To Be Continued.....

On June 3, after two years working at Rosslyn Academy,  we left Nairobi, Kenya for our next adventure.  Our life fit into these 13 Action Packers and piled onto a plane bound for Nova Scotia.  

The flight went well and we all slept a little bit along the way.  The boys were especially excited to have 'on-demand' movies!  A short layover in London and then on to Halifax.  After clearing Customs and greeting our familes, our first stop was Tim Hortons!  A Canadian institution that we have missed!

So what now?  Not sure....... we will vacation for a month and then start to think about getting a job.... somewhere!  This blog is to be continued....... somewhere!  Chutes in Canada?  Chute in RV park?  Chutes in Antarctica?  Only God knows...........

Yes! We have no Bananas

Do you remember my story of the banana plant next to our house?  It was given to me by the Kenyan gardeners on staff at Rosslyn in February 2009.  Shortly thereafter it started to die and the mole responsible was removed.  The plant has survived and grown surprisingly strong.  Banana plants can grow up to 7 metres tall and each leaf can be 2 metres long.

 Early this April we discovered a new growth on the banana tree.  This pod-like cluster of leaves is called a "flower bract".   One leaf on the bract rolled back almost daily to reveal a new "hand" of bananas.  

When first exposed, the hand of tiny bananas grows downward.  Gradually the "fingers" turn toward the sun and appear to be growing upside down.  The large pod (bract) is the life source of the banana -- it contains a syrupy milk that feeds the young bananas as they grow.  Sometimes the syrup drips out the bottom of the pod while the bananas hang above.  Simon has counted 19 hands of bananas on this one stalk.  The bananas continue to grow and turn yellow over a period many weeks.

I have read that Kenyans consume 45 kg of bananas per person each year.  We have several varieties of bananas here which are cooked in stew or eaten raw.  The leaves of the banana plant are used to make placemats, boxes, nativity sets, hats, rugs, etc, etc.

We have been told that it takes about 3 months for a bunch of bananas to ripen.... hence the title of this blog.  We do have bananas on our tree and they will be ready to pick in July or August.  But we will not be the ones to harvest this crop.  

We fly to Nova Scotia today and will not be returning to Kenya.  We are looking forward to a few months of rest and being with family and friends.  We are not sure what the Fall will bring!  Sadly, we will not be eating our bananas.

Elephant Orphanage

One of the things that Simon has been wishing to do here in Nairobi, is go to the Elephant Orphanage attached to the Nairobi National Park.  This past weekend we made the trek across town and were not disappointed!

The orphanage takes in baby elephants that have been left alone for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes the mother is sick or wounded and unable to care for the elephant.  Sometimes pouchers have killed the mother for her ivory tusks (illegal in Kenya since 1989).  There are currently 17 baby elephants at the orphanage -- the youngest is 4 months and the oldest almost 2 years old.

The baby elephants are cared for by individual keepers 24 hours a day.  They roam free in an area of Nairobi National Park from 6 am to 6 pm while the keeper watches.  At sunset the elephant returns to the orphanage and sleeps in a small shelter with a keeper -- they are fed SMA every 3 hours through the night and the keeper makes sure that the elephant stays warm with blankets.  The elephants stay at the orphanage until they reach 2 years old.  Then they are transfered to Tsavo National Park (5 hours from Nairobi) where they are transitioned back to a family in the wild.

The elephants were so cute to watch and they loved to be touched.  Lisa had a great time shaking trunks!  However, though small, these are very strong animals!  They are also very wrinkly and rough feeling.  Max thought it would be cool to be a keeper!.

Recital

During this school year, Simon, Max, and Lisa have been taking piano and guitar lessons.  This week was the year end Recital Concert at Rosslyn.



 

Simon has been taking guitar lessons from Mr. Sanna.    This was Simon's first year playing guitar and his instructor is impressed with how quickly he has learned the instrument.  Simon has a real love of the classical style.  Mr. Sanna is an exceptional guitarist so attending lessons was like a mini concert every week, as Simon played and Mr. Sanna accompanied.  Simon's recital piece was plucking the melody for Jesus Loves Me.  He had a beautiful sound and perfect beat.  In the large auditorium it was a very impressive sound.

Max and Lisa played a duet for their Recital piece:  Rondo in A Major by Schubert.  Lisa has not taken lessons for decades.  It was fun to relearn how to play and begin again to enjoy the stress relief that music can bring.  However, to perform in front of people for the first time in 36 years was nether fun nor a stress reliever!  In fact, Lisa has no recollection of the event -- Max says she played well.

Year End Swim Meet

Max and Simon have continued to work hard on the Rosslyn Swim Team.  We have been very proud of their commitment.  Their effort was especially evident in the last meet of the season;  Both boys set records for Personal Best.  We love watching them race, but mostly encourage them to beat their own time. 

Max has worked at improving his butterfly stroke this year.  This week he competed in the 50m Fly and was chosen to do the Fly as one of the legs of the Medley Relay.

 Simon has steadily and improved his overall conditioning and competed against some much larger boys.

One of the boys' relay team members was unable to compete at the last moment so they found a replacement!  Jon is a teacher at school and helps coach the swim team.  He also competes in the "Open" category.  He filled in on Max and Simon's team so that they would not have to "scratch" the Free Relay.  Fun times!

Lisa's Birthday

Today is my birthday and my birthday wish was to see flamingos....... not 45 pink plastic ones on the lawn, but rather thousands of real ones on Lake Nakuru.  Lake Nakuru is a soda lake about 2 hours north of Nairobi.  Its alkaline environment means that it grows blue green algae in abundance -- the favourite food of pink Lesser Flamingos.  The lake has had a population of up to 2.5 million flamingos.  The numbers vary depending on the climate.  During times of drought the lake dries up and the flamingos move to a more wet environment.  During times of heavy rain the water becomes diluted and no longer has blue-green algae so the flamingos move in search of food.   

Lake Nakuru National Park also boasts over 400 species of birds.  Simon is our bird boy and we all took part in spotting the most interesting ones and looking them up in his book.  






Besides flamingos, we saw Pelicans, Hamerkop, Egret, Kingfishers, Ring-necked Doves, Blacksmith Plovers, Crowned Plovers, Rollers, Hoopoe, Glossy Starlings, and Widowbirds. 




The Park also has the usual selection of animals -- rhinocerous, giraffe, water buffalo, zebra, monkeys, baboon,  gazelle, impala.  And one thing that we did not expect to see was a tree-climbing lion.  This is a very rare species of lion that likes to climb trees and rest in the shade.  Climbing trees is not a usual feat of lions and a safari guide told us there are only 8 or 9 of these animals in the Park.  We were very exited!!  

Banquet Season

The school year at Rosslyn  is from August to May.  As we enjoy the last 5 weeks of school here, the year end events are already beginning.  We have attended the Middle School Banquet and the High School Banquet (because Tim is the Principal for those schools).

The Middle School Banquet was held on campus and catered by an Italian Restaurant.  Having pizza for appetizers was so fitting for a Middle School!  This year Max was able to attend also. He and his friends enjoyed getting dressed up for the event.  The Grade 6 boys looked much cleaner than usual!

We also attended a beautiful banquet for the High School held at the Holiday Inn Hotel nearby.  The theme was the "Enchanted Garden of Bombay".  This Indian theme meant the room was decorated in metres and metres of brightly coloured fabric, the students wore a variety of Punjab dresses and Sari, and there was a woman giving free henna tattoos. 

Hell's Gate

Max's Grade 6 class visited the Hell's Gate National Park for a field trip.  This is a small National Park in Kenya and has great soil and rock formations.  Max`s Science class went there to study the rock.

In 1981, Africa`s first geothermal station was built near Hell`s Gate.  It harnesses the heat of the underground hot springs and geysers.  There is one area of the gorge where the water coming from the rock is boiling hot.  Some say this is where the name came from..... the explorers believed that wall was very close to the gate of hell.  The geothermal station provides almost 25% of Kenya`s electricity.  The steam locked 1500m underground is said to be one of the hottest sources in the world.

Legend also says that the park is named Hell`s Gate because when Mount Longonot erupted a hundred years ago, the lava and ash spilled into the nearby gorge.   The bodies of hundreds of Maasai people were found under many layers of ash.

The hike is spectacular for its scenic cliffs, volcanoes, gorges, and geothermal steam.  The trek is not always easy and a local guide is helpful to point out the variety of plants and animals, like the rock hyrax.  Max`s class stayed close to the guide as he described the sighting of a puff adder snake (Africa`s most dangerous snake) earlier in the day. 

Obsidian rock is also visible on the ground and in one cave in particular.  Obsidian is formed when a volcano erupts.  The lava spills out and cools extremely quickly to form the glass-like rock.  We have several large pieces of obsidian in our home being used as door stops.

Allergy Time!

The last few weeks we have all had itchy eyes and runny noses.  We have been sneezing and stuffy.  So we went looking for the culprit.  

We discovered that during the rainy season there is a tree which makes beautiful yellow blooms.  Last year we did not experience these trees in their fullness because we had such a dry season.  But this year we are blessed with rain -- and flowering trees.  And as you can see, the blooms are huge and plentiful!

Furusato

Here are some other pictures of the delicious Japanese meal we had at Furusato.

Max and Simon were not sure if they would like the sushi (even though they love Korean Kymbop).  But Simon loved the Teriyaki chicken and Max was keen on the tempura vegetables. 



Below are Max and Simon with Sam and Lily standing in front of the Sushi bar.  The staff are a mixture of Japanese and Kenyans.

The food is all prepared in front of us at the Teppenyaki table.  There is some heat that comes from it but the view is worth a bit of heat!

March Break

 After our trip to the TreeHouse during the week of March Break, we spent the rest of our vacation in Nairobi: hanging out, getting some rest, and getting caught up on some things.  And we did eat at some new restaurants -- to combat the "self-catering vacation" (oxymoron).

Because it is a multicultural city, the most fun part of eating out in Nairobi is the variety of choice available.  The worst part of eating out is the drive to the restaurant.  The most challenging part is getting a bill when you are ready to leave.  We usually ask for the bill when we receive our food.  We have waited up to an hour to get a bill.   

 We had delicious pizza at a hard-to-find cafe.  We ate at a new El Salvadorian open-air cafe.  We enjoyed the teppanyaki grill at a Japanese restaurant.  Each time we took someone different with us so we were able to enjoy good food and good company that we don't usually have time for.

The Treehouse

For the first few days of March Break, we traveled north of Nairobi to a getaway called Malu Farm.  It was a 1.5 hour drive to Naivasha Town and then 11 km on a dirt road to the farm.  That 11 km took 45 minutes.  And we used our 4 Wheel Drive Low.  A regular car would never make it on the worst roads we have traveled in Kenya (so far).  I can not begin to describe the feeling of being thrown around the vehicle, using all the grab bars available, and a back ache that would not quit.  Locals say that the bumpy roads are part of the "charm" of this location.  

We stayed in The Treehouse with our friends, the Pruitts.  It was a large house with a loft and a full kitchen.  Being "self-catering" means that Mom spends her vacation preparing meals for the rest of the family -- much like at home, when not on vacation.... hmmm....   However, this kitchen was beautiful and well-stocked with tools.  But the people who designed it were obviously giants.  Anne Marie and I are actually standing on the floor in the above picture.  Thankfully there was a delicious Italian restaurant on site -- you only had to drive over those terrible roads to get there.

The Treehouse offers little in the way of entertainment -- so we made our own:  watching the hippos in the river; reading; playing SkipBo and Zilch and chess and Yahtzee; eating snacks (that mom prepared); having a bonfire; watching Colobus and Sykes monkeys.  One of the boys' favourite past-times was playing with their electronic DS in "the basket" -- a large hamper that fit all four of them at once.  It was especially popular in the cool mornings (they would take hot water bottles with them).

Malu Farm is in the middle of a cedar forest and the furniture in the cottages is made on site and very beautiful.  Visitors are able to tour the workshop and purchase cedar items.  We also could see the chickens, horses, donkeys on the farm and the boys took a turn milking the cow.
 

During the day, the temperatures got very warm.  In the afternoon we made a habit of going to the "Plunge Pool" to cool off.  This is a hot tub of sorts, made from the hot springs coming from the mountain.  One of the kids called it magical!  It was on a small creek in the woods and was a very quiet escape -- from the roads that you had to travel to get there.

 The trip home to Nairobi was uneventful but interesting as always.  This is one of the vendor stands along the way -- selling fresh fruits and vegetables.  There were also places to buy sheep skin rugs and hats, geese, chickens.