The Trip Back to Nairobi

 The Trip Back to Nairobi

On Friday around 10 am we loaded up into the tour bus and left the Bogani Camp for the last time. The trip to Nairobi takes about five to six hours. We had two planned stops, one in Narok for lunch and one at a Great Rift Valley overlook spot. The first forty five minutes were on the dirt and rock road back to the highway and then we were on pavement for the rest of the trip.

Joyce gets into the bus for the last time.

There was one unplanned incident during the trip. On a stretch of high way before Narok, there was a police checkpoint where we were pulled over and held for about 20 minutes. Our trip leader, Wilbur, told us that they were looking for a bribe and that they claimed the bus did not have the proper insurance for the number of passengers. After a while, and apparently without payment, they let us get on our way.

This is pretty typical of  the larger business buildings along the main highway.

Along the way we saw these Oriole nests. They have entry holes on the other side. I remember seeing these types of nests on the nature shows I would watch as a child.

Along the way we saw some baboons hanging out pretty nonchalantly on the sides and middle of the highway as cars sped by or braked for them. It seems they hang around the highway looking for handouts from passing motorists. The bus had to stop to wait for them to get out of the road for a minute or too. I had an eerie sense of déjà vu!

Always watch for baboons in the road when driving in Kenya!

Another interesting part of the trip was driving through a combination dust/rain storm between Narok and Mai Mahiu. One would think these two types of storms would not naturally occur at the same time, but one would be wrong. We also saw some pretty well developed dust twisters leading up to the dust storm. The rain was actually nice because it did seem to control the dust in the Great Rift Valley, and we were able to get nice pictures of the valley, which had been greatly obscured on our way out to the camp nine days earlier.

A dust twister we saw along the way.

On the way home we drove through a dust/rain storm

Kenya has a lot of beautiful views 

I spotted a large satellite dish 

There were many buildings under construction along the way.

Trash seemed to be a problem along the highways. The San Jose recycling scavengers would have a field day!

The Great Rift Valley is the largest mammal migration route in the world. Millions of animals travel along the north-south route following the seasonal  rains each year. Today the migration route is threatened due to development.

A view of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya

The silvery light shining through the clouds onto the valley was a sublimely beautiful sight.

Paintings on a stone wall along the highway.

We finally reached Rosslyn, an outskirt of Nairobi around four or five in the afternoon. We had a few hours to freshen up and have dinner before leaving for Jomo Kenyatta International Aiport around 8:30 pm. Around this time, it began to rain heavily which turned some of the streets near downtown Nairobi into flowing waterways. It took us about two hours to make the 45-minute trip.

One last group shot: In the bus on the way back to Nairobi.

The security at Jomo Kenyatta is heavy and we went through three security checkpoints before ticketing and at least two more, including dogs before we made it to the gate. After an hour or so wait, we said Kwa Herini Kenya! Natumaini Kurudi!

Kwa Herini Kenya! Natumaini Kurudi!

Camp Life

Camp Life and the Trip Back to Nairobi

Philip patrolled the camp at night.

It dawned on me that in all the blog posts, I hadn’t really shown the camp compound where we were staying. The name of the camp is Bogani and there are three semi-separate areas to the camp. The pictures here are of the main areas our group used. The compound is enclosed by an electric fence to keep large animals out. This means mostly cattle, sheep, goats and the occasional zebra. Even with the electric fence, there was some wildlife that ventured into or lived in the camp. Just in case there were any  wildlife problems here was a Maasai Askari (guard) who patrolled the camp at night. His name is Philip.

A bushbaby

One, that we got acquainted with on the first night, were the bushbabies. I never saw them, but, boy, did we hear them. Wilber described their calls as the “sound of a crying baby being strangled” and I’ve read of their noises described as “the screams of a madman” by some British Africa explorer.  Neither of these comparisons are far off and they are not exaggerated. They screamed at us for a few hours the first night of our stay. Luckily after that, it seemed they moved on and didn’t bother us again. 

There was also a family of mongoose, five that I saw, that lives on the grounds of the camp. Other members of our group had seen them several times during our stay. A troop of monkeys wandered around the trees of the compound. They often traverse the trees near the dining area in the morning, around seven am. I saw them there a couple times. One early morning the monkeys had some sort of party seemingly directly above my tent. The staff kept three goats that roamed the camp searching for tender leaves. I also twice saw bats around twilight. The had brownish fur and pinkish/greyish wings.

Our group stayed in tents with usually with two occupants, although I believe the four male students all slept in one tent. The tents are built on stone and concrete platforms with wood porches and roofs. They are large and made of canvas and mesh with zipper and velcro doors and windows. Each tent contains 2 bunk beds. They are large and very solid. The blankets on the bed were possibly the thickest I’ve ever seen. Each room also had a cabinet to store personal items.  There was a bathroom/shower building for each two or three tents.

Tents and goats

The walkway back to the rest of tents

Approaching my tent

The front porch, zippered entrance tent entrance and mesh windows

The bunk bed inside my tent.

The bathroom building

Meetings, meals and general hanging out were mostly done at the dining area. Just behind the dining area was a washroom, bathrooms, and a little further back, the kitchen. A little bit further over was the camp duka (store) that sells art, souvenirs and crafts. All the accommodations and areas are connected by stone and concrete paths.

More construction, final visits and goodbye dinner

More construction, final visits and goodbye dinner

Our first major activity of the day was to continue working on the foundation of the new dorm at Kisaruni Girl’s High School.  The group got to mixing and pouring concrete. Truly back-breaking work. We did it for 2 hours in complete safety gear. The local fundi (construction formen) were doing the same work with no gloves, no dust masks and wearing sandals. To be fair, I must admit that I personally bowed out of the work, but the rest of the group finished pouring one side of the foundation. It was an absolutely beautiful day with a really picturesque layer of clouds in the sky. I think everyone was proud to pitch in and help build this valuable addition to the school.

Juan gets it done!

Maasai Flincher surveys the work site.

We completed one side of the rectangle that will be the foundation for the dormitory.  What looks like a ditch full of mud is actually concrete

Throughout our stay, we were
videoed by WE video team.
 Here Prasan gets a tracking shot.

Behind the Kisaruni school there is an interesting rock formation, with what looks like caves. It was easy to imagine leopard lurking up there or maybe this is a place where prehistoric man made dwellings.

The group poses for a picture after a job well done.

We returned back to camp and had time for a quick shower and lunch before heading out to the two solar suitcase installations in Pimbenet. The first stop was a the Pimbenet Primary school . Most of the children in the community of Pimbenet, attend school here. There are about 600 students at this school. First, we attended a ceremony of appreciation that including the students singing for us, and thank you speeches from the principal of the school and the chairman of the district. They presented us with a goat as a thank you gift. Of course we donated the goat back to them. After the ceremony some of us hung out and chatted with students and some played in a soccer match against Pimbenet students.

We arrive at the the Pimbenet Primary School. Note the solar panels on this building.

Students at Pimbenet Primary School come out to greet us.

We left the school and went to visit the two sites where we had installed suitcases earlier in the week. We wanted to check up on how the community was getting along with their new solar power systems. We also wanted to go back and re-teach members of the community on how to use them. We felt that in the excitement of getting the solar power systems, some of the operating instructions might have been overlooked or forgotten. This is very important because if the systems are not maintained and used correctly, it can significantly decrease capacity and lifespan of the system battery. I had a great time teaching the people how to assess the status of the battery and when to use the system and when to allow the battery to charge.

One systes that we installed in Pimbenet

A Pimbenet mama use the solar-charged electric shears on her child.

One of the highlights of my trip: teaching the community at Pimbenet

Pimbenet mama says goodbye.

As we left, we saw this rainbow appear over the building with the solar suitcase. I felt it was a good omen for the community.

Our trip back to camp today would be one of the last times we would get to see all the local kids run out and wave at our bus.

Upon our arrival back at camp we were treated to a celebration dinner of roasted goat, ugali (corn meal bread), rice, creamed spinach and mango avocado salsa. Most of the camp staff joined us for dinner. I was very flattered to be chosen by the group to give the opening round of appreciation to our wonderful hosts. Each member of that staff had worked hard to make sure that our group had a once in a lifetime experience. After dinner the staff sang for us and we all sang along and danced as Emily cut the farewell cake.

From left to right: ugali bread, creamed spinach, rice, goat off the bone and goat ribs.

Emily gets ready to cut the cake.

Stay tuned for at least one final stonekenyablog post!