kakamega rainforest

This weekend we visited Kakamega Forest, the only remaining rainforest in Kenya. Overall, we had a fantastic day. We stayed at a tranquil retreat lodge that was surrounded with beautiful grounds that housed several species of monkeys, exotic birds, and insects. We settled in and went on a long, six-mile hike through the rainforest. The most exciting part, besides jumping over packs of safari ants, was our encounter with angry baboons. We saw a group of them ahead of us on the trail, and after they ran around us, they continued to bark, angrily, in stereo. They were convinced we were going to steal all their guava fruit. Massive rainfall came just as we got back to the lodge, as Lindsay said profoundly, "well you can't have a rainforest without rain". Sadly (to some) the rain prevented us from the 5 AM sunrise hike up the mountain. There's nothing quite like sitting on an open porch with Kenyan coffee listening to the monkeys and birds wake up and play. We were not disappointed at all.

neema orphanage

We spent one morning at the Neema Orphanage this week. It houses and schools 39 children between the ages of 3 months and 13, most of whom are HIV positive. We had a fabulous time - Lindsay immediately snatched up a little baby who ended up napping in her arms the entire morning. Erik was the life of the party, teaching kids to climb the walls and swinging them in circles by their arms. One little boy absolutely hated his beard and kept pulling out hairs on his chin. The kids were amazing - they were clean, fed, and most importantly, happy. It was a great place to unwind and remember the utter bliss of childhood.

ol donyo wuas

After a long and emotional work week for both of us, we decided to take a weekend to ourselves in southeast Kenya, the Chyulu Hills. The journey to the gorgeous rolling, green hills overlooking Mt. Kilimanjaro was an adventure, to say the least. As we sat in the twenty-person airport, we joked about the tiny yellow, four-seater plane at the end of the lineup on the runway. As it turns out, that was exactly the plane we took for our one-hour trip to the hills. Erik, being the polite gentleman he is, decided to sit in the very back of the plane. It wasn't 15 minutes into the flight when his entire back was drenched in sweat, his hands were clammy and numb, and his vision started closing in. Had the flight been any longer, he certainly would've passed out in the back of the plane. The hotel was absolutely stunning. Our personal villa was completely open to the elements - only a heavy drape separated us from the monkeys and eagles right outside at night. The outdoor stone shower overlooked a popular waterhole, where elephants frequently came to rehydrate after a day on the prairie. We could've spent the entire weekend, glass of wine in hand, looking out over beautiful hills (and we almost did). On Saturday, we forced ourselves to be adventurous and decided to experience the game reserve via horse. Keep in mind, neither of us has ridden a horse in about 20 years, so we were quite the sight to be seen. Erik, ironically, got the lazy horse who consistently took shortcuts through the thorny brush and snacked on grass at every stop. Lindsay had the fear of death in her eyes the entire time and today is unable to sit on hard surfaces. We did, however, get to photograph animals from amazingly short distances. The highlight of the day was a glass of wine (again) with salted cashews as we overlooked the sun setting behind the volcanic mountains and wispy clouds. We certainly felt as though we deserved it after that terrifying, uneasy walk through the bush. Our trip went without a hitch until this morning's encounter with an angry elephant. On the drive to the dirt-strip airport, we spotted an elephant casually eating in the trees. We turned off the engine of the 4x4 to observe, and before we knew it, the curious elephant approached our vehicle. Straight-backed and holding our breaths, we watched as he slowly came from behind the trees and stopped 5 feet dead-square in front of the car. He stomped his huge feet and flapped his ears, staring us directly in the eyes. After a minute of utter-silence, he finally retreated and walked the opposite direction into the woods. Whew.

we are all connected in the great circle of life...

We just arrived home from an incredibly busy weekend. We awoke early Saturday morning, packed PB and Js for lunch, and headed southeast across the equator to Hell's Gate National Park. The drive along the Rift Valley was long and bumpy, especially in a van packed full of 10 people, a tent, 9 pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags. Along with gigantic monkeys jumping high above our heads in the trees, it took all 10 people to set up the tent at our campsite. Eventually, we headed off to Hell's Gate - the setting of Pride Rock and Mufasa's death in the Lion King. For the first time, we truly felt deep in sub-saharan Africa. We saw zebras as abundant as squirrels, giraffes, gazelles, buffalo, baboons, eagles, and even warthogs (Pumba!). The view was spectacular, decorated with steep rocky cliffs, towering trees, and animals scattered everywhere amidst the dust. In the middle of the park lies The Gorge - a naturally-made canyon full of hot springs and cascading waters. We hiked for about 3 hours - some of the most intense hiking we've ever done. No foot paths existed, so we scaled down rocks, waded through streams, and sloshed through feet of muddy swamp. We were led by a local guide, who initiated us with red Masai warrior clay, straight from the wet rocks. When our hike ended, we found ourselves climbing up the cliff from which Mufasa fell to his death. In the end, it was one of the most magnificent sites we'd ever seen. When we finally made it back to the safari van, we found baboons scavenging through garbage cans and open vehicles...we even saw a mother and baby. The night at the campsite was quite an adventure. We had a lovely dinner under beautiful, golden trees. The camp itself sits on a lagoon off pristine Lake Naivasha. This particular lagoon happens to be the grazing spot for hippos in the middle of the night - there was even an electric fence dividing the few short feet between the lake and our tent. Sleeping was a challenge, as the night was full of interesting sounds. Monkeys played in the treetops above and dropped their food onto our tent, almost as if it were hailing. In the dead of morning, we awoke to the low, echoing call of hungry hungry hippos in the lagoon. Erik was lucky enough to catch a photo as the sun came up. After a cup of fresh Kenyan coffee, we began to pack up the massive tent, only to discover that a swarm of fire safari ants had taken over our tent. Erik was one of the unlucky who was attacked and bitten all over his ankles, butt, and back. We ended up bungee-cording the tent to the roof of the van on the way home. Our last stop before heading home was another view point on Lake Naivasha, where hundreds of beautiful pink flamingos reside. Can't wait to sleep in our bed tonight...away from the fire ants, hungry hippos, and screaming monkeys.

tumaini children's center

Erik volunteered yesterday at Tumaini, a place for orphan children (ages 2 months to 18 years) to come and have a safe place away from the streets. It's a very sad but rewarding experience. Tumaini started in January of this year and barely has the resources to give the children porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were about 100 kids (75% boys). Their backgrounds vary but for the most part they live a life of pick-pocketing, trafficking, drug abuse, fighting, HIV, and more. Almost all the kids sniff glue because it is a numbing experience that keeps them warm at night. Just picture a little 7 year old boy with hardened glue above his upper lip. All the kids speak "swang" (Swahili slang) so it was a difficult experience picking up the words. Erik helped wash, feed, farm, and play with the kids. The goal of the program is to give street kids a place to clean up, stay sober, stay safe, and to educate them (Math, English, drug abuse) so that they can change their lives and pursue a higher education. The reality is that this won't happen unless the funding of the program increases. It costs about $150 a week to pay the lease, electricity, and food - but, the program has a difficult time finding the resources just to keep running. Erik introduced himself to most of the kids, but in the end he was simply called "Mzungu" (Swahili for white). This is not surprising because most of the people in the community have never seen a "white" person before. The real excitement came when a group of boys and Erik were playing soccer. Soccer at the center consists of 2 sticks on each end (representing the goals), stones (representing out of bounds), a dirt field with many holes, and a 1/2 filled soccer ball. Nevertheless, the barefoot kids were better than the "Mzungu" with gym shoes. About an hour into the game, as he started gaining their trust, one of the boys passed him a ball above his head. Erik jumped, then landed on the side of his foot in a hole. Not even a week into the trip and Erik has a sprained ankle! At least there are a lot of doctors here at the IU House...

1st day on the wards

Lindsay survived (barely) her first day on the wards at Moi University Teaching and Referral Hospital. To say the least, the experience was shocking, humbling, and inspiring all at the same time. To set the stage, the hospital is gated from the community by armed guards. They serve two purposes: to keep by-standers out and to keep patients who haven't paid their medical bills in. On the wards, two patients are assigned to every twin bed, head-to-toe fashion. Isolation rooms do not exist - so all TB patients are thrown in the mix with the others, without masks (unlike the US, where TB patients are admitted to negative pressure rooms, and anyone entering is required to wear a special N-95 mask). There is constantly urine, vomit, and feces all over the floor (or in the sink, as I saw today), and the nauseating smell of body odor penetrates your nostrils, clothes, and hair. We do patient rounds with the Kenyan medical students and residents. Unlike the US, medications and lab tests are completely hit or miss. It's common to wait several days for a test that takes one hour in the US. Patients commonly do not receive medications that were ordered, and X-rays take several days to be completed. There is a CT scanner (which is surprising), but patients must go across town to have access to MRI. It is a constant struggle to decide which tests are necessary, knowing that the patients probably cannot afford them. The experience has been overwhelming...on the first day, I did a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) - my first one - on a patient without any local numbing medicine. In the past two days, two patients have already died. Apparently the mortality rate is 10% at this hospital. The pictures don't give a clear view - we were told, though, that certain Kenyan tribes will literally try to kill you if you take a picture of them. Certainly more stories and photos will come, but for now, we're trying to keep things in perspective and be open to how this experience will change us forever.

waterfalls, giraffes, and amazing views

Exciting day! We had our first adventure outside of the IU House today. We started the morning off by driving (off-roading) 30 minutes away to Umbrella Falls - a hidden waterfall in the middle of nowhere behind an old man's farm. It took some courageous rock-scaling and sliding on our butts to get to the viewpoint, but it was well-worth it. To make the experience even cooler, we were able to walk behind the fall and see a giant rainbow. After the waterfall, we drove about 1.5 hours along unpaved, pothole-damaged dirt. We had the pleasure of sitting in the very back seat of the van the entire way...at one point, Lindsay hit her head on the ceiling as we crashed through an enormous pothole. We finally arrived at Kreuger Park, a family-owned giraffe preservation alongside a mountain. The family rescued 14 giraffes several years ago to protect them from being killed on their way to Uganda. We took a 3 hour hike around the mountain - saw several impalas and plenty of cows (strangely enough). Two and a half hours into our trip, we finally stumbled upon a single giraffe peering from the bushes. Eventually, we saw the entire herd with a two-day old baby giraffe. Spectacular. We'll never forget the thunderous sound of the stampeding giraffes across the mountainside (as they ran quickly away from us). We ended our day by driving to Kerio View, a restaurant overlooking the Rift Valley. We sat for several hours eating great food, drinking Tusker beer, and taking in the breathtaking view. What a great way to end the day, despite our sore butts and sunburned skin.