Welcome to the Rainy Season

As I was working on posts last week I came across this one, patiently waiting in a state of "draft" since March. Wow. Has it really been 3 months since my trip to Kenya? This year is moving by much too quickly! Finding this post made me realize that I kind of failed at documenting our trip. Oh well. Maybe I'll get around to getting the rest of the stories up. Maybe. Let's not get our hopes up. This post, however, does document a pretty notable day--the one where we all got soaked. Enjoy reminiscing with me!

Hell's Gate National Park
Monday, March 14

After the lake tour and walking safari we headed to the lodge to check in, eat lunch, and change into shorts for our tour of Hell’s Gate National Park. Just before the entrance to the park, we stopped at little shop and each paid 500 ksh to rent bikes that we would ride into and through the park! We had been planning this part of the trip since the beginning and we were pretty excited. The excitement, however, dwindled slightly as I struggled to ride my well-worn bike uphill to the park entrance. I would like to blame some of the challenge to the high altitude, but it was also due in part to the misappropriate gear that my bike was stuck in. At the gate, while I was seriously reconsidering this whole “bike through the park” plan, Eustace got my gears adjusted and I felt a little better about it all. (It turns out that each one of us was wondering at that point if we should have just ridden in the van rather than taking the bikes, but we stuck it out.) Hell’s Gate is a beautiful park and it was fun just ride the dirt roads and see zebra and gazelles as I went.

Our destination for our biking tour was the gorge in Hell’s Gate where there is a fabulous view of the area. As we approached the entrance to the gorge, a herd of cape buffalo decided that would a good time to cross the road—and they took their time doing so. Cape buffalo are massive animals and can be fierce (and charge) if you get too close. So, we kept our distance. As we waited for them to cross, the rain that had recently started as a sprinkle began to pick up. As our time at the park was running out, it became clear that the rain wasn’t stopping anytime soon and the buffalo weren’t going to move out of our way.

Enjoying the ride and the view -- before the rain!

We decided to forgo the gorge and ride back to the entrance to the park. Just minutes into our return ride the thunder started and then the downpour and then the hail! As pea sized hail began pelting our arms and legs and faces, we pulled over to the side of the road and took cover under a tree (or tried too). The trees in the park weren’t made for rain cover! As we huddled together in the cold rain (so cold!) we couldn’t help but laugh together—what an adventure our bike ride through the park had become!

We were very, very cold. But still managed to smile!

Unfortunately, the storm was just beginning. We stood under that leafless tree for probably half an hour before deciding that enough of the storm had passed over us and we had to just ride back. So, we did. The rain kept pouring down and the hail kept stinging our legs, but we pressed on. As we reached the entrance to the park, the storm let up. Our driver started laughing when we saw us all soaking wet and exhausted—they didn’t have any rain at the gate or any idea that a storm had gone through the park! While we never ended up seeing the beautiful gorge of Hell’s Gate, we definitely had a memorable experience and we have a great story to tell! (We look forward to seeing Rose’s pictures of the gorge, from a previous visit, at a later date.)

Shivering, we rode back to the lodge in the warm van and then took some much needed showers. Clean and warmer, we ate a lovely dinner (the first of many international buffets) and then went to bed quite early. We had a very tiring day!

Our hotel room: four rooms are inside these Africa meets England cottages.

Classic tourist photo in front of the lodge.

Walking with the Animals

Lake Navaisha - Monday, March 14

We reached Lake Navaisha in the late morning, which gave us time for a little safari adventure before checking in to our lodge. So, we drove to the lake for a boat tour to see hippos! The lake was beautiful, the sky was clear, and the hippos were easy to spot (with the help of our boat tour guide). He drove us around the lake, pointing out various kinds of birds and the families of hippopotamus hanging out among the reeds in the middle of the lake. We saw some baby hippos (the first of many baby animals we would see on safari) and some very, very large daddy hippos. They were mostly submerged in the cool lake water, with just the tops of their heads (with knobby ears, eyes, and nose) and their wide backs sticking out above. It was my first taste of seeing one of God’s amazing wild animals so up close and it was thrilling. I was also quite thankful for the great zoom lens that allowed me to capture the beauty!



Hippo staying cool in Lake Navaisha.



An unexpected addition to the morning hippo tour was a walking safari through a park that bordered the lake. Our guide took us across the lake, showing us more exotic birds along the way. We were met by another guide when we got of our boat lakeside. It was just a few steps into the park and we were literally walking among the animals. I was mere yards away from zebras (and baby zebras!), wildebeests (and their very awkward babies), giraffes (so graceful), and waterbuck. It was amazing! And it was the just the beginning an adventurous day... 




Yes, I'm walking around with Zebras!

 



Just a stroll with the wildebeests.





The most beautiful giraffe!



First Days in Kenya

*Updated on Sunday with photos!!!*

As I finally sit down to write this post it is almost bedtime on Saturday. I can hardly believe that this is the end of my second full day in Kenya. (I tried to stay up and write yesterday, but I kept falling asleep!) Thankfully, jet-lag is not keeping me down. Rose has kept us busy and we have already gotten to do and see so many things in Eldoret. We arrived in Eldoret on Friday morning and will stay here until Monday morning—then we go on our first safari! Last night I had my first full night’s sleep in days—and I slept all through the night, which I hope I can do again. These two have been so fun and so full. I know that I can’t share all the details, so I may fill in with other posts later. And I’ll post pictures too—as soon as I can get the internet connection to speed up a bit…

Arriving in Nairobi...

Our travel went smoothly and we arrived in Nairobi Thursday evening. A very kind driver named Peter was waiting for us outside of baggage pickup, holding a sign with our names on it! He loaded our bags into his van and drove us about 20 min to our hotel. There was a slight mix-up at the hotel and they had only one room (with one bed) reserved for us (three people). It was no problem—they had a room with two beds at their sister hotel next door. Could the three of us stay in the room with two beds? No, the hotel has a strict policy that a room for two people has only two people. Sigh. We split up and made plans to meet in the morning. When Charity and I arrived at our room with two beds we saw that the beds were not your typical American double/queen beds, but rather something just larger than a twin. We showered off almost 24 hours on international travel and got a good five hours of sleep—we still had one more flight to Eldoret!

Eldoret, Day 1…

Hospital tour, lunch at Cool Stream, grocery store, travel agent, Imani Workshop, traditional Kenyan dinner

Rose (and a driver from the IU house) picked us up at the airport in Eldoret just after 9 a.m. on Friday morning. We had made it to our destination! I was so happy to see Rose! We loaded up our bags one more time and hit the ground running! We first went to Rose’s house, called Hilltop, which is located just down the street from the IU House (the home base of the Indiana University partnership in Kenya). We got a tour and settled into our rooms. (Thankfully there were no issues with our reservations here!) We put on our walking shoes and made our way down the dusty roads to Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, where Rose works in Casualty (Emergency department). She gave us a fabulous tour of the hospital and we got to meet many of her co-workers and fellow IU medical staff along the way. It was difficult to see the cramped wards and people lining the halls, waiting to be seen. It is standard for patients to share a hospital bed with another patient—or even two. (If there are 3 to a bed, then someone sits in a chair near the bed and they take turns in the bed.) It was good to see what Rose’s work is like and see where she spends most of her time here in Kenya.

After the tour we walked behind the hospital to a restaurant called Cool Stream where we ate our first Kenyan meal! We all went with Rose’s suggestion: grilled chicken (on the bone), rice, green, and chapatti (flat bread, like a fat tortilla or Indian nan). It was wonderful! The restaurant is set up under a thatched roof, so there was a nice breeze and I even saw a humming bird flying around the ceiling. After yummy food and lots of water we were ready for an afternoon in the city.

The view from the median as we waited to cross a main road in Eldoret, Kenya.

We walked from the hospital to the city center of Eldoret. Is a busy, bustling place! There is lots of traffic—made up of cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, and pedestrians. They drive on the left side of the road in Kenya, which means that when walking on the sidewalk (or path next to the road) one should “keep left”, which was challenging for us to get used to. After daringly crossing the streets a couple of times, we reached the travel agent’s office. It was closed—they were probably on lunch. So, we went down the street a little farther to the grocery store, which was amazing! It had everything—and it was air conditioned. This was a very modern grocery store. We picked up some snacks and headed back to the travel office. They were open now and we each paid for our trip. It was so nice to have someone local plan everything for our travel within Kenya, our hotels, and safaris.

We took a taxi to our next stop, Imani Workshops, part of the IU-Kenya Partnership. Imani means “hope” in Kiswahili and hope is what Imani Workshops seeks to offer to those with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. We got to visit and tour the actual workshop where women and men were making fabric bags, paper, and jewelry. Please visit the Imani webpage to learn more about the project. While at Imani, we also got to shop (the money goes right back into Imani)—and you can too! Imani Workshops products are sold at Global Gifts in Indianapolis and other stores around the US.

Charity, Rose, and Amie learn about the products at Imani from our fantastic guide.

An Imani Workshops artisan making paper from papyrus.

Earrings made from bottlecaps - at Imani Workshops.

Back at the house we had some time to wash our feet (the roads are very dusty!) and rest just a little. Then, it was off to join a big group of IU staff for a traditional Kenyan meal: nyoma choma! Nyoma choma means “roasted meat”. At the restaurant a few people from the group went up and selected our meat for the evening: 5kg of goat (a Kenyan delicacy) and 2 chickens. We also had ugali (a dense, bland starchy substance that tastes really good mixed with everything else), a potato dish, cabbage, greens, tomatoes, and onions. We had plenty of food and had a very fun evening getting to know everyone.

Are you tired? I was! That was my first day in Kenya. And now it’s time for my second day to end. I’m off to bed. But, I’ll be back soon!

On my way to Africa!

In approximately 13 days, 1 hour, and 30 minutes I will be on a plane leaving Indianapolis. This flight will be one of three through Detroit and Amsterdam (with amazingly short layovers), which will take us to our final destination: Nairobi, Kenya! That's right folks, I'm going to AFRICA!

The trip dreaming began last year when I learned that my dear friend Rose would be working at a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya for six months. My love for her mixed with my love for travel (and my desire to cross Africa off of my "must visit" list) got everything going. I started talking with some other friends (Lori and Charity) who shared my loves, figured out a good time to go, scoured the airline sites (that would be my obsession), and locked in our dates: March 9-22, 2011. We bought our tickets late at night, huddled around my dad's MacBook in my parents' living room, giddily comparing each person's itinerary (making sure we were all on the same flights!). With a few clicks on the track pad, we each added a quick $1300 to our credit card statements. The excitement and adventure had already begun. As soon as the two week trip was booked, I wondered out loud "Why aren't we going for 3 weeks?" Oh, how I love to travel!

As you can see, the countdown has gone below the 2-week mark, which is so hard to believe. And a lot has happened since we committed to Kenya back in November of 2010. A summary...
1. Amie joined our travel team. After a few weeks of "being interested", she cleared her time off with work and bought her tickets to join us.
2. Rose left for Kenya. She left in January with farewells and some very excited people (that would be me and my travel buddies) saying "See you soon!"
3. Our in-country itinerary was planned. With the help of Rose and a wonderful Kenyan travel agent, we have the most amazing trip! Everything--hotels, lodges, in-country flights, transportation--everything has been planned for us! There will even be someone holding a sign with our names on it at the airport in Nairobi. Best thing ever.
4. We went from 4 to 3. Indianapolis got hit with some serious ice in January and our travel team has lost a valuable member due to the slick stuff. Lori is out with a broken ankle. So sad! While she's hoping to reschedule her visit with Rose in Kenya for later this summer, we are definitely going to to miss her!

As the departure date gets closer, I have shifted into "let's go!" mode. I went to my travel doctor (yes, I have a "travel doctor" and he is awesome!) to get my Yellow Fever vaccine. (Check!) He also gave me scripts for anti-malarial meds and antibiotic, which still need to be filled. (Add to the To Do list.) On Saturday, we got together for coffee to talk about what to wear and what to pack. So, this week I got serious about creating a packing list. And I mean serious. I did research (hunting websites for advice on what to pack/bring/leave at home), considered my previous travel experience, and put together the most detailed list I've ever seen. (I'll post it later for interested travelers.) I am already feeling less stressed and even more excited.

Now that I've finished this post, I'm even closer to take-off! The countdown is now...13 days and 51 minutes.

A new adventure...a new part of the world!

I am going to Cambodia! In 2 months!!!

Since blogging seems like the best way to keep track of my thoughts, record my experiences, and keep people in my life connected with me as I travel--I'm back.

I've been home from Italy for over 2 years. I've had several jobs in Indianapolis, a fun nanny job in Birmingham, AL, great time with family and friends, and time to experience a new stage of my life. I've been working two part-time jobs for over a year now. I've been living out of my parents' house for almost a year--and that's been an adventure in itself. In December I got together with a friend from college and caught up on life. She mentioned that I seemed restless. Restless. Yes, that's it. I'm eager to do something new, something different, and figure out what God has in store for me next.

Last summer I spoke with my Missions Pastor about my previous missions experience, my heart for the nations, and my interest in relief and development work. He told me more about our church's partnership with World Relief Cambodia and some potential opportunities to get involved there. I didn't really know where Cambodia was until a year ago! The more I learned about the work they do and our church partnership, the more interested I became. East Asia was on my radar.

And so was India. My conversation with Nate was initiated by the pull on my heart to respond to an announcement he made about a Vision Trip to India. I had never thought about going to India, but I knew that I was suppose to pursue this trip. So, this past November I spent 10 days in India with a group from my church (www.yourchurch.com). India. What an amazing place. I saw things I'd never seen before and got a tiny glimpse of the great work that God is doing in the country of India. Ten days was not long enough. I felt like I had just gotten my feet wet. I wanted more.

I believe that God used that short trip to India, that "vision" trip, to open my heart to the East and confirm my calling to go to Cambodia.

In January '09 I met Kate from Cambodia, learned about her, her job as Partnership Coordinator, and spoke specifically about me coming to fill in for her as she takes some time off to finish her dissertation. I could come in May/June to help with the summer ESL program and then cover her spot in the fall. I was encouraged and more excited about the possibility to serve, but there were no details.

Then, in the first week of February I got an email from Kate asking me if I could come earlier--April! So, everything started moving! And I'm going for sure!

There are many things to do in the next two months: prayer and financial support raising, figure out what do with my stuff and school loans for 8 months, pack (ack!), and see as many friends and family as I can! While I'm not technically "ready" to go, my heart is ready. I am so thankful for how the Lord has constructed this opportunity. I trust that he will provide everything (and every dollar) I need to go and to thrive there. I'm praying that this 8 month stint in Cambodia will provide vision and direction for what might be next!

More to come... Please pray!