i've been jammin' yeasayer these days, i like them.
so, in kenya there a LOT of speed bumps. i suppose this makes sense 'cause there's no guarantee people would drive the speed limit (if there was to be such a thing) but they will slow down for bumps (most of the time, anyway). i know this because we drove out to mt. elgon national park this weekend and went through a handful of towns in the 2.5 hr drive which means we went over a lot of speed bumps = hard to nap.
the park was beautiful. after a (somewhat serious) translation mishap at the entrance gate over camping "fees" ($15 a person? really?) we set up shop with the baboons in a pretty field and went for a hike. there are 300 elephants in the park, but the chances of spotting them are slim. so we checked out a cave with bats and a little waterfall on the outside. it was dark and cool inside and quite awesome. then we piled back in the car (meghan and i comfortably in the trunk, err--i mean, boot) and hiked up to a ridge that had a spectacular view of the peak of mt. elgon and the farmlands below. our guide was very nice and even brought his own warm box of milk (with a straw!) for when we reached the top. the rest of the evening was nearly perfect. we ate delicious pasta, sat by the fire, drank (cheap as dirt) rum, and listened to tunes. it was a few of the girls' first time camping, but we all fit in the tent and everyone slept like logs. this morning, we woke up and....went horseback riding! yee haw! i was in my element. and horseback riding for the tourists in kenya is a bit more extreme than back home. helmet-less. law-less. brake-less. it was a bit of a ride through the forests of mt. elgon. i was happy.
mark, julie and i outside of the banda
small people in the cave
fireside hang sessions
picture taken from flamingo--my horse for the day
mark and megan with the pony
when we got back to the site we had to wait for the rest of the group, who had done a separate hike. it seemed like a reasonable idea to nap with the banda door open, when low and behold! a sneaky little baboon snuck into our kitchen. i was mildly surprised to wake up to a large, hairy monkey with a bare, pink bum. on the way home we stopped in kitale for a "valentines" lunch. all the ladies got roses and there was a large buffet for $3. my kind of valentine's. the little kenyan girl in an 80s-style-red-puffy-sparkle-dress-with-shoulder-pads really tied the day together.
friday night we also had out first Moi-GW Partnership dinner. We sat around a fire with our Kenyan colleagues and had roasted meat. and there was a swing set at the restaurant. and i met my "namesake," Lauraine, who is a secretary at the School of Public Health.
kayla and i with our classmate, lydia
also! large health insurance companies made record profits last year, increasing by 56%. they did this by dropping 2.7 million customers. how nice. and there's corruption in kenya?! who knew? and apparently you can detect homosexuality in kenya by medical examination.
otherwise, all is well, i'm excited to have some of the russell stovers chocolates mom sent me--that made it all the way to kenya in time. Happy Valentine's Day, ya'll.
I've been to that cave! It sounds like you had an awesome weekend. Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteis that a new pastel plaid shirt? i diggg.
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