely make out some horns. But on the drive towards that general direction and a amid some zebras and gazelles, we saw a rhino and her baby! It was a cute little guy but the van made her nervous and we did not see the pair very long. We then saw a black rhino walking across a dry creek, only 150’ away! Not too much further up the creek bed, we saw a nervous, lone gazelle and immediately drove towards tall grass in search of lions. That was a bust but just as we reentered the creek bed, Mica saw a lion and lioness less than 100’ away! We immediately drove right up to them because it was the daytime when they sleep and are not generally aggressive. We came with 10’ of the pair, close enough for Mica to identify the female as blind in one eye, which was possibly why she moved away as we drove close. Then as we turned around, we saw another pair of lions, a little younger than the first couple, and lying in the grass just like Ginny. It was incredible to get so close to the king of Africa and not fear for my life!

Eventually, we moved on towards another ridge. In the distance, we saw five rhinos, white rhinos in a herd, two off to one side and three in a defense formation. Behind them, Mount Kenya obscured by clouds. It was a perfect end to the safari but luckily, safaris end at the gate! We saw giraffes up close and more buffaloes on our way out. It was an awesome first safari and I cannot wait to go on another.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Nairobi National Museum


It has been said that you can judge a country based on its museums. If its history is openly and proudly displayed, even the darkest days, then the museum (and country) is of high quality. Upon discovery that my apartment is located a mere block away, visiting was inevitable. There is a great exhibit on early history of man, much of the collection made up of items from Louis and Mary Leakey’s expeditions as well as their son Richard. Natural history of Kenya’s wildlife loomed large in the main hall. Kenyan history was also on display including homemade guns from the Mau-Mau rebellions and numerous artifacts from local culture. Art from school children to professional pieces complete with asking prices was also on display. Just down the hill, there was a tiny snake and reptile zoo with complete with Africa’s most dangerous snakes, crocodiles and an American alligator. Large and slightly overwhelming? Indeed but that is exactly why it ranks high on the quality list.

Natural history has always been a fascinating topic and I have been to two of the world’s best natural history museums, the American Museum of Natural History in New York and National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Last week, I was disappointed that Karen Blixon’s house lacked artifacts because either it could not afford to buy them new or existing ones disappeared. But this museum made up for it in every way. The great hall contained numerous artifacts with various meanings such a large exhibit of pots representing every part of Kenya united together, complete with pots made of camel stomachs.

All animals which have ever set foot in Kenya were on display. Looming large was Ahmed with his enormous tusks. While a favorite of Jomo Kenyatta, it did not save him from dying of starvation because he outlasted his teeth. There was also the usual crowd of lions, cheetahs, giraffes and zebras along with about 50 of their closest friends.

The early human exhibit did its best to sell Kenya as the cradle of civilization, the origin of mankind and the beginning of homo sapiens. Early man is a topic which has always fascinated me and there was a whole room dedicated to early humanoid skulls! Louis and Mary Leakey as well as their son Richard spent much of their time in Nairobi at this museum and thankfully, many of their finds remain on display, having been saved from better financed Western museums gobbling them up. There were all kinds of artifacts such as early tools beginning with mere rocks used to crack nuts to crude arrows to slightly less crude arrows with barbs.

The Kenya history section was all too brief but more thorough than I expected. The role of the railroad in developing British colonial interests, creating an Indian diaspora and suppressing the Mau-Mau rebellion was systematically spelled out, complete with a set of railroad tracks in the floor. Unfortunately, it was light on the post-colonial history. Things seemed to stop at 1963 but I suppose an exhibit on election violence might just prompt more violence.

Outside, there was a small café with decently priced food including black forest cake (not bad for Kenya), all overlooking a small botanic garden and a snake zoo. Yes, I bought the combined ticket package to gain access to a tiny zoo dedicated to snakes. I wanted to make sure that whatever snake bites me, I will know if I will survive or not. Should I survive snakes, they had two Nile crocodiles on display as well as an American alligator.

Overall, I was impressed with how well Kenya has maintained its museum, well at least until I read that the European Union had funded a complete restoration in 2006!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Karen Blixon and a couple of giraffes

Travel is about the journey and the destination and nowhere is this more true than in Africa, especially Kenya. Not only are there matatu’s (minibuses) commuter and intercity buses, boda-boda’s (motorcycle taxis), auto-rickshaws from India and Pakistan, actual taxis (complete with company logos or a rooftop sign) and informal taxis ply the roads for carless travelers. There are even a significant number of bicycles despite Nairobi’s slightly deranged drivers. A recently opened commuter train connects central Nairobi to the suburbs and there is even an overnight train to Mombasa on the coast and more rarely, a train to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. Even without schedules, getting to Karen, a popular Nairobi suburb should not be difficult, even on a quiet Sunday morning.

I rode a matatu from my front door into downtown Nairobi but had to cross the entire downtown area to find a matatu to Karen. I did walk by the Kenya parliament building (which is tiny) and saw the city hall, two sources of recent government strife and action (see MP salary issue and the new Nairobi local government). Once I was dropped off at Karen Road, I figured a short walk and I would be at the Karen Blixon farm, a relic from the colonial era. What a joke, it was closer to two and a half miles in, such a short distance on my map but a long walk. Only once I arrived did I realize why the boda-boda’s kept honking at me, asking the crazy mizungo if he wanted a ride.

British colonial influenced reached the region in 1899 when the Uganda railway built a supply depot in a flat, swampy area which later became Nairobi. Karen Blixon arrived in Kenya in 1914 from Denmark with a baron husband and began a coffee farm at the foot of the Ngong (means knuckle) Hills. Unfortunately, the farm failed in 1931 and Karen moved back to Denmark. She continued to write books including Out of Africa, which was made in an award-winning film in 1985.

At the museum
It is amazing to think what she must have thought of this place, literally 100 years ago, compared to middle class Denmark. Culture shock on perhaps the most epic scale? She must have thought she was headed back into history. While I know she had the same view of the Ngong Hills, I wonder if she heard the same bird sounds I hear, which were deafening. Or felt the same soft breeze. Even the occasional plane flies overhead, just as her boyfriend Denis once did. What a beautiful place but nowadays, cars rumble by on a paved road at nominal frequency and I can hear singing from where the medical school is, perhaps a distant hymn from a church (Kenyans do love church). Every now and then, I heard the honk of a matatu, calling out for riders. In Karen’s time, the birds, animals, Maasai squatters and infrequent visitors were her only sounds.

The house itself is modest, only a single story, with a small detached kitchen and a handful of rooms. The interior has dark, Mahogany paneling which covers the grey brick exterior, themselves large, handmade cinder blocks. Karen’s bedroom is twice the size of her husband’s (and later boyfriend’s). Unfortunately and similar to most African museums, artifacts and antiques are hard to keep around or too expensive to purchase on the open market, and there were only handful in the house. Two lanterns, one red and one green, were used by Karen to signal whether her boyfriend Denis should land, depending on her mood. It is even fascinating to think that in this house, Prince Edward and other dignitaries dined and even lounged on the same lawn. It turned out that the soil was too acidic to grow coffee and the Blixen’s would have been successful had they stuck to their original plan, to begin a dairy farm instead of a coffee plantation.

After a leisurely lunch, I moved to another matatu (saving at least 45 minutes of walking) which took me to the Giraffe Center. Funded by a wildlife organization, this center had a small, elevated platform to feed giraffes at their height and a lower area in which they could bend down to eat out of your hand. Why the constant eating? If you do not feed certain giraffes, they may head butt you.

The three giraffes I met were of the endangered Rothschild’s variety. Daisy, a six year old female, was a notorious head butter and frequent fighter. She was found wandering alone either because she was lost or her herd had kicked her out, likely for fighting. The few Rothschild’s giraffe’s left justified her capture. Female giraffes rarely fight and one of the guides told me that she was the most difficult to handle. Abraham was only about three months but already twice my height. Ed appeared to be slightly older. The same guide also showed me how to kiss a giraffe. By placing a small piece of food between my lips, the younger giraffes’ tongues reach way out and grab it, slobbering my lips at the same time. I was assured that because giraffes are vegetarians, their mouths were clean. With any luck, some of the giraffes would be released into the wild once the herd at the center grew large enough. It was a neat little sanctuary, a bit small but a great example of how local Kenyans care deeply about their wildlife.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Wandering Nairobi

Exploring one’s surroundings is the only way to truly learn a place. Thus, I got up and ran around downtown Nairobi. Unlike most African cities, Nairobi has large high rises of office space and wide, grid streets. Businesses are numerous and shops are full of vast inventories. There are dry-cleaners, ice cream vendors, bars and coffee shops, cell phone stalls and even lingerie and expensive clothing stores. Nairobi is the business hub of East Africa and many of the major multi-nationals have their headquarters downtown or in the more affluent Upper Hill neighborhood. It is great because the city is fairly compact and a close walk from the apartment.

While I walked by museums and the National Archives, my destination was a small park on the corner of Moi Ave and Haile Selassie Road. Fifteen years ago this August, an enormous bomb rocked this busy corner. The target was the U.S. Embassy but thanks to the local security guards Benson Okuku Bwaku and Jomo Matiko Boke refused to let the truck bomb past the front gate, saying that they had to go get the key from the shipper inside the embassy. Surviving a grenade and gun attack, the truck eventually detonated but both guards survived. Their actions undoubtedly saved lives. While the embassy largely survived the blast intact, a small office building called UFundi Cooperative Building completely collapsed (the middle building), trapping hundreds of Kenyans working there. The bombing left more than 200 dead including 12 Americans and thousands wounded. The memorial was small but well-kept and offered a bit of peace from the wilds of Nairobi streets. There was also a small museum next to the memorial and it had a camera from the blast as well as many pictures and descriptions. More


It was an immensely sad place, a reminder of the risks diplomats take, even in one of Africa’s most developed cities. Someone told me once they lost 35 friends and colleagues that day. Does it deter me from my career ambitions? Of course not, but it certainly makes me think long and hard about it…



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Why am I here?

International development is a strange thing. It is what attracted me to the career while simultaneously annoying the living daylights out of me. It is my fourth day in the office and I am still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do. I have figured out my assignment for the next month and will be an expert of sorts on the topic but beyond that, I am not sure what else I will do. It is the standard paradox to development work; you work on one project and you have no idea what you will be doing five years down the road. The project may take off, fail miserably or stall while the donor bumbles around for funds.

The internet went out and while reading the Daily Nation, I discovered that the gains a project I worked on a few years ago had been partially dismantled only yesterday. Parliamentary leaders kicked out the Kenyan journalists from the parliamentary space built by USAID money and create two new committee rooms. Aside from the unusual ironies, it shows how fragile progress in international development is. In this case, the clerk who had long worked with my project retired in December and his replacement literally marched in and ordered the journalists out by the end of the day. It is similar to a mini-Mali in perhaps the most general sense. Sure, not all is lost but without easy access to MPs, how will journalists write about parliamentary matters concerning ordinary Kenyans?

But at least there is some better news on the horizon. Fifty years after independence, the UK will pay reparations to Mau Mau “rebels” it imprisoned at a time when it was desperately trying to keep the British Empire together. And Kenyan women won a great victory in the courts.


On my own front, I will make the best of what I have as usual.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Zack in Amsterdam (Again)



Nine hours in Amsterdam should never be wasted. After an interesting trek to get a train ticket, none of my credit cards would cooperate, I finally hopped a crowded train bound for Amsterdam Centraal station. Last time I was here, everything was dead at 8a but this time, there are wall to wall tourists. To escape, I found Café Van Zuylen which only had a Dutch menu and their outdoor bridge seating was difficult to beat. It was nice to relax and enjoy the people of Amsterdam on their bikes and boats.

Similar to last time, I did not make a specific plan and chose to wander the city after lunch in search of a bicycle rental shop. Alas, none appeared and when I finally found one, they wanted 100 euros as a cash deposit. The other shop was taking forever to get folks on bikes and I would have only had two hours before close. Instead, I decided to break in my new sneakers by wandering the canal-side streets. Using the map I intended to bike with, I walked to the Houseboat museum which is on a 99 year old boat and after delivering coal and other raw materials until 1967, it was first converted into a house and in 1997, a museum.


After taking in all there is to know about Amsterdam’s 2,300 houseboats, I heard carousel music in the distance and followed the sound to a tiny boat with a man playing a horn while making ten other sounds at once. Words cannot do him justice but a video sure can. 23 euros is probably not a bargain for Dan Brown’s new book but I finished the Last Train to Zona Verde and did not trust my laptop to last through another film. Just released by Paul Theroux, it was actually a sad depiction of his travels from Cape Town to Luanda. I don’t know if the thrill of traveling through developing countries suddenly wore off or what, it was a disappointment, especially after a week of mostly upbeat assessments of sub-Saharan Africa. Dan Brown better not disappoint.

I imagine after two red-eye flights, I will be fried tomorrow so do not expect anything more until later in the week. I will add more photos later.

Life is about the journey

By the way, the Republic of Kenya turns fifty today!

Does East beat West? I am about to find out because I am en-route to Kenya in East Africa. Two years ago, I studied at the University of Ghana in West Africa and am eager to supplement my experience. JFK airport is once again, the great leaping off point. Excitement is certainly the mood, I have never been to Kenya nor would I have guessed it would be my destination even four months ago. I know this is clique but there is no other way to put it. 

Why Kenya and why now? My masters program at the Maxwell School requires students to serve in meaningful internships. I will be interning at Development Initiative Access Link (DIAL) Africa which is a Kenyan-based NGO in the capital Nairobi for the summer. This time, I will be in country for
only two and a half months before resuming the final year of my graduate program.

My journey began in Buffalo on jetBlue and will end two days later on Kenya Airways. The journey is rather neat because I have a nine hour layover in one of my favorite cities, Amsterdam, Netherlands. I am looking forward to a pleasant bike ride through the city and possibly a detour through some of its other famous sites. Late tomorrow night, I board a Kenya Airways 777 for a quick jaunt to Nairobi and into the arms of hopefully friendly customs agents at six in the morning.

I will try to blog frequently about my travels and life as a Nairobi expat. This journey is about to take off. 
Probably one of the last shots of the Pan Am Worldport at JFK which will be torn down to create an airplane parking lot for Delta.