Africa Part 7: Safari

Africa Part 7: Safari

Monday 31st August- It’s time to start out for the Masai Mara. We eat a quick breakfast and are on our way at 7:30. We drive a long time and then stop at a burned hotel (the former Olkurruk Mara Lodge) that overlooks the Trans Mara Park. There is a gate with a Maasai guard who kindly allows us in (I think some “chai” changes hands). We wander through the remains of the structure and finally past it to a really amazing vista of the Trans Mara below. The guard sits picturesquely on a log and cleans his teeth with a chewed stick (a handy natural toothbrush if you are ever lost in the woods but still concerned about gum health, make sure you choose a non-poisonous species to get your stick from).

Stanley says he used to work at this hotel before the Maasai burned it down. Apparently when the hotel changed hands in 1998 or ‘99 they laid off a lot of people, including Stanley, and at that time somehow the new owners pissed off the local Maasai who burned it down. Don says “so they must have made them very angry” and Cathy replies “no, not really.” Apparently a Maasai only needs to be mildly irritated to burn your place of business down. Stanley adds “if you ever hit a Maasai cow you better leave quick because they will kill you if they catch you“. I later ask a Maasai if the story about the hotel is true and he claims not to know anything about it but swears the Maasai wouldn’t have done anything like that (I also check the internet when I get home and find a claim that the hotel was burned down for insurance purposes so who knows).

We enter the Trans Mara through the Oloololo Gate (oloololo means zigzag and refers to the zigzagging road we had to take down to the big open plains below). To avoid being charged for entry into the Trans Mara Park (which we have to go through to reach the Masai Mara beyond) we must put down the top of the safari vehicle (which pops up making it possible to stand and see 360 degrees around you). It is worth the slight feeling of claustrophobia you experience after driving with the roof up to save the $60 USD each so we put the roof down and continue on our merry way. Right away we start seeing animals. There are lots of zebras and wildebeests and they seem to always be together. It looks like the zebras are herding the wildebeests but probably they spend time together for protection, they even migrate to Tanzania and back together.

We see lots of giraffes and we also see some hyenas up very close after we stop over a culvert that happens to be their home (they keep peeking their heads up trying to figure out what we are doing there). Many of the animals have ox-pickers clinging to them. Ox-pickers are little birds that like to hang out on zebras, giraffes, cape buffalo, antelopes and other furry creatures. They go through the fur of their host animal looking for ticks and other pests in a symbiotic relationship that keeps everyone happy. The best part of the morning is when we see some elephants cooling down at a watering hole (see video at bottom, the baby elephant is in the bottom right corner you see him between another elephants legs, there is also video of a lioness walking and running zebras and wildebeest). They siphon water up their trunks and then spray themselves like a muddy shower. There is a little baby elephant with them and he gets very frustrated as he has not yet figured out the suction in his trunk. Instead he simply smacks it against the water ineffectually and finally gives up in frustration, it’s really cute and this is all before we even enter the Masai Mara Park!

We stop for lunch at the Mara river and have yummy fruit. The river marks the border between the Trans and Masai Mara parks so up goes the roof! There are very cute mongooses and not so cute black faced vervet monkeys hanging around the picnic area (the male monkeys had very blue balls! see picture at right, another one had a baby clinging to its tummy! see picture at left). The monkeys are sort of cute until they start stealing our food. I try to discourage the others from feeding them but they insist the monkeys are used to it and that that it is easiest to just go along with it and throw them food because it will make them go away. Of course what actually happens is that more monkeys show up (like the begging children). In fact they eventually become so bold that they steal an entire bag of bananas from are table and take them up a tree. After I go to one of the scariest choos I have yet to see I return smugly with the information that a sign next to it says very plainly not to feed the animals so as to prevent them from becoming a nuisance.

After lunch Stanley takes us to a location where a paramilitary guard will walk you along the river to show you crocodiles and hippos. He will also show you the famous crossing where the wildebeests and zebras cross the Mara River in a huge stampede to Tanzania where as our guard Tony so euphemistically says they “make romance” and have their young before crossing back. The hippos look simply like big gray lumps no matter how you try to photograph them, but they twitch their ears in a cute way. Tony is very informative and takes the time to tell us about many of the animals habits and how much they weigh and such. He also carries an AK47 which he is nice enough to show us up close. He is extremely casual with his gun swinging it in a jaunty (and slightly unnerving way) and frequently placing the butt of the gun on the ground and leaning with his hand on the barrel.

Directly after leaving the Mara River we cross very briefly into Tanzania (though there is no stamp on my passport to prove it). We stop at the border between Tanzania and Kenya which is marked by a rather unimpressive monument that has a “T” on one side of the top and a “K” on the other. Here we take pictures, posing inside the safari vehicle and next to it (please note that the picture of me and Cathy in our van was taken by Don Chang). During the course of the day we see nearly all of the “big five” ( the big five= cape buffalo, lion, rhinoceros, leopard and elephant) spotting a male lion and (to my great delight) a leopard (though only very briefly), however we never do find a rhinoceros.

When we get to the camp where we are supposed to stay we are dumbfounded by how nice it is (they welcome us with warm scented towels and juice). We were told it was a tent camp but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a tent with a hardwood floor, beds and a tiled bathroom with permanent plumbing fixtures in the back. The first thing I do is take a shower and for the first time since I got here (three weeks!) I feel really truly clean. There is a restaurant that serves fabulous 3 course meals (included in the price, don’t ask how much!) and a small pool (I finally get to wear a bikini!).

We stay two nights at the Mara Leisure Camp and spend our days looking at the animals in the park. The schedule is pretty intense (Cathy and Stanley keep up a good pace) although what you mostly do is hurry up and wait, rushing from spot to spot and then sitting with the engine off while you look at animals or hope they appear. Don takes many pictures which also slows us down some as he likes to take many shots. With my short attention span I am bored quickly but I use the down time to update my journal and I spend the driving time standing up with the wind in my face like a dog with its head out the window.

Our last day in the park we spend the morning out driving and in the evening Don and Marian go to a Maasai village while I sit by the pool. As I sit and write in the hot African sun I can hear the sound of Maasai cattle returning home, the ringing of the cowbells is punctuated by the occasional soft lowing of the cows. The cows we see look so hungry. Kenya is having the worst drought in decades and the Maasai are in mourning for their dying cattle. We even see male sheep and goats with belted flaps hanging around their waists. Stanley calls it “sheep family planning” and as silly as that sounds it is because the Maasai can not afford any more mouths to feed.

Africa Part 6: Lake Victoria/Ruma Park/Kilgores

Africa Part 6: Lake Victoria/Ruma Park/Kilgores

29th August, Saturday morning Melchizedeck, Mike (whom I met yesterday, he helped me buy my tyre sandals), the Changs, Cathy and I, all pile into Stanley’s safari vehicle and set off for Lake Victoria which borders Tanzania and Uganda as well as Kenya. On the way there we pass several amusingly named places such as the “Hotel Shaq Attaq” and the “Miami Heat Center Bar” we also pass many huts with grass roofs and mud walls. Apparently the women make the buildings (from what I gather they do most of the work: cooking, carrying water, building the huts; many men spend all their time getting drunk) there are large and small huts and we are told that the small ones are actually for grain storage.

When we get to Lake Victoria we see many naked children bathing in the water and people filling containers with water. This is a little concernful since Cathy has just finished telling us that there are fresh water snails in the lake that carry a parasite that causes a disease called schistosomiasis and that we should avoid getting wet. People also fish in the lake for tilapia and tiny little fish called omena. The omena are very small and they catch them in large very fine nets before drying them in the sun. Cathy has tried them and she says she doesn’t care for them very much. There are lots of animals nearby and I take pictures of some pigs sleeping under a truck. There is also an extremely handsome and picturesque young man nearby who I also photograph.

The children at the lake are very annoying. Cathy and the others decide to go for a ride in a boat, Marian and I decline based on our concern about falling in the water and getting sick (I also think it’s a good idea for someone to stay near our vehicle since it has all our stuff in it). The children follow me and Marian everywhere in a flock, like little irritating planets orbiting a sun. Some of them even occasionally dart in to pluck at Marian’s shirt as if she is some kind of celebrity they need to touch. Finally I turn and catch one in the act, I snap my fingers at them and say “stop that” loudly. All the kids jump back frightened and I add a “hapana” which means “no” in Swahili. After that they stay farther back but they don’t go away and whenever Marian tries to take a picture a cluster of little naked boys appear in front of her . As we leave the lake I see a young man with twisted limbs crawling along the ground, I suspect that he has cerebral palsy like Define. I mention it to Cathy and she says there is more need in the world than aid.

We decide we should go to Ruma National Park to see a certain type of antelope that is found only in that one place on earth: the roan antelope. However on the way we stop at what I will call the Happy Infant Complex to check on a well that Melchizedeck helped hand dig and Cathy contributed a generous sum of money to buy and install a pump for. When we arrive the minister tells us that they are not using that well because a church in New York donated lots of money to dig a bigger well and install a pumping system on it. This is good because the compound is a school for orphans, though I never actually see one, and the minister is selling the water to the community for 3ksh per 5 gallon container. We are shown a very large church that has no seats in it the minister says they move chairs in when they need them (which seems odd to me, why would they take them out?). All in all the whole place seems like a prop or a set that is waiting for people to appear. Nobody ever does ask what he did with the money Cathy donated for the pump.

Ruma is a beautiful park very lush and green. We stop at the gate and they tell us about the guest house which can be had for 5000ksh per night and sleeps at least eight.. It even has a kitchen and bathroom with a tub (something we haven’t seen since we arrived). But the best part is the view looking down over the park. It’s breathtaking and the idea of waking up and having a cup of coffee while watching the sun rise over the park is mouth watering, but we have Melchizedeck and Mike to drop off so we vow that if we are ever in the area again this is where we will stay.

We do see the roan antelope (see picture below left) as well as a few other animals but it is nothing like the animals that are to come. I also try my first sugarcane which you “eat” by stripping off the green outer part with your teeth and then gnawing on the white fibrous inside to extract the sweet juice (it is very messy and sticky). As the sun sets we head back to Awendo to drop off the guys thinking that we have beds waiting in Rongo, however when we call to check we discover that the rooms may have been given away. I am very frustrated because I know that the Sugarland will be as loud tonight as it was last night and I am adamant about not sleeping over a disco again plus I’m miserable because my throat hurts. I insist I want to go to Rongo where there may be a couple of rooms waiting. Everyone is cranky and me and Don exchange unpleasantries. However Melchizedeck kindly drives me to Rongo and indeed there is a room where I sleep like a baby. Cathy who accompanies me however is not so lucky and sleeps very little, she is very unhappy because she loves to dig wells and this trip was a big disappointment in that regard.

In the morning we see Melchizedeck and Helen for the last time before Stanley comes woth Don and Marian to pick us up. I am very sad to lose Melchizedeck I have grown very fond of him over the last two and a half weeks. We set off for Kilgores the next leg in our trip to the Masai Mara. We stay at the Farmers Lodge after a long drive. During the drive the safari van starts acting up, something to do with the radiator, and we keep having to stop by the side of the road where we stand in the hot sun and get pestered by children until Stanley once again deems the van ready for transport. This happens several times. Finally Stanley fixes the problem in a more permanent fashion by putting curry powder in it. I’m pretty sure that isn’t good for your engine but it seems to work and it makes the car smell nice.

In Kilgores we check in at the Farmers Lodge and after a quick lunch Stanley goes off to repair the van. The Changs head to their room and me and Cathy go for a long walk. We ramble around the countryside looking at flowers and other things, I even see a poinsettia in bloom! We pass many children and pleasantly they no longer yell “mzungu” at us in this part of Kenya, but there is a lot of waving and shouting of “how are you” followed immediately by “I’m fine” without pause for response.

When we return to the hotel the power is out so we sit outside in chairs brought by my new friend William (a member of the hotel staff who takes a shine to me) and write in our journals for a while as the sun sets. Stanley returns in time for dinner and my throat is feeling much better so everyone is looking forward to tomorrow. We should arrive in the Park just in time for an evening game drive. Once again there is a band playing somewhere near by, but I fall asleep with little trouble and the T.V. on.

Africa Part 5: Sare Awendo/Rabondo

Africa Part 5: Sare Awendo/Rabondo

Wednesday 26th August : Our merry band has been reduced to five (Melchizedeck, Don and Marian Chang, Cathy and I) and today we leave Nakuru and head towards Rabondo, I‘m going to miss the Hotel Kunste. As I head up the stairwell to my room for the last time I note in the hallway a poster of Michael Jackson in his Bad era. I might have suspected the poster was recent (as in post mortem) except for it’s extremely faded condition and the fact that there is an equally faded (and random) poster of Sylvester Stallone as Rambo at the top of the stairs.

The way to Rabondo leads up into the mountains and through tea country. Melchizedeck is happy to finally be headed home (to see his wife Helen and his children) and he informs us with cheer that only the top three leaves of each branch are picked (and I assume the branch is then left alone so they can grow and be picked again). That seems like a lot of work to me going over each bush by hand picking just three leaves at a time. You can see the workers in the fields carrying huge bags to fill with tea, they live nearby and their houses are supplied by the corporations and look very well kept but extremely uniform. They remind me of that extremely annoying song about conformity “Little Boxes” where there are houses on the hillside that “all look just the same”.

We pass plantation after plantation of tea (the plants have a funny smell that reminds me of skunk cabbage) and stop for a while in Kericho where there is a Tea Hotel. Out on the balcony as we sip our chai and eat our “gateau with suitable sauce” (which turns out to be very dry pound cake with no discernable sauce at all) we see a little monkey hovering around the edges of the patio. At first we find it adorable and hurry to take pictures but soon we discover that he is a little beggar who comes closer and closer scooting in to grab anything dropped be the guests. Don “accidentally” drops some crumbs nearby so we can get a better picture. I’m sure many guests “drop” things for the monkey which the staff informs me is a vervet monkey. As we leave the Tea Hotel we pass a sign which says: IF YOU MUST DRINK AND DRIVE-DRINK TEA which I think is stellar advice.

Because of some misunderstanding we are not going to stay in the Guest House in Rabondo so we check into the Sugarland Hotel (we have gone from tea country to sugar land apparently) where my room is full of mosquitoes though luckily I have managed so far not to be bitten. I am frightened of the bathroom and decide I will have no part of it aside from the toilet (which turns out to leak every time you flush, eventually they switch me to a different room with an equally scary bathroom). The electric showerheads are known as “widow makers “ according to Cathy and apparently will give you an electric shock if you make contact with them. Besides which they are just hanging right in the middle of the room with no curtain or anything.

Upon waking the next day Cathy and I decide to go for a walk around town. For some reason a strange gentleman takes a shine to us and follows us around town singing and talking to himself. Even though we ask he won’t leave us alone, Cathy tells me that he is probably mentally ill and needs medication. Yesterday I noticed that my throat felt a little tender and unfortunately it will remain that way getting worse and then better throughout the time we are in Rabondo. Since my throat is fine by the time I get home I never go to the doctor which means we never do find out what the heck was wrong with me (we suspect tonsillitis since I am on an antibiotic which would tend to rule out strep) but it makes eating and even drinking painful and difficult for a few days. I eat very little for a while although the food here is wonderful.

Today we are going to drop off an all-terrain wheelchair that has been shipped in legs from the U.S. for a girl here in Rabondo who has cerebral palsy and can not walk. Her name is Define (pronounced duh-fee-nuh) and her family lives on the side of a hill and is having trouble getting her around. They are all excited when the wheelchair arrives and once she has been placed in the wheelchair and wheeled up and down the hill we are invited inside for formal introductions. They go around the room introducing the family and welcoming us to their home. After they are done I introduce myself, say where I am from and thank them for welcoming us into their home, Don and Marian do the same. This seems to work.

I am amazed by all the good Cathy has done in Africa and especially in Rabondo, she works tirelessly. After dropping off the wheelchair and stopping for some of Helen’s yummy Chai we stop at a would be clinic that is not a clinic despite many donations (I‘m not clear on what is going on there but I do get the impression that there are opposing forces at work in the community that might be holding things up). Next door is a dispensary that fortunately is open and stocked, although they are still in need of donations to buy medications. The friendly nurses show us their medication supplies and the birthing room. I jokingly ask them about my throat thinking someone there might look inside my mouth, instead they just hand me some antibiotics and pain relievers which I give to Melchizedeck later (for his kids in case they need them). At his house that evening we have curried eggs, rice and sukuma wiki. Helen is a superb cook (you can see her at left) and I do my best despite the pain in my throat.

Friday is market day in Awendo and I am on the hunt for sandals made from tyres (British spelling) for Mike. Before setting out we stop at the internet café and I check my email and Facebook. When I’m done I sit on the balcony outside the internet café and watch a woodworker at work. In front of the shop are many caskets in different sizes and colours. It reminds me of the fact that since Cathy was here a year and a half ago at least three people she knew have died, many of them from lack of medicine. When Cathy is done we head off to market trying to find a bank and my tyre shoes. As we wander I learn that many of the clothes that we donate to places like Goodwill and Value Village in the States are packaged in bales and sent here for purchase and resale. Some of them are nice, I find a pretty skirt with pink hibiscus on it that I really like. We see roosters and hens with their feet tied together, a dog sleeping with his head in a basket of carrots and many cars, trucks and motorcycles all hooting (honking) away.

Later we run a few more errands and check out Melchizedeck’s tilapia pond. Melchizedeck is very industrious (he even has his own sugar cane fields). I’m pretty miserable throughout the day (my throat hurting very much) and I really just want to be back at the hotel lying down but it is interesting to travel around the area seeing the wells that have been dug (I think by Cathy and Melchizedeck). Most interesting is a hand dug well in progress with a man at the bottom. I think it‘s neat because you can see the different layers of rock on the way down. He is 35’ below us and chipping away at rock with a pickaxe. I shout “hello“ down to him and he “hellos“ back. Every once in a while they lower down a bucket which he fills with rocks and sends up.

However clearly the most entertaining thing we see that day is a very drunken gentleman who calls himself Mr. Fantastic (he gives many other names as well). He climbs in the cab of Melchizedeck’s truck and won’t get out. He wants us to run over cows and shouts “over knock” every time he sees one. He leans over and tries to talk to Don through the open side window, his breath is smelly. He admits to Cathy that he has been drinking as he waves an empty bottle around and Cathy is monumentally unsurprised. When we get to the well, Melchizedeck starts pumping away to show us the water and “Mr. Fantastic” lays directly under the spout to get a sip heedless of his clothes (such as they are). When he tries to talk to me I give him a lecture on the evils of drinking, tell him it is possible to stop and recommend AA but I think it goes over his head because immediately afterward he tells Melchizedeck he likes me. He follows us everywhere until finally after telling Marian that he doesn’t like white people he leaves (we later find out that Melchizedeck gave him 20ksh to go away and get alcohol). I kind of miss him, he was pretty entertaining.

That night in my room I discover that I am sleeping over a live band. I think about dressing up and going dancing (if you can‘t beat ‘em join ‘em) but I’m guessing I can’t talk Cathy into going with me. You would think the noise would be a bigger problem but I’m so tired that I manage to sleep anyway. Stanley our safari driver has showed up and after a day trip tomorrow to Lake Victoria and Ruma National Park we will be off to the Masai Mara. Starting tomorrow it really is a vacation!!!

Africa Part 4: Nairobi and Nakuru

Africa Part 4: Nairobi and Nakuru

The 22nd Saturday morning we head back to Nairobi leaving behind the supplies that the villagers will need to finish the well on their own. Once again we make a special effort to tie down our bags to prevent light-fingered folks from making them disappear. We reach the city in good time and by 17:30 I am showered and feeling much improved. My only worry is a cockroach I see on the door of our hotel room as I exit freshly scrubbed. I go down to the front desk to report the intruder and eventually it is discovered that the cockroach is a long dead husk. Unsurprisingly this does not make me feel better.

After stopping at the bar so Cathy can watch part of a marathon taking place in Berlin we take a trip to the Nairobi City Market which is not particularly impressive and very overpriced . It’s fun to take a little trip out of the hotel though and we enjoy the chance to practice our bartering skills. I walk away from many vendors before seeing something I decide I must have. A tinga tinga painting of a leopard at night. The proprietor (a handsome man named Chaz) and I size each other up and then he whips out a calculator (a tool to prevent others hearing our offers and counter offers) and a furious bargaining session ensues. We both enjoy the back and forth and finally I walk away happy and he has every shilling in my pocket.

Sunday we leave for Athi River to check out some land that is a site for a potential well and orphanage. Along the way we see our first zebras and giraffes as well as a wildebeest or two. Unfortunately for Cathy’s friend who owns the land the site is not favorable for drilling but the people there are very nice and feed us our first real Kenyan food (including some yummy stuff called sukuma wiki and a polenta like dish called ugali).

After that tasty meal we are back on the road. We begin an upward climb that takes us over some kind of pass where we look down into the Rift Valley. I notice that in Kenya the higher you go the greener it gets. Along the way we pass many police checks and eventually we are stopped at one. The police checks are mysterious to me in that there are many of them and they all involve two cops standing out in the middle of nowhere with AK47s, spike strips and absolutely no sign of how they got there. Anyway we are finally stopped at one of these by a cop who apparently wants some “chai” (chai is a euphemism for bribe), first he thinks he’s got us because my seatbelt is hidden under my arm, when I prove to be wearing a seatbelt he switches his attention to a tiny crack in the windshield (that is smaller by the way than the insurance tag Melchizedeck is required by law to display). He takes away Melchizedeck’s license and won’t give it back until we give him 200 shillings. I later find out that Kenya had an anti-corruption minister but he was removed from office for corruption.

We arrive in Nakuru very late and struggle for a while to find the hotel but when we do it is lovely. We are reunited with Sara, Jeremy, Cornelius and Aaron and meet some new friends. We are staying at the Hotel Kunste where at the front desk they hand out keys like they are giving away door prizes. I go straight to my room where I get to watch T.V. for the first time in a week and a half. The only channel that isn’t news or sports is the Cartoon Network which I leave on whenever I am in the room even while sleeping.

The next morning we go to visit another potential drill site. This one is at the Janet School which is located up in the mountains where it is lush and green. It is so green in fact that it reminds me of Washington (or more specifically Carnation since it’s farmland and there is livestock everywhere) and it is hard to imagine them being short on water. The conditions here are much more favorable but we decide we are still too short on time and the best thing to do is to set up a test drill at the Lifewater Kenya Samaritan Children Skill Training Center to teach the technique so that others can duplicate it later at the Janet School.

At the LKSCSTC they help young street orphans to gain skills they can use to better themselves and contribute to society. At the school grounds we wait for a very long time for food which turns out to be very yummy and then we wait a very long time for a tour of the grounds. Finally there is a performance from the boys who sing and dance. The little boys are especially cute frequently losing the beat and looking around to try to figure out what is going on.

Unfortunately the performance is followed by some very touching personal accounts and then some extremely long speeches and then some individual introductions, plus lots of praying in between. I had hoped to leave the compound and go into the city with Melchizedeck partly because I want to go get some kikoy cloth but largely because I really want some time to myself since so far the only time I have really been alone is when I have been asleep. I’m feeling very overwhelmed and after excusing myself from the room I go out to Melchizedeck’s truck and have a good cry. Poor Melchizedeck doesn’t know what to do, I guess he hates it when women cry and he keeps asking me to stop, meanwhile I am trying to explain to him why I feel so upset. I ask him what he does when his wife cries and he says she mostly only cries when people die which makes me feel pretty spoiled. I ask him if she ever cries about anything else and he says “no because I always make sure to get her what she wants first” and that makes me feel better. At any rate I get my kikoy cloth. Melchizedeck is very relieved and we stop for a Fanta which they have everywhere and he loves. After that he drops me off at the hotel for a cup of chai while he goes to pick up the others. Cathy is worried about me but once I explain how I simply wanted to have a little control over some part of my life she is more understanding. Thanks Auntie Cathy!

The next day I decide to exert that control and stay at the hotel sitting on the veranda and drinking milky, sweet chai and enjoying the flush toilets and friendly staff. Breakfast was lovely: egg with toast, sausage and porridge. I wander down the street to Tusky’s and buy a couple of cowl neck shirts (150KSH=2USD) which I then modify with the cute little folding scissors in my sewing kit (Cathy is amazed that they let them through security). After that a handsome gentlemen named Anthony (you can see him at left, I think he is a kind of concierge) helped me put minutes on my phone. I have been calling home a lot, I miss my mom and Mike and I call frequently although it is difficult to figure out when to call. I finally devise a system where I add two hours to the Nairobi time and then subtract half a day.

I really like the Hotel Kunste it is very nice and I enjoyed watching the staff today drying the sheets and other linens on the lawn in the central courtyard. The hotel has a play area for kids and a restaurant that is open all day plus a bar (which I haven’t been to). I love the chai but I realize I am not going to lose any weight sitting around drinking tea with huge quantities of milk and sugar. Tomorrow though we will be leaving for Rabondo where we will meet Melchizedeck’s family and stay a little while. After that we will leave for safari. I have already seen giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, and dik diks. I wonder what else we will see.

Later that same day me and Melchizedeck go on an epic voyage to try to locate more fabric with little luck. All the places we go want more money for cloth I like less than that at the place we found yesterday (which is sadly closed) but we do have a fun time looking. Only later that night when everyone goes out looking for a nice restaurant for our last meal together do we understand why the shops were closed (the restaurants are closed too). Kenya is doing a census and the stores are closed to encourage people to be home when the “enumerators” come by (even Cathy and I get counted much to our amusement). We do find a Chinese place that is open right next to the hotel and we all spend a nice last dinner around a lazy susan. It is sad to say “good bye” to Sara, Jeremy, Aaron and Cornelius again.

In closing this chapter I want to remark that things are very different in Kenya the AIDS rates are very high leaving behind many orphans. I remember that I saw a billboard in Nairobi that said “Stay healthy, take your HIV/AIDS medications daily” It makes me feel very small for being so upset about something like $10 USD worth of fabric. Those boys I met yesterday have it pretty rough too and if you want to help you can go to: http://www.childrenswaterfund.org/orphans%20kenya.html

Africa Part 3: Digging in Katutu

Africa Part 3: Digging in Katutu

19th August: Wednesday Morning after a yummy breakfast prepared by Gwen and her mother we head off to the site. The goal is to be prompt because we don’t want the locals to think we are blasé about the whole thing. Of course for the first half hour or so it is just a bunch of mzungu standing around. We do the best we can getting started and pretty soon the locals show up and start to help.

Our first task is to make sure the hole is straight, so someone (I think it was Cathy) attaches a monkey wrench to a rope coming down from the pulley and slowly lower it down until X marks the spot. We also mix the bentonite (by hand, a fun task for the kids and/or any other person who likes to get dirty). Once we have the spot we start digging a shaft by hand as straight down as possible. Eventually since I have the longest arms I am conscripted into service, lying on the ground and pulling dirt from the bottom of the hole. Once the hole is started we lower the drill into the hole, tie some rope around the handle, pour in some water and bentonite, thread the rope through the pulley and tie sticks at intervals to the other end, find “rowers” to pull on the sticks and start pounding the drill up and down into the ground (see video at bottom of blog). Getting the water to come out the top was a trick only Jeremy seemed able to perform.

We start work with a lot of energy and quickly water (and sludge) is moving up the pipe and squirting out the top. It is a very dirty job and soon many of us are coated with dirt and bentonite. We take two breaks for food: first a chai break where we eat a few snacks (one of them being mandazi a yummy fried dough served everywhere we go in Kenya) and a lunch where we eat motho koi a dish of corn, beans, potato and cilantro. The motho koi is sort of bland but certainly filling and it is also a dish that is served everywhere but each region has a different name for it.

By the end of the day we have made it 10 feet and we are having problems with the rope which keeps breaking (partly because it isn’t great rope and partly for lack of lubricant, eventually we have to replace it). 10’ is not great progress and we are all a little discouraged. Melchizedeck has gone off to survey the surrounding area and is grim about our chances; there is rock everywhere, some of it soft but enough of it is hard that he suspects the WFA method won’t work here. For now he keeps it mostly to himself. But we only have 6 days to go another 140’ to 150’ and that isn’t likely to happen if we encounter rock the whole way down. The good news is that the community has decided to get involved and we have many workers as well as onlookers (the women especially are great workers I think largely because they are the ones who end up having to walk to get the water).

When we get back to the BBC we are all very dirty but the best we can do for clean up at the Bush Baby Club is water heated on the stove and an enclosed cement room for washing. We are also dealing with a choo for bodily functions, not ideal but workable (you get used to carrying some toilet paper on you at all times, I also carry lots of alcohol hand sanitizer).

Thursday we wake up enthusiastic to keep going. Dinner last night was the delicious shish kebobs for which I yearn to this day. After a warm breakfast and a visit to the choo we set out early to Rose and Peter’s House. Once again we stand around for a while waiting for the locals to show up but soon everyone is there and we are underway. Things are going along pretty well considering we are trying to drill through solid rock. We are moving at a rate of about a foot an hour which I gather is pretty slow. Because people have different schedules they have to keep to, we are going to start losing people on Saturday so we are doing the best we can. For lunch we have motho koi again, it seems it is a staple around here and simple to make for an army of workers.

Thursday night I have a horrible attack of homesickness. I’ve only just gotten started and already I’m tired of sleeping in a strange bed, washing with water heated in a pot, working all day with nothing to relieve the monotony, people who laugh at you and peeing in a hole in the ground. I’m worried that we won’t have time for anything fun at the end of the trip because we are moving so slowly. After a little crying I try to make a gratitude list of all the things that are good about this experience: Rose is very sweet, the food is yummy, I’ve made many new friends and seen some amazing scenery; I also call my mom and my friend Ann. As a final way to pep myself up before bed I watch the beginning of the movie Enchanted which I have downloaded to my ipod in case of just such an emergency. It does the trick and I go to sleep ready to start digging again in the morning.

Friday is market day in Katutu and I am hoping to take a break and walk into town to buy some fabric for me and my friend back in Seattle, Nile, who specifically asked for some kikoi and kitenge cloth from Kenya (both she and I love to sew and once I see the kikoi cloth I can see why she likes it, I immediately fall in love and purchase them in numerous colors). Don, Marian and I walk into town and I find cloth in a cute little shop where two beautiful women work at a treadle sewing machine. In Kenya I see many beautiful treadle machines (I didn’t even know they were still making these) a good investment in a country where power is intermittent at best. Don purchases a couple of shirts but mostly we just wander around and see the sights. Don is a professional photographer and enjoys taking pictures of the things we see.

There is some culture shock here in Kenya in that we are the center of such interest. We are surrounded by people almost all the time who are interested in our activities, children especially, and I start to feel like an animal at the zoo. It’s weird because in Seattle (or almost anywhere in the U.S.) standing around and pointing and laughing at someone because they are different would be completely inappropriate and rude but here it seems pretty common and children follow you shouting “mzungu” many places you go. They also come up to you and demand money and candy which is something we Americans specifically tell our children not to take from strangers.

At this point everyone is pretty clear on the fact that we are not going to make it to the water and we decided last night that it is our last day drilling. We take many pictures of the drilling focusing especially on getting pictures of the couples working together (on the left are Jeremy and Sara; to the right and below are Peter and Rose), I get my picture taken with Cathy. All in all we have managed to go 25' through rock the whole way which is unheard of, but many of us have heavy hearts at leaving the job unfinished. However after a community meeting the locals decide that they are interested in pursuing the well without us, working together to create a project that will be all their own. Melchizedeck has already agreed that he is willing to come back and help them with the WFA method or failing that, he will bring his drilling rig and if a few basic conditions are met (deeding the land on which the well stands to the community so that it will truly be a community well and making sure that everyone has access) he will gladly drill for free. This coming together of the community to find it’s own solution might actually be the best thing that could have happened in this frustrating situation and to further lighten our hearts the women start to sing and dance, clapping their hands and lifting their voices in a lively call and response (I have included video of their singing at the end of the blog). Tomorrow we will be leaving Kapati and heading back to Nairobi.