The end of the dirt roads

We relaxed at St Andrew’s for a couple of days before catching a ride on their school bus to Nairobi. The day before we left (5th of Feb), we finally cancelled our flight to Cairo (scheduled for the 7th of Feb) and booked new flights to Istanbul with budget airline Air Arabia. They were at least $500 US cheaper than other airlines. You can buy a lot of on-board snacks and drinks for $500!! We had arranged to stay with Edwyn & Edna Kiptinness in Nairobi. Edwyn is the chairperson of A Rocha Kenya’s National Board. I had been in frequent email contact with him during the National Director recruitment process, so it was nice to meet them in person. They had a full, busy house, with three boarders and two older children still at home. But they somehow managed to squeeze us in (I think some people got kicked out of their room!). We had calm, peaceful days in Nairobi, travelling only once into the city centre with Kimutai, their youngest son. He was successfully managing to juggle research for a Masters in biochemistry and an ever-growing cake making business at home. He kindly showed us around and took us to where I could get my lenses replaced. For $2 I had my eyes rechecked (my left worsening just a little) and POWW! I had new lenses installed 3 hours later for only $35. We were happily surprised not to be mugged or beaten during our stay but only narrowly missed being conned by a laundry powder scam and smooth talking, sob-story telling Zimbabwean.

Spotted when we arrived last year, I had to get a photo of this Nairobian chemist

Before we knew it the time to leave Kenya had come, two days shy of six months. At the airport we used up our remaining credit calling Henry and Colin who were on their way back from a birding adventure at the Tana River Delta. I had hoped to have one last Bitter Lemon soda before we flew out. Bitter Lemon is like a mixture of Lift and Tonic water or a bit like liquid marmalade – refreshing and delicious. However, the only store in the terminal didn’t stock it and we weren’t allowed out of the terminal. We munched on our stack of chapattis we had brought with us. At least we had those ‘very sweet’ oily rounds to savour as we waited for take off. Kwaheri Kenya!!

In the Jungle..

There was no time for rest for these weary travellers. The next morning we set off from St Andrews again, this time heading further west to Kakamega Forest – the largest remaining rainforest in Kenya. As we approached Kericho, we entered into tea country. Field after field was covered in a well-manicured sea of green. Hundreds of workers were out picking tea leaves into their woven baskets. Surprisingly beautiful. We continued west to Kisumu and Lake Victoria. As we climbed our way up from Kisumu, we pulled over to confirm we were on the right track and stalled the vehicle. It was here on these steep slopes we experienced the beast’s unwillingness to restart after it had been driven for any length of time. After my attempted reverse hill-start almost got us into further trouble, we had no choice but to wait for the car to cool down.

Ohhh, I'd luve a bush of tea

We wondered across the road to a store outside an orphanage and cooled ourselves down with a larger Bitter Lemon. Anna had a good opportunity to try her Swahili on the locals as we waited. Finally after about 20 minutes the engine kicked in and we were on the road again.

As well as visiting the forest, we hoped to visit Joanne Moyer. She had been conducting research about how people learn in faith-based development and conservation organisations. She began at A Rocha for three months before going to Kaimosi to research the Rural Service Programme of the East Africa that is run by a group of Quakers. We had become friends and we had missed hassling her since she had left. As usual, time was running out and the sun setting so we had to cut our visit short to make to the forest in time. We, however, missed the turnoff (because the sign faced the other way) and drove an extra 20 km in the wrong direction. It was almost dark, we weren’t actually sure where the camp grounds were and didn’t like the idea of setting up camp in the pitch black, so we headed back to Joanne who was most happy to have us stay. The next morning we were meant to be away by 6:30 AM to meet up with a guide who would take us around the forest. We slept in! We packed up supper fast, ate chapattis with bananas for breakfast on the road and ended up only 30 minutes late. Our guide, Job, took us for a 4 hour walk through the forest showing us four species of monkey, loads of birds, butterflies and plants. The definite highlights were super tall trees and Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill. This huge bird taps on branches causing chameleons to change colour and thus reveal themselves. Very clever! Joanne had left her head-light at a guesthouse a few weeks earlier so we decided to be kind and drop it off to her on the way back. A good thing too, as in our rush to get away that morning we had left behind our pillows!

That bill means business

The ants go marching one by one million. Safari ants pack quite a punch if you mess with their march

We farewelled Joanne for the last time and headed home determined to arrive before dark. On the long drive back we discovered another quirk with the beast. If you hold the clutch in too long, the gear box seems to ‘fall out’ and the engine turns off for a few seconds before the momentum kick-starts it again followed with the smell of burning oil or rubber. Was a bit scary the first few times but I soon learned how to avoid it. We also decided to pick a couple hitchhikers on the way back. Before we knew it, four people had crammed in the back. They were grateful to get a lift to the next town in their search for work.

And what would you know; we arrived back in Turi 30 minutes before dark. We had travelled over 1000 kms in the past 5 days, all made possible by the generosity of the Johnsons!

Caving in

Anna and I are generally cautious characters. We usually play it safe and stick to what we know. But occasionally we step out and take a risk. It was one such time that Wednesday morning. Rather than choosing to climb the popular and well-marked Mt Longonot we decided upon Mt Suswa, a double-crater peak with caves on its lower slopes. There are no marked roads to Mt Suswa, which is surrounded by private Maasai land. The only way to get there is to ask for a guide in one of the surrounding villages. We summoned the courage and asked some guys hanging out at a cobbler’s shop. It took us a few goes before we successfully communicated our request and one of the men took us to a general store. He didn’t speak any English and we little Swahili, but we got the idea that we would need to wait for the store owner to return and sort us out. Indeed, the store owner spoke excellent English and arranged for her younger brother to be our guide. Their family lives and farms up on the plateau between the two crater rims. Rueben must have been around 18 years old and had just finished primary school (Year 9 in NZ). He hoped to go to secondary school soon and guiding helped pay the school fees. In fact, he dreams of studying to be doctor to help care for Kenyans that live far away from any doctor surgeries or hospitals.

Parked on the precipice

We had no idea that we would drive for the next 1.5 hours on narrow, rutted, potholed and sandy dirt roads, up and over the outer crater wall. Without the beast we would have been stuck. We parked at the bottom of a ravine that marked the beginning of the inner crater and hiked up spotting some gazelle and rock hyrax along the way. Once we reached the first peak we realised we wouldn’t have enough time to reach the summit and visit the caves. After admiring the view we turned back. On the way to the caves we stopped at his brother’s inkajijik (house). It was so dark inside that I nearly sat on the baby! At just a short walk from their house, Rueben also showed us how they condensed steam from thermal activity into pure drinking water – a saviour in times of drought.

Summit of Mt Suswa in the background

Reuben and the water condensation device

The caves were created by volcanic activity and still display evidence of their past. They are now home to thousands of bats and baboons by night. As we approached the entrances we bumped into a group of Moran Maasai in their full colourful dress (possibly coming back from cattle rustling?). Down we went into the dark abyss armed with a windup torch and a clip-on book light between the three of us. From the onset these caves had our olfactory senses under heavy assault. First it was the Baboon Parliament (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00639mr), where baboons come to sleep at night and then it was the foot deep guano as we got closer to the bats. It was bad enough having to crawl through the stuff at certain points but when it started getting down my shoes and into my open blisters, I was not a happy caver. We explored the various rooms and caverns for a couple hours before returning to the fresh air.

Baboon parliament in the caves

Weird lava twists that look like tree roots

We dropped Reuben at the main road, wishing him all the best for his schooling and began the long journey back to Turi. As usual we didn’t give ourselves enough time and it was getting dark. My glasses lenses had also been etched by the dust, limiting the visibility even more. As we hoofed it home, I joined the ranks of crazy Kenyan drivers, performing manoeuvres that would cost me my license back at home. Anna feared for her life on a couple occasions (e.g. oncoming truck over-taking another truck on a blind-corner with a cliff to our left) and we tried not to think about the warning they gave us just before we left about the potential for carjacking roadblocks. But we made it back safe and sound even though we got lost on the last stretch. We were both relieved to be back at the Johnsons that night.