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Yesterday, I visited the Mijango slums in Nyeri with my roommate. She worked there two years ago with the now former Canadian International Development Agency (tragically murdered by the likes of Stephen Harper in the name of a “balanced budget”) and became close to who could be the last honest woman in Kenya or at the very least Nyeri. She invited us into her home for lunch of mikimou, my roomie’s favorite. It was refreshing and touching that someone with very little would treat my roommate as a friend, invite us into her home and feed us all because she was her friend and not expect anything in return. Of course, we brought some stuff for her, energy efficient light bulbs because she would soon have electricity and extra stuff we had no more use for.

But the best 955 shillings ($10.93) I have ever spent were on a soccer ball for her son who recently turned six. I thought it would be fun but that turned out to be an understatement. We threw and kicked the ball back and forth for at least an hour while his mom discussed school fees and other projects with my roommate. Our doctor friend wants to provide sanitary pads for school girls in Magori and my roommate used to help run a group of women in Mijango who made the sanitary pads. I say used to because one woman, Sekima, began to steal money from the project once my roommate and her friends went home. She now works for the government where she can steal ever more money for the needy. Most of the equipment and the women trained to make those pads in Mijango are still there so restarting the project without Sekima would have a relatively low capital cost. Family, I will be writing some letters requesting funds for this at some point!

As we toured the slums, we heard the news.  My roommate’s friend had spent that very morning in the hospital with a young girl of about ten who had been raped by a 70 year old relative. The family denied it and their tribe, the Kikuyu, refused to do anything about that man which gave him time to run away (this was the plan all along). Despite our friend’s pleas that what if that had been one of their own children, no one wanted to even admit what had happened. Even if the family and tribe had blamed the man and ordered him arrested, the police almost certainly could have been paid off to let him go. The case would have almost certainly not gone to trial or a trial in which the man would have been convicted. The worst part was the doctor at the hospital said it had happened repeatedly, not just that one time. Unfortunately, this is all too common in the developing world.

We also heard about two children who had died in a fire last week. The mother had gone out and the father was at work. The mother locked the house from the outside because she was afraid someone would steal or abuse her children. Both children died in the doorway, mere inches from life outside. Seven homes were consumed by the blaze but no firemen responded. The airport fire highlighting the abysmal and embarrassing state of public fireman in Kenya (or lack thereof) but this incident is very common and actually impacts local person, not just mizungos and Kenyans wealthy enough to fly.

 The tour was rather interesting because the slums are on a steep valley hill which slopes down to a small creek. We followed the creek up to a waterfall and took pictures. It was very pretty but swimming would almost certainly result in an infection or worse because raw sewage and other unmentionables empty into the creek. Fortunately, there were several bridges at strategic locations and only a few families in the slums still drink from the creek. Almost everyone else uses it to wash clothes.

While dinner was being prepared, we played with the neighborhood children and volleyed the new soccer ball among the kids. Even the littlest ones would throw it back to someone and before long, more kids joined the melee. The birthday boy became upset when he saw an older boy, Kevin, playing with his ball. Kevin took his marbles yesterday and he was worried he would take his new ball. We finished the game and went in for a delicious dinner of sikima and ugali. The ball came too and kept the now tired birthday boy company while he napped on the couch. That was a happy ending both for him and my roommate and I, a perfect ending to time here in Kenya.

Fifteen Years

Earlier this week, more than a dozen U.S. embassies were closed due to a threat from Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula. Yesterday, non-essential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Sa’naa were evacuated. I discussed those issues with a colleague about how they were probably over-reactions because of Benghazi. But I had forgotten that fifteen years ago today, Al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

I walked down to the memorial site. I had there before but today was different. There was a great crowd surrounding the memorial wall, gathered to remember and listen to speakers discuss their views. The former mayor of Nairobi spoke about what his day was like. I wandered the museum once more although I was banned from taking photos (why anyone does this, I will never know). It was still as sad as before though.

For my readers in the U.S., wake up and enjoy your lives because in Kenya, people have their eyes and ears open for you, listening and looking for the threats including the ones discovered the warnings earlier this week. Our embassies are the front-

line of America's national security.

Gede Ruins

Only two hours from Mombasa, Malindi is popular with vacationing Italians. Hotels are villas, pizza is delicious and the even beach boys speak Italian. But I had a reason for venturing back onto the beaten path into little Italy by the sea, other than lounging on the beach. Not far from Malindi are the Gede Ruins (pronounced geday). I have always wanted to see the ancient Mayan ruins of Mexico and Guatemala and Gede is just off the main coast road.

From the 13th to the 16th centuries, Gede was a thriving coastal town of 2,500 people. Controlled by Omani sultans, its citizens traded for goods from all over the known world, from Chinese pottery and china, Venetian glass, Spanish scissors and Indian iron lanterns. It had a tight urban core for the wealthy, much like Lamu Town with homes overlapping sidewalks and connecting through and across narrow alleys. Its interwall protected the wealthy in their stone homes while the outer wall protected the middle class’s wooden homes. The poor lived outside the walls, left at the mercy of the Oromo tribes, nomads from the interior.

Inside the mosque, the imam's voice was magnified by the holes

In terms of buildings, there was a grand mosque for worship. The iman knelt or sat in a small, hollowed out chamber in front of the worshippers. His voice was augmented by small, hollowed out circles in the wall which have since sadly been replaced by microphones and loudspeakers (Islam is a great religion but broadcasting it loudly at early morning hours over loudspeakers takes away from 1,400 years of grandeur and tradition.). The mosque had a large men’s worshipping area but only a small, separated women’s section. Outside, a well provided water for a trench which leads to a storage tank used for worshippers to cleanse themselves before prayer. Other wells with trenches are for drinking. Clay pots and large, underground cisterns keep water cool.

There was also a large palace for Gede’s ruler and his four wives. The palace had its own air conditioning system which drew cool water from underground cisterns up to dispense cool air on the ruler and his subjects entering the palace. The ruler could entertain visitors in a large waiting room while the wives could do the same in a much smaller room. Front doors are flanked by two benches in an alcove, made for women to entertain their guests without letting them inside if men were not home.

Air Conditioning hole for a ruler

After about 400 years of continuous settlement, Gede was abandoned sometime in the 16-17th centuries but reasons for this are unclear. Repeated attacks by Oromo tribes could be the reason. More likely, water or lack of water was the culprit. A large river changed its course, living Gede stranded several miles inland without its important connection to the ocean. The water table dropped, leaving wells in the town to dry up. My guide Pili had a theory that the proximity of latrines to water cisterns and wells had something to do with the diseases with plagued the town.

King's burial tomb

Overall, it was amazing to see how little some of the basic features of Gede’s houses have remained in Lamu Town’s homes, many only 150 years old. Coral walls are still bound together with a type cement while same rounded doorways are used for visitors. Many of the newer homes in Lamu Town continue to follow the old style, not just of Lamu Town but of the Gede all the way from at least the 12th century.

Westerners Abroad

Jambo House, a small five room hotel in Lamu Town, attracts an interesting clientele of mostly backpacker students and folks looking for a good deal on fine lodging. Not only were the rooms clean and comfortable, Arnold, the German born owner, knew exactly what his guests prefer and can afford. People rave about him on TripAdvisor and four years of awards speak for themselves. Breakfast on the rooftop terrace was how guests socialized and how Nicole and I convinced Chris to join our fishing trip.

The folks you meet traveling are fascinating people, especially in Lamu. Being so far away, it attracts a different type of tourist than the overweight speedo wearing Europeans found further south along the coast. Faye was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive from South Sudan for a much needed vacation. Chris had volunteered in Uganda but vacationing before returning home to Montreal to figure out life. Mike was a sixth grade teacher in the Bronx while Faye taught in intercity Denver. Chris even taught in Jamaica. It was lovely to talk to folks our own age and budget. Because of Lamu’s remoteness, it takes a special type of person to visit, even flying in.

Lamu has been the highlight of the trip, from wandering its dark, narrow alleys at night without fear of violent robbery, enjoying an empty seven miles of beach alone, climbing sand dunes and eating cheap but superb food at various restaurants. Listening to the call to prayer in the early morning, the sounds of footsteps rushing through the streets and the occasional donkey neh wafting through my window, I will certainly return to Lamu, hopefully with my girlfriend in tow.

Fishing in Lamu

 Update, my computer have been fixed and here are my pictures. 

Life has a way of working out in Africa. A new friend from Montreal, Chris, decided to come fishing with Nicole and I, bringing the price down to a manageable 3500 shillings each. We left from Lamu Town with two Kenyan fishermen, Adam and Salim, and motored into the channel before putting up the dhow sail.

The wind was strong, taking us quickly up the channel towards the northern end of Manda Island which is directly across from Lamu Island. For at least an hour, we sailed up a long, manmade channel, only four years old since the Kenyan government dredged it to better connect the large bays, until we reached Manda Toto Island, just north of Manda Island, which overlooked the enormous Manda Bay. On the edge of a reef, we anchored and begin to fish.

Thanks to the still strong wind, we three mizungos began to jig for fish using bate and line wound around wooden squares. Adam, the captain of this venture, slipped into the water with fins, a snorkel and a spear while Salim began to cook using a small charcoal grill, first boiling rice and then a vegetable curry. Salim explained that because of the wind, it would be difficult for us to try to spear fish ourselves due to the churned up water. Adam took a while to spear three gorgeous fish, a feat made more impressive by Ramadan not allowing him to eat or drink all day.

After Chris and Salim gutted the fish, he cooked it on the grill, ocassionally reapplying delicious Swahili spices. Served up were the three fish, rice with coconut, vegetable curry and some extra spices. Cold beer topped off a perfect meal or so we thought until three long, tinfoil wrapped things were produced out of nowhere. Inside was a banana with chocolate placed in the middle. Horrary for dessert!

We had some time to wander Manda Toto Island before going back. It appeared really remote unitl I saw a house on one side. And across the small channel, one of the most expensive hotels in Lamu sat watching us on Manda Island.

We went to leave and sailed for part of the way back until the wind switched direction. I lounged on the rooftop deck, listening to the conversations belong while enjoying a killer view of largely unspoiled mangos and coral rock formations. I highly recommend the fishing experience for anyone in headed to Lamu.

Pictures of Lamu exist but were uploaded to my now non-functioning computer.  

Update, my computer have been fixed and here are my pictures. 

Paradise Found

Update, my computer have been fixed and here are my pictures. 

Lamu is not Kenyan. It does not feel like what I have come to know as Kenyan. It is Arabic, dropped here by the sultans of Oman who built the town's wealth on the slave trade. After the practice was banned in 1873, Lamu lay forgotten for 100 years, retaining its narrow, car-free streets, open drains, un-motorized dhows and its large herd of donkeys, one ass for every ten people. Its whitewashed buildings with elaborate doors and doorways, over-street extensions and tunnels give the town a labyrinthian feel, combined with some traditions from old Arabia and filled with darker skinned Kenyans. Calls of Allah Alkar, God is great, are heard over the Jambo's (hello) and Karibou's (you are welcome).

It was only in the 1970's when Lamu fell onto an adventurous tourist's map. Slowly, it became better known beyond backpacking circles as wealthier expats began to buy up old Swahili houses in town and in the smaller, beachfront town of Shela, a few miles north of Lamu town. 60% of the old homes in Lamu are owned by expats. In the past five years, the number of ATM's have tripled, from one to three. Outside of my hotel, I have seen perhaps a dozen mizungos so fortunately, the place is not overrun by tourists. The fact that it is less than 50 miles from Somalia also keeps the less adventurous away .Two kidnappings and a murder in 2011 reminded the region of this and depressed housing prices for both expats and locals.

Nicole thinks this place will soon be overrun by tourists and development. Along the poorly paved and then completely dirt road, I saw true poverty, not just some kid asking for money on the street, but mud homes, tiny plots of crops, water jugs outside (signalling lack of water at home), and power lines running through people's yards without any line leading to their homes. That says something should be done for the people of this region. People were not as poor further down the coast in the tourists towns such as Malindi. In the next bay over from Lamu, there is an ambitious scheme to build a new deepwater port, complete with railways, pipelines and roads linking it not just to Nairobi but Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia, all funded by China. It would be Kenya's second port as Mombasa is supposedly congested. As the years drag on, the project's infeasibility becomes more apparent, especially with Mombasa not fully built out as a port. My walking tour guide suggested that it would happen within a century. But something needs to happen in this region because while people in Lamu and its surrounding villages appear relatively stable, the people in the surrounding countryside and inland are very poor.

No pictures yet, my computer's power cord died and photos are trapped on my camera.
Update, my computer have been fixed and here are my pictures. 

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.