On Safari Day 2

We crossed over and then drove along the equator to Sweetwaters tented camp where we stayed for the second night of our safari. The camp sits in the middle of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It is a privately owned game reserve that has very knowledgeable Park Rangers who live on site. The reserve is also home of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary established by Jane Goodall.

This site has a watering hole to watch animals come and go. Shortly after we arrived a family of giraffe came to drink. It is quite a sight to see a tall giraffe bend down on its knees to drink. There was also an abundance of warthogs with baby warthogs in tow. We watched the water hole from the deck of our “tent”.



We took a couple of “game drives” around the 90,000 acre property. We saw large numbers of impala, gazelle, water buffalo, hippo, and bushbuck. We were also mesmerized by the quiet beauty of zebra and giraffe. And we saw three lions!! There was a young male, an older male and a female hanging around in some tall grass by the side of the road. We watched them for 30 minutes. We saw them yawn with huge big mouths. We saw them roll around in the grass. We heard them roar – just like a real lion.



We also got to meet “Max”, a white Rhino that was raised by the park rangers and is being reintroduced to the wild. “Max” believes that Ranger Patrick is his mother and he sleeps next to Patrick’s front door. I wonder how his wife feels about that! Patrick can also “talk” to Max using a huffing sound. It was quite amazing to watch.

After a wet 4 hour drive back to Nairobi, we were exhausted and over-stimulated by all that we had seen.

On Safari ! Day 1

This past weekend we were the ultimate tourists and went on safari!
We spent the weekend in view of Mount Kenya which is the tallest mountain in Kenya and the second tallest in Africa (next to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania). We did not get to see the peak of Mount Kenya because it was cloudy and drizzly most of the weekend. The rain did not dampen our spirits and we are so grateful that the water crisis is momentarily over.
Our first night at Mountain Lodge was like being on a cruise ship. The hotel sits on the equator and in the middle of the jungle at a watering hole. You can’t leave the hotel without an armed ranger. There is a large balcony to sit and watch all the animals come to drink and bathe.
We saw dozens of water buffalo and water buck. A family of baboons were hanging out for a while. There was always a stork walking in the water waiting for the Egyptian geese to leave their babies unattended. He had eaten 6 goslings in a week and only two remained. The manager of the hotel, Jeconiah, taught Max and Simon to use a sling shot if the stork got too close to the goslings.
And then a group of 50 monkeys ran through the open area – one at a time. A monkey would run from one side of trees to the other side and then wave for the next monkey to follow. It took several minutes for the whole crew to make it across. We giggled at their personalities as some monkeys ran very fast, some meandered, some stopped half way to pick his nose,…..
The elephants were the most amazing! A group of 9 elephants walked through and disappeared into the trees. We were so surprised to see these huge animals “pop out” of little paths and then squeeze back in. The largest elephant stayed at the watering hole for awhile. We were hiding in a bunker only a few feet away while he sucked up water like a vacuum cleaner and then squirted it into his mouth like a waterfall. Elephants drink up to 50 litres of water a day. As he was leaving the area this HUGE animal got annoyed at two noisy geese. He made an irritated trumpeting sound and waved his big ears at them! They became quiet.


And besides the animals, our “cruise” had the typical delicious food. We were served 5 course meals which included a variety of Kenyan dishes. Max became fond of having cheese to end his meal. Simon was thrilled that he could have pineapple slices with warm chocolate sauce every meal. Tim enjoyed trying new soups – creamed vegetable, squash, carrot. Lisa was thrilled that someone else was doing the preparation and clean-up!
Albert was our excellent host.

Canadian Thanksgiving

On Sunday October 12 we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with several Canadian families here on campus. There are 12 Canadian teachers at Rosslyn (a staff of 60 teachers in total). We had 22 people come to our home to eat turkey and talk Canadian politics, food, weather, hockey.

It was a chore to locate and purchase a 10 kg turkey. The turkey was also a bit uncooperative because it did not thaw in 3 days and took 9 hours to cook. Rebecca DesRoches made a delicious dressing which included summer savoury. Did you know that summer savoury is quite unique to the Maritimes? No one else has ever heard of it. I will bring some back with me at Christmas.

Here is Simon with his friend Isaiah and Max with Ezra (from Winnipeg).

We played a game of pin the feather on the turkey -- each feather has something written that we are thankful for. Some of the feathers say that we are thankful for "food", "new life", "God for bringing us to Kenya", "water", "the present (tense)", "my childrens' laughter", "chocolate and my Stevie Wonder CD", "the sound of birds waking me in the morning", "teeth", "my Dad".

But this is the one that takes the prize: "I am thankful to be from a country that produced Bruce Cockburn and Stompin' Tom, Maple Syrup and Labatt's Blue, Raffi and the Zamboni, Bobby Orr and Bobby Vinton, Joni Mitchell and Kim Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and (well maybe not Leonard Cohen), Don Messer and Don Cherry, and the greatest place on earth -- P.E.I. I am Canadian!"

Chai Time!

Our home is blessed to have two hard-working Kenyans. Timothy is our 55 year old gardener. Kenya has a policy of forced retirement at age 55 in order to give younger generations the opportunity (and discipline) to work. Timothy works part –time for 3 families here on campus. He lives on campus with his wife and 6 girls. Two of the girls are his nieces; Timothy’s sister is ill so he cares for these Elementary aged girls. His two oldest daughters are in university (one in nursing school) and live at home part of the year. His oldest daughter had polio as a child and is unable to live alone because of the physical and mental effects of that. His youngest daughter is still in school (grade 7).

Cathy is a 26 year old married mother of one. She works with me two days a week doing the house cleaning and cooking. She and I laugh together a lot and she has taught me how to make Kenyan food and Chai. Chai is the Swahili word for tea. Chai is prepared like this: boil water then add loose tea leaves (a Kenyan brand, of course). Boil for exactly 2 minutes then add milk ( half cup for every cup of tea). When the milk just begins to boil, remove from heat and strain the tea leaves out. Add sugar depending on taste (but usually LOTS of sugar) and serve immediately.

Every Tuesday and Thursday I make Chai for Timothy and Cathy. They take great pleasure in evaluating my Chai-making ability. They say that my Chai is Sawa (Swahili for perfect)! We have a wonderful tea time discussing Kenyan customs, Swahili, Jesus.

Happy Moi Day

Tim, Max, and Simon had no school today. It is a national Kenyan holiday called Moi Day. Daniel Moi was the second President of Kenya. Moi was known for his philosophy of peace, love and unity (called Nyayo in Swahili).

The first President of Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta. His national holiday (called Kenyatta Day) is on October 20 (which gives us another long weekend).

Kenya gained independence from Britain in December 1963. It is a commonwealth country like Canada. The official motto of Kenya was coined by Kenyatta in the months leading up to independence. He called for Kenyans to work together in a spirit of Harambee ("Pulling Together). This motto is on the Kenyan Coat of Arms. The Kenyan flag is made of 3 colours: green for the land, black for the people, and red for the blood shed in the fight for freedom.

Water

This week we had a life lesson about the value of water. These clouds moving in are an unusual sight in Kenya but right now a very welcome sight!

We have had to filter all of our drinking water since we arrived. The school does “treat’ the water coming to our homes but it is still recommended that everyone boil or filter. We filter through this device which has 3 sand filters inside. The water coming out is good for drinking and cooking.

On Monday the school ran out of water. When I turned on my kitchen tap Tuesday morning, not one drop came out. It was a scary feeling.

There is a severe water shortage in Kenya right now. Normally, Kenya has two short rainy seasons each year (April and October). The time leading up to those rains can be very difficult. This year the earlier rains were not very heavy and so we are now in a very dry spell with crops and livestock (and therefore food supply) in danger.

Water in Nairobi is controlled by the City Council. Water is rationed (much like electricity) so it is periodically turned off. That means that no water will come from your tap or to flush your toilets unless you have been saving up yourself for these times. Some people have large storage tanks in the yard or on the roof for such occasions. Other people resort to bathing in the muddy creeks.

We have been put on a strict conservation plan. I must now recycle all my dirty laundry water to water the plants. I reuse the rinse water from the laundry to do the next load. We shower in the bathtub and collect the water for flushing toilets. The dishwater is reused to mop the floors. It has been quite surprising to see how much water we waste and how much of it can be reused.

On Tuesday night the rains came for a short time – enough to give us hope. Then another short rain on Thursday and Friday. But last night (Saturday) it POURED all night and it has been drizzly all day today (Sunday)! All of our buckets are overflowing!