Reacclimating to Life in Kenya

Well, after a surprising 9 month absence, I am back on Kenyan soil. The trip here is never an easy one. I flew from Orlando to London Gatwick. Then, I had to transfer, along with my baggage, over to Heathrow for the flight on to Nairobi. That little trip consumed about 1 1/2 of the 12 hour layover. Fortunately, Heathrow has dayrooms in the terminal. The Yotel is based on the Japanese pod concept only slightly larger. It was a neat little room with a couch that slid out to a bed and a bathroom. After a few hours of sleep and a shower I was as good as an older model used car. Trust me, it helped but didn't do wonders.

I've now been in Nairobi for 4 days and will head west to Bungoma by bus in the morning. It's been an interesting stay so far. Hillary Clinton has been making the headlines since she was here as part of a African-US Trade Conference. I had to laugh while watching a story about the level of security surrounding her. She was giving a press conference from the edge of a maize (corn) field. Once she was done and leaving the podium, close to a dozen Secret Service agents came drifting out of the corn. It looked like it could have been from a Saturday Night Live skit.

Life in Kenya is a collection of ironies. For as modern as some things are, other items are quite antiquated. For instance, I was able to buy a USB modem for my laptop. Cell phones have been available for years now, but the 3G networks are new. It's wonderful to now be able to access the internet without going to a cafe. But, on the opposite end of the spectrum are the workers near the hotel. They are digging a trench for utilities by hand. I'm not talking about a small trench. It is about 1 foot wide and 3 feet deep and currently running a block and a half. It seems like a trench digger would be much easier but instead it's a team of men shoveling all day long. It's work that an American would certainly run away from.

I've been fortunate to be within the center city of Nairobi. Once I get to Bungoma I'll be dealing with electrical brown outs for the next 2 months. Deforestation has been a significant problem in Kenya. Most of the forests have been cut down to provide fuel for cooking. It's caused severe problems to the watersheds and so now there is a shortage of water to power the hydroelectric dams. There are efforts underway to clear the Mau Forest of inhabitants so that they can restore the forest. This is a job that is proving politically divisive and difficult to carry out.

There's not much more to report at the moment. Really, I've been fairly lazy in an attempt to get rested up after the flights. I had a wonderful dinner with two friends, Lucy and Rosemary. They work for the safari company that helped me on my first trip to Kenya. They've become good friends. Tomorrow I have to be to the bus station by 7:30 so that I can catch an 8AM bus to Bungoma. After a wonderfully bumpy and jostling 9 hours I'll be back in my old territory.

Stay tune for updates.