Friday, October 9, 2009

Kenya!


I've mentioned my trip to Kenya several times on this blog (mostly before the trip!), so I thought you all might like to see a few pictures of my trip back home - and my husband's first time to see it.


This is the boarding school where I attended from grades 6 - 12, in the highlands on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley.
We took a game drive in Lake Nakuru game park. The lake is full of flamingos. Here, a hyena has been hunting them (hyena's do a lot more hunting than they're given credit for).

There were one or two places we were able to get out of the tour van. Not sure what I'm pointing out in this picture...

We pretty much got around by public transportation - matatus, to be precise. They're these 14 or so passenger mini vans (actually regulated these days!), and get you anywhere you want to go. In southern Kenya, at least, where the roads are good. Above is a matatu stand in one of the towns we went through.

Stephen was surprised when the turn-boy (driver's assistant who collects money and finds passengers) jumped into the already moving van, slid the door shut, and nearly sat on his lap. Personal space isn't nearly as important as it is in the US.

Yup, we crossed the equator! The matatu didn't stop, so we had to take a drive-by picture.

Yes, I got some beading in there too! This is on the farm my family lived on from the time I was in 6th grade on.

Joseph, the project manager, gave us a tour of the farm, pointing out all sorts of improvements and changes since my family left. That place is taking off! You can see a new storehouse for feed being built behind us.


The Kerio River, 5 km from the farm. It flows northward into Lake Turkana.

The mud was slippery... I was trying to wash Stephen's flipflop off after his foot had sunk it, and ended up sitting in the mud! Whoops.

We also spent a couple days down at the coast. There's the Indian Ocean!

We went out onto the reef at low tide one morning. Snorkels, tennis shoes (to ward off the sea urchins) and all. Good times.

Ft. Jesus, and old Portuguese fort in the town of Mombasa on the Indian ocean.

Then we headed up to northern Kenya. Here's the town of Logologo that I lived in for about 7 years as a kid.

This is the inside of a Rendille hut where we took a nap during our visit to Logologo. Note the beaded bracelet and necklace that a friend there gave me!

Amina, a good family friend, made the dress for me.

Many of the folks who live in Northern Kenya live off of their animals, mainly camels. We don't have too many pictures of people up north (other than friends) because they don't like having their pictures taken and we were trying to be respectful.

On our way back, we flew over Marsabit game park on Marsabit mountain in Marsabit district, before we stopped in Marsabit town to pick up a passenger. You can see the lodge in the park in the upper left of the picture, next to what used to be a very full lake when I was little. The drought in Northern Kenya has been very bad for the past several years.

This is what we got a ride on from Northern Kenya back to Nairobi - a 6 seater cessna. I ended up in the co-pilot seat, because the pilot thought I was short enough that my knees wouldn't bump the controls. :D

It was a great trip! Hope you enjoyed the pictures. :) Maybe at some point I'll pull out a picture or two from our stop in Spain on the way back to the US.

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