Sorry this post is a little late, but I just got back from my minivacation yesterday! I took the week off to do some traveling around Kenya with friends. Last Tuesday I caught a ride into Nairobi with one of the Nyumbani cars (which was very convenient because then I didn’t have to catch a matatu ride the next day on my own) and a volunteer who was flying out the next day. We spent the afternoon eating some great burgers, fries and milkshakes at the Karen mall before going to visit the Giraffe Center. The Giraffe center is a facility in the Karen area of the city, where you can go and feed/pet/hang out with giraffes. I got some great pics and it was awesome to get so close! The girl I was with got mildly headbutted by the female giraffe (apparently females are more aggressive than males, go figure) but she ended up being fine and just made friends with a friendly male giraffe named Ed instead. After the giraffes, we ventured back to the Nyumbani home where we relaxed and I packed for my departure the next day. On Wednesday morning I caught I taxi into city center where I caught a matatu (public vans) to Nanyuki. The drive was only a couple areas and I had the front seat to myself, which was much better than being squished in the back of the van. The scenery along the way was very beautiful and green. Nanyuki is due north from Nairobi and when I arrived I called a taxi to take me to Mpala Research Center. Mpala is where my good friend from school and fellow Princeton in Africa fellow, Sally works and lives. It is home to many Princeton researchers and students doing summer work or study abroad programs. The drive to Mpala was on a dirt road surrounded by savannah and on my ride I spotted giraffes, zebras and camels. The facilities at Mpala were very impressive and it was great to see Sally! That night there was a “sundowner” where about 30 people from the center (there was an ecohydrology conference also going on with many foreign researchers) drove out to a scenic cliff area about 20 minutes into the Mpala reserve, where dinner and drinks had been set up. We ate, drank and talked while the sun set over the mountains. I even saw two of my former Princeton professors from the ENV department. It was a weird déjà vu seeing them in that setting, but also cool to catch up.
Ed the Giraffe and I at the Giraffe Center in Karen
The next day I got to go out with the elephant researcher for an elephant drive. We drove basically the entirety of the ranch for hours searching for the elephants. The land was beautiful and although I only saw 1 elephant up close, we also came across giraffes, gazelles, zebras, monkeys, dikdiks, and warthogs. It was like my own private free safari. It was awesome! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and later we exercised in the center’s gym, which looks out at Mt. Kenya. It was my first viewing of the mountain, and I hope this spring I have a chance to climb it.
Giraffes in Mpala
On Friday, after packing up, myself, Sally and four other Mpala researchers rode back to Nanyuki where we stocked up on supplies and picked up 3 other friends before beginning our journey to Lake Naivasha for the Rift Valley Music Festival. Naivasha is about an hour outside Nairobi, but from Nanyuki we had to drive through Nyahururu and then down to Lake Naivasha. We arrived just after dark, after 6 hours in the van, after finally finding our camp along the shore of the lake. We stayed at Camp Carnellys, a campsite/hotel right next to the Fisherman’s Camp, the site of the festival. We set up our tents in the dark near two other Princeton in Africa fellows. That night we grabbed some dinner and headed to the festival where there was lots of live music, foods and promotional tents. The majority of the people seemed to be ex-pats from all over the globe. It was definitely the largest group of wazungu (foreigners) I had seen since my arrival haha. Later that night, four other fellows arrived from Nairobi. It was awesome to catch up with them, seeing as we hadn’t seen each other since orientation in Princeton back in June. I didn’t get much sleep that night or the next as the music from the concerts went on until 6am each morning. It definitely wasn’t a restful weekend but it was great fun! When I got out of the tent on Saturday morning, I was shocked by the landscape. We had arrived too late the night before to see our surroundings but now I saw we were literally camped yards from the gigantic lake. It was beautiful. Saturday daytime was spent eat breakfast and lounging in the cushy restaurant at our campground. There was a lounge area with pillows and low benches, which we referred to as the VIP lounge and where we spent much of the day and night. We also explored near the lake and hung around will the other Princeton in Africa fellows who were camped right next to us. Two more arrived that afternoon as well. It was a great place and event for a reunion. We ventured over to the festival in the afternoon to see some shows and check out the vendors. We ate dinner at the camp restaurant again where I got a great plate of nachos, something I haven’t had in a long time haha. The rest of the night was spent dancing and socializing in the late hours before attempting to sleep through the loud music next door. After a lazy morning on Sunday, I headed back to Nairobi with the Nairobi fellows. I stayed the night with two of the girls in their apartment in Kilimani. It was interesting to see how different their home is from mine haha. Their apartment was super nice with hot showers, kitchen appliances, a pool, laundry, tv etc. We went to the movie theater at the nearby mall with some other friends and saw Guardians of the Galaxy. I was hesitant that it would be a stupid superhero movie but it ended up being a hilarious comedy that is definitely worth watching. We then got frozen yogurt. It was like we were right back at home. The movies and yogurt place looked exactly like those in the USA. It was nice to spoil myself a little bit and splurge on some home comforts. I realized how completely different my year would be if I lived in a city. It was very interesting to hear about other people’s jobs and daily lives. Many are much different from my village life. On Monday though I found myself very excited to return to the village and get back to work and my normal routine. I caught a ride back with Sister Mary and today, Tuesday, is my first full day back. I have much to catch up on and many projects to continue with. It is much quieter now though because the kids have started back up school today and over this past week, all but two volunteers have departed. We have two more coming at the end of this week though, but now it seems as though the number of guests will stay low as the fall continues. Summer is a high time for volunteers. I am busy this week preparing for many day guests/groups interested in touring the village. Anyway, I will update you all next week! Xx Maggie
PiaF Fellows at the campsite
View of Lake Naivasha from our tent
Group of August Volunteers (all but two have now departed)
(from L to R: Omar-Spain, Amelia-UK, Isabel-Spain, Me, Fafi-Spain, Ana-Spain, Sandra-Spain, and Alba-Spain)
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