June 26, 2007

A lot has happened since my last blog. David, our volunteer from New Zealand, left last weekend and Ryan, our roommate with so many stories, just left this evening. His father and step-mom came into Nairobi and they’re leaving for a week-long safari tomorrow. I like both of the boys a lot, so it’s gonna be hard without them. Ryan has had the most random life with so many good stories so that’s something I’ll be missing a lot. Apparently he’s suing the government because he went to Iraq pre-war (it was illegal to do that) and now they’re trying to convict him of something and he’s retaliating. He’s also been on the Daily Show with John Stewart, worked as a card dealer in Vegas with a stripper, and has had loads of crazy girlfriends. He’s actually going to Indonesia in the fall for work, and he’ll be there for two years. He’s working in Roanoke, VA this summer though (again, so random), so Will and I are hoping to meet up with him before he takes off.

This past weekend Will and I and 8 other volunteers from GVN went on a hike up Mt. Kenya, the second tallest peak in Africa. When we first got to Kenya we heard a few of the other volunteers talking about it and figured it would be a good time. I also figured it would be a nice, semi-difficult walk around the countryside with great views and good exercise. Turns out that Africa gets cold and very wet during June, and in the mountains its even worse. We traveled around 50 kilometers total in the 3 ½ days and my body was in so much pain when we got home. Our first day, Will and I left home around 6 AM to catch the Mutatu from Rongai into Nairobi. We woke up around 5:30 so we could make sure all of our stuff was together, and because we were the first ones up that morning, we had to unlock the house so we could actually get out. I’ve mentioned before that we have seven kittens and their mother on the farm with us, but the morning we were leaving, we turned on the flashlight on our way out the porch and there on the ground with a big pool of blood right next to him was one of the kittens. This was one of the first things I saw that morning, so it took me a second to realize that the kitten had been attacked and that the red pool by him was in fact, his blood. There was nothing we could do and we knew that Esther and Manasseh would be up soon, so we just had to leave him there. On the couch on the porch was another one of the kittens, and he too was dead. Not bleeding, but not breathing. I immediately looked for the other kittens, and the five of them were hiding behind the couch obviously scared of whatever was out there. It was a very sad situation, especially since we couldn’t do anything to help him. When we got back, we found out that there is another stray cat that comes over and apparently he attacked the kittens. We got there around 7:50 and waited for the other volunteers to show up, and finally got out of there around 10:30-11. We had a 2-2 ½ hour trip to the National Park and in the late afternoon, we started our hike. We had about 9 km to go on our first day, and already it wasn’t as easy as we’d hoped. If you want to get to the top of the mountain, you’ve gotta go up, so that’s what we did. Finally we got to our first camp site (think small compound with 3 buildings, bunk beds, and a long room with picnic benches for meals), set up our bunks and grabbed some food. It wasn’t too cold yet, so we were all pretty comfortable and prepared for the night.

The next morning we woke up around 7 AM and headed to our next destination. Today was a longer day. We had to go about 12-14 km, but it was a much more scenic hike. Let’s make a note that I had no idea that I’d be hiking once I got to Kenya, or that I would need clothes for cool weather. My first couple days I just hiked in sweatpants and sweatshirts that I happened to bring, and my new balance sneakers that are now brown and muddy. I have great hiking shoes at home that I got for my semester abroad, so I was quite disappointed that I didn’t get to use though for my first, real mountain hike. Anyways, we hiked through muggy weather and muddy grass in the morning, but the afternoon got much nicer. We stopped for lunch at a great little resting spot with a wonderful view of the peaks we would conquer, and then continued. After lunch, the sun came out and we were able to enjoy the hike a little more. We didn’t have as drastic of an incline to deal with, so it was nice to just enjoy the walk and the valley we were walking through. We got to our next camp around 3 PM and had the whole afternoon to just relax, play cards, drink tea and sit around. I’ve been playing a lot of cards while in Kenya. I think I’m getting pretty good and hope that I’ll be able to play more when I get home. It’s a better social activity than watching TV. We had to get up early the next morning for our hike to the top, so we went to sleep right after dinner, around 7 PM.

None of us slept very well since we went to bed so early, even though we hiked around 7 miles the day before. We had to wake up at 3 AM for our climb to the peak. I had seen the mountain the day before and thought it looked pretty impossible to conquer, but our guide, Steve, was confident in our abilities. We got rolling around 3:30 and wow, was it difficult. I can honestly say that I’ve never had to push my physical abilities so hard. We were at a very high altitude (almost 16,000 ft) so our oxygen availability was lower than usual, and we were climbing up soft dirt at a 60o angle. Luckily, we couldn’t see the bottom or else I think many of us wouldn’t have made it or even attempted the climb. It was completely dark, but thanks to Mom I had a very good flashlight to light my way. We hiked and hiked and had to stop very often because we were so exhausted. My legs were in so much pain and I was furious with dirt and rocks, things that usually don’t upset me. They just weren’t supporting my body the way I wanted them to, so there was a lot of slipping and nervous climbing. Note: Steve, our guide, and the porters, carried all of our stuff while hiking. They put all of our bags together and carried them on their backs while we traveled with our water bottles and small necessities. These men were horses and could carry anything for any distance. They got everywhere we were going first, and faster. We also learned that Steve could go four or five days without food and water, but without a cigarette, it would be impossible. He pulled out a cigarette when we got to the peak of the mountain, and anytime we finished hiking for the day. Apparently he’s a machine and the smoke doesn’t affect his lungs and physical capabilities. We were hoping he’d come to America and run the Boston Marathon, all the while holding his cigarette in his right hand as if it was his adrenaline. So funny. OK, back to climbing. We finally made it to the top around 6:10 or so, and the sun came up a little while after. We didn’t get a perfect sunrise, but once the sun did get up, the whole region was lit up and absolutely gorgeous. I’ll never climb a mountain like that again, so it was great to complete that journey once and to have such a fantastic view. We stayed up there for almost an hour, and then started our descent. That was sooo much easier than going up. We basically just slid down the mountain. Like I said, the soft dirt was very difficult to climb up with, but climbing down was so fun. For a lot of the trip down, I just crouched on my feet and used my hands to push myself down. I used the dirt as a slide, and just flew down the mountain. You can also run down the dirt and because its so soft, you never really have to worry about your landing. You just have to take a few big jumps and the dirt catches you, but if you continue to jump and run, then you just fly down the mountain. It’s hard to explain, but it was so much fun. I think it was similar to snowboarding, the way you’re in the air and just landing in soft earth. I think they should put a lift on the mountain just so people and come down that way.

Because we didn’t have to do much hiking, it only took us about an hour (maybe) to get down the mountain. With all of our bounding, we had to take a few time outs, but the view was so gorgeous that we didn’t want to rush down. We got to the bottom of the mountain and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. We got ourselves some breakfast (French toast!) and then I took an hour nap before we left around 10:30. Yes, we had more hiking to do that day. On top of our extreme morning adventure, we had to hike the same trail that we had the day before. We did the 12 km in about 3 hours, but this time it was pouring rain and very, very cold. Luckily, I had my ‘Bike Vermont’ rain jacket, so my top stayed dry, but unfortunately I was wearing jeans and they just got completely ruined. I don’t think I’ve ever had an article of clothing get dirtier than that. We moved very, very quickly and took only one major break. I think that one lasted about 2 minutes, too. We pushed ourselves through the rain and got back to camp early. All of us were soaking wet, so we got out of our clothes and found what dry shirts and pants we could. Many of us just grabbed our sleeping bags and sat in them all afternoon. We spent the afternoon playing cards, drinking tea, and just staying warm. I slept very well that night and didn’t have any trouble falling asleep. I met three very kind people from the UK that told me about the train to Mombasa, and apparently I can get there, first class, for $50. It’s an overnight trip, but includes dinner, a place to sleep, and then breakfast the next morning. Will and I are thinking about doing that this next month because we’d really like to see the coast of Kenya.

We woke the next morning around 8 and our bodies were hurting. All of our clothes were still wet, but we put on what we had and started our descent down to where we started. It only took us an hour and a half to get down to the mountain, then we got all our stuff together, took one last group photo, and got into our Mutatus so we could get back to Nairobi.

We stopped for lunch at a bar along the road, and many of us just wanted some breakfast food. We saw the Mixed Grill Continental on the menu and asked the waiter what it was, and he replied with ‘eggs, bacon, sausage…’ I got very excited and a lot of us thought that sounded great. A big breakfast after a morning of hiking? Wonderful. We finally got our food about an hour later, and we realized why it took so long. Along with the sausage, egg and bacon, there was cow tongue, chicken, and random pieces of beef on the plate. Needless to say, we didn’t eat much of it. It was quite a surprise and definitely not what we were hoping for. We hopped back into the Mutatu and made our way into Nairobi. We had a long drive ahead of us, so we did what we could to entertain ourselves. After about an hour of having nothing to do, Mike, one of the boys on the trip, invented a card game that involved flipping a card on your forehead and having to guess whether or not it was the lowest, in the middle, or the highest. The game requires 3 people, so Will, Mike and I did that for a while. We had to make rules as we went along, because things started getting complicated and we needed to establish some boundaries. The boys lasted longer than I did because I eventually lost interest, but it helped in passing the time. We got back to Nairobi, thanked Steve, and headed to the junction where we’d catch the Mutatu home. We got home and had lots and lots of laundry to do. We had a lot of smelly, wet clothes to take care of so instead of coming home and just relaxing, we had to grab our wash buckets and take care of our clothes. I also jumped into the “shower” because it had been a few days, but it almost seems useless now because once we get to the orphanage, we just dirty ourselves up again so quickly.

Once we got back that night, we asked Esther about the kitten situation. She told us the little ones had been attacked, and now that their mother was watching over them, I figured they’d be safe. Last night, we heard another cat fight around 3 AM and I guess the neighbor cat was back. The fight didn’t last very long, but I woke up to count only four kittens. My favorite, the runt-calico with big eyebrows, was missing and still is. I’m hoping that he’s just hiding somewhere, but he’s so small that I think he may have gotten attacked or, eaten.

Ryan left us today. We thought he was leaving us on Monday, but apparently he got his dates mixed up and traveled into Nairobi to check into his hotel a day early. He popped into the Boma yesterday afternoon to let us know he had one more day until his Pops arrived. Because he was staying in a hotel for the night, we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of his hotel room. We all traveled into the city with him, took showers, got some lunch, and just hung out until his father arrived. We hadn’t been to the orphanage that morning, so we grabbed Mr. Clancy, stuffed ourselves into a taxi and headed to St. Paul’s. I mentioned before that Ryan’s dad was providing the funds to finish a building at the orphanage, so he wanted to stop by and see the place he’d be providing for. We hung out with the kids for a while and then headed back home. The weather has been very chilly lately, and it’s kind of inconvenient because I brought a whole lot of shorts and t-shirts and not much warm clothing. I’m hoping that it warms up soon because I think I’m losing any sort of pigment or color that I had in my skin before. And because I wasn’t prepared to be cold in Africa.

I think that’s all for now. I’m getting a little tired of the lunch food at the orphanage and wish they’d just let us go home to get food, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m beginning to lose my appetite and the idea of eating ngali makes me uncomfortable. It’s not something I look forward to. I can’t wait to go home and eat my favorite foods. Esther is still cooking good foods for us, so dinner is always nice. I never have to worry about that.