The One Where We Go to Crescent Island (Andy)

We are under the 90 day mark now until we leave Kenya for good.  Over December and January, we had succumb to the bitterness of living in a country that isn't your own and wishing to be done with the tour right then and there, an ailment common to many foreign service families nearing the end of their tour.  Where we were very much, "I can't wait till we leave this place," three months ago, we have switched gears, and are now very much in them "we might not ever come back to this place," panic.  This means that we are now busily looking through the calendar at our remaining weeks to plan fun activities in between the stressful chores, work, and packing out.

Since having a child has only lessened our ability to be spontaneous, not our desire for adventure, we have a list of activities that we can do that involve little planning or packing and are easily traveled and executed  around nap schedules.  One such place fitting that criteria is Crescent Island on Lake Naivasha.  As you may remember, Kerry and I last year hiked around the Island with my aunt and uncle when they were here to visit along with my mom and dad, and had always wanted to come back with the baby because we'd had such a good time there.  So, we decided this would be a fun and easy day trip for us to make.  We invited our friend Cassie along, too, who we hadn't hung out with for a while and were eager to catch up.

Saturday was a beautiful day to be outside and Aliza slept well the entire ride to the Naivasha, waking just before we arrived.  We walked to the main house, where we were greeted by the owner, who was extremely polite and welcoming, despite chasing around a sick calf.  We chatted for a bit--she noted that she's had hippos from the lake grazing on her front porch--before setting off for a walk around the Island.

Aliza was super happy to be out and about and held a conversation with herself for about half the hike.  She also enjoyed the many spots we plopped her down along the way to pose with the animals.  

We hiked around for about and hour-and-a-half before calling it a day.  We hung out at the car for a lite lunch that Kerry had packed for us and I walked Aliza around a little more to see some young giraffes that were near by.  

After lunch we started back and managed to leave just in time before the rain started. Perfect day. 

The one where my mom comes to visit/babysit:)

Kerry here, its been a long time since I've posted anything on here so here it goes.  My mom has just left from a three week visit where she gave Andy and I some much-enjoyed nights off for dates and activities with friends.  She also managed to get Aliza nearly crawling - she crawls backward like a pro, just can't seem to go forward yet - and made friends with all the neighborhood kids at the park who keep asking me where "Grammy" went. 

We celebrated my mom's birthday while she was here and took her to the Mt. Kenya Safari Club, where Andy and I and Aliza had been the month before.  I think she really enjoyed it and Andy and I enjoyed nice long, quiet dinners at the hotel.

Mount Kenya

Our cottage at the hotel

Aliza enjoying the hotel pool

Giraffes near by

Other than that we mostly just hung around, my mom and I took Aliza to see the baby elephants at the elephant orphanage one day and Andy went on his hunting trip.  

It was so nice to have you here mom and we can't wait to see you this summer!

The One Where Andy Goes Bird Hunting

For a while now, I've wanted to do something a little off the well-worn, expat path, and have a more authentic African adventure.  I found out some time ago that wild bird hunting is still allowed in Kenya and, being a part-time bird hunter myself, I thought this would be perfect.  However, despite the Kenyan government's claims of promoting bird hunting as another tourist venture, it its very difficult to actually find an outfitter that does it (I came to find out later that its the Kenyan government that actually gets in the way of that).  After many internet searches and several email inquiries,  I booked a trip for myself and a couple of guys from the Embassy for a weekend shoot with Kenya Bird Hunters, an outfitter located in the Laikipia region of Kenya, known as the White Highlands, just north of Mt. Kenya.

After several emails back and forth with Josh, one of Kenya Bird Hunters owners, and several emails back and forth with guys who wanted to go, five of us met at our house early Sunday morning to load up and take the four hour trip north to the Josh's ranch. Unfortunately, as we were loading the truck, two of the guys got called into work for the rest of the day, so our hunting party was cut down to three: me, Mark, and Brian. Despite the unplanned roster change, we set out and had a nice drive up to Laikikpia.

Once we reached the town of Rumiruki, we traveled approximately 26kms on what I can safely say is the worst road I've ever driven on in Kenya. How I didn't blow out a tire is a mystery, but we made the entire 26kms in about 60 mins and reached Josh's ranch, Ol Maisor, and the camp ground. 

We were greeted by Josh and Johnny, the two owners, at the camp, where they had our tents set up and  lunch waiting for us. The campsite was great--just what I had hoped for--and we had a nice lunch and about one hour to get cleaned up and our stuff put away before heading out for an afternoon hunt. We loaded up the land cruiser and set out. 

The ranch is huge--approximately 30,000 acres--and borders several other ranches that are around the same size.  Brian was the only one of us that was successful that first day, shooting a nice size guinea fowl, though it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying by the rest of us.  Just being outside in the elements and around the animals was good enough for me. We chased birds well after the sun went down, the air cooling considerable, before heading back to camp for a great meal and some drinks around the fire.  Unbeknownst to all of us, Mark and Brian were both USNA grads and spent the night reminiscing about the Academy, most of which is not re-publishable on a family blog such as this.

We woke up early on Sunday, grabbed coffee and some muffins, and headed out on a long morning hunt.  This proved much more lucrative than the previous evening, with all of us bagging one guinea and me getting one yellow-knecked spur fowl.  There was a lot more running and maneuvering in this hunt than I'm use to back in the States and frankly, I rather enjoyed it. We passed several elephants on the way back, as well some Zebra, Hartebeest, Gazelles, and Giraffes.  

Returning to camp, we had a nice brunch, our Kenya guides cleaned our birds for us, and we pack up the truck to return to Nairobi. 

This was a fantastic trip, easy to do from Nairobi, and fit all the criteria of price, amenities, and fun that I'd had when booking it. I cannot sing Josh and Johnny and the Kenya Bird Hunters praises enough for organizing such a nice and professional hunt.  I hope to make it back there at least once before we leave Kenya for good. I certainly left enough birds behind. 

The One Where Andy Goes to Olorgesailie

Last week, we had several visitors in from out of town. While we had somewhat of an agenda for their visit, I had a surprisingly difficult time coordinating a weekend activity. Things just kept falling through. Some people we planned to spend time with had to cancel plans at the last minute and since our out-of-town guests had already been to parts of Kenya before, I was unsure of what to do with them for the weekend. As we debated our options, one of our guests, Mike, began telling us about an archeological dig he worked at many years ago as a PhD student and how he wondered what, if anything, still existed given all the changes to Kenya that had occurred since last he lived here. This seemed like the perfect adventure and we made plans to head out that Saturday, find the site, and see who in the local community that worked with Mike might be around.

I arrived at Mike's hotel the next day to see him, along with our other guests Chris and Lindsay,  ready with provisions for the days journey: lunch for us; bread, flour, sugar, tea, and cooking oil for our hosts, if we could find them.

We headed South towards Karen and then through the town of Ngong at the foot of the Ngong hills (and yes, this is truly the first time I've used that line from Out of Africa, but that's really how we went),  getting into more rural country and descending into the Rift Valley. This descent is much different terrain-wise than the route we normally go when heading West. Mike pointed out various geological features and landmarks along the way, including the home of the famous Richard Leakey, who discovered the site we were headed to.

The road descending into the valley started off as a nice two lane road. The further down the valley we travelled, the narrower and shoddier the road became and the more desolate the area was. Even Mike at one point questioned whether anyone still traveled out this way. 

Finally, we saw a sign in the distance: National Museum of Kenya - Olorgesailie Pre-Historic Site. 

It was still here! And apparently was a tourist destination, given the other signs alongside it indicating a museum, gift shop, and rental huts. Mike flagged down some kids in the distance and after some negotiations in Swahili, they agreed to find Mike's old assistant, Kakai, who still lived in the area and apparently was now a village elder.

Since it was clear it would take some time before the kids returned, we drove to the site, parked, and had lunch in the picnic area before Mike showed us around the grounds and reminisced about his years living in this country, pretty much by himself, digging in the dirt. 

Maasai men with expanded earlobes fold them up when working

We returned to our vehicle we saw the boys from the road with several other men, including an older man that Mike new was Kakai. After many handshakes and several embraces, we all were invited back to Kakai's village for a visit. 

I'd had the chance to visit a Maasai village before when Kerry and I got Mosby, but I soon realized that Mosby's village was more modern and that Kakai's was very, very traditionally. The villagers were excited to see us and after we exchanged greetings, we were taken on a tour of the houses ("bandas") and got an update on the weather, cattle, and local population.  

One of the great aspects of making a trip like this is that you get to travel to parts of the country that remain culturally authentic and active. The locals--predominately Maasai semi-nomadic herders--still dress and live very traditionally; they aren't done up for the tourist market or herding cattle in Salvation Army handouts. They are poor by Western standards, but have all they need to live and are quite happy and proud of their lifestyle. We all felt very lucky to be invited into their homes if only for that fact alone and I could see why Mike was so drawn to this place in his youth.

Shortly after we arrived, the kids became enamored with Lindsay's blond hair and immediately pulled off her hat and started to play with it. 

Additionally, one of Kakai's sons, Eric, demonstrated the way Maasai count on their fingers. No one in our group had ever seen anything like it; it's unnecessarily complicated and apparently only goes to 100, which made me think of this old sketch comedy routine about the biggest number ever being 100 (kind of have to see it for it to be funny). Here is the photo demonstration of counting 1-10 in Maasai.

As the late afternoon set in, we decided it was time to leave. Half of the village, it seemed, needed a ride down the road to the nearest town, so we piled into the car--ten deep, I think--and headed out. We got to town, said our goodbyes, and made a few promises to return with photos from the day and some other supplies. I hope to get back some day soon.