Never have I ever....been to the Rift Valley

Yesterday I had an amazing day. I hiked Mt. Longonot, a dormant volcano located in the rift valley. The drive to Longonot was beautiful because we were driving parallel with the incredible scene of the rift valley the entire time. Longonot, while it was not the most difficult of hikes was by far the most rewarding view I have conquered. It is a crater with a vast view of free standing lush trees down in the crater. The fall would be a very loooooong one, so we had to be careful when walking around the rim, but it was so worth it. It is located in the Longonot National Park, so we were surrounded by zebras, giraffes, Thompson gazelles and so many birds as we made our way up the mountain. It was an exquisite hike and a great way to spend my last Saturday in Nairobi (nooooo!).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Longonot -- check out the stats for yourself

Here are a few pics from the trip:

Panorama of Longonot

Danny, Ally and me

But actually...very long fall down

The slippery, wet, steep slope down.
(If you look close enough, there are zebras and giraffes in the far off background)

"...But Peter, We Didn't See a Tiger"

Thoughts about Amboseli and the Maasai home stay:

Upon arrival to our “campsite” we were greeted by cups of orange juice (aka Tang) and cold towels to wipe our faces

Our “tent” had a view that overlooked Mt. Kilimanjaro. No joke—woke up to the sunrise and Kilimanjaro every morning. http://www.kibosafaricamp.com/ check out the “campsite” for yourself…

We had princess beds, as we liked to call them, which someone would make and turn down our beds every night.

The food was an all you can eat buffet—with an all you can eat dessert buffet too. Gummys were a hit amongst everyone.

Throughout our stay we met a group of 40 Polish people, 4 American college students, numerous families and couples and a family reunion too.

On our game drive we saw ostrich, hippo, buffalo, elephants, wildebeest, Thompson gazelle and so many birds (again Cody, you would have loved it). 

The entire trip—not kidding, entire trip—we had Mt. Killi as our background.

We met with and interviewed numerous non-Maasai farmers and got the low down on how difficult farming is in Amboseli.

Farmers do not like the wildlife around them because they eat a lot of their crops—silly elephants.

We visited a cultural manyatta (home village) of the Maasai. Had a very tourist like visit. Most of us were not convinced by their lifestyle.

On our (mine and Ally’s) home stay we slept on a freshly dried cow hide, grass and cow dung bed.

We learned how to carry 10L of water on our heads. Not impressive when comparing to the 20+ liters the Maasai women can carry.

We collected firewood with our host cousin…during which we spotted 3 elephants (this is a rarity for them). Priscilla (our cousin) told us we had to run—even though the elephant was not that close—and so we did. All the way home. 

We beaded with our home stay mother and grandmother. They are very artistic. I made a bracelet and three rings. Meanwhile, they made 10 bracelets…

We ate food that was drenched in “cooking fat” and swarming in flies and drank tea made with goats milk.

We smeared fresh cow dung on the side of our hut to seal the outer surface.

Upon arrival back to the “campsite” we were advised to wash all clothes that came in contact with the Maasai to rid ourselves of fleas and lice.

In total we spent 6 days in Amboseli and 1 day and night with the Maasai.

The lifestyle of the Maasai is not only hard core but one that they are very proud of. Cattle are their life and they believe that all cattle in this world belong to them. (Yes, even the ones in America—one day they will get them back!) Their distinctive markings and traditions help the determine who is Maasai and also help keep the culture alive. They gage their ears to create large hoops, brand circles under their eyes to prevent poor eyesight, pull out the bottom two teeth of a child and circumcise both males and females between the ages of 13-17. Women are traditionally married off by age 16 and start having kids very soon after. The gender roles are very divided while men control the cattle and livestock and women cook, clean, tend to the children, make the homes, milk the livestock and bead for a profit. They are amongst some of the strongest (mentally and physically) and most determined people I have ever met. I have such an admiration for the culture and lifestyle but fear for the continuation of their existence. This is something that we discussed in great detail with our group and local community members. One group of traditional Maasai pastoralists said they see the Maasai culture and traditions being wiped out in 2 generations.

Our time was amazing and very eye opening to the ways the Maasai live. The view of Mt. Kilimanjaro was stunning and made me so excited to climb it in May. Bring it on Dad. 

Here are some pics:

Maasai Women

Our "tent" #50

Interviewing the traditional women

Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background

Sophomores...JP wanted in on our picture

Goodnight Kili

Amboseli National Park

Good Morning Kili

Maasai men "jump" to try and swoon Maasai  ladies

Seemon the baby

Wildebeest

Some type of Crane

Thompson Gazelle (this one is for you Danny)

Eye spy...3 hippos

The female ostrich are brown and male are black 

Spotted Hyena 

Amboseli National Park sky

Smiling elephant! 

Red throat something...sorry Cody

Cooling himself and ridding of the bugs

Our princess beds

Danny, Emma Cloud and me

Covering the hut in cow dung

Our cowhide

Carrying water

Most efficient way...and most fashionable! 

Get it Al

Our home

Mama and Priscilla making beads 

Cousin Priscilla and sister Susan

What a Good Friday

So yesterday was Good Friday; which in turn meant we did not have Swahili--or any class for that matter. A college students dream: classes cancelled for religious holidays. So we couldn't just let the day go to waste--carpe diem. What did we do you may ask?!

Well, Julia and I waited at the "bus stop" (wherever people want to wait for the bus...often changes on the daily) for about 10 minutes. We were told by St. Lawrence to only take the city buses, Citi Hoppas, because the other companies are "sketchy" and "unreliable". Just to spite them we decided to be hard core and take a bus called the Compliant. (Not actually to spite them, more because there were NO Citi Hoppas to be seen) So we hop on and there is a lady standing in the front of the bus, swaying back and forth with the movement of the bumpy roads. She is shouting enthusiastically in Kiswahili and reading out of the bible. Welcome to Good Friday in Kenya. She had the whole bus singing and repeating after her. Rock on. NOTE: from my experience Compliant buses are completely okay to take....

As we arrived at our destination we were sent away with parting words from the preaching lady...something about being eternally blessed on this special day. (That's all I could decipher form her Kiswahili).

Julia and I had a great day on our Good Friday adventure. The Toi Market it a HUGE open air second hand clothing market. It is like Goodwill times a million. How it works is each vendor (there are probably 100+ vendors) buys a "bundle" of clothes. It is a legitimate bundle, weights upwards of 30 lbs. Not knowing what they have purchased (its part of the whole mystery of the business) they open up the bundle and lay their clothes in a big pile for people to search through. The clothes are very cheep and there is A LOT of variety.  I got 4 shirts for 30-100 shillings ($.50-$2.00). I got a sweet pair of "Aladdin pants" that have funky shapes and colors for $4.00. Scored. The bartering is the best part and when you do it in Kiswahili they lower the price even more...!

At the very beginning of this trip I broke my sunglasses and it has been a huge bummer because it is always sunny and my eyes often get sun burnt (yes, it is actually a thing...Kat remember Tampa?). SO I have been in need of sunglasses... Anyhow, at the Toi Market there are vendors who sell "Ray Bands". As I was waiting for Julia to barter for her purchase I wondered over to the Ray Band guys. They were heckling me to try them all on, they were saying comments like "you look smart" (Kenyans word for good looking). They were telling me that the sun glasses were real Ray Bands made in Italy....clearly this was not true...you could see the painted label on the side. Anyhow, I proceeded to begin my bartering they started at 2000 shillings ($24.00). I said no way, my friends came earlier and bought them for a lot cheaper. He lowered the price down to 800 shillings ($9.00). Now mind you, this is all in Kiswahili. I thought I was being a good bargainer and thought I said 200 shillings but instead I said 20,000 shillings...classic. The vendor laughed and told then proceeded to walk around to his other vendor friends and tell him what I had just said...hahah jokes on me. I ended up getting the sun glasses for 200 shillings though!

After a very successful and long day at the market we got aboard the Citi Hoppa to head home. Again, there was someone preaching from the bible. A man this time, he was walking up and down the isles of the bus and shouting versus from the bible. He was going between Kiswahili and English (Swinglish) so it was easier to understand. We stopped to let the preaching man off and on came another man, he was blind and had a walking stick. He stands up in the middle of the bus, says something in Kiswahili about his health and then proceeds to do something I have NEVER seen (or even thought was possible). This man spreads his eye open, grabs his eye ball and holds it out for everyone to see. It was clearly a fake eye, but the grossest part was that you could see into his eye socket. This was probably the most shocking and disturbing thing I have ever seen...ever. He then is waving it around saying something that I cannot understand. I was so thrown off guard and distracted by him waving around his eye that I wasn't understanding what he was saying. Too bad. He then put the eye back into his eye socket and walked up and down the isle asking for money. Culture shock...maybe?

We got back to the compound and had dinner with the new Swahili adjunct who will be teaching at SLU next semester. He had dreadlocks and was very well spoken, sweet and funny. He'll do just great at SLU. His biggest fear was the snow, rightfully so, and was really worried about the cold. Kenyans think 60 degrees is jacket weather...I think he'll have a great time in Canton!

On Sunday (Easter Sunday) we are leaving for Amboselli National Park. I am getting really excited for our game drive and home stay with the Maasai. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. Have a great week--stay tuned. Happy Easter!

The Top 10

This past week we have been taking classes in Nairobi. It has been pretty stress free, low key and relaxing. The sun is (almost) always shining...even though it is approaching the rainy season.

Here are the top ten most interesting occurrence in the past week:

1. We all talk like Kenyans now when we are engaging in conversations with each other which is a series of "ehh" and can be used as a response. A typical conversation would sound like this:

mwanafunzi 1: I like Kenya a lot. 

mwanafunzi 2: ehh (this is a form of agreement or encouragement to keep going)

m1: It is so fun to be here because I am trying so many fun activities and meeting so many cool people

m2: ehh, ehhhhh

...sounds a lot cooler in person

2. I went to lunch with my host family this past weekend. Two other students on my program, Ally and Danny, are my host cousins and so our whole family got together to share a meal. We ate at a place called Caribia. It was really fun and dynamic because they cook the food in front of you--so you get to watch the entire time! 

3. The girls in the house went on a HUGE cookie and brownie binge and made mass amounts of sweets. It has been a mixed blessing although we are all a bit sick of sugars right now...we'll see how long that lasts for.

4. In my gender class, we have been reading and watching a lot of films in preparation for our visit to Amboseli and our visit with the Maasai. I am getting really excited for next week!

5. I have been going on the most inspirational fun and exciting runs. Oddly enough, it is the same loop I have been running the entire time I've been here...maybe it's a subconscious new outlook on life!

6. All of us students have been using "pole" (meaning sorry) so often. Ever since we recently found out that pole frequents Kenyans dialogue we have began to insert it--maybe too often--into our own. Pole!

7. We broke a chair on the compound..... There are these really nice, comfy chairs outside on the deck that I find myself sitting in a lot--they're a great way to soak up the afternoon sun. However, sadly, one of them broke so we are down to 2 of them :(. 

8. It is avocado season!!!!! Parachichi (my favorite Kiswahili word) HERE WE COME! 

9. I have a new found love for goats. I think it was my hike through the Ngong hills that inspired this passion but I am really digging the animal. I can't really place my finger on what it is exactly--maybe it is how they stick out their tongue when they make a noise or that they can fake faint...but there is just something about them that is so captivating!

10. We hiked the Ngong hills on Saturday! The Ngong hills are a series of 7 (maybe more--it's sort of  unclear) hills. I think the most startling part of the whole hike was when we were first greeted by our guides and they were all equipped with 6ft long spears, bows, [poison] arrows and machetes. No joke. This is because there are "wild buffalo" and "crazy people" that could pose as a threat to us...or at least this is what they told us. 

Here are a few pictures from our Ngong hill hike:

Random Kenyan who was "teaching" us stretches?

The rest of the week seems to be very much the same--relaxing and rejuvenating. Hopefully you're feeling the same. Hakuna matata!

Here we go Saints!

FUN NEWS!!!

"An American university is celebrating the election of six of its former students and lecturers in the March 4 polls." (Kariuki) 
That American University that they are talking about is my very own, St. Lawrence University. This has been a fun new development of the recent elections earlier this month! Yes SLU, repping hard. Earlier in the semester, my group had the honor of meeting and having dinner with Ken Okoth, the newly elected MP of Kibera, which was really great to see and talk to a politician on a more personal level! 

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/American-university-hails-alumni-elected-in-polls/-/539546/1725016/-/5197mg/-/index.html

Heres a short article to explain a bit more! 

Neubea! (Hadzabe for "Thank You" and "You're Welcome")

As mentioned in the previous post, Kenya is safe to enter again. So here we are, back in the good ol’ Kenyerrrr. However, my time in Tanzania was incredibly beautiful and unbelievably eye opening. Because of the Kenyan elections, we were mandated to take extra precautions and had the luxury (and it sure was a luxury) to spend not one, but TWO weeks in Tanzania. (All other SLU student groups spend only one week, but we were surely the lucky ones.)

            On top of being the most beautiful and picturesque country I have been to, I really did learn a lot. We had many discussions with local community members and were able to get a glimpse into their lifestyles and saw not only the vast differences but focused more on the similarities. We had a pretty jammed packed trip (some called it vacation) so I will refrain from giving you a day by day recap and just highlight the most interesting and fun times.

Camping schedule for 2 weeks :

March 2^nd: Drive to Tanzania. Stay at Dorobo Safaris (Most awesome Safari group in the world http://www.dorobofund.org--check it out if you want to read more about Dorobo)

March 3^rd: Panel discussions with various community members (DANNY’S BIRTHDAY!)

March 4^th: Panel discussions with more community members and a soccer match with the locals. (Yes, we did win!)

March 5^th: Drive 7 hours to Tangere National Park and have a mini "game drive"

March 6^th: "Game drive"—saw some incredible wildlife (lions, giraffe, elephants, ostrich, water buffalo, SO MANY birds…Cody you would have loved it.)

March 7^th: Drove to the Iraquw forest and had a panel discussion with the community members (JACK’S 21^st BIRTHDAY…!)

March 8^th: Visitation with the Iraqw people and 15k walk to the waterfall

March 9^th: Soccer game with the locals (sadly, we lost this time)

March 10^th: Drive to Yaida Valley

March 11^th: Gather Tubers with the Hadzabe women

March 12^th: Walk across Yaida Valley (Over 10 mile walk). Honey hunting, archery practice and Baobab tree climbing

March 13^th: Hunting with the Hadzabe men

March 14^th: Loooooong drive back to Arusha…11 hours…we had some sick kids and car trouble. Happy Pi Day!

March 15^th: Group Presentations and drive back to Kenya 7 hour drive. (Yes, I am sick of driving now!)

The highlight of my trip was spending time with the Hadzabe people in Hadza Land in the Yaida Valley. The Hadzabe people are some of the last original hunter gathers in Africa. This means that they live VERY sustainably off of their natural land and use their resources to live abundantly. It was absolutely amazing to experience this different way of life and felt such a strong connection with the Hadzabe people--they were an inspiration. I’m now looking at the way I live my life through a very different lens.  The Hadzabe community was nothing but friendly, warm, welcoming, hospitable and very funny. We all exchanged laughs, funny stories and cultural songs—however I can say, without hesitation, that their songs and dances were SO MUCH better than ours. We sang, All Star by Smash Mouth, Country Roads by John Denver, Wagon Wheel by OCMS and the Star Spangled Banner…they did not seem too impressed hah. We got the opportunity to find, dig and gather tubers with the women. A tuber not cooked tastes a bit bitter, but cooked it tastes like a combination of a sweet potato and a regular potato.

Secondly, we “hunted” with the Hadzabe men. This was more of a crazy experience. We split into groups of 3; my group was Ally, Chloe and me. Our leader “Ai” (pronounced eye) was a young, fit man—who seemed to be about our age. However, he clearly possessed light years more knowledge then I, or anyone in our student group did, when it came to hunting. Ai caught a long horned bird, chipmunk like animal (I could not understand the Hadzabe word) and a Hyrax.  I am very happy to have had this experience, but do not see the need to try this again. I think it is so very interesting and fascinating but believe it is not a practice that I am very well suited for.
      I wish I could stress how amazing and inspirational this trip was but I am finding it very difficult to do so. I will leave you with some photos from my beautiful, incredible, unbelievable and remarkable trip!

TMFL Ally!

Our humble abodes for 2 weeks! 

Flamingos 

The VERY VERY slippery/muddy walk to see the Flamingos 

"Futbol Match" against the Iraqw locals (we lost 3-1)

Tangere National Park

All the amazing beautiful animals we saw!

SO MANY ZEBRAS!

Yes, we were this close!

CAUTION: LION CROSSING!

One of the highlights of the trip: getting caught in a flash rain storm while being surrounded by lions...!

Sick and skinny lioness--she didn't make it much further than this point :(

Over 400 Water Buffalo!

Twiga (Giraffe in Kiswahili) 

Watering hole for the elephants

Lions sleep for upwards of 20 hours a day...lazy?

Yes, again, we were this close. 

European Weaver...I think?

Karibu Tanzania

Tangere National Park sunset

Digging Tubers with the Hadzabe Women

Archery practice...sweet form Megan...NOT

"Pole sana Moshi, ngefindisha!"

Making an arrow with the Hadzabe

Final product!

Climbing a Baobab tree

Our professor, Sinarry, attempting to climb the Baobab!

My Hadzabe hunter, Ai, smoking out a Baobab tree to get honeycomb

The honeycomb Ai got--note it was actually dripping honey

Ai with his first kill--the Long Horned Bird

Ai and his Hyrax (closest living relative to the elephant...what?!)

SUCCESS! Note: Ben petting the Hyrax, Chloe genuinely excited, Me--more of a fake excited, and know the chipmunk animal is sticking out of Ai's left pocket.

Sunrise in Yaida Valley

Waking up from sleeping on the rocks

Last morning in Hadza Land

The most beautiful and incredible place I have ever been. (Our camp is at the bottom of this)