Driving to Nairobi

Being back in Kenya has been nice.  Driving through the country past the countless traffic police and NOT being waved over for an inspection, or being waved over simply for a chat and a joke, has been a relief.  Bruno and I have finally been able to unwind.  Kenya has allowed us to slow down and finally begin to feel like we are on holiday.

There is one factor driving us forward faster than we might go otherwise – our desire to head quickly for the coast.  Thoughts of coconut trees, a fresh salty breeze, the sound of waves washing up onto the sand, and the warm, humid sun propel us onwards…. Especially the warm, humid sun.  Kenya has been enjoyable, but cold!  We’ve been on the plateau of the Rift Valley, meaning altitudes of generally more than 2000m, and that makes for very cold evenings and crisp mornings!  Much of my morning involved sunning myself to defrost my limbs, and throughout the day I continuously pull off or on layers of clothing, constantly adjusting myself to the outside temperature.  Camping is not as easy as living in a climate-controlled house!

Yet, despite our goal of heading quickly to the coast, we have still managed to see visit lots of places and see lots of Kenyan things in the last 15 days.  Our trip started after the Suan River border in Kitale.  After having a very difficult time finding Karibuni Lodge, we spent two nice days there.  Every evening, we went up to the main house to have a filling communal dinner with everyone, and in the daytime we wandered around the quiet, tree-filled neighborhood.  It was really nice to get to walk around without having to worry about safety or be oppressed by cars, people, and jarring city noises everywhere.  Kitale town, however, was chaotic, overpopulated, noisy and dirty, so we limited our visit to a single trip to stock up at the massive grocery stores in town.

We then journeyed to Eldoret, the fifth largest city in Kenya.  We bought some cheese at a famous cheese factory and visited our first proper mall in months (oh the luxury!).  I took advantage of the phone signal to talk to my family for the holidays, as, up to that point, connecting had proven to be very difficult.  We spent 3 nights, including New Year’s Eve, at Naiberi Lodge, outside town.  The lodge had so much potential, as it was situated along a little creek, had lots of birds and greenery, two different campsites, a swimming pool, decent facilities, and a really cool restaurant and bar in a real cave!  Apparently the locals of Eldoret also saw potential in the place, because every day by noon, the restaurant and swimming pool were filled with day-trippers, and the thumping, bass-heavy music belonged more a club than a campsite.  The lodge’s logo of “Back to Nature” certainly didn’t fit!  Nonetheless, before journeying onwards, Bruno and I took advantage of the special ambience of the cave restaurant to ring in the New Year with a yummy Indian meal.

On New Year’s Day, we drove to Nakuru, which is a popular stop on the tourist trail due to its famous national park.  Unfortunately, as is the problem throughout Kenya (and East Africa is general), national parks are so expensive that only rich people on 2-week holidays can afford to blow the more than $100 a day to be inside.  So, we sidestepped the national park and opted to do a transit night on a farm.  It was actually quite nice, with cool birds, picturesque horses and cows, colorful flowers, and photogenic traditional houses.  Made for some good photos!

And then, the stop to top all stops – Lake Naivasha.  There are many, many lakes in the Rift Valley of Kenya, but Lake Naivasha is one of only two which contains fresh water.  For that reason, and because its high elevation, it has a unique micro-ecosystem, with lots of birds and hippos.  I was very happy to hear the infamous “hippo laughter” after several months of city sounds!  Our campsite was also home to a family of black and white colobus monkeys, which I had never spotted up-close as of yet.  It was fabulous to get to observe their habits of sleeping in the tree behind us and, in the mornings, jumping from tree to tree, their long white fur stretching out like wings.

Because it is a fresh-water lake, Naivasha supplies its water to a gigantic flower industry.  All along the main road are greenhouses filled with exotic flowers that get picked every morning, flown to Europe, and are on the market by mid-afternoon the same day.  Seeing this massive industry, its negative effect on the ecosystem of the lake and its economic impact on thousands of workers, the process of buying a simple flower for a loved one becomes a complex affair.

On January 6^th, we celebrated Bruno’s birthday by hiking up to the summit of Mt. Longonot, a dormant volcano (another common features in the Rift Valley) not far from Lake Naivasha.  At a height of 2780m, Bruno thought this hike would be a breeze, but in fact, it wasn’t.  There are two very steep, veryslippery sections to reach the crater rim, and I wasn’t sure whether I would make it (I didn’t even want to think about how to get down!).  But we did reach the rim and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the hidden world within the volcano.  Since it hasn’t erupted since the 1860s, a thick layer of trees had grown inside the crater, camouflaging the baboons and klipspringers that live within.

The rim, however, was not the mid-way point of the trek, for we had decided to walk all the way around the rim.  In theory, this meant adding another 7.2km to our walk, but in reality, this meant adding the steepest and rockiest climb I’ve probably ever done to our day.  I often had to hold on to rocks around me in order to pull myself up or to ease myself down, and more than once I opted to slide down the path in a unique way – knees bent, with my bottom almost to the ground, sliding on the soles of my shoes!  Bruno enjoyed the walk, but I think he had more fun taking funny photos of me trying to keep my balance!  Following our 4.5hr 15km walk, Bruno and I were ready to celebrate his birthday with a nice meal at the lodge restaurant, a big glass of wine, and an early night!

After driving hundreds of kilometers from the border, on good roads and bad, through dirty little villages, large cities, and farms, past mountains, lakes, and volcanoes (dominated by the very lovely and prominent Mt. Longonot), we arrive in Nairobi.  Our plan remains to head to the coast, but on the way, we plan to continue enjoying all that Kenya has to offer.  Stay tuned for more Kenya blogs!