First Days of Africa

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We arrived safely and soundly in Nairobi Monday evening at around 8pm. Though I slept for the better part of the 14 hour flight, I was still exhausted and was so relieved to arrive at ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology) - our unofficial headquarters for the duration of the trip.

That night, Nairobi held one major surprise: rain. There was an absolute downpour during our drive through the city, this is equivalent to the lack of snow and cold temperatures in Canada. Everything in the city is green and lush and absolutely beautiful.

Nairobi is completely different than any city I've visited in North America. People are EVERYWHERE during the day, walking, hanging out on roofs, in parks and always waving with a smile. Driving through the city is exciting, there's always something new to see. My favourite part so far is a monument on Independence Corner, shaped almost like a pyramid with a hand holding a torch. Everything seems to be gated, fences are everywhere and most have barbed wire up the top.

We visited Nairobi National Park yesterday which was almost a fruitless endeavour. Because of the rains the Savannah looks more like a tropical paradise than the yellow grasses we'd usually think of. The abundance of water and food meant that the animals were highly dispersed as opposed to congregated around a water source. We saw water buffalo and some birds close up, but none of "the big 5". Giraffes, antelope and ostrich were at a distance and we could see them out of binoculars, but I can't wait to get out of the city to see these animals up close and for real.

My favourite part of NNP was the Ivory Burning memorial. On July 18, 1989 the Kenyan government led by Pres. Moi burned 12 tons of confiscated poached ivory on national television to assert their stance on protecting Kenya's elephants. This was during a period of time that African elephant populations fell from 130 000 to only 16 000. Though the ivory was valued at over a million dollars the President stated: "Often great objectives require great sacrifice". Ashes still remain in remembrance.

Driving back from Nairobi, we passed the Masaii market. I wish we could've stopped and seen what they had to sell, but none of us have had the chance to take out or exchange money. Hopefully a few days from now I'll be equipped with some Masaii gear 😊 People were crammed up from the side of the road, it was a dense, bright, noisy and cheerful affair.

We also passed the Kabera (sp?) slum, which is the biggest in Africa and possibly the world. Over a million people call it home. Though we only saw it from a distance, it was literally a sea of rooftops over hills and plains. It's surrounded by nicer apartment buildings and billboards for cellphones and cars which was kind of disconcerting. I'll have more to write on this later as we'll be visiting it with the group.

I can't believe I've only been here a little over 24 hours, I'm totally forgetting to describe about 3/4 of the experience - I could write an entire book on what I've seen so far and there's only more to come. More posts later, today we're visiting the University and heading into town with student guides.

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Comments

[Sam Gould]

GRR....
I am so unbelieveably jealous of you... it sounds amazing!!

[Amy and Catharine]

Wish we could see through your eyes
It is incredible to think that someone we know is experiencing first hand what we have all heard about but can only imagine...and imagine incorrectly. Keep your chin up and we hope that you can make a difference, even if it seems insignificant, in the lives of these people. Love, Amy and Catharine xoxo :)