5/15 Off to Nairobi! I gotta admit I was (I needed some reassurance during my ride to the airport) and still am a little freaked out. But I think the only way you really grow is by challenging yourself and thus here we go... A fella by the name of Smilely picked me up from the airport for the drive to Karen Camp. He is called Smilely because he laughs so much...and it is absolutely contagious. A perfect welcome! He also showed me around Nairobi a little - I gotta see Maasai people in the city with their cows and many slums (including kids living alone in shacks)... It was truly humbling, but I loved it. I am in Africa. When I got to Karen Camp I met nearly everyone who would be on my trip with me. There are about a dozen of us, mostly young professionals from Australia, NZ and the UK. I am the lone American and thus I gotta represent! We then went for dinner at Carnivore, a Nairobi institution where you eat all kinds of crazy meat!
5/16 A chill day around Karen, a suburb of Nairobi. Went to the grocery store. I like venturing to grocery stores in places I visit because you can learn quite a bit about a place by the grocery stores (the people who shop there, what they buy, the organization of the store...). And it is so lush here - beautiful flowers everywhere! But there is also a lot of security, particularly dudes with big guns. Not sure how I feel about that...
5/17 Drive day to Nakuru. I gotta see some amazing views of the Rift Valley, but also saw more poverty... Yet people are so friendly. They, especially kiddies, love waving and smiling at us. And it costs me nothing to wave and smile back. And there sure are a lot of churches in these parts. We ended our day at a campsite just outside of Nakuru called Kembo Camp. It is rather rural, next to a dairy farm, and so I am in my element. And I, a person who sorta of lacks kitchen skills, made the best stuffing ever for dinner tonight.
5/18 Game drive in Nakuru National Park. One of the best $90 ever spent for over 12 hours of driving around and seeing so many animals up close - rhinos, water buffalo, baboons, lions, lots and lots of birds including flamingos, zebras, giraffes...and more pretty flowers...and crazy weather that changed basically every ten minutes. Just a great day! I am totally blessed.
5/19 Drive day to Eldoret...and thus more beautiful countryside and happy people. And we did our first cross of the Equator today (I guess we are going to go back and forth a bit over the next couple weeks). And Kenyans love Obama...and thus they love me since I am from his country. :) I also believe these smaller cities and towns we travel through kind of look like they belong in the Wild West (see fences, unpaved roads and such in photos). We finished our day with a visit to Ken Knit, a clothing factory with hints of a sweatshop (saw clothing and blankets made from start to finish - I learned a lot), and then parked it at the beautiful Naiberi River Camp and proceeded to stuff our bellies with some wondrous Indian food. Favorite Brendon (he is our tour driver) quote of the day: "It is as simple as shitting in your bed and then kicking it out with your feet."
5/20 What? I actually have some bug bites. I never get bug bites! Anyway, today was another drive day. This time to Kampala, UGANDA! I cannot get enough of these drives. This part of the world is absolutely stunning. And here are a couple observations (these drives provide me with a lot of time to think): 1. You see a lot of aid organizations here, particularly U.S. Aid, UN, Red Cross and World Vision. They really are here... 2. The border crossing was a bit maddening, but very much a cool cultural experience and frankly not much more painful than crossing between the U.S. and Canada. 3. I might be wrong, but Uganda seems poorer than Kenya. Why do I think this? People seem dirtier, for a lack of a better word, here and wear more mangled clothes than in Kenya and there seems to be more children out of school (this totally saddens me and makes me think about why I am in my position...)... We also got pulled over by the police (they let us go) AND in a car accident (not bad) and subsequently caused a bit of traffic jam. Favorite Ros (fellow traveler) quote of the day (but she says it at least once a day): "Close your flaps!" Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Shut the fuck (sorry...) up, PLEASE!" Home for the night was the Red Chilli.
5/21 Drive day to QE2 National Park. We left Kampala EARLY (but we are up most days around sunrise)...and as a result we gotta see an absolutely beautiful sunrise and watch everyone else wake up with it. Today was also Malaria Thursday for me. I take my malaria meds once a week at lunch and usually the night after I take the pill I have some pretty wicked dreams. So tonight will likely be full of gnarly dreams. Caz, the wife of Brendon and our tour leader (they make a great team), filled us in on Uganda's nutty history. The people of Uganda are wonderful yet they have had a lot of shitty shit (sorry...) happen to them, particularly at the hands of horrible leaders (like the stellar Idi Amin). You feel for them. The current leader is supposedly better (but really how much so since he has been president for over two decades and I guess corruption is still rather common). However, Uganda does have one of the lowest HIV/AIDS infection rates in Africa due to measures taken by the government and aid organizations to combat it. Also, Islam is surprisingly common here (I would understand its presence along the coast of East Africa due to its proximity to the Middle East, but here in more inland Africa?)...thanks to Amin and his ties to Gaddafi. Anyway, I SAW MY FIRST AFRICAN ELEPHANT TODAY. I love elephants. I want one. And there was the most amazing sunset (we finished our day at Hippo Hill...it is called Hippo Hill because hippos tend to graze there at night...ummm...yeah...we will see how tonight goes...). So I started the day with an amazing sunrise and finished it with an amazing sunset. I love Africa. LOVE. IT.
5/22 T.I.A. Day. T.I.A. stands for This Is Africa. T.I.A. basically means anything and everything will likely happen. I did not sleep much last night due to the hippos outside (I was definitely a bit scared to hear them literally right outside the tent...but the funny thing is that I initially thought I was dreaming all the noise due to my malaria meds) and a hippo inside (my tent buddy is a loud sleeper...). We then went on a chimp walk...but we did not see any chimps. But I still had loads of fun trekking through the forest. We then went on a bumpy ass and rather rushed drive. And at one point we had to push the vans up a steep hill. But I thought it was brilliant because I was in Uganda pushing a van up a hill. We then finished our day with a great channel cruise to see hippos and other animals (including a pooping elephant...the kid in me loved it) at sunset. It was an action packed and hectic day...and I loved every minute of it. QE2 is a park with so much potential (Idi Amin did quite a bit of damage to it during his time of terror and it is only starting to flourish again). Favorite Ros quote of the day: "On top from start to finish. No other place I would rather be." She always finds a way to take things (such as talking about sitting on top of the boat during the cruise) that are not sexual and make them slyly so... Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Fuck (sorry..) the fucking (sorry...) fuckers (sorry...), aye?" And Kampala's 88.7 is a fantastic radio station. They even played my jam "Here Comes the Hotstepper."
5/23 Drive day to RWANDA...and MORE absolutely beautiful countryside (however, power lines and trees ruined a few amazing photo opportunities...). I never get tired of it! Plus, the people here seem to just love us...and I love them! And I loved playing the part of an obnoxious American a little bit today because I did not have to pay for a visa when I entered Rwanda when most others had to. Neener neener neener! I even did a little "U.S.A! U.S.A!" chanting. And tomorrow I GET TO SEE ME SOME GORILLAS!
5/24 I WENT GORILLA TREKKING TODAY! Never thought I would do such a thing. I gotta cool life, y'all! And gorilla trekking for us involved hours of some serious marching through dense jungle, mud almost up to your knees... It was exhausting, but spectacular! We spent nearly two hours (only supposed to be one, but they kept playing sort of a game of tag/hide and seek/follow the leader) with them. You are supposed to stay seven meters away from them, but that does not mean they stay seven meters from you. A mother and her infant at one point literally walked right by me (I could feel her hair graze my leg...and it took my breathe away literally). It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never EVER forget.
5/25 Today was a free day to just kick back in Rwanda. We decided to take a drive to Lake Kivu and check out the Congo border (now in hindsight, probably kind of dangerous...)...and along the way we saw more beautiful countryside, but also some refugee camps. In the afternoon, Ros and I explored the town of Musanze (this is where we were based). While this is not so much my favorite quote of the day, Duncan, a kid from NZ who looks sort of like Jesus right now, likes to say things will cost someone a dollar, but with his Kiwi accent it sounds like "dolla" and I just find it funny. For example: Me: "Duncan, can you pass me a napkin?" Duncan: "Dolla."
5/26 The agenda for today was to drive to Lake Bunyonyi back in Uganda via a stop at a genocide memorial in Kigali. The Kigali Memorial Center was intense. I have read up a bit about the genocide (one of the best books ever is We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families), but I now want to learn even more about it after visiting. The memorial did an excellent job stating what happened (from the world doing basically nothing (except the French who actually seemed to help supply the Hutus...) to the fact that thousands of people were likely involved in killing a million people yet have never been brought to justice and thus there is a good chance I interacted with many people who had some level involvement in the genocide) and presented personal stories at the same time (the photos provided by families were particularly powerful). It reminded me of my visits to similar sites in Bosnia and Poland. Why is it that such beautiful places can be the sites of such horror? Anyway, we made it to Lake Bunyonyi (a super deep, remote and beautiful lake in Uganda) around dinner time. And after a day like today I was drained. And I get to sleep in an actual bed (no tent) for two nights!
5/27 Free day to kick back around Lake Bunyonyi. Ros, Maree (Aussie girl), Kylie (another Aussie girl) and I walked to the top of this big hill in the morning. It was quite the trek, but the pay off was great (a light breakfast, some jumping on a trampoline and a fantastic view at the top) as well as we got to interact with several locals (they love to talk to us, are so welcoming and are very thankful to have us visiting their community) who live in rural Africa. I then spent the afternoon basically napping, reading and walking around a bit more. It was just an immensely pleasant day...in AFRICA.
5/28 Today was sort of a rough day. We got a late start because you cannot leave Lake Bunyonyi when it is raining since the basically one lane dirt road is impossible to navigate when wet. So we had to wait out the storm for a couple hours. But getting back on the main highway did not relieve our troubles since it was so bumpy due to lots of construction and just a shitload (sorry...) of potholes everywhere else. And then we hit some insane evening rush hour traffic in Kampala. You definitely feel for Brendon on days like today...and Caz too because she has to put up with him.
5/29 Holy shit (sorry...), I bungee jumped today at the source of the Nile! I never thought I would ever bungee jump until about a week ago. And even then it was just a distant idea. But Ros basically talked me into it by talking repeatedly about it (for example: "I had dreams about bungeeing last night") and why we should do it at the source of the Nile ("Why SHOULDN'T we when so many others have?"). I told her while I could not guarantee I would do it, I would at least try. And I more than just tried. I DID. And I did it beautifully (I was told I looked extremely composed and swan-like...and I supposedly cracked a smile right before I jumped)! It was one of the most surreal experiences ever because your mind is thinking you are about to die. "Oh fffffuck (sorry...), what are you doing?!" is what was going through my head and I hardly remember anything the guys hooking me up told me. But I do remember asking them if it was safe and going "THAT IS IT?!?!" when they finished hooking me up. It was scary (but it should be), but strangely I think I would do it again...but only somewhere just as beautiful as there. Yo, folks, I bungee jumped at the source of the Nile in Uganda!!! HA! And then everyone (not just Ros and I) celebrated the event with a good amount of alcohol... It was a glorious day! Oh! We got pulled over again today...by the same Ugandan cops that pulled us over for speeding last time ("Remember us? We were the ones that arrested you last time.")...but at least they were just as nice (we just had to pay like $50 to go on our way).
5/30 And then I decided to defy death on the Nile two days in the row. How? By whitewater rafting the Nile today! The rapids were fantastic (including several Class 5...but I felt mad safe due to the many safety measures in place) and the scenery was of course stunning (I especially liked being able to watch people along the river's edge). And I was proud of the fact that even with some serious rapids, I only fell out once. And I must admit that pineapple is not too bad when you eat it on a boat floating down the Nile in Uganda (I normally do not like it)! Overall, what a great day to have to end such an amazing, wonderful, super trip! I have had so much fun in East Africa and do not want to leave! This places feels like home (even though I am one of the whitest people I know). I cannot wait to come back to Africa and explore it further. Of course I cried when I said goodbye to my travel buddies and now new friends. But I gotta go to Egypt and Jordan... Tough life...I know.
BTW If you are wondering what tour I went on, I went on Tucan's Mountain Gorilla Safari. I highly recommend them and definitely will consider Tucan for future travel.
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