Road Trip to Lake Naivasha

Last weekend, Sonia, Kazungu, Laz and I made a road trip to Lake Naivasha and passed through the Great Rift Valley.  It was definitely one of my favorite days so far in Kenya and it was great to spend it with such good friends.

First stop:  The Great Rift Valley overlook.  I couldn't get Circle of Life out of my head.

Me, K & Laz.  No problems.

The view at the Rift Valley was amazing.  From there we took a winding road down into the valley and headed to Naivasha.  Much singing and rapping ensued.

At the lake we took a boat ride around and visited some hippos.  Hippos are shy.  Confirmed:  hippos are my favorite animals.

The boat then took us to Crescent Island, where Out of Africa was filmed.  I guess they left some giraffes and such behind after filming and they made a home there.  This is a strange place where you can walk around and chill with wild animals and have a picnic while wildebeest watch you.  It is also very, very cool.

This giraffe just strolled past me like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Laz then lost a foot race to Our Friend the Giraffe.

I love Kenya and don't want to leave in a month.  The End.

Oloo School

I present to you a short view of my neighborhood and ride to work here in Rongai.  Enjoy!

5 Things I Will Miss in Kenya

I’ll just go ahead and say it now—I’m not going to say anything about people I will miss.  Obviously I will miss my friends and coworkers here, but I’m sticking with the food, places, and things that cannot be replaced in Minnesota, at least not perfectly.

1.     Chapatti: 

Chapatti are sort of like flour tortillas, but thick, really soft, and fried.  They are sort of a means of getting food in your mouth here, and they are delicious.  Use them to soak up the rest of soup, make an African Taco (copyright 2015 Erin) by filling it with beans, or dip it in sauce.  It is just a really ideal food and I love it.

2.     Fresh mangoes:

At about 20 cents a pop, you cannot beat the fresh, sweet, huge mangoes that I can get at the shop down the street from my house.  There are mango juice stains on roughly 28% of my shirts at this point.

3.     Kitengela Glass factory:

See blog post.  This place is really cool and really close to my house.  I love the shop, the bridge over the gorge, and the crazy cabins.

4.     Random animals on the street:

Goats and sheep chill by the dozen on the field across the street.  Donkeys pull carts down the road.  Sonia saw a camel by her house.  Cats find us and move into the apartment building (I’m aunt to a cat named MJ who constantly escapes her owner’s room and comes crying at my door for cookies).  Warthogs eat trash in the gutter.  Baboons play by the river with their babies.  Zebras hang out behind the school I worked at.  Cows cause frequent traffic jams.  A one-armed monkey sneaks into ANU dorms and steals bananas.  Chickens meander. It’s a zoo and I love it.

5.     Tailors

Basically, it costs about 12 dollars to have anything I want made perfectly to my specifications.  That is all I have to say. 

6 More Real Weeks

Now that I am preparing to finish work (one month left!), pack up and leave Kenya, I am starting to think about the things that I am really excited to see and do when I am back home.  Life here is pretty good, but Minnesota is home to some things that just cannot be replicated no matter how hard I try.  I have made a little list so that you can all doubly appreciate these wondrous things.

11.      Target.  Need I say more?  I’m fairly certain this was also on the top of my America list when I was in Guatemala.  Target is just the best.  Nakumatt tries, but simply does not match up.

22.      24-hour food.  Sometimes I get hungry after 9 pm, due to the fact that I am a human.  In Rongai, that means I am screwed.  Trust me, I have tried.  I have searched every corner of this town and after 8:30 or so, Pizza Inn closes and I am out of luck.

a.       Late-night food delivery.  That Pizza Inn at 8:30 also involves a 20-minute bus ride into the middle of Rongai.

b.      Via a mobile app.  Sometimes you just don’t feel like talking to another person, ya know? I AM NOT ASHAMED

33.       Various foods at the Bulldog NE.  Namely, the deep-fried caramel roll, but also including chicken and waffles (yes, I am willing to wait longer), pork belly tacos, and truffle fries.  These items cannot be duplicated.

44.       Reliably hot shower.  Hot water hours seem to run around 10 am- 3 pm, so If I come home filthy after a day of riding public transit and I work before ten the next day, I am going to smell.  Yes, I could take a cold shower.  No, I do not like it.  And as many of you know, I don’t often do things I don’t like.  Them’s the facts, folks. 

55.       Anonymity.  Having MZUNGU yelled at me whenever I go out gets a little old.  There are plenty of white people/foreigners/Kenyan Cowboys around Karen and Nairobi, but I am a bit of a rare breed here in Rongai.  My friends say walking with me through town and being stared at/ talked to is the weirdest experience.  I don’t feel unsafe and it is just a nuisance, but sometimes I just want to be ignored/ go out in my pajamas without feeling out of place.

I'll check in soon with 5 things I will miss the most!

6 weeks to go

Final 6 Weeks (of work!)

I am finally done traveling and have some time to work in the Nairobi area before I leave.  I’m trying to take advantage of what I have here in Rongai and see some new things, meet some new people, etc.

I googled around on the internet and found an organization for deaf livelihoods really close to my house, so I checked that out last week.  I met some other expats working there and discovered that they have a craft shop where a group of artisans makes beautiful jewelry.  I ordered a custom bracelet and get to pick it up this week!  It was cool to see a well-run organization just about a mile from my house that I never knew was there.

I also explored a tailor in town and got a really nice suit jacket made for about 7 dollars.  I think I am going to overwhelm them with orders for the rest of my trip.  As you know, I have amassed quite the collection of fabric since I arrived here.  

I am also working on getting the Raspberry Pi set up for school use, which involves getting some equipment such as a TV screen.  I am trying to keep this as cheap as possible, so that the project can be scaled up to our other projects.  This involves taking a friend into town and hiding while they haggle for the best price.  Otherwise I will get a mzungu price, which might be twice as expensive. 

I’ll let you know what treasures I find.

Lodwar Video

For the second week in a row, I'm posting an Erin-eye view of what the town around one of my sites looks like.  Enjoy Lodwar, in the north of Kenya!

Western by Bike

It's a video blog!  Today I want to show you what the area of western Kenya that I work in looks look, from the viewpoint of a boda boda.

Enjoy!