Average Days and Whirlwind Weekend Trips!

During my time back in Nairobi was lucky enough to take a bunch of exciting trips to new places (which are part of this entry), but there were many more days spent hanging out with friends, exploring Nairobi, and making memories right there at "home" (which are also part of this entry).

Over the summer we had several fellows who came to work at our company. Business school students, undergrads, and RPCVs all came to spent the summer working to improve our systems from data reporting to warehouse. They were also just a lot of fun! I lived with the fellows in our corporate housing, and then Kate (one of the fellows who did Peace Corps in West Africa with two good friends) and I moved to Karen to live in Jess and Ben's house while they were in the States for the month of July.

One day we went out in Karen to explore some of the more interesting places it has to offer (beyond the elephants and giraffes, of course). We started our morning at the Kazuri Bead Factory. Kazuri employs local women, mostly single mothers struggling to make ends meet, to handcraft beads and other small ceramics. Kazuri translates to "small and beautiful" and it is a perfect descriptor for the things they make. If you visit the factory you can watch the crafters make, bake, paint, glaze, and finish the jewelry. They also have a shop with a ton of reasonably priced earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pottery, and various other gifts.

Kate, Beilie, Joyce, Yosy, Namya, and our guide as we learned about the way the clay for the beads is made/mixed.

Women forming the different types of beads.

They employ quite a number of women in each section of the factory.

Some beads are simple and round or oval, while others were quite detailed.

Once the beads are formed, they are fired an painted. Most of the women in this section were going home as it was the end of the day, which is why it looks so sparse. In the back you can see the big ovens used to bake the beads.

Each bead is hand painted with slightly unique designs.

And then glazed in the ovens.

 

Resulting in tons of pretty little beads.

No really....tons.

This room had people making small clay figurines. The staff in this room were all deaf, and employed by Kazuri

Definitely go before 1:00pm on a Saturday if you're hoping to get a tour and see the women at work. The shop is open later, but its really cool to see the beads and sculptures being made.

Continuing our day of crafts, we left Karen and headed out to Kitengela, which is closer to Nairobi National Park. Kitengela has a glass factory that makes really beautiful, often whimsical, pieces out of glass. The son of the owners is the one who designed Watamu Treehouse, using a lot of Kitengela glass for his gorgeous designs.

The glass factory is quite small, but they have pretty expansive grounds with all sorts of cool sculptures and wonky crafts springing up out of the ground. There is also a lovely little café, and some roaming camels. Know that Kitengela Glass is WAY out there...and there's not the best signage. We headed out on Magadi Road towards Kiserian (along the edge of the National Park) and took a left at the main junction where you turn to go to Rolf's Place. Eventually, before the road turns to dirt, there's a road leading off to the right and a small stone sign that says Kitengela. Follow that road on and on and on, through lots of little villages, and eventually you'll see a turn off to the left. That's where we came very very close to getting completely stuck in really deep mud, so be forewarned if you're visiting during the rainy season. The road curves around, past another insanely beautiful house decorated with lots of glass and quirky statues (think Treehouse but overlooking the National Park instead of the ocean) and you'll see the signs for the glass factory.

See what I mean about wonky sculptures? These hippos emerge from a pool of broken glass.

Café on the grounds of Kitengela Glass.

The building where they heat and form the glass.

A lot of these mosaics are mirrored in the Watamu Treehouse.

Love their take on stained glass here.

So many fun doorways/walls/floors inlaid with glass pieces.

Close up of the café. It looks simultaneously haphazard and cohesive.

Inside, prepping glass in the furnaces.



It was WARM in there.

 

One of the craftsmen starting to form the glass.

They were making goblets, which require blowing the glass into a bowl and forming it.

And then making the stem of the goblet to be attached.

After watching the craftsmen work, you can take a peek in their shop. Totally affordable (and cheaper than at other outlets) hand made glassware. Very cool!

Glad you came...sad you're leaving.

We also met some camels that hang out near by. There was a tiny baby camel that had been attacked and lost a leg that was still learning to walk on three legs. It let out of the most pitiful cries you've ever heard...but it didn't seem the worry the adults too much. This guy was on his way over to say hi to Kate...or Kate's mom, who was on the other end of the phone.

 

The group dropped me on their way back to Kilimani at Jess and Ben's so that we could head out with a few people to Olepolos Country Club in Kiserian (man, this was quite the day of K-named cities!). Olepolos is known for its choma (grilled meat) and honestly on this trip out I had the best goat I've ever head. I'd suggest you get there a little early and snag a seat overlooking the Rift, and just hang out, eat, and drink until sunset. Its lovely. Olepolos is about a 40 minute drive from Nairobi. Straight down Magadi Road, through Kiserian, Turn right at Corner Baridi (the junction where straight ahead of you is the drop off into the Rift Valley, there's a dirt road to your left and a paved road to the right) and follow that road as it winds around beautifully through the Ngong Hills. Eventually you'll see a sign for Olepolos on your left, and you go up that very steep, very rocky, dirt road to the Country Club.

 

Ben iced me almost immediately upon getting into the car. Because...adulthood.

Gorgeous views.

Winding through the Rift Valley.

And the Ngong Hills.

Perfect skies.

Photos of photos at Olepolos.

With my best, Jess, in one of the few pictures ever taken where we both look like normal human beings.

Ben taking in the view, Jess arguing about something, and Steph getting krunk.

Now with the addition of Su and David!

Sigh. The view from our table. So pretty.

Gimme dat goat.

The picture that best captures the personalities of Jess and Ben.



Sunset over the hills.

Over the Fourth of July weekend I did something I never would have thought I'd do ever...I flew home from Kenya FOR THE WEEKEND. Part of my contract negotiations to come back centered around the fact that I was scheduled to go to the wedding of a very good friend over the Fourth of July. They wanted me enough that adding in an extra round-trip ticket wasn't a deal breaker, so I agreed that I would fly to JFK in the middle of the night on Wednesday (arriving on Thursday) and come back on Sunday night. Absolutely ridiculous...but I would do it again in a second.

Things didn't exactly go smoothly...my flight out of Nairobi was delayed and therefore I missed my connection to JFK in Doha. But with the help of Qatar Airways staff and some finagling, I was able to get on to a flight from Doha to London, and London to Qatar that just put me in about eight hours later. I headed from the airport to my brother's apartment in Manhattan, where I got to catch up with my niece, brother, sister-in-law, and mom. It was lovely.

Little squirt.

Her cheeks were, and are, out of control.

What a cutie! Look at that arm pudge.

Murica!



Gah, love this face.



Cheesing for the camera.

 

Celebrating the Fourth of July with Grandma.





Hahaha, fake smile from the Haley girl.



Peekaboo.

My First 4th!

So festive.

Ya know, just chillin' in my jorts and watching a game on TV.

 



On Friday afternoon I hopped on an Amtrak that took me to Connecticut, and then took a taxi out to the campground Gabe and Darrow had rented for the weekend. Gabe is one of my oldest friends, one of "the boys" who made my high school experience smarter and funnier than I could have imagined. Their wedding festivities spanned the weekend, and included events such as a dance, bonfire, and so much more. It was fabulous. It was also a collection of just really solidly wonderful people, some of whom I've known for more than 15 years during some of the most transformative periods of my life. It was great to reconnect and catch up.

 

The beautiful camp. Weather was absolutely perfect all weekend.

Walk in to find Jason, Leif, and Gabe! Haven't seen the two on the left in 10 years or more.

Bonfire!!

 

Saturday morning started with a trip to the beach.

Carl, sporting the shirt I got him after he visited me in Korea.

 

Fun in the sun on a wedding day morning.

 

Arranging flowers for the ceremony.

Beautiful outdoor amphitheater where the ceremony was held.

Agh, my high school heart.
Daria, Bruno, Jason, Carl, Leif, Greg, Kafi

All the wonderful people who came to share the day.

360 ceremony stage.

Gabe's brother, Sib, was the officiant. Love friends and family officiating...it was just so warm and funny and heartfelt.

Gabe and Darrow with their parents.

Let the ceremony begin!

 

The whole thing was really lovely.

And really personal to this great couple.

Darrow's brother also got some time on the mic.

Best friends, integrated into the ceremony.

As well as family.

Including the most adorable ring bearer of a nephew ever.

It was really just a ceremony overflowing with love.

Mike and Jess (sporting their personalized drinking jars)

The high school crew (+ wives). 
Carl, me, Kafi, Greg, Bruno, Daria, Jess, Mike, Jason, Leif

The newlyweds!

Dancing up a storm.

Everyone getting in on the dancing.

Up they go!

Love it.

The dancing continued late into the night.

And now ERHS + the bride and groom.

Then the dancing got real, haha.

There was just a lot of unbridled joy out on that dance floor.

Loved all the rustic touches.

Really just a fantastic night overall.

 

Final breakfast, full of fresh, home cooked goodness.

And filling their car with balloons. Obviously.

 



Sunday morning I headed back for a few more hours of hanging out with my niece, brother, sister-in-law, and my bestie Amanda who came into the city from Jersey to see me. We had lunch at the house at a lovely house in mid-town  and caught up before I had to head back to JFK and fly out. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but I'd do it again in a second.

 

My sister-in-law (Loran), brother (Mike), and the little one.

Making faces in the stroller.

All smiles.



I got back to Kenya and worked Tuesday-Friday. Friday evening I hopped on a plane for an impromptu trip to visit my best friend Tyler who was in Kampala, Uganda for a few weeks participating in Unreasonable's inaugural East Africa Institute. I took advantage of the opportunity to fly out to see him and take a road trip to Western Uganda to do some chimpanzee tracking!!

 

I arrived in Entebbe, the closest airport to the capital of Kampala late, and then caught a taxi for the roughly 45 minute ride up to Kampala. I picked up Ty from a casino (naturally) to say hi, and then got dropped off at my hotel. Tyler had arranged for us to rent an SUV (a giant purple Prado, no less), and it was already waiting for us at the hotel. I checked in and crashed immediately. The next morning I was up before sunrise (which is EARLY on the Equator!) and I drove over to pick up Tyler and we headed out in search of chimpanzees.

 

Overall, it was about a six hour drive from Kampala to Kibale National Park in southwestern Uganda. (FUN FACT: In Uganda, "ki" is pronounced like "chi" in chicken. So this park is chih-bah-lay.) You drive on perfectly paved roads that wind through medium sized towns, small trading centers, marshes, forests, fields, and tea fields. It is a really pretty ride. Tyler stayed awake for.....some of it, haha. I drove five of the six hours. Let's take a momentary diversion to talk about speed limit signs in Uganda and how I got my first speeding ticket in almost 10 years....

 

The main highway that runs from Kampala to the west travels through a number of small trading centers. These are towns/villages really too small to be called that...they're just a number of shops/businesses that spring up along the main road for several hundred meters, and then you're back in countryside for several of kilometers before finding yourself in the next trading center. Usually, when you enter a trading center, there is a speed limit sign (like the one on the left below) alerting you to a reduced speed (generally 50-70kph). When you leave that trading center, there is usually an END speed limit sign (like the one on the right below) which effectively means that there is no speed limit until the next time you see a red sign.

 



 

That was a crazy concept for me. So, just to review, you have to go, let's say, 60kph through the town, but then you could blast it to 120kph until you hit the next town. Almost all trading centers have the end speed limit sign, so I got used to speeding up between them. However, an important note for all of you planning to drive to western Uganda: not ALL trading centers have the end speed limit sign. There are several on the trip out that have a speed limit that starts in one trading center and DOESN'T END, until the end of the next one. Its tricky as hell. And it was in-between two of these that I got pulled over for doing 82kph in a 70kph zone. Fun fact: I know I was going 82kph, and the POLICE knew I was going 82kph, BECAUSE THEY HAVE RADAR GUNS. Blew my damn mind.

 

Uganda's police are....let's just say....more organized...than Kenya's. They not only had radar guns, but they also have predetermined amounts that they are supposed to charge you for various offenses! And official ticket books! With the offences and amounts printed on them! Its magical. So I pull over and start talking to the female police officer. She tells me (and shows me) that the fee for "overspeeding" is 200,000UGX (about $67.50). However, after filling up our gas tank a few towns back, I only had 100,000UGX left. (Another thing worth noting here is that ATMs are extremely few and far between out here. We hadn't seen one in about a hundred kilometers.)

 

I told her I didn't have enough for the fee, and she said that was fine, I just had to either leave my driver's license or my front license plate with her until I came back with the rest of the money.

 

Uh...what. Apparently that's common practice in UG...but there was no way, with me leaving the next day and an ATM an unknowable distance away( and who knew if it would even be open/working once I got there?), that I was going to leave my license (or the front number plate of a car that I didn't own!) with her. Retrospectively I should have let Tyler do all the talking. He's much more patient and level headed in these situations. But I did not. I ended up giving her the 100,000UGX I had, which almost certainly just went directly into her pocket, and we were on our way. I consider it a...half bribe? I've only ever paid a flat out bribe once - it was in Kenya in my first month there - but this didn't feel dirty like that did. Maybe I'm just numb to it, haha.

 

Anyway, after that brief diversion we were on our way again. When we eventually got close to the park, it was time to drive on dirt roads through some beautiful tea fields (Google Maps, you never cease to impress me). My driving rule is pretty simple...I don't mind driving wherever we are, but as soon as we get to dirt/sand/rocks/unpaved road, it is time for someone else to take over. I just get to stressed. Tyler was just the man for the job.

 

 

Gorgeous.

Tea fields as far as you could see.

Really love the colour of tea fields.

 



Off-roading brought to you by Tyler.

 

After a bit more driving, and some dodging of monkeys and baboons who insisted on hanging out on the road, we finally made it to our hotel. The tented camp we stayed at, Primate Lodge Kibale, was located inside the national park. Surrounded by lush forest, its just so beautiful. We arrived, settled into our tent, had lunch, and then headed down to the park office.



  

Finally found the lodge.

Woo!

 

Main dining area and fire pit at the lodge.



The name of our tent was Tinker Bird. Naturally.

So cute! It was a tent on a platform under a lovely little thatched roof.

And it was really lovely inside.



The forest inside the park has one of the highest concentrations of primates in Africa, and a ton of diversity amongst the types of primates. Uganda is known as a site for two kinds of tracking trips: gorillas and chimpanzees. Friends have done gorilla treks in Uganda and Rwanda and said they were amazing, but this trip (and therefore, this entry) was focused on their slightly smaller friends, the chimpanzees. The chimps a Kibale are habituated, meaning they are wild but used to human presence. This means you can get pretty close without them running away, but you cannot touch or feed them, or interfere with their life in any way. You buy a day pass for tracking, and are paired up with a park ranger who carries a rather large gun. Our ranger had been working in the forest for years, and was quite familiar with the routes and common chimpanzee hangout spots. Sometimes when you go you'll be paired up with other groups, but we went on a sort of a slow day, so it was just the two of us and our guide.

 

The process is pretty simple...your guide has a walkie talkie and is in communication with other groups in the park. They are also trained in tracking, and are constantly looking for signs that the chimp groups are nearby. So you walk. Up and down big hills, sweating in the rainforest-like atmosphere, listening to the sounds of the forest around you. And then they get the call that there's a chimp group nearby. Quickly and quietly you wind through the forest, and eventually the rangers stops and points and you see them...a huge family of chimpanzees going about their daily life. We followed a group of about 20 chimps, stopping when they stopped, watching they play, eat, and talk to each other. It was incredible.

 

Following our guide into the forest.

Definitely remember to take a water bottle with you!

The walk itself is pretty cool.

The trees are huge and gorgeous.

Our first spot!!

Their hands are so human-like.

It was insane to be able to get so close!

We would follow them through the forest and every once in a while this guy would stop, turn around, and look at us like "Ughh, tourists" before carrying on his merry way.

Sometimes when you get an itch you just have to stop and scratch it.

Bonus points if you get to scratch that itch in a nice patch of sun.

Just sitting and thinking.

Pondering, if you will

I like their vaguely smiley faces.

Baby up in the tree!

Climbing up the tree.

This is where the tastiest berries are, apparently.

So cute.

Serious face.

At several points they looked right at us, took us in, and deemed us non-threatening enough to continue with their day.

They were really beautiful.

NOT a chimp escaping from a hunter. This guy was just being tracked by a ranger.

Why so glum, chum?

Look at that pouty face!

The gang all together.

This tree had a ridiculous number of chimps in it.

Look at that foot! And general monkey pose!

The world is full of awe. See it out!

 

That night we went back to the lodge, ate dinner, relaxed and hung out, and then crashed. After eating breakfast the next morning we rushed back to Kampala so I could catch my flight back to Nairobi. This trip is definitely do-able in a weekend if you're up for LOTS of car time.

 

 

Roads out of Kibale.

Taking a moment to frolic in the tea fields.

Love. Just love.

Dr. Seuss plants!





Those two weekends, back to back in July, were probably two of the most jam-packed, whirlwind trips I've ever taken. And, frankly, they inspired me to do more trips like that...packing my free time to the gills with happiness, adventure, and people I love. Can you really ask for more than that?