How to Pass Monkey Inspection

Our lady pilot - she was cool. The cockpit was so close I could practically reach inside from my seat.

Can you see the runway in the distance? Amazing! I took this shot from my seat.

Samburu

We flew from Nairobi on Friday April 22nd sometime around 10am. Nairobi was nice and quiet as it was a National holiday so we had the roads to ourselves.  We were setting of for our first family Safari, 3 days in Samburu about 6 hours drive north east of Nairobi.  In about one hour we'd flown there and arrived fresh and ready for animal spotting.

Samburu is particularly known for the Blue Legged Ostrich, Oryx, Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy's Zebra and probably some other animals that I am leaving off this list. So as soon as we jumped off the plane we were ready. 

 



Hilarious duty free shop on the runway at Samburu airstrip



Dad, mom and me in the safari van early one morning

weaver birds have made this tree a home - they make a new nest every year so lots of them are empty

We were lucky it rained mostly in the evening so the rivers were full in the morning but clear by the afternoon.  The colours in Samburu were beautiful deep, dark reds and browns.

Warthog in flight. My dad's favourite safari animal.  The Swahili word for Warthog is Pumba. Go Lion King.

We set off early one morning and were lucky to spot 3 cheetahs. They had collars around their necks, which wasn't the case in the Mara, but they tag them in Samburu because there are so few Cheetahs that the park rangers like to see their migration patterns and see where they go

Samburu was full of amazing little birds - thanks to Steve's camera I was able to capture some pretty good shots :)

The shadow of our safari van, early one morning

The Oryx

Yellow Starling I think this one is called. I don't know how they manage to not get stuck on one of those needles.  Looks dangerous territory to me!  Stinging Acacia trees are evil!



This is the vulturine ginneafowl. There were loads of them and they didn't look so vulture like to me.  They also liked hanging out in the trees



The other wonderful think about Samburu compared to the Mara is the landscape, my parents and I are big on landscapes so we were really pleased that between animal spottings we got to enjoy this amazing countryside!

So monkey inspection starts with baboons. First they like to sit on the bride. The do this only early in the morning before anything really gets moving. They make it know who is boss by staying in the road for as long as they can.  There's a border between the Buffalo Springs national park and the Samburu National Reserve just before this bridge, and they've painted some animals onto the wall to make it look pretty - turns out the baboons were scared for weeks because they'd painted a really big lion on the wall. How cute!  Baboon, however, are not so cute. They have blue bottoms and are generally pretty ugly.  They do flee inspection early in the morning too, just like the monkeys that you'll see in a bit.



Right - so here we go this is MONKEY INSPECTION  - baboon style. It's a rigours and thorough checking and picking process that involves finding flees, picking them out of the fur and getting rid of them one by one. No one seems to be embarrassed about this, so well done them in the name of personal hygiene! Baboons can take up any number of positions during flee inspection, on their stomachs, backs, on all fours, up a tree, the options are endless....



The Grevy's Zebra - they have a white belly, large ears and its stripes are narrower than other Zebras. These guys are only found in Ethiopia and Kenya so we were lucky to spot a few.  Unlike in the Mara these guys seem to travel alone, i think it's mostly because we only spotted males.  Not sure where the females and babies were hiding out. These guys are considered endangered because their population since the 70's has gone down from 15k to 3k, but the numbers have stabilised since 2008 so I am guessing that's a good thing.

This guy needs no introductions.

The Reticulated Giraffe! These guys seem to have larger, deeper coloured spots with thicker white lines between them compared to the Rothchild Giraffes we saw in the Mara. These guys are native to Northern Kenya, Somalia and southern Ethiopia.  They're great and we saw several of them, including one group of 5!

We went for a nature walk with some of the park rangers. Nature walk consisted of really random things, but most frequently pointed out and most noteworthy was how often these guys talked about dung. They loved examining dung, asking us what we thought the disposer of said poo had eaten, etc.  We saw some wild animals whilst we were off on our walk but nothing predatory, which I think was quite lucky, given earlier that same day we'd seen cheetahs, but not to worry, we're safe!

Weaver bird love birds

This little guy was hanging out outside our tent.  The monekys at Larsen's Camp were really cheeky and would try and get food from inside the tent in so many ways. We had to zip up our tent and also put our mat to cover the zippers as these little guys have learned how to open tents.  So cleaver!  Our waiter, who was assigned to us for our entire visit, would bring tea, coffee and cookies each morning.  Without fail, the monkeys would do anything they could to get in and grab some! 

Reticulated Giraffe

wonderful views of white capped Mt. Kenya one morning - not a cloud in the sky!

Departure day breakfast with Champagne, good bye Larsen's Camp we were so sad to leave!

Safari Van

Joshua, our wonderful driver who took care of us for all 3 days

The Samburu people who were there to welcome some people who had just arrived in Samburu on the day we were leaving. I love how close they get to the airplane.

When we departed Samburu we didn't have to show any ID or plane ticket to board the plane, they just let us get on.  It was like no other flight I've ever taken before. The flight landed on the runway and we threw our own luggage into the hold and jumped on.  Very cool. On the plane we met the same American family we'd seen on our way to Samburu. They'd gone to another camp.  Kenya can be a small world sometimes!

Final thoughts - Monkey Insepction - I love how this guy has his tail in the air and the ohter guy has his face in the little monkey's butt. too funny. This was taken right outside our tent.


 

Goodbye Larsen's Camp, we'll miss you!

I found paradise

 It is called LAMU

Mom, Dad and I set off to Lamu on Easter Monday the 25th of April. Destination: The Majlis on Manda Island - part of the Lamu Archipelago. The Majlis started out as this Italian guy's house so it's built all exactly the way he wanted it. Then they bought two other plots of land and built houses they intended to sell. They said there was a 'crash' in Lamu and the houses didn't sell so they turned it into a 25 bedroom hotel. We had a suite in the main villa with beachfront access and view to Shela on Lamu Island where we stayed for 4 days.

Swimming Pool by the main villa - the arches you see are casts from an Indian temple

To heaven...and beyond! The view from this little bed which is right by the pool looks directly onto the Indian Ocean. Just picture the views, the ocean breeze and you with a Dawa. Mmm!

This boat is how workers get from Lamu Island to Manda Island every day. My parents and I got a kick out of watching them try to pack it even more full than you see it here. The boat looks like it's sinking already doesn't it!

We went for a walk up the beach one day, lovely white beaches, clear water, not many people and red skies. I'm wearing a scarf/pareo that has the country of Kenya on it. Lamu now gets a star by it :)

This mosque was also just up from our hotel - i love the colours and the boat in the front. Can't remember the last time I saw a mosque and boat photo...

Off to Lamu old town we went with a tour guide - Abdullah aka "Bob"- to show us the way. Abdullah has lived in Lamu since he was 8 and he was over 55 for sure. The tour was pretty average but it did allow us to walk around without having to be concerned about getting lost, plus we had the added bonus of getting to meet the people he knew (almost everyone) and watch him do his food shopping along the way - borrowing money here and there along the way. One time as I was buying water for my parents and I he ordered a bottle and let me pick up the tab. Cheeky. Anyway Bob did a good job of showing us the shops which, let's face it, was really all I was interested in. Lamu is like a poor sister of Fez - similar idea of donkey transport, medina houses with high walls and courtyards but the whole place isn't very well taken care of and there's no where near as much character or life as in Fez. Needless to say after buying a few prezzies at some wonderful shops we set off for Manda Island on our private little boat. Bliss.

Bob on the right with a hat, I like this photo because the Pineapples on the left remind you that i'm in Africa and not in Morocco....

Arabia meets Africa where people carry things on their heads

Nothing goes to waste in this place - 2 boys playing checkers with bottle tops. They were really friendly and had a good chat with us when I asked what they were up to and if I could take their photo.

Nice little boat we were taken around in - we used this to Island hop and for our private tour around Lamu Island which we enjoyed on our last day in the Lamu Archipelago

The beach the boat took us to on our tour of Lamu Island - Mom, Dad and I went for a walk along the beach and mom and I went for a swim. In our hour or so of exploring we only saw 1 other human being. Lots of crabs, but only 1 human. I will never forget this day with my parents, it was amazing. Dad was occupied by photographing little pink crabs about 3-4 inches in length that moved from left to right as opposed to front to back. We also found 2 sand dollars and one of those coil shells. The kinds of shells you buy in Florida. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to see this place.

The Lamu 'Mobile Home' - a couple of these we saw had porter loos outside the back which hanged over the ocean

Little kids that posed for me to take their photo - so cute

 

Beautifully coloured Mosque in a very very poor village we went to visit. The children above live in this village. There are no desks in the schools and very limited amounts of electricity provided by 1 or 2 solar panels which were purchased for 20,000 bob - about 145 GBP

Mom made a special request that the boat take us to see the mangroves - really glad she did! Look at how these things grow straight out of the ocean water! They use mangroves everywhere to build houses, etc. I still can't imagine how they cut them and how they make them straight when you see all these mangroves in their natural element curving everywhere.

Daddy waving goodbye - Kwaheri as they say in Swahili

We can't wait to go back and stay at the Majlis again some day - and soon!

K is for Kibera, Kiambu and 'K'arnivores

Saturday I went back to Kibera. This time for a fundraiser for the African Health Community Programme. One of the ADPers met Carolyn who volunteers at the Community Programme and asked us to join.

The theme was world food so I decided to bring an American cake - white cake with chocolate icing. For the first time ever I made icing from scratch and it came out really well if I don't say so myself. All I could find was a heart shaped cake tin, funny because my colleagues encountered the same issue so everything we brought was in a heart shaped dish. Who would have guessed it? I think the cake went down well because it was all finished by the time we got back from our walk around Kibera.

So AHCP works with kids and women in Kibera. The kids come for reading and homework assistance and the women come to learn about entrepreneurship and Carolyn and the other interns (many from Germany) assist with raising awareness of business and marketing techniques. There were about 10 ladies dressed in traditional clothing who sat in a room at the back of the AHCP making beads and jewelry. Carolyn is currently helping them market their jewelry to foreign tastes. I sat with one of the ladies and she showed me all the steps. I had a great time. Here's how they do it.

1. get a magazine paper preferably with images only on 1 side so you can draw on the other side

2. mark 1 cm from the end of the page and from there form isosceles triangles with a base of 2cm. Continue to mark the entire page.
3. Cut the triangles
4. roll the triangles starting at the wide base, roll tightly until you have the magazine triangle wound up around itself.
5. Glue the tip closed when you get to the end of the triangle
6. Glaze the beads
7. Let hang dry
8. Thread the beads and use other plastic beads in between to make a pretty pattern
9. Sell

I really enjoyed having the old lady teach me how to make the beads. I will never forget the moment where she used her teeth to try to loosen a piece of metal that was stuck to one of the beads. Ouch! She was so kind and so patient with teaching me and was so pleased when I was able to successfully wind the magazine paper - I loved it. I bought a few to help support the center.

ACHP needs to find a sustainable income source and they're hoping these beads will be it - I'm sure Carolyn will do a great job marketing them and I will definitely be going back to get gifts for friends back home. After the world food day and a peruse of the necklaces, we set off for a tour of Kibera. This one was different from the last - more open sewers, more trash, more disease. I'm glad though that more people got to see it. I think it's important to know how these people live. We need to be aware of the reality of it all, even if just by visiting for 1 afternoon.

Sunday I went to Kiambu which is just north of Nairobi. I got to ride in a UN car which made the whole experience of going over pot holes positively pleasant - crazy stuff! I learned that number plates with 28 are US and 29 are UK or something like that and that any car with the a diplomatic plate and a number 1 on the right hand side of the number plate is the ambassador. We went to see waterfalls, caves and picnic. The place is modelled off Paradise Lost - very pretty! I was also happy to spend some time with people who have other jobs here in Kenya working with refugees or doing medical research. It was a really good break from my ususal everyday and I learned a lot! Did you know the USA has 35,000 refugee spots / year or that Australia doesn't accept refugees with HIV aids. We had some really interesting debates about the ethics of this, about medicine in the US and about life in Kenya in general. I really enjoyed it. As we were picnicing Micah, one of our expat friends, was eating a sandwich and a hawk from mid air swoops down and takes the sandwich from her MOUTH! It's talon clipped her lip. Outrageous! I have never heard of such a thing happening!

Monday of this week - April 18th - was one of the best days so far. I spent the day at an NGO conference and talked about ICT for Development. It's was a regional conference comprised of the East and South Africa regions and we talked about how they can use IT to support their business strategy. They asked me to participate and contribute, they extended their invitation to join them for the morning to stay on for the entire day and then today - Wednesday - they invited me to join them at Carnivore's for dinner. I can't believe that from 1 day with these people I feel so happy and fulfilled that I contributed. It makes such a change from my everyday job where I'm working so frequently - especially lately - on my own and without any client input. But that's a whole other discussion. I gave one of the necklaces I bought at AHCP to someone I met tonight at dinner, one of the guys from this conference I went to, to give to his daughter in the UK who has a disability. He was really nice and I know how hard they've been working all week and knew he wouldn't get time to go out to a market and get her anything. I hope she will like it.

Today (April 20th) my intern and I talked about lots - the law of trusts, the Geneva convention, the revolution of Egypt, the Kenyan elections of 2007 and Obama. I love what she said to me. She said that when Kibaki was elected she woke up with a sense of Euphoria - excitement that anything could happen, that anything was possible. She said that must be a small part of how Egyptians feel and that although they must feel even more, she gets it. I really liked that. I suppose the closest thing I have to compare it with is Obama, and even then I am pleased Bush is out and Obama is in power, but I didn't feel euphoric when it happened. I don't think we in developed countries with established governments can really understand how people like my intern felt or how Egyptians feel, but I'm happy to meet people who can share how they felt and how they feel with me. An Egyptian man I met on Monday told me, before I never bothered to vote we always knew Mubarak would win. He had people bused from town to town voting in favour of Mubarak. It could never be fair, but now he will vote and that the streets of Cairo are different. There is a sense of change and happiness amongst the population. He said he's happiest most for his kids and that they won't have to live through what he has lived through. That's amazing to me.

Other random Nairobi memories:

- sushi on a sunday
- coat and hat stands sold in the streets
- business cards
- the frequency of shaking hands
- 'Lightings' a style of hand clapping the director gives or instructs the room to give during process workhops
- Karaoke at Black Diamond on Tuesdays with songs like: "get down", "jambo, habari gani, misuri sana, wageni ... ", "waka waka"
- traffic like i've never experienced before in my life - it would scare me to add up all the time spent waiting in traffic
- fruit and vegetable produce in Kibera looks 100x nicer than the stuff I buy in the foodstore
- worlds biggest avocados each one for 20 cents