Easter in Tsavo and Watamu

Easter Weekend is a big deal in Kenya.  Everyone looks forward to the 4 day weekend – spending it visiting family or taking trips.  Many of the other Accenture people had made plans to hike in Ethiopia for the weekend, but I decided to take the chance to head to the coast of Kenya with my friend Sarah.

We found a local tour company that had great deals on 4 day trips and chose one that combined a day of safari with two days in Watamu, a small town on the coast.  We were just one trip of about 20 that left at the same time Friday morning, and by lunchtime we were in Tsavo East National Park, and after lunch we hit the pool that overlooked the national park and a watering hole occasionally visited by some of the big animals in the park, but that day just the home of hundreds of ibises.  After the refreshing dip, we joined the rest of our travel companions for an evening game drive.  Tsavo has many more trees and bushes than Maasai Mara, meaning that more than once, we would turn a corner and surprise an animal that was behind a tree!  We saw so many elephants, and they reacted more to the car than the other elephants I’ve seen so far, so a lot of the elephants and other animals would run away when we came towards them.  Some animals I hadn’t seen before included a secretary bird and a dik-dik (which was barely perceptible – so well camouflaged!)

Before dinner, we grabbed drinks at the lookout near the watering hole, and through the rain we saw a group of lionesses creeping around the edge.  We couldn’t tell if they were hunting or trying to stay dry but we watched them until they were completely out of sight.

On Saturday, we headed out for another game drive – this time taking everything with us on the way to Watamu.  We were really lucky and saw two giraffes “necking” which is mostly gentle head butting between two young males, and we even were able to find a lone male lion right before we left the park!  Very exciting!!!

After the long, dusty ride to Watamu, most of us in the car headed straight for the pool!  It was kinda warm, but it was a huge pool over 10 feet deep throughout the whole way, but it was salt water so we all floated quite easily!

On Easter morning, after attempting to attend Mass at the local church (not an easy find as Watamu is predominantly Muslim), and failing, I joined the rest of our group to an excursion out to the coral reef in the Indian Ocean.  I was first in the water and the views were amazing.  The water is very shallow there, and so it was really easy to see all the fish and the many types of coral that they lived in. While I don’t have my own pictures of the colorful fish down there, I’ve tried to find some pictures so you have an idea of what I saw!  After our excursion, about half of the people from the tour stayed in Malindi for the afternoon, having an incredible seafood lunch and shopping at the local market before returning to the resort in time for some swimming before dinner.

On Monday, our ride back to Nairobi left at 11, so I was able to sneak in a couple of early hours at the beach.  Besides being cooler at 7am, there wasn’t a single other person down there besides my friend Sarah, so it was peaceful, burn-free, and the crabs weren’t bothered when we were quiet, putting on quite a show.   The ride back to Nairobi was a long one, but a view of Kilimanjaro and the promise of pizza made the trek just another part of an amazing weekend!

Hiking and Caving at Suswa

This past weekend I joined a few friends hiking in the Mount Suswa Conservancy in the Rift Valley.  It's a little off the beaten path - people more often hike another volcano in the area - Mount Longonot, but through friends of friends we had heard this place was good and not as crowded.

We left early in the morning, which was good, since it took us about 4 hours to arrive and find the trail head.  We squeezed 5 in the smallest four wheeler I've seen, and took turns in the back "seat" of the Pajero so that we didn't have to splurge for the much larger truck and extra gas.

Our "adventure" started much before we started hiking.  This area wasn't well marked, and so our driver had to ask many people for directions, especially once the roads became vague trails and sometimes seemed to disappear altogether.  Our driver had no qualms about asking anyone we saw, and a few times, drove across grassland after the farming families, calling "Maasai!" to get their attention. (Kinda like yelling "hoosier" at someone who lives in Indiana - it's just who they are!)

We finally found the trail head, but even from there we were making our own trail, since the only trails we found seemed to be goat tracks but luckily the animals know where to go!
 
The portion we walked was the rim of the inner crater - a volcano erupted and collapsed, created a smaller mountain inside that then also collapsed, and left an "island" - making the topography like a bullseye.  The views were absolutely amazing, and the hike was challenging enough that our breaks to sit and enjoy the view were just that much sweeter.

Sadly, given the lack of trail, we had to call it quits before we reached the actual summit, since we couldn't figure out the best way to continue on.


On our way back down, we encountered some animals - not really of the wild type though - just some well fed cows that graze on the mountain, though as someone pointed out "Cows are much bigger up close", so we were okay when we finally passed them by.

The Wildlife

We reached the base with enough time before dark that we decided to explore the caves in the area.  We got a guide this time - a good thing, because we hadn't brought any flashlights with us!  The caves are considered "Lava tubes" and were created during one of the many eruptions of the volcano.  The terrain in the caves would switch from huge sharp boulders where previous roofs had fallen to flat areas with low clearance.  I can't say I loved being that far beneath the ground, but it was a very cool experience.

The last of the light before heading deep underground!

In one area, we could hear the bats chirping far above our heads, but the one flashlight didn't help us see them, which was fine with me :)

A few scratches and bruises, but we all made it up the rickety ladder and back to our car before the rain started!

Sarah, Joel, Jane and Daniel

My friends Sarah and Jane both have shared their experiences online too!  Check them out at:

Sarah: http://sunriseruby.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/getting-lost-at-suswa/
Jane: http://engineerwithoutborders.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/scaling-suswa/

White Water Rafting on the River Nile - Jinja, Uganda - Day 2

Our second day in Jinja, Uganda started early as we had to pack up and get on the bus to headquarters before heading out for the day's adventure - rafting on the river Nile.  They fed us lots of coffee and a solid breakfast of eggs on chapati and fresh fruit while fitting us for life jackets and helmets.  They gave us a brief safety talk to make sure we all got fitted properly, but the full "how do you raft" talk wasn't done until we were right on the river!

You could almost feel everyone's slight nervousness as we got off the buses, took off our shoes, put on sunscreen and headed down to the put-in point.  After a brief overview of how to get back in the boat when (that's right WHEN) it flips, we split ourselves between two rafts, and got introduced to our guides.  Our guide quickly became our best friend, even though he flipped us on purpose to practice within minutes of getting into the raft.  Nathan was absolutely hilarious, amazingly ripped, and settled any nerves before we took on our first rapid.  Our first rapid was a Class 5 waterfall.  Going over that waterfall, we paddled as hard as we could, and we made it through like champions!  The adrenaline was definitely high after that one!

On our second rapid, a Class 4, we actually flipped, and somehow I ended up 20 yards away from the raft and had to get picked up by one of the kayakers (see video at the end of the blog for an example from my friend Nicole who was on the other raft).

Between the rapids, we floated at a relaxed pace and told stupid jokes with our guide.  One of the supplies rafts brought us a snack mid-trip: we each ate almost half a pineapple! It may have been the best pineapple I'd ever had, a combination of being really hungry and it being so perfectly fresh and ripe!

Some of the later rapids blend together a bit, but a Class 6 was too dangerous to raft over as amateurs, so we walked around it and only rafted the last quarter of it.  My raft went through really easily, so our guide waited until all the rafts had gone through, and we went through again. He aimed us perfectly through it so that the entire left side of the raft ended up in the water, and those of us on the right hung on tight while we were up in the air and managed to pull some of the people back in right away.  The others got picked up downstream within a few minutes.

The last two rapids of the day are some of the biggest ones, and by that time I wasn't interested in flipping anymore - much to the disappointment of my fellow rafters, so I jumped over to the safety raft that goes through the rapid but is guaranteed not to flip, and I got to watch all of the other rafts come through the rapids with varying levels of success (I filmed the final rapid in the video below).

We ended the day in true adventure-travel fashion - with beer and a hearty meal waiting for us at the end of the trip.

All in all, rafting Class 4 and 5 rapids is something I never thought I would do, and I'm so glad I got to do it with such a great group of people!

The company we went with took lots of pictures, and I hope to post them as soon as I get my hands on the CD that we bought!

Or watch it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fUQLDFY60Q&feature=youtu.be

Jinja, Uganda - Day 1

So I've been having such a good time in Nairobi that I have completely dropped the ball on updating my blog.  My apologies!  I'm going to try to catch up as much as possible this week, and get close to current!

I left off a few weeks ago with my trip to Uganda.  I went there with 9 other people from Nairobi - a mix of Accenture people and friends of friends, departing directly from work on Friday and leaving laptops with co-workers who stayed behind.  Flying out of the Nairobi airport was much easier than arriving, and even with a delay, we managed to enjoy ourselves in the gate area plenty - and got to know each other a little, since many people were meeting for the first time.

We arrived in Entebbe, Uganda late and took a bus to our 'hotel' for the night called Red Chili Hideaway an hour away in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.  It was set up with cabins and space for campers as well, but for about $6 you can't complain!  While a few from our group sampled the local bar scene, I collapsed into bed and slept amazingly well.  The bonus in the morning was a hot shower and freshly made breakfast!

From Kampala, we were picked up by the rafting company, Nile River Explorers, for the next hour trip to Jinja, Uganda, where all of the rafting trips are run from. The scenery from the bus was amazing - tons of little shops painted with bright colors of advertisements for Coca-Cola and cell phone companies, and a school every 5 minutes - with the smell of roasted corn wafting inside. Many of the buildings were built with a taller false front, reminding me off the architecture of the Old West made out of bricks instead of wood.

At the NRE headquarters, we dropped off our bags, and went on a bike ride through the countryside, organized by our guy, Nash, who was described as 'too much hair, not enough height'.  We rode for about an hour on main roads with huge hills, giving us some amazing views of the tea farms, then turned off into some of the farmland, seeing some of the small villages that are hidden within the trees, made up of tiny brick and mud houses and even a small mosque.

Many of the children at the farms would see us coming and call out after us - "mzungu" (white people) - and to fill many a cliche, some were playing with old bike tires, running after them down the road.  The farms were full of a wide variety of animals - everything from chickens to goats, as well as plants...we saw eggplants, sweet potatoes, mango trees, and even coffee trees (which had the sweetest smell!).  The most hilarious moment was while we were stopped, waiting for one of our group who had gotten himself lost, and a child of 4 came up and tried to sell us cigarettes.

We ended our bike ride at the campsite we were staying at that night, meeting our bags that had been sent over separately.  We relaxed, got some lunch and enjoyed the view of the Nile until the sunset cruise. The boat ride was a great way to end the day - with food, drinks (I have a new love of Krest soda- bitter lemon flavor- with gin), great music (everything from Paul Simon to Chumbawumba) and the chance to meet some of the other people staying at the camp! The best part was the amazing views (don't take pictures of the dam unless you want to get shot though!) and seeing the local people along the lake that were just as interested in us as we were in them.

At the end of the cruise, about a quarter of the boat decided it was time for a swim, though I decided to be the photographer :)  We all ended the night hanging out on the deck again, and prepping for our rafting expedition the next morning!

"Welcome, Welcome"

I know I've been lax about updating my blog - I promise I'll catch up on the rest of my London stay soon, but in the meantime I wanted to update everyone about my new situation in Nairobi.

Between London and Nairobi, I was able to go to St. Louis and Chicago to visit friends and family and get some of the logistics for my travel ironed out. There was plenty to do, and I really appreciate the friends who let me crash with them while I'm essentially homeless :)

I left Chicago on February amidst a snowstorm, and flew through freezing temperatures in London, so arriving in Nairobi to 80 degree weather was amazing! I got in shortly before 11pm local time, and one of the team's taxi drivers was there waiting for me.  I got to the apartments, unpacked and settled in as best I could with the jetlag.

On Sunday I checked out the gym, had some breakfast, and met up with one of the Accenture folks to walk to the local shopping centers.  There are two nearby, and we went to both the Sarit center and then Westgate mall (completely Westernized), where we both shopped at Nakumatt (the Kenyan Wal-Mart), and I got my phone and internet set up.  It was a little overwhelming because of jetlag, lack of sleep and not having eaten enough, so while I didn't have the most logical shopping cart, I did manage to get the essentials!

Later that night, my roommate Julia and I went out to dinner, and she helped me understand the lay of the land a little more.

On Tuesday, Valentine's Day, Nairobi was crazy!  There were flower stands on all of the corners of the Central Business District, and men were buying flowers for all of their female coworkers (myself included).  It seemed that everyone was out and about, and as the day went on, you could see more and more people being dressed up for their night out.  I went out to dinner with a handful of people from ADP, and the restaurant we went to was all done up for the holiday. All the women were handed roses and a free glass of red wine when we walked in the door, there was red fabric and lights everywhere, and a DJ played love songs throughout the evening.  Quite an excellent way to spend the evening, I must say!

As for work, so far it is going pretty well.  We are getting an introduction to the specific operations of the hospital and the different departments that we will interview more in-depth in the next few weeks.  We will be working closely with the head of their Information, Communications and Technology department, and he is turning his office into a project space for us.  We have also had people from different groups within the hospital walk us through some of the various processes they use - including the process from Admission to Discharge.

The daily business newspaper of Kenya ran a story about the hospital that caused a lot of concern on Wednesday afternoon - it reported that 1000 employees of the hospital were going to be laid off, and gave the reason as the project that we are just beginning.  You can read the article below, but it was quickly dismissed by all of the hospital management as untrue, but not until it had many of the hospital employees and labor leaders reacting.  (A retraction was published on Thursday)

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate+News/KNH+announces+layoffs+in+plans+to+cut+budget+deficit/-/539550/1327594/-/k6n7ks/-/index.html 

Thursday, we were a part of the official "kickoff" meeting, where the CEO of the hospital and the head of the IT group we are working with signed the contract in front of the press.  It followed all of the formal protocol, which is very important when kicking off a strategic plan.

Saturday - read, watched TV, went to the grocery store, worked out and then went to dinner with another Accenture person to Havana, a Cuban/Mexican place (the fajitas were tempting, and delicious!).  On Sunday, I went with the same coworker to the Elephant orphanage, Giraffe Centre and Karen Blixen house/museum with lunch at the Garden café near the museum.  We got back early in the afternoon, so I spent the rest of the afternoon reading a book by the pool and cooking up a large dinner to feed me through the week.

At the Elephant orphanage, the baby elephants were so cute, almost human!  One ran into the crowd and got a woman all muddy - apparently she had crouched down to take a photo, and the elephant wanted to play!  They all had pretty sad stories about how they were orphaned, but it is really great that there is this group who is able to tend to them until they are ready to get more integrated with a herd.  We also saw some monkeys, which made me really excited.

The giraffe place wasn't as fascinating, but I did get to feed one out of my hand - she was so gentle!  The Karen Blixen museum was cool - while I haven't read or seen Out of Africa, it was cool to see how an expat in the early 1900s would have lived - there was a lot of original furniture and artwork there to really set the stage.  The museum was in a very ritzy part of Nairobi where most of the European expats live in monstrous houses.  They looked more like an American suburb than Africa.  We saw lots of architecture today that just looked out of place.

A Fantastic New Years Eve

When I returned to London after Christmas, I had my second visitor only a day after I arrived!  My friend Leah from Chicago came to celebrate New Years Eve in London with me.  I was out doing errands and took the tube to meet her at our planned spot - and apparently she had to chase after me as we were on the same train, but I was walking at my new London speed!

After settling in, we headed to Covent Garden to get beers at the upstairs bar - unfortunately it was too cold and rainy to sit outside, but we were able to snag some seats inside instead - and then headed to a nearby Italian restaurant for a delicious meal.

On New Year's eve, we had a full day's schedule! We spent our morning attending the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.  I hadn't been there since I studied abroad, and it was just as impressive so many years later.  On our way to the British Museum, we made the requisite stop at Pret before boarding the bus that winds its way right through the heart of London.  We spent a lot of time at the museum, needing a proper tea break to get our energy up!  Some of the things that caught my eye this time around were the Olympic Medals for London 2012, and a miniatures room that I had never made it to before.  We skipped most of the Egyptian rooms because they were so crowded, but the Chinese rooms with all the porcelain and silk never disappoint, as do the rooms with whole sections of the Parthenon from Athens.

The Countdown Begins

After our full day, we readied ourselves for our NYE celebration!  We gathered snacks and drinks (including a can of pre-mixed whisky and Coke and a bottle of champagne) and got prime seats on Waterloo Bridge, overlooking the London Eye and Big Ben where the fireworks were going to be set off from. The fireworks were absolutely beautiful, and we made some new friends by sharing our umbrellas and champagne!  The Tube was a mess afterwards, so we just decided to walk the 45 minutes or so back to my flat - and the people watching made it quite an enjoyable walk!

Happy New Year!

It doesn't get more London than this.

On New Year's Day, we both decided to sleep in a little, then geared ourselves up for another day of sightseeing.  We visited Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Brompton  Oratory all before a late lunch.  Along part of our walk, we got to watch some of the New Year's Day Parade - complete with marching bands brought over from the US.

After lunch at a pub called "Bunch of Grapes", we went to Harrods to look at things that cost more than most people make in year, then headed to church and out for a drink with a few friends from Westminster Cathedral.

On Leah's last day in the UK, we got up before dawn and took a tour bus to see Stonehenge and Bath.  We were lucky enough to have a beautiful (but cold) day and a great tour guide who even recited the entire poem "The Highwayman" as we passed through towns like the one mentioned in the poem.  We took some great pictures at Stonehenge, and got to see the Roman Baths in Bath, getting a lot of information for the audio guides given to us at each place!  Such a lot of learning for a day trip out of the city! At the end of the day back in London, we made a visit to Brick Lane, and ate our fill of amazing Indian Food.

Leah headed out early the next morning - only two hours before my next visitor, Heather, arrived! More on Heather's visit in an upcoming post.  

More than just a pile of rocks - such cool history and meaning!

My First Visitors!

Oh my goodness – I cannot believe it’s almost been a month since I last updated this space! I have been blessed with a wonderfully busy and visitor-filled holiday season, and am just getting myself organized again! 

My first visitors – Pei Pei (a friend from work) and a friend of hers from college – arrived the Friday of the weekend before Christmas. Although we headed out for a late dinner, after a stroll along Regent street to see the Christmas lights we all caught a second wind and danced until early the next morning at a place I first discovered when I studied here – Tiger Tiger!

On Saturday we took a LONG walk to see some of the best sights along the Thames: the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, the London Eye and Parliament. Along the way we walked through Borough market, which was foodie heaven! We sampled some Empanadas before getting back to the river walk. Later, we browsed the Christmas market near the London Eye, and only held out against the many temptations by the promise of our delicious dinner to come. For dinner, we got dressed up and went to Inamo – a pan-Asian restaurant in Soho highly rated for its food and known for its innovative ordering system. We got a little carried away choosing from the touch screen menu with photos, but everything we ate was amazing!

Me and Pei Pei in front of Parliament.

A Snack?

Sunday morning we did a bit of shopping at Petticoat Lane market and Spitalfields Market near my flat. We found some great deals and unique Christmas presents! Later, we all experienced our first full “Afternoon Tea” – complete with crust-less sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and plenty of milky tea. It was a very filling meal, and it allowed us to get to the theater with plenty of time to spare. We had booked tickets to see Thriller Live – an all-singing, all-dancing concert/tribute to Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. The performers were excellent, with different singers doing the various styles of music, and included one guy who had both the voice and the moves!

The girls stayed another day, but I had to work and attend one final Christmas party, but it was so nice to be able to spend some time with friends during the Christmas season in London! I spent the rest of the week finishing up as much as I could at work, as well as my shopping, but found some time to go to the “Winter Wonderland” in Hyde Park with some friends I met through work. I had heard nothing but rave reviews, and it lived up to its hype. There is nothing that brings out the Christmas spirit and child inside like riding some carnival rides.

Merry Christmas from London!