Day 7 I Meet the Maisai - The Warrior Tribe

We had a good buffet breakfast at the Fish Eagle Inn. I could learn to live having baked beans for breakfast. We drive to south to Narok. Narok is a town where many cultures meet. We stop for lunch and walk into town. After driving on bumpy, dusty roads for many hours, it feels good to be the pedestrian. Walking along the road is what most people in this country do. Wow, it's a little dangerous. Dust gathers inside my socks. I'm wearing the sarong I borrowed so I look appropriate. We want to buy corn flour, chai and sugar for the people we are visiting. We also buy chugas (red patterned cloth worn by the Maisai). Most of the chugas are plaid. Some black and red plaid, some blue and red, but all have red. Red is seen well from a distance and is the symbol of Maisai cultural unity. We meet Jonathan. His chuga is red and orange. I buy one just like his. Jonathan wears his chuga, leather shoes and a long machete is hung from his waist. He carries a stick and a cell phone. The cell phone seems out of place but I can see that he is used to using it. He sits next to me on the van. He walked 20 kilometers this morning to visit his wife in the hospital. She was ill with malaria and gave birth to a premature baby. The baby will be in an incubator for 6 weeks. Jonathan is a talkative and antsy guy. We leave Narok and head out to his boma (home). He comments on the road. "This is a government road," he says, "Look how straight it is. The government made such a straight road. Wah!!!" I don't really get what he is talking about until we leave that dusty road and head down the road to his boma. This road is the zig zaggiest road I have ever seen in my life. The road goes right around a bush then turns left around the next bush. We can't see more than 50 yards ahead because the road is always turning. We see a row of aloe vera plants. Each plant is about 3 or 4 feet high and several are in bloom. We ask and Jonathon explains that the aloe is a fence marking a property line. Jonathan tells us to greet his family by saying "Sopa!" When we arrive many people come out to greet us. Children present to us the top of their heads. We touch their heads and say "Sopa." We hear "Sopa" back at us. Jonathan takes us inside his house to meet his second wife. Here is her picture. Jonathan was just married yesterday. The second wife speaks English very well and is shy. The women make the houses. Each house lasts 8 to 10 years. We meet Jonathan's mother. Jonathon describes her as "very, very old." (She is 3 years younger than me). We ask her how many houses she has made. She says she has made 11 houses. The Maisai have been nomadic - always moving to better pastures for their cows and goats. That is slowly changing and property is being assigned to people. The houses are made out of woven sticks, mud and cow dung. This house has a cat to kill the snakes and mice. Baby goats stay inside at night. People cook over open flames inside the house. After 10 minutes or so my eyes adjust to the darkness and I can see more. We go back outside and play hand games with the children. The children all want attention. I feel little hands inside my pockets and trying to tug my rings off my fingers. Someone starts to unvelcro my watch so I take it off and put it in my pocket. An older woman comes over to me and gestures that she wants my sarong. I say no. She insists. She gestures that she'll trade for her green and white plaid skirt. I tell her I can't trade it because it is not mine. That is true. I borrowed this sarong for my trip. She won't take no for an answer. I have to walk away or keep arguing so I walk away. A couple of older girls come out to visit but they stay close at the edge of the group. They are adorned with special headdresses and cowrie shells dangle from their foreheads. We greet them with "Sopa" too. They giggle and go away. We have a choice of sleeping in a boma tonight or in a tent. I choose a tent. We have a latrine tent too. I stop drinking water about 4 p.m. There is no way I'm leaving my tent in the night to go to the latrine tent in the dark. There could be lions out here. I decide to use the latrine tent while the sun is still up. The opening faces into the bush. No one is out there. So why not leave the tent flap open? Because after I do that the cows and goats come home from grazing. How embarrassing. The baby goats get all frisky and happy because they hear their mothers coming home. One baby goat is so young it still has an umbilical cord. Some of the cows wear bells and I hear cowbells all night long. The herd had to walk 5 miles to find grass. Tomorrow Jonathan is taking his herd up the valley. They can't stay here anymore. The grass is so scarce that his cows are getting sick. The group is going to roast a goat for us. Do we want to watch? We do. I feel badly for the goat being dragged from the herd. We watch as the Maisai men suffocate the goat by kneeling on it's chest and plugging it's nose and mouth. The goat struggles. This is hard to watch. The goat is laying on a pile of leafy branches. They don't want any blood on the ground to attract lions or hyenas. The Maisai diet is mainly meat, blood and milk. They poke the goat in the eye to make sure it is dead. It is dead. The throat is opened and the aorta is exposed. A man opens the aorta with a knife and another man slurps up the blood for several minutes. This is hard to watch too but it's not as bad for me as watching the goat suffocate. He wipes his face with some leaves. We watch as the goat is skinned. Every bit of the goat is used. They make a bonfire and thread sections of meat onto sharpened branches. The ends of the branches are planted in the dirt and the branches are angled in toward the fire so the meat can cook. I pass on the goat . I may go back to eating meat someday but I'm not going to start with a goat. Camillio makes us delicious mashed potatoes, a vegetable stew, and boiled goat with fruit, tea, cookies and coffee. After dinner Jonathan talks to us about his culture and the stages of life. He asks me how old I am. He tells me I would be considered a senior elder - very respected. He talks about growing up. He talks about circumcision. I learn that the two girls wearing special head adornment with cowrie shells were recently circumcised. He can call it circumcised but most people would consider it to be female genital mutilation. I am appalled. I didn't know. These girls remain in the front of my mind for several days. He says things are changing, but it didn't change fast enough for these two girls. Hearing this is the darkest spot of my entire vacation. I know cultural traditions cannot just change suddenly. Change has to come from within and it has to come slowly, but I am ever so sad about this. The men offer to dance for us. They dance around the bonfire. The children hear and they come out to join the men. Everybody sings and dances. After a while we all go to bed. Two Maisai men guard our tents all night to keep us safe from any wild animals. This has been a very eventful day in Africa.

Day 6 A Sexy Day

My sister and mother gave me an African journal to take on my trip. I took this wonderful book with me. The books has maps and animal lists and bird lists and all kinds of useful information. I used the blank pages in the middle to journal about my experiences. Today's entry is short. I was too exhausted to form sentences. I wrote in some key words to prompt my memory. We got up before the sunrise to go on another game drive around the lake. I fixed a mug of hot cocoa to take with me. We drove to the top of a cliff overlooking the lake - a spot from which scenes from the movie, "Lion King" were drawn. Along the way we spot a couple of cape buffalo getting it on. Wow. That looked rough. We are enjoying the view from the top of the cliff. Mist is moving across the lake and the light is very subdued. The flamingos are still down there and they make a lot of noise. I watch a lizard warm itself on the stone wall. Baboons are hanging around. I stand by the van for a minute and I spot a baboon sneaking up behind me. I turn around. I really don't trust baboons behind me. We move away from the van to take a group picture. When we return our van is covered with baboons. One of them is sliding up and down the windshield, using the wiper to get back up. A baby baboon is clinging to the back bumper, trying unsuccessfully to get on the roof with the rest. More than half the baboons are licking the van. They must enjoy the salty dust we gathered when we drove along the shore yesterday. Muthoga shoos them away and one baboon acts aggressively but eventually backs off. As we watch them scamper beside the van, the head honcho of the baboon tribe mounts a female, his feet off the ground. No foreplay. No small talk. He gets off and lies on the ground while she and another female proceed to groom his arms and legs. Cripes almighty. It's not even 7 a.m. and I've seen the copulation of two species. We head back for a delicious breakfast and pack up our stuff. I talk to Monica who is the caretaker there. I admire her flowers and poinsettia. She shows me where a buffalo has fertilized her flower bed. I can't believe those two ton animals come up so close to the house! She says if she sees the buffalo herd moving east, she knows there is a lion in the west. She says the buffalo seek shelter under the security light at night because the lion fear the light. I still can't imagine huge buffalo outside your door in the morning. She reminds me that the lion is the king of the jungle. We drive to Nakuru for lunch. We eat at a famous old dining room. The food is good. We sit outside. Across the busy street a steam roller idles, burning diesel fuel. The smell of diesel is very strong. We drive to the Fish Eagle Inn. We are already late for our boat ride. We climb into the boat. The shore is clogged for 20+ feet with an invasive species - the water hyacinth. The weeds clog the motor. I tell Muthoga that I have this in my pond in the backyard. I tell him I pay $8 for a small piece of this every spring. "You pay? For this? You pay $8 for this?" I guess it is true that one person's flower is another person's weed. We head across the lake. This is a freshwater lake. We head to the other shore where there is a reserve. We meet Moses, a naturalist. He's about 7 feet tall and a fast walker. He calls me "Pole Pole Mama," Swahili for slow Miss. I've been hearing that a lot. He knows where there is a two day old giraffe. I try hard to keep up with him. We see the giraffe lying upright in the bush. Before we can get our cameras out Moses disturbs the baby giraffe and it hobbles to it's feet and clumsily runs off with it's Momma. Did you know that a giraffe cannot lie prone with their head on the ground? When they lie down, they fold up their legs and keep their head upright. A giraffe who lies down it's head will die within 20 minutes because it's heart is not strong enough to pump the blood to it's brain when prone. Moses knows a lot of facts and he is a very entertaining naturalist. He points out what I thought was broken brown glass on the ground - it's obsidian, a volcanic rock. Moses takes off again and after 15 minutes it is apparent to me that I am not going to be able to keep up with him. I tell the others that I will wait for them to return. I see Moses and my gang walking amongst a herd of zebra and wildebeest. I can hear Moses talking but I can't make out what he is saying. My back hasn't been much a problem so far but I am very jealous of my companions now. I would have loved walking in the herd with Moses. We get back in the boat. A wind comes up and we get a few white caps. I know it isn't safe to swim or wade in the lakes here because of water borne illnesses. But what can I do when it is splashing me in the face? The shore is lined with reeds. The reeds aren't like the Minnesota reeds. These look like 20 foot high dill weed. We spot some hippos in the water near the shore. We stop to visit Elsamere - home of Joy Adamson, author of "Born Free." I remember watching the television show of Born Free. We watch a video about her life before having tea and cake. After learning about her life, I decide Joy Adamson was kind of a maverick and maybe didn't have the best judgement. I see her rolling around on the ground with a lion, a cheetah and a leopard - was she crazy? Joy was a talented musician, author, and artist but she doesn't sound like she was very easy to live with. One of my companions is very interested in seeing Colombos monkeys. So far we haven't spotted any. We hear Colombos monkeys hang around Elsamere. As we leave the building, she spots some at the very top of a tall tree. She is jumping up and down with joy and satisfaction. The black and white fur on the monkey is very attractive. I have been so lucky because I truly enjoy the women on this trip. We have a lot in common. The other three are all related. I hope they adopt me. We head back to the Inn for a buffet supper. There is way too much food on this trip. I'm glad for the buffet because I won't waste as much. I am exhausted from my experiences of the day. I am adding a photo at the end here from my visit with the Samburu tribe a few days ago. A woman at work said I look 25 in this photo so I want to show it off. Mom told me not to go on this trip. She was afraid a man would take me for his wife. "Really?" I asked, "Wouldn't you think he would want someone fertile?" I am debating whether to send her a copy of this photo with a note saying I've decided to stay and be his second wife.

Day 5 I Am Humbled

We left Samburu National Park early this morning and drove over the bone-jarring roads for several hours before reaching Isiolo again. Isiolo reminds me of the Wild West - a little lawless and a little scary. Kids beg for pens and candy. We have to register with the government that we have left the frontier and are back to civilization. Oh, blessed asphalt! I silently complained about this bumpy road on the way out there but now I rejoice because although it is bumpy, it is a huge improvement from the one we were on. We travel south around Mount Kenya again. We have a picnic lunch along the road. My headache is back with a familiar vengeance. I very seldom get headaches but this is the second time I've had a headache since arriving in Africa. My head is throbbing. I take Aleve pain reliever and feel much better. I ask Muthoga what elevation we are at. He says we're very high, about 9,000 feet. Bingo - it must be altitude sickness. My body can't function on the thin air. Lucky for me, this is the last time we are at such a high elevation and this is the last headache of the trip. Kenya is known for it's winning marathon runners. These runners are used to the thin air and can outlast other runners from low lying areas. We visit Thompson Falls. We come to the beautiful Rift Valley. The Rift Valley stretches from Israel to Mozambique. It's like our Maker took the continent of Africa and stretched the west coast from the east coast, pulled the continent apart. The thinnest part is the Rift Valley. We stop at a scenic overlook. I see a sign that says, "Do not scare the rock hydrax." There is an animal sitting on the sign post which is at an angle. Why, it's a rock hydrax sitting on the sign! He looks like a rodent. A salesman of round smooth rocks painted like the planet earth tells me the rock hydrax is a relative of the elephant. He says they are the same except for the size and the nose. I tell him this animal has fur and the elephant doesn't. He says they're the same except for the size, the nose and the fur. Later I look it up in a book and I learn that he is right. We get to talking. He has a farm down below in the Rift Valley. He has 7 children. He asks me if I have a farm. I tell him I have a small garden with tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, onions, sunflowers. He says he has an acre. I tell him I have 2 1/2 acres. He sells his produce. I tell him I don't sell produce, I just garden because I like to dig in the dirt. The more I talk the more ridiculous I think I sound. He asks who I live with. He is surprised to hear I live alone. I explain I am divorced and the kids have grown up and moved on. He gets a look of pity on his face. He pities me. Here is this man selling trinkets to tourists and living in poverty and he pities me. OK, I didn't grow up thinking - when I grow up I want to be a single mom. But what happened has happened and I am perfectly happy where I am at in my life. But as I walked away to join the others in the van I wondered why am I leaving such a huge footprint on this earth? Why do I need 2 1/2 acres of property? Why do I heat a huge house just for myself? Why do I live 15 miles from where I work? Why do I have so much stuff? I review my life from a whole new perspective after talking to him. We drive to Lake Navasha - an alkaline lake with no outlet much like Salt Lake. Here is the lake featured in the movie, "Out of Africa." We drive along the salty shore and see thousands and thousands of pink flamingos.vq=3349>98:>632>WSNRCG=32376:456;8;4vq0mrj.jpg"> I see pelicans and storks but mostly pink flamingos. A rainbow appears in the sky. The only thing missing is a young, hot Robert Redford. We see herds of buffalo and zebra with their cattle egret partners. A couple of impala run ahead of us on the road. They keep looking back at us hoping we will disappear. The impala don't consider getting out of the road so we keep following them. The road along the lake is lined with yellow fever acacia trees and is simply lovely. We stop the van to look at a group of baboons. I get my camera out to take a picture of a baboon. The baboon decides to sit on a rock and face the van. I'm ready to click the shutter when he takes a long leak in my direction. He urinates right at me. I complain and Migwe laughs. I'm not sure if Migwe is laughing at the baboon or at me. I wait until the baboon is finished before I capture his image. As we drive around the lake we see more buffalo, more zebra, warthogs, hyena and gazelles. We stop at a house within the preserve. This is where we will stay tonight. It is the former home of the colonialist Delamere. There are Delamere descendants still living in the area. The grandson of Delamere was recently jailed for murder. He shot two people who trespassed on his property. I hear stories about the superior attitude the colonialists had toward the Kenyan people. This Delamere had a beautiful home. I see zebra, buffalo and warthogs in the field in front of the house as it stretches down to the woods next to the lake. A hot shower feels lovely after a long day of travel. Muthoga has brought two of his friends to accompany us and to do the cooking. Camillio and Roland serve us a delicious dinner of potatoes (whole oval spuds deep fried and taste like huge french fries), delicious vegetable stew, rice, chicken, chai, coffee with mangoes and pineapple for dessert. Here is another difference I see between our culture and the African culture. Here in the US, good business means making the bigger dollar amount. Reducing overhead is a key to success. We downsize staff to increase profits. In Kenya, if you can provide a job for a friend, you do it so that your family and their family will both have more and everyone will benefit. Camillio and Roland are slightly older than I am. They cook up delicious meals. They usually guide people who climb Mount Kenya and they are used to cooking outdoors. They run up and down the mountain wearing 60 pound backpacks and wearing flip flops. Politics has severely cut back on tourism so times are tough ever since the last week of December when the election occurred. We watch a little bit of local news on the television set. I read the Kenyan newspaper. They have sudoku and funnies and obituaries and TV listings just like the Minneapolis paper. I read a letter to the editor that makes a lot of sense to me. The writer is talking about the "Big Man Syndrome." The nation's political leaders appear to have this malady. Their egos have become more important than the future of the country. After dinner I unfurl my navy blue mosquito net and tuck it under my mattress. My traveling companions are busy swatting mosquitoes. I am too exhausted to worry about mosquitoes. Besides, when I sleep on my good ear I won't hear them whine.

Day Four - Meet Miriam and Joseph

vq=3349>98:>632>WSNRCG=32376:459897:vq0mrj.jpg"> Is it only me or do cape buffalo remind you of Jane Jetson too? The way their horns curl up at the sides of their foreheads cracks me up. This morning we got up and on the road at 6 a.m. I bring my travel mug with hot cocoa. Migwe checks for tracks as he drives and just outside the gate of our lodge he spies lion prints. I am so glad we have a fence and a guard at the gate of our place. We see gazelles, more dikdiks, impalas, buffalo, hornbills, plovers, a flock of vultures, and secretary birds. Secretary birds are named after the early government secretaries who wore black skirts, white blouses and had a reputation for a self important walk. Secretary birds eat snakes. To kill the snakes they grab them and fly way up into the air and drop their snakes to the ground. We head back for breakfast and I enjoy a spanish omelet, baked beans, passion fruit, pineapple, mangoes, watermelon and toast. We have some time to relax so I head to the pool. I see 4 elephants crossing the river in front of the lodge on the way to the pool. The pool is shaped like a butterfly and ringed with lounge chairs. A 5 foot stone fence surrounds the pool and is covered with vines that flower in vivid dark pink, orange, yellow and purple. A hornbill watches me swim. I look up and see a vervet monkey closing in on my backpack which I was smart enough to zip shut. I holler at the monkey to leave my bag alone. The 75 to 80 degree weather feels wonderful. My winter allergies have gone and my summer allergies haven't kicked in yet. I feel a little apprehensive about this afternoon. We are going to visit a Samburu tribe. I consider not going. I could sit this one out. I decide to give it a try. We arrive about 3 in the afternoon and are greeted by Joseph. The women come out to greet us and sing songs of welcome. A couple women at a time dance close to us and yell, "Sapo!" I get the feeling I am supposed to say something back but I'm not sure what. Later I learn "Sapo" is the same as "Jambo" and I should have repeated it back to them. Wish I had known that earlier. Miriam talks to us about her life. She has six children. She looks to be in her early 30's and she has children 18 years old. She said the Samburu life is changing. She says the tribe is moving away from polygamy. She says a man needs to know that he should be ready to pay for his children to go to school. If he has 5 wives, he could have 30 to 50 children and unless he is willing to pay for that many children to go to school, he shouldn't have that many. Miriam thinks education is very important. She insists her daughters attend secondary school (boarding school) several hours away in Isiolo. She wants them to go to college. She won't allow them to marry yet even though they are 16 and 18 - past the age most girls get married. She said the tribe is moving away from female circumcision too. Miriam is a feminist and we all nod our heads in agreement with her. She says the Samburu culture can remain strong even with the changes. The young men give us a fire making demonstration. They rubs sticks together to make sparks. The tinder is dried donkey dung. Within a few minutes they have a flame going. Then the young men dance for us. During the dance, they take turns jumping straight up and down, seeing who can jump the highest. Joseph takes us into his house. The walls and ceiling are made of woven sticks and cow dung. The sleeping area has cow hide covering. When it rains the cow hides are put on the roof to keep the rain out. Mom and baby have a separate sleeping area and I'm glad to see they have a mosquito net in there. The cooking area is inside too and it feels dark and smoky inside. Everyone looks clean and wears brightly colored clothes and flip flops. The smallest kids, probably those who are not potty trained yet, go without pants. Everyone is quite slim. They eat twice a day and their diet is mostly meat, milk and blood. They use thorny acacia bushes as a fence to keep the cattle and goats in at night and the lions and hyena out. Joseph, in plain language, tells us that the women of the tribe are stronger than the men because they do all the work. Women prepare the food, they build the houses, and they care for the children. When someone in the tribe dies, their body is left in the bush for the animals to devour. In this way the Samburu honor the dead by allowing them to be used to continue life. They feel the soul would wither if the body was left to decompose in the ground. At the end of the visit we shop. We can buy necklaces and beaded bracelets, metal bracelets and wood carvings, spears and masks. I buy a mask with giraffes. Emily helps me negotioate. She has studied Swahili at the U of M and I listen to a negotion that sounds very heated and goes on for a long time not having any idea what is being said. I get my mask and a bracelet for 700 shillings. I feel a little guilty because these people have been so welcoming and gracious and they have so little. We leave to get back to the lodge before sunset. Tonight a crocodile has come for feeding. The croc sits with his mouth open so wide you could roll a bowling ball down his throat. His head moves side to side a little bit but the mouth remains wide open for the 45 minutes it takes us to eat our 5 course meal. I have had another marvelous day in Africa.

Day 3 The Northern Frontier

Today we left Mount Kenya area and drove north and east to Isiolo, the edge of the northern frontier. We stopped along the way to buy phone cards and have the van engine sprayed down to get rid of all the dust. I was waiting in the van and was approached by many people selling things. One man asked if I had a extra pen. I did. He offered to trade any of the wood carvings he held for a pen. That sounded good. After he had the pen and made sure it worked, then he wanted 500 shillings and he would give the pen to his brother. I was suckered. Now I decide I WILL learn how to bargain. I love my giraffe though. We had lunch in Isiolo. This town is on the edge of the northern frontier. I see a mixture of people from the Kikuru tribe that I am familiar with now to the Somali Kenyans to Muslim Kenyans and Samburu Kenyans. I feel an unpleasant discriminatory anxiety grow in me. We are headed to the land of the Samburu tribe. I don't know them. I'd rather stay with the Kikuru tribe. They are very nice and they dress European. Some of the people I see in Isiolo dress like the Africans you see in magazines with many beads around their neck and notched ear lobes. I swallow my anxiety and remember that my travel guides seem totally at ease and if they're not worried, I needn't worry either. We have to sign in at the edge of the frontier. Very aggressive children try to sell us things. Children indicate through sign language that they want candy or pens. I talk to one boy. I don't buy his things but he asks me who I plan to vote for in the election. His preference, he tells me, would be Barack Obama. How is it that this impoverished boy knows about Barack Obama? I know very little about Kenyan politics and he knows so much about American politics. I begin to realize that the USA is studied by other countries much more than I thought. The road from Isiolo to Samburu National Park is long and dusty and terribly bumpy. Many times the ditch next to the road is smoother than the road so we ride in the ditch. The landscape becomes arid. I see camels loping along. I see very few people in this bushy area. The acacia trees are beautiful and graceful. They remind me of elms. Samburu National Park has a slogan - where nature defies itself. A lioness took in an orphaned oryx (kind of antelope) and raised it as her own. Eventually another lion ate it so she took in another orphaned oryx. That one was eaten too so she didn't take in any more orphaned oryx. We get all excited to see an elephant in the distance. Then we see a momma and baby elephant ahead. We stop to watch. Three more elephants stroll into the scene. Behind them are six more. In the next five minutes we are surrounded by 40 freaking elephants! It was incredible. The acacia trees have thorns on them that are 2 inches long and as sharp and strong as a toothpick. The elephants eat these thorns. How can they eat them without tearing up their mouths, throats and intestines? We see oryx, water buck, giraffes, Thompsom gazelles, impalas, and zebras. We arrive at our lodge and are greeted with wet towels. We wipe our faces, necks, and arms and are horrified to see how dirty we were. We are shown to our rooms. Our room is behind a termite hill. There are vervet monkeys all over. I sit on the porch and a vervet monkey comes right up and sits on the ledge of the porch. The monkeys are gray and brown. Some of their hind ends are bright red indicating they are ready for mating. I wonder how human society would be different if we showed so obviously our readiness for mating? Hello! I see your light is on tonight! The male vervet monkeys have bright blue testes that are startling to see. While we unpack and get ready for another game drive, monkeys get into our van and eat our trail mix. Muthoga and Migwe have to holler at them to make them leave. What a mess they leave. On our second game drive we see dikdiks. You'd think they were rabbits at first. Dikdik are antelopes that weight between 8 and 14 pounds and they're so cute. Their eyes look very sad. They live in pairs and mate for life. We see a leopard sleeping in a tree. It's lower legs and tail hang in space while it's front paws rest under it's chin - sound asleep. I understand they bring their kill up into the tree to keep the hyenas from eating it. We see mongoose,zebras, crocodile, elephants, and giraffe. Someone asks our guide how to know if an elephant will charge. Muthoga says it will trumpet first. We hear an elephant make a noise that lasts for a full minute. The noise sounds like something between a deep rumble and a motor running. Muthoga says that was his stomach. Gosh, he could have burped the alphabet. All vans have to be inside the lodge fence by 6:30. It's getting late so we check our leopard again. We see some gazelles nearby. Now the leopard is awake and searching for food, still sitting in the tree. We can see it's watching the gazelles. Part of me wants to see the leopard leap out of that tree but the other part does not want to see the gazelles become dinner. I shower before dinner and go to see the crocodiles eat at 7. A young man in Samburu dress (red skirt, white wraparound sleeveless shirt, several bracelets up his arms, and beaded headband) plays a flute to call the crocs in to eat. The river is low. The rainy season wasn't as rainy as usual this year. No crocs come tonight. We eat at 7:30 in the thatched roofed dining area. The Samburu man guards the dining room with a slingshot to keep the vervet monkeys at bay. He has a good aim and the monkeys know it. We have a 5 course dinner. So much food! The accommodations are luxurious. I must remember not to use tap water to brush my teeth but it's hard when the faucet is so modern. It's been a great day.

Day Two - Kenyan Roads Don't Let You Forget You Are a Woman

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Mount Kenya Leisure Lodge. This place looks like it could serve hundreds of people yet we are the only ones here. Many tourists have cancelled their trips because of the political strife. There are twice as many staff here as customers. We drove to Muthoga's primary school. The roads here are terrible. Think of the worst road you know - these are worse than that. These roads are worse than the road from one field to the next on a farm. These roads make your brain rattle inside your brain box even when you are holding on the handles inside the van. Due to fundraising efforts of people from Minnesota, a stone building is being erected. The school is the site of a farm owned by a colonial. The actual school is in the barn. Each grade is separated by rickety wood walls. Noise from each classroom will clearly carry through the walls. School was supposed to start today but was delayed because of the politics. Some parts of the country do not have the fuel needed for transportation so the kids get an extra week off. They have been on holiday since before Thanksgiving. We are introduced to the men working on the building construction. We visit with some children who are hanging around the school. We walk across the road to a hotel (bar) where a retired school teacher lives. He invites us into his garden where he has tables and chairs set up. His sons serve us bottled pop and packaged crackers. He gives us a lesson on the history of Kenya up to and including modern politics. Later the men who are working on the school come over for tea and bread. We all chat and I feel very welcome. The teacher talks about his income. He is getting by on about a dollar a day per person in his household. He has a wife, two married sons, a daughter, and some grandchildren. Suddenly I feel so very humble. Why am I drinking this man's soda and eating his cookies? My traveling companions share their books about Kenya with me. In one of the books I read that visits to Kenyan homes can be humbling because the less they have, the more anxious they are to share with you. Yeah, that rings true for me. I brought some solar calculators and pens to donate to the school. Other people brought things too. One of the construction workers has two very small children with him. At first we think his wife has died. We learn she didn't die but left him to go home to her parents after a disagreement. She is not allowed to take the children with her. If she doesn't come back for a week, he will send his village elders to visit her family to negotiate her return. He might have to give her family a goat to show his sincerity. I can tell he isn't comfortable with us talking about his situation. After leaving the school we visit Muthoga's family home and meet his mother, his sister, and some nieces and nephews. The compound has a beautifully painted gate. There are four buildings. One building is the kitchen. They are boiling water over a wood fire to make us some hot chocolate. Another building is a living room and bedroom. We sit in the living room on beautiful furniture with embroidered linen. There is room for 10 people to sit. On the wall is a picture of a Korean baby with a soccer ball and an inspirational quote. I see another picture with an elephant and a inspirational quote. We had a great morning. We head back over the bumpy roads to the lodge for lunch. Then we go to Sweetwater Game Refuge - home of Jane Goodall's chimpanzees. Our van has a pop up roof so we can stand and look out to see zebra, warthog families, gazelles, water bucks, giraffe, white rhino and cape buffalo. At one glance I can see 6 different species with Mount Kenya in the background. The wildlife is absolutely amazing. We stop to pet the black rhino, Moroni. I told my doctor I would not pet any wild animals but I do. Moroni is eating and there is a Kenyan park ranger standing right there with a gun so I think it is safe. Moroni has very rough skin. The chimpanzees were all behind barbed wire. When we left Sweetwater, we crossed the equator. There is a sign marking the equator and we stop at the little shop. A man named Joseph gives us a physics lesson on the Coriolis effect. He has a pitcher of water and bowl with a hole in the bottom. He goes 15 meters north of the equator and fills the bowl with water and throws a twig in. The twig spins as the water empties from the bowl. He does the same thing 15 meters south of the equator and the twig spins in the other direction. He repeats his experiment exactly on the equator and the twig doesn't spin either way - it just sits there as the water drains out. I am totally fascinated. I am so impressed that I pay 200 shillings for an officially stamped paper saying I was at the equator. We head back over the bumpy roads and my head is pounding. Is it the malaria medication making my head hurt or is the bumpy roads? Kenyan roads don't let you forget you are a woman. Thank goodness for my high impact sport bra.

First Full Day in Kenya

I had eggs for breakfast my first day in Kenya. I was offered eggs for breakfast every single day I was there. At first I thought eggs would be a great source of protein for a vegetarian on a trip. And they are a good source of protein. The Kenyan eggs look different than the eggs I am used to. The yolks are not as yellow. The yolks are cream colored and I think the color difference may be due to nutrition. I had hard boiled eggs or Spanish omelets every day for the first five days and then I could not look at another egg. Forget the protein and give me some cereal! I spent 20 shillings to email and reassure the folks at home. The keyboard is different so my punctuation was way off. We stopped at a large supermarket on the way out of town to buy some snacks and water for the road. There was a television playing at the store. I saw a commercial that brought tears to my eyes. The commercial had words on a plain background and went something like this: "Mr. Kibaki. Mr Odinga. You have the power to settle this dispute that has brought Kenya to the brink of anarchy. You, the leaders of our nation, claim to love our country. You have the power to bring this dispute to an end. Please put aside your differences for the sake of our peaceful country, Kenya." The commercial was put on by the Peace Committee. We are driving north toward Mount Kenya. There are many people walking on the road or standing near the road. Everybody is so well dressed. I see no bare arms or legs. I see beautiful dresses worn by little girls. These are party dresses with bow ties in the back and frilly bibs. Kids are playing in dresses that at home would be saved for the very best occasions. Women here wear suits with longer skirts. Men wear pin stripe pants with belts and the pressed linen shirts tucked in and dress shoes. I feel way out of place wearing shorts. Thank goodness I have that sarong to wear over my shorts. The only people I see wearing shorts are boys less than 7 years old. People in Minnesota show more skin in the winter than Kenyans do. As we drive north I can see homes away from the road but it's weird because there are no driveways or side roads. People walk to the road. I see houses in the distance with only footpaths to get there. Hardly anyone has vehicles. Most of the vehicles I see are buses or taxis or trucks or vans like ours. This is a pedestrian country. People walk or take the bus to get where they are going. The road so far is paved. But there are frequent speed bumps on the road with no warning signs. The speed bumps slow the traffic in front of the road side stores such as butcheries (no refrigeration so sides of beef or mutton hang and people buy enough for the day) or hotels (bars) or roadside fruit stands (bananas, papayas, mangoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage). We saw six police roadblocks. Bars with spikes cover most of the road and the van has to swerve to get around them. Kenyan police stand guard with guns but we are never stopped. I hear corruption is typical and bribes are paid for infractions but our van is always waved through. Each inch of land is used. Each house has about an acre and the yard is planted in corn and cabbage and other produce right up to the edge of the house. The roadsides are used for pedestrian traffic and for cows and goats and sheep to graze. The cows here look very thin. I see ribs and hips protruding on every cow. Maybe they are thin because they have to walk so far to graze. Some cows are brown and some are black and white. All the cows had horns. I saw many carts pulled by donkeys. I saw one cart pulled by oxen. I saw lots of people on bicycles. The bicycles are one speed and they look like 26 inch tires. Many of the bicycles have a flat surface on the back fender for passengers to ride. One bicycle had a cooler on the back advertising meat. The cooler top was open and I could see a huge hunk of meat inside. I saw bicycles with six plastic pop bottle crates tied to the back fender. I saw bicycles carrying bundles of hay and bundles of firewood. Most of the houses have corrugated iron roofs but some are thatched. We stopped for lunch in Katerina and shopped in the marketplace that is open 3 days a week there. We got lots of stares. I saw many things for sale - fruits, grains, vegetables, metal pans and buckets, baskets, woven bags, batiks, clothing, jewelry, and wood carvings. We are expected to bargain over prices. I don't think I am going to be able to bargain. I am ready to pay more to avoid bargaining. As we approached Mount Kenya I saw tractors for the first time. This was President Kibaki's ranch. These fields look more like Minnesota fields. We arrived at Mount Kenya Leisure Lodge. Oh, the accommodations are very plush. I have a private room with my own "Juliet" style balcony. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sleep with the balcony door open and have the gauze curtain move with the wind just like in the movies? The room is very blue with purple accents. My daughter would love this room. We strolled around the grounds to admire the beautiful flowers. We spot a baboon scamper across the grounds. Forget keeping the balcony door open. I don't want any baboon visitors tonight.