The Tall Galbraith's In Kenya

oh my god, this really long and I'm sorry for that... maybe read a section per day for the rest of your life? I'm kidding, it's not really THAT long, I hope.

Garissa: I was waiting by the window in the guest bedroom after I received a call from the taxi telling me they were with him and on the way. The view from that room is better than mine of the gate in the yard because there is less mosquito netting on the window and I couldn’t pull myself away. Thankfully, my roommates took over the final preparations of dinner in the kitchen (I had made a dish with cooking bananas called matoke which is like mashed potatoes but tastes naturally buttery and a stew of lentils and veggies to go with it). When I saw the lights from the cab come up to the gate I ran down and opened it (too excited to walk) and was met with a huge hug from my brother and then dad. It was so amazing to be seeing them and hugging them after 6 months of not seeing anyone!! We ate dinner and caught up a bit but the jetlag made it an early night for us all. Not that I was jet-lagged but I was tired also from not sleeping the night before since I had been too excited about their arrival.

On their one full day in Garissa I wanted to show them the gist of the town so we started out eating breakfast at my favorite hoteli. Safari has the best food and prices and I wanted to share the joy. We all had chapati na mayai (chapati with a fried egg on it) which is the tastiest breakfast in the world (and which Sam wanted every subsequent morning, but sadly never had again). It was strange wearing my head scarf while walking around town with my dad and brother. We stopped by my work just long enough for them to meet everyone who was there and then grabbed our cab driver Hunash to take us out into the bush. The drive was beautiful, though the clouds took a bit away from the beauty (on the other side it made the temperature decent so that was a huge bonus). We had Hunash take us to one of the towns on the outskirts and back. I was getting a bit nervous that we wouldn’t see anything especially cool on the trip other than the bad condition of the road and desert plants and sad, but on the way back we came across a large family of baboons. Dad and Sam were really excited about that, and I’m always excited when I get to see monkeys, no matter how often it happens. Once back in town, we went to the market so they could meet the woman I buy my vegetables from. I had seen her the day before and told her they were coming so she wanted me to bring them by, but she wasn’t there (and was sad when I got back to town and she found out she missed meeting them). We spent some time looking at the clothes and I bargained for a skirt (one long enough for no one to argue with). Then we went to eat a snack/lunch and headed back to my place. During lunch Sam learned the lesson that one shouldn’t order fish when you are at least 9 hours from any ocean.

That evening I had a special plan: we would go for beers at a place across the bridge where you overlook the river (and supposedly can see hippos sometimes at dusk – though I never have) and drink your beers under the trees. The wonderful thing about this place is that it’s in the open-air at dusk and the temperature is completely reasonable, and you can catch a breeze if you’re lucky. After a few beers I went to another bar across the dirt path and ordered nyama choma (roast meat). When it was ready we migrated to the other place and ate a delicious meal of roast goat with ugali, kachumbari, (a bit like pico de gillo) and chapati on the side. I was happy they both liked it as it was my special treat to them. We had a pleasant walk home in the dark and went to bed soon after because our bus was leaving early the next morning. When I went to bed my stomach started really hurting me and as I was laying in bed, curled in the fetal position, I heard my dad and brother stiring… “damnit” I thought, “I’ve made us all sick! And on the first part of the vacation, right before a long bus ride…”, but it turned out I was the only one sick (maybe my stomach didn’t like so much meat at once when I hardly ever eat it?). Additionally, that night one of my winged friends also decided to come into my room, but since I was feeling ill and didn’t have the patience to fight with it, I just turned the lights on and let it sit in my window until morning. Luckily I was feeling mostly better by morning and we were able to catch the bus on time. Unfortunately, in my excitement to leave and being distracted by my worry over getting robbed while gone, I locked the bat into my room (which I only realized about an hour outside of Nairobi). Crap.

The bus ride was exciting. This is the first bus, of all the ones I’ve taken in Kenya, to get a flat tire – of course it would happen on vacation – so we spent an hour on the side of the road in a very small town. We made the most of it by trying to play with the children in the area, but they were mostly petrified of us and wouldn’t come any closer than 20 meteres. With time they grew more curious and eventually Dad was showing them how his camera worked and trying unsuccessfully to take their pictures (which they were very scared of). Back on the bus it was smooth sailing (at least between the checkpoints, which had at least doubled because of the holiday season), until we got closer to Nairobi and word of a thorough check point which would check the bus’s systems was heard. We pulled off the road and parked in a back ally so the conductors and drivers could examine all the systems and make sure we pass (though at one point I caught a clip of conversation where they were talking about possibly taking back roads around it). I’m very glad we stuck to the main road because even on that one, when you get near Thika there is a patch which is so pot-holed the drivers drive half on and half off the road, which might not be so bad if the resulting tilt of the bus didn’t dangle you on the edge of a 20 foot fall. Normally I just try to sleep through that part of the trip.

We made it safely to Nairobi (2 hours later than expected) but were rewarded with a hotel room built for a king. It was more like an apartment (not a small one) and we each had our own bedrooms – a good thing considering we were all cranky. I had been ever since getting back from IST for who-knows what reason, and dad and Sam from jet-lag and culture shock probably. We ate pizza and made the most of the night. In the morning we were off to Masai Mara for our safari!

Masai Mara: We took a small plane out to the hotel. From the window of the plane it was easy to see the Rift Valley and be impressed by its size, and it was interesting to watch all the changes in vegetation: from red to green to brown to speckled. The landing area at our hotel was just a patch of dirt in a sea of green where a shelter had been erected. It inspired an amazing feeling of remoteness upon landing. A short drive to the hotel and we were in paradise. The architecture of Mara Serena is impressive in itself but the whole resort is situated on top of a hill facing out over an open expanse of the game park so that animals can be seen from pool-side or while lounging in the lobby. While in the air we had met two British guys (Phil and Dougie) who were staying the same amount of time as us and who were really friendly so dad asked them if they wanted to do game drives together. The hotel has one drive at 7am and another at 4pm, and you can add in a night drive which starts at 7. We went to the pool for the afternoon and it was Sam who saw the first animal, before we even went on a drive. From the vantage point where he took his cigarette, he saw a large male and female lion!! Yeah, he definitely rubbed in his first place status. Our first game drive we were with an Australian named Brenden who had been on many safaris before and was able to point out a lot to us that we otherwise wouldn’t have known. We definitely got lucky that drive, we saw everything we wanted to: hippos, crocodiles, zebras, buffalos, gazelles, topis, lions (the same large male and female Sam saw from the hotel), elephants, a mama and baby rhino, a leopard, hyenas, and many cool birds. It was amazing how lucky we were!! We saw the Big 5 all in the first day J

The night drive with Phil and Dougie we did that night was a little less interesting. The biggest draw for me was the lighting storm making a great show of the sky (though no thunder could be heard). Mainly we saw a lot of eyes and small animals like dikdiks, long-tailed mongoose, hyenas, wild dogs… etc, but we got to see hippos out of water too and the same two lions at night this time (apparently they had been too busy mating all day to move around much and were found in exactly the same place as before). Phil and Dougie were good company, their sense of humor fit right in and we all had fun (even though my Garissa-adjusted body was FREEZING the whole time, even under my two layers plus a jacket from my dad – you’d have thought it was an arctic safari if you only saw me).

We came back and ate dinner with Phil and Dougie. A note on the food: SO SO WONDERFULLY AMAZING!! The buffet at this place had such an array of food that if you sampled everything I think you would explode, and the sad part was that everything looked delicious. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, all amazing and it was really hard to eat in moderation. I went to bed early that night because I wasn’t feeling well, but dad and Sam stayed out with Phil and Dougie drinking until late. The next morning I was too sick to go on the game drive and also missed the evening one too. I did however make it to the pool for a couple hours in the afternoon, but aside from that was again curled in the fetal position on my bed. I even had to miss the delicious buffets (tragic moment for a girl who is a fat kid at heart). Sam and dad saw a lot of cool things that day (like a leopard in a tree and cheetas with cubs) and they got to stand half in Tanzania and half in Kenya, so I’m glad if someone had to be sick it was me. It’s not my only time to spend in Kenya so if I miss something it isn’t as big a deal as if they did. I’m just happy I was able to go on the final morning drive, though dad was now feeling ill and didn’t come along. We didn’t see much that morning but we did have fun, and afterwards Sam and I got to eat a delicious bush breakfast by the hippo pool. Turns out hippos make some really funning grunting/snorting noises. There were tons of hippos and a bit further down (where we were escorted by a fake masai) there were crocodiles. Our whole experience at Mara Serena was amazing and we made a couple good new friends too which is always fun.

Lamu (aka the most wonderful place on earth – according to me): We arrived in Lamu after two plane rides and a boat ride on a dhow to a raucous celebration. As the boat arrived at the dock there were children in a wide variety of bathing attire (swim trunks, underwear, shorts, pants… etc) diving off the docks into the green-tinged water while music was blaring from a nearby loud speaker attached to a waterfront hotel. Kids and adults were piled around the railings of the dock to watch the divers and the dhow race taking place out in the channel. We were unaware of the reason for celebration and it was tempting to assume this just happened on a daily basis, but soon we discovered the reason: the Muslim New Year. The festivities gave Lamu an additional charm, though it didn’t need any extra help. The town is made up of tightly packed, tall, cement and brick buildings with every type of door imaginable leading into roads/alleys that were big enough only to allow a donkey cart to pass through. The hotel we stayed in was a converted 15th century house with three floors and a great view of other roof tops throughout town from its own open-air roof. Sam was definitely correct in pointing out that this is the kind of town a where a person could easily jump from roof to roof like in the movies. Along the water-front there is an array of wooden boats lined up: boats that bring food to the island (weighed down almost to the point of sinking), boats to take tourists to other beaches, boats for trips to the airport, and every type of personal craft imaginable.

We spent most of our time in Lamu eating at various establishments, though our favorite was the Lamu hotel (where we got to meet the owner, who is possibly English, Dutch, or German and very friendly). During our one full day in Lamu we walked down the beach, initially in search of the airline office to see if we could book a flight to Malindi instead of suffering a bus ride, but eventually just to see what was down there. After passing many impressive-looking gates (behind which we assume were impressive-looking houses/hotels) we came to the most wonderful beach I’ve been to in my life. The white sand stretches as far as you can see down the winding coast and behind it are dunes with palm trees and a castle (tacky, but somehow fitting at the same time). The water is clear and warm over sand bars, and there is a man called Mohammed who comes around selling samosas made by his mother (delicious, by the way). We got a ride back over to the airport and then back home from a very friendly captain who entertained Sam and I with stories about fish who will bite you on the penis if you are running in the water without shorts and of his wife who doesn’t like him, but sure likes his money while Dad went to investigate the tickets.

Our final day in town, before heading out to the airport, we wandered around town enjoying the crooked alley ways and exploring the shops full of crafts. We went into many which had wonderful paintings, carvings, and gifts, but our favorite by far was Mr. Slim. “Slim is my name and silver smith is my game”. He had some wood carvings, but his prized items were silver rings set with pieces of Chinese pottery he said were from the 17th century. He entertained us with stories about his love for Jimmy Carter (his favorite President because he continued to work for the people even after his term ended) and served us coffee and ginger snaps. You should ask my dad to see the video, I cant do justice to how energetic and friendly this guy is. As someone wrote in his comment book, “this guy could sell ice to Eskimos”. Its true.

Watamu: Another flight and a new town. First impressions aren’t everything it turns out, or this might not have been the wonderful 4 days it turned out to be. Walking into the lobby of the all-inclusive hotel, clearly built for tourists, we were met with blow-ups (the tacky inflatable yard ornaments becoming popular in America – to my disgust) of Santa and snowmen. At the front desk they slapped blue plastic bracelets onto our wrists (to remain there throughout our stay) and gave us t-shirts which had Santa on water skis in shorts and a t-shirt being pulled along by two turtles with Santa hats. Yikes. But, like I said, we ended up having a wonderful time. After game drives and city exploration we were all ready for the relaxing part of our vacation. We spent most of our time by the pool (especially since that’s where the buffet was served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks). We played darts, volleyball, water polo (Sam only), and made friends with other guests and some of the staff who played the games with us. It was even some of their jobs to populate the dance floor at the nightly discos, attended by Sam and I and only a handful of other guests since the majority were families with young children.

The all-inclusive bounty of the resort was hard for me to adjust to in the beginning. It’s difficult to let yourself enjoy something like this without feeling a pang of guilt after living with people in extreme poverty. I wouldn’t say I live in poverty, not at all, but this was excessive compared to my lifestyle so in the beginning I had to convince myself it was ok to sit back and enjoy it. Also, during the first night Sam and Dad turned up the air conditioning in our room and I had to sleep in pants and socks to stay warm. As a result, I spent the rest of our vacation with a cold which left me coughing any time I even walked too fast.

Over the days we went snorkeling, were shown moray eels by the beach boys (one particularly large eel, was named Obama), Dad and I went to the Gedi ruins which were very impressive, and Sam and I and some of our new friends jumped into the pool late on Christmas eve just because we were tired of not being able to swim. They had a celebration on Christmas Eve with carols and a special dinner so it almost really felt like Christmas for awhile (the most Christmas spirit I’ve had all season anyway). Mostly, though we worked on our tan between over-eating at meals and just relaxed. It was wonderful. And, the staff was really nice; leaving candies on our pillows every night and giving us a present for Christmas (a beautiful carved bone box painted with a scene of the waterfront).

Loitokitok: The last phase of our whir-wind trip around Kenya was to visit my host family and so Dad and Sam could see the town where I lived for 2 months. We went by cab, then by bus, then by matatu and it took 12 hours, but we made it just in time to quickly wash up and eat dinner which my mama had made for us. On the last leg of our journey (Christmas Day by the way, although none of us really felt like it) Mt. Kilimanjaro was visible barely through a break in the clouds as we neared town. I tried pointing it out, but Dad couldn’t see from his vantage point in the matatu. Seeing my brother and dad in the seat behind the driver with their knees pressed up against their faces was priceless! My baba even came to meet us at the matatu stage when we arrived and took us to our hotel so we wouldn’t have to walk and struggle with our bags. It was great seeing my family again and having my Kenyan and American families meet was fun. Kevin and Lydia loved Sam and had fun playing with all of us. Lydia kept asking me about presents, but we saved those for the next day so we just spent the evening eating and catching up. My mama kept thanking me for not forgetting my family, telling me how happy she was that I could still find my house, and layering on the guilt for staying in a hotel instead of in my room which they had again set up for me. My cold was getting the best of me at this point so I was drinking hot liquids to stay warm and trying to will my body not to ache (I’m pretty sure I had a fever).

When it came time to leave my mama tried to get my baba to drive us but I could tell it would be inconvenient for him so we decided to walk with him as an escort. My mama gave me a sweater to borrow for the walk home (and even helped me with the buttons) and we set off. About 2 minutes into the dark walk it started to rain. We took cover under the roof of a near-by duka hoping to wait it out, but the rain just kept falling and with increasing intensity. All I wanted at this point was to be warm in bed, but instead I was freezing outside under the overhang of a duka getting pestered by a local drunk man who just wouldn’t listen when I told him I was very tired and didn’t want to talk. Thankfully, Godi – a neighbor of my family and a friend – brought us umbrellas and Sam and Dad and I set off on what turned out to be quite an adventure. As the rain turned the roads and paths to mud, we all struggled not to fall with each step (we all had on sandals) and strained to see where we were walking by the light of my phone. After barely making it down the steepest hill in town, and then climbing half way back up the other side, I gave in to the elements and took off my shoes which were causing more problems than they were fixing. The rest of the walk home was punctuated by my “ouches” and “oohs”, but we made it and in a better mood than would be expected.

The following day we went to waterfall 51 with my mama, sister and brother and shockingly, it was really a waterfall! The El Nino rains have transformed all of Loitokitok for that matter, from the dusty town that I knew to what seems like a tropical paradise by comparison. The whole day I was amazed at the sights around me: fields that used to be brown and full of dirt now grew maize taller than me and coffee plants from every inch of ground, the trees were all green, my family’s garden was full. I couldn’t believe I was in the same place and Sam and Dad couldn’t imagine what I had been complaining about before. That night we bought two chickens and cooked them with chapati. I felt so at home back in the kitchen with my mama and in a house full of people, I’ve really missed that since I moved to Garissa. My mama and I sat together just like old times and talked while preparing dinner. We also gave out the gifts which everyone loved. Kevin was really excited about the books and he and Lydia played with the little flipping toys constantly for the rest of the weekend.

Our last day in Loitokitok, while my family was at church, Dad and I walked up to Outward Bound so I could show him where a lot of our training had taken place. It was a gorgeous walk and I even lost my way on the more scenic back roads since I wasn’t used to all the trees and didn’t know where to turn. The forest that used to look like those in Eastern Washington, was now more like a tropical jungle with green covering all the ground. It was amazing to see how extensive the change had been. Even the pool up at Outward Bound, which had been a festering puddle before, was now almost full. After our walk, we met up with a friend of mine and some of the new group of Peace Corps Trainees at his family’s house for a goat party. We sat around talking and attempted to finish the plate of goat meat put in front of us (a whole plate just for Dad and I) and drank mauratina (a fermented alcohol a bit like cider). The goat meat unfortunately was mostly matumbo (intestines) and coming on the heels of my last goat experience in Garissa before we left, was hard for me to look at. I was however pleasantly surprised. Although it looks like a dirty dish rag, it actually didn’t taste bad dipped in salt with a bit of ugali. It was exactly like Nik said when I asked him what it was like. “It’s like trident… you just keep chewing and chewing and chewing…”

That night I cooked dinner for my family; burritos as Kevin’s request. Apparently he has been asking for them non-stop since I left, and although my mama has tried to make them, he claims they aren’t the same. I used the opportunity to teach my dad to make chapattis. We had another wonderful night with my family and before we left my baba gave us each gifts: a head scarf for me, and Masai cloths for Dad and Sam. It was the perfect gift since they had been talking about how much they wanted one. When it came time for us to walk home Lydia and Kevin both cried, and of course my mama did too. I think my brother was more sad to see Sam go than me, but I know he loves me too. After we gave him “Three Cups of Tea” the young-readers addition (BTW he loved it Kristie so thanks for the mix-up), he teased me about having never consumed three cups of tea at one time with them so I wasn’t really family. It was so hard to leave them again knowing it will likely be even longer until I see them the next time. Lydia spend most of the weekend clinging to me which only made me remember how much I miss her hugs and kisses! My baba and his friend escorted us all the way back to our hotel as a send-off.

We left early the next morning on a “bus” (the kind that is a bus back with a truck cab up front). It started raining almost immediately after we left causing rain to drip in through cracks in the windows and meaning a mid-drive attachment of a tarp by the man riding on the roof. These guys are dare-devils really and I couldn’t help but think they are more brave and coordinated than stunt doubles in the movies in America. They climb up and down the ladder on the side of the bus while we are moving along bumpy roads with muddy army boots on their feet – I can only imagine they aren’t great for gripping to the metal of the rungs. When the bus got stuck (inevitable really when its pouring rain and you are driving down a dirt road that more closely resembles a river than a highway), the men on the bus would jump out and work together to get us going again, then after we were safe they would line up to jump back in as we started moving. Watching from my window the whole scene looked like a well organized dance troop performing acts.

After getting caught in the mud a couple times had a fairly uneventful trip back to Nairobi. We grabbed some snacks in the food court at the mall (Dad and I ate from a place called “Hot and Corny”) and killed some time shopping for the things I cant get in Garissa. That night we finally ate at my favorite Italian place and Sam even won money at the hotel casino (naturally). In the morning we ate at Java House (so I could have my last latte for the foreseeable future) and talked about our trip. We also hit up a book store and I left well-supplied for my time back at site. Sadly, it was then time to drop me off in Eastleigh (a place you’ll need to see pictures of to believe) where I caught my bus back home. It was hard saying goodbye but at least I got to talk to them one more time before they left when they called from the airport. Thanks for a great trip guys!! I miss you already!