Brigid In Kenya: March 2011

Now you probably wonder why I would start this post with a picture of an air sickness bag when writing about my weekend in Nairobi. This bag represents the first day of our trip. We left Mombasa at 1pm on Friday for a 45 minute flight to Nairobi on Kenyan Air. After the overnight bus journey to Nairobi when headed to Masai Mara we both decided it was worth the extra money to fly. At the airport in Mombasa I had a bite to eat then boarded our plane. While still in the airport I started to not feel 100% and by 30 minutes into our flight I was feeling quite ill. I was sweating, extremely dizzy and had horrible nausea. By the time we were landing I told my travel companion, Olivia, I did not think I could get off the plane. We were in the very back and at this airport everyone deplanes using stairs down to the tarmac. We waited on the plane while everyone disembarked and I collapsed in a moaning pile of misery across a row of seats. Olivia contacted the crew to let them know we needed a wheelchair and medical assistance. At this point the air sickness bag became my best friend. I was so sick I felt like death. They finally got a wheelchair and took me out the back side door down the cargo lift and to the Nairobi Airport Medical Facility. Let's just say if you weren't really sick before, going to their airport medical facility will ensure that you are. The bed was covered in dirty towels and the pillow had dried blood stains on it. However give my symptoms and the possibility of malaria it was important that I get checked out. Good news, no malaria, bad news I still felt like death. However when they discussed having me taken by ambulance to a local hospital as well as giving me a huge shot in the bum right there I rallied enough to get in a cab and head to the Hilton to recover. We managed to get me to the hotel and into bed to rest and by later that night I began to feel much better. We conclude that I got food poisoning from what I ate in the Mombasa Airport and when I told this story to my host family there first words were "you should NEVER eat anything in the Mombasa Airport". Who knew!

Modern health care (notice the towel)

I cannot believe I let Olivia take this and am posting it!

In the taxi headed to the hotel. I looked like death warmed over!

However by Saturday I was feeling up to sightseeing in Nairobi and had my full appetite back. My host, Billy, had arranged for his driver, Paul for the 2 days. He arrived at 9:30am and off we went to see Nairobi. First stop was the National Museum. Though a small museum by western standards, it houses some of the oldest bones and artifacts of prehistoric man in the world. Seeing evolution through these bones was fascinating. Anyone with any interest in archeology or anthropology would love this museum.

In front of the National Museum. Note I had on a jacket. It was a nice morning!

Brigid and Olivia at the museum

Yes this is a real elephant

In front of a cool statue at the museum

Directly across from the museum we saw this building under construction. This is an example of typical Kenyan construction. I am very glad they do not have earthquakes here in Kenya.

After the museum we headed about 15 miles out of town to a a community called Karen. Karen is one of the wealthy suburbs of Nairobi where many of the top government officials and business leaders live. It looked like any upper class neighborhood in the US with houses behind gates, beautiful manicured gardens, and large mansions. We went to the town of Karen to see the Karen Blixen Museum. The book Out of Africa was written by Karen Blixen and was based on her life. The museum is located in her house which has been preserved just as it was when she lived in it.

The front of the Karen Blixen House Museum

The entry to the museum

At the restaurant near the Karen Blixen museum

Enjoying a nice lunch outside

After lunch we went to a place called Kazuri Beads and Pottery factory. Kazuri was started back in 1975 to help single mothers learn a trade and support themselves financially. Today over 300 women work at Kazuri and their beads and pottery are sold all over the world. For my girlfriends, I did some jewelry shopping for all of you!

We ended our Saturday with a delicious dinner at what is currently considered the top restaurant in Nairobi, called Pango. We got all glammed up and for the first time since arriving in Kenya I put on makeup and looked stylish. My no muss, no fuss mantra was put aside for one night. You know me I travel on my stomach and painstakingly researched where to eat dinner. The restaurant did not disappoint. For those of you foodies here is link to the menu. http://online.co.ke/eatout/files/menus/fairview/pango.pdf

Olivia and Brigid enjoying a 5 star meal

The salad in front of me was slivered apples, and dates with blue cheese and balsamic reduction along with a nice glass of bordeaux. HEAVEN!

We awoke on Sunday morning to continue with our two favorite pastimes, eating and shopping. We decided to go explore an area called Village Market in the suburb of Gigiri. Both the UN and US Embassy compounds are located in this town. Like Karen it is an affluent area, though much more urban than Karen and closer to the central business district of Nairobi. I'd heard about a hotel called The Tribe and wanted to see it because it was voted one of the top 10 hippest hotels in the world last year by Conde Naste. http://www.tribe-hotel.com/ I had a hard time believing such a cool hotel would be located in a suburb of Nairobi but was I wrong. It was amazing and totally hip. I'd love to stay there sometime when I go back to Nairobi but rooms start at almost $400 US a night so I'll probably just drop in for a drink. Here are some pictures of Olivia and me at it.

After touring the hotel we went across the street to village market for a delicious brunch at Cafe Artist and a bit more shopping. From there our driver Paul took us to the airport for our journey back to Mombasa. We were both sad to leave after having such a great weekend and experiencing cooler weather. I plan to go back again during my stay here in Kenya.

Sunday brunch-yummy!

Real Kenyan coffee, no Nescafe!

Shopping at Village Market Center

Last Saturday 5 out of the 7 FSD interns plus a Danish intern we recently met arranged to take a trip up the coast to a resort town called Malindi. It is about 75 miles north of Mombasa. Due to road conditions it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there. Malindi has an interesting history and was settled by Italians over the last 50 years and is supposedly a place where the "mob" hides their money. It feels a bit strange when you drive into a coastal east African town and see lots of signs for Italian delis, mozzarella cheese and fresh pasta makers. Just south of Malindi is a popular tourist and cultural attraction called the Gede Ruins. The ruins remain from a Muslim village that was founded in the 12th century and abandoned in the 17th century. To get a brief overview go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruins_of_Gedi. We arranged for the tour guide, Ana, that we hired for our Masai Mara trip to take us for the day's adventure.

Ana included in our day, a trip to what she said was an "authentic" Bush Doctor. To get there we traveled off the main paved road, down a very remote, extremely bumpy dirt road for a number of miles. At one point we reached a place where our PSV (Personal Sports Vehicle) had to climb over a very large pile of rocks. Now think of some of the commercials you see in the US where Toyota trucks are climbing over huge boulders and then think of us trying to do this in an over glorified van filled with 8 people. At first we ground to a halt near the top of the pile, wheels spinning, bottom scraping, all holding on for dear life. Ana then backed up and made a faster run at it, at which point it felt like the entire bottom of the van had been taken off. We managed to bounce down the other side and when we expressed concern that the PSV might have been damaged and we could hear some strange noises Ana shrugged us off and said everything was okay. A few minutes later we stopped at a small path, got out in the baking sun and started hiking into the bush. After about a 1/2 mile hike we came upon a giant hole in the ground, at which point Ana explained we were going to climb down into the hole (about 100 feet) to the cave below which was the Bush Doctor's "office". He would meet us there. She then turned to me (the oldest of the group) and said, "Brigid you don't have to climb down if you want to just stay here." I can stay with you." Now there was no way I was going to be shown up by everyone else and immediately said I had no problem climbing down the cliff into the cave (silly me).

The Hole

Yours truly trying to get down the hole

I made it to the bottom to discover we were in a large cave with a small pool of water in one part. As for the Bush Doctor I guess I was expecting someone more flashy and the cave to be more special since Ana called it a "shrine", instead we found a few small bottles of what he called medicine and a rather non descript man. I thought to myself "I risked life and limb for this?" However I was the daring one since when he offered for us to taste his "black medicine", a black powder like substance, I was the only one willing to do so. It tasted like charcoal, and must not have been poisonous since I am still here to tell!

Brigid about to eat "black medicine" standing next to Ana with the Bush Doctor's brother in the foreground

Brigid, Olivia, Ana's assistant for the trip and the "Bush Doctor"

Tyler and Olivia in the cave with Ana in background still climbing down

Stina (Danish intern) washing in the underground pool

Brigid resting to get up the strength to climb back out!

Starting the climb up about 1/3 of the way

Light at the end of the tunnel!!!

We made it back to the PSV and realized we had to go BACK over the rockpile again to get back to the main road. This time Ana tried a different tactic and tried making a run at it, and like before, the PSV ground to a halt, the undercarriage caught on the rocks. At this point we all got out and pushed the vehicle until the wheels got traction and we were able to get it tipped going down the other side. However on the way back to the road we could hear a rather loud noise and again asked Ana if everything was okay. No problem was the reply. However there was a BIG PROBLEM!!!!

About 30 miles up the road, traveling at approximately 50 miles per hour on a two lane highway, our back left wheel flew off and we careened along driving only on our axle for a good 500 feet before Ana could get the vehicle off the road and to a stop!

The groove the axle made in the road

Our boo boo!

All of us standing around wondering how long we would be stranded and thanking our stars we were still alive. So much for "no problem".

Note they used tree branches as flares to try to keep us from being hit on the side of the road

Brigid sitting back in the VERY HOT PSV waiting to find out what our plan for rescue was going to be. Note the "we are not amused face."

Ana decide the best course of action was for us to get on a matatu (the public van transportation) and continue on to the Gede Ruins (about 20 miles ahead). She promised she'd have a rescue PSV waiting for us once we finished our tour of the ruins. Sounded like a reasonable plan to save the day's adventure. However in the more rural areas the matatu drivers don't follow the rule of one seat, one person. Our matatu technically held 15 people (even then quite cramped) but for this ride there were 23 piled in. At one stop someone got in carry a bag of rotting fish adding to the lovely aroma. Nothing like rotting fish, combined with lots of b.o.!

You can just see me behind Olivia (in glasses).

Note people hanging OUTSIDE the van while we drove along

We traveled in the matatu for about 45 minutes (seemed like a day) finally reaching our destination, the Gede Ruins. Though oppressively hot outside, the tour of the ruins was well worth the trip. It was interesting to see how advanced the Muslim Swahili culture was 900 years ago.

Part of the outer wall of the city where over the last 200 years a very large fig tree grew around the ruin

Our group in front of ruins

Welcome to my new house!

After the ruin tour patiently waiting to be rescued.

Our little friend wandered by

True to Ana's word she got another PSV to rescue us after the Gede Ruin tour. Next stop, lunch at a posh resort in Malindi. We were to be treated to a delicious Italian buffet and boy were we ready. After lunch we had the chance to swim in the resort's lovely pool but I was so pooped I crashed in a lounge chair and took an afternoon siesta.

Out like a light!

So dignified!

Our final stop before returning from Malindi was to a small animal sanctuary. I think it was the best part of the day for me. The sanctuary mainly had rare birds which they were breading in captivity, but over the years other animals came to live there.