Blogs from Mt. Kenya, Central Province , Kenya, Africa - page 2

Today was a very relaxing. It was a beautiful sunny day and I had a chance to walk into town with andrew ad get some supplies and produce for lunch and dinner. the open Market in Karatina is massive!! The produce they offer is countless and so fresh and looks so delicious!! The walk back and fort from town is amazing, very fresh and so relaxing. Lunch today consisted of sukuma wiki ( braised spinach) and rice with beans. The rest of the afternoon was peaceful and I got a chance to read through my lonely planet book and decide where I would like to visit while I am here. Because I have Saturdays and Sundays off from volunteering I think that next weekend I will arrange with Jacky to go to a national park for ... read more

Slept in this morning, then off to Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers, where a short tour showed the whole process from raw wool to woven product. The women work very hard so it was a pleasure to buy from them. There is an elementary school as well as girls secondary school adjacent. On the way back to the hotel we visited a Benedictine monastery where they hold weekend retreats for young people. Brother Andrew showed us around. It was meager but felt very spiritual. He explained the work they do there, hosting groups of children and travelers from afar for African Bible study and personal reflection. After lunch some of the group went to visit a former actress, Donna Peabody, formerly married to William Hurt. Carol said she seemed lonely living here in Africa by herself. After ... read more

Well there was no hiding the fact that the world cup had started in Nairobi on Friday night...... loud music was booming and people were cheering but we had an early night in preparation for our big climb the next day. We drove off to the base of mount kenya, making a stop via our drivers' family where we were given fresh fruit and the mzungu were photographed! The roads were great - no potholes and our driver had a dvd player in his car so we got to watch cheesy kenyan music videos. The base of the mountain is at the equator so we did the water experiment and it's true! - the water goes different directions down the plughole merely 20m either side of the equator and straight down when on it. The first ... read more

Today we were woken up at four in the morning. I was not exactly happy or excited about being woken up this early but we had to if we wanted to get off this mountain in time to keep the schedule on track. We all got up heavy headed and sat down and tried to drink a cup of tea. We all suited up for the harsh cold elements outside and started our trek to the summit. After twenty minutes of walking, I felt weak and I started to throw up. It turns out I had altitude sickness but I pushed on even though I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion. Some of us became so tired and honestly, I thought I was going to snap from craziness from being sick and overly ... read more

We rose in the early morn yet again and as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes I realizied the air was thinner and the air was colder. I relaizied that we were getting closer and closer to the top of the mountain. We left the noisy Med. Station with high hopes of getting to the top of Mt.Kenya. We walked through more dense forest like scenery and we did this for several hours or more. We saw manymany types of animals like Water buffalos, monkeys, and we some more elephant tracks. The forest of Mt.Kenya was beautiful, so many plants and trees, all so full of life. Everything was beautiful, even the view of the actual mountain was pretty nice too. When we came across the swamp area that was tricky to get through ... read more