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Published: January 31st 2008
KaTieK
Quirky and full of character - but sadly not for me
A month on and I have finally published this blog about my last visit to Kenya. Eagle
Holding the Verranaux's Eagle Since I got back the elections in Kenya have caused chaos and I have postponed my return. Initially I hoped that the political leaders would find it in themselves to start discussions and put a swift end to the violence and ensuing hardship. Sadly as time goes on the troubles are becoming disengaged from national politics. Old tribal issues are being resurrected fuelled by hunger and lack of perceived unity from above. I still look forward to one day being able to return but whether it will be with the same optimism for the people, the wildlife and the country I do not know.
So what’s the difference between setting up research in a foreign country and travelling? Well travelling is easy in comparison. I knew I needed to buy my own vehicle and that in Kenya it would be difficult but not the nightmare that it has been.
I returned to Kenya in mid November full of optimism. I was all set to start my work in Samburu. I had a place to stay at the Earthwatch camp in Wamba and arranged to meet contacts from the community at Mebae. A Kenyan friend had found a
slugs
How would you like this pair on your lottie? suitable 4x4 that he felt had a good history and would be as reliable as he could find for the price. I had transferred some money into his bank account and he was to deliver the vehicle to me the day after I arrived. Perfect! The day came and I received a text message saying the car would be late as the vendor was waiting for his new vehicle to arrive before he would part with ‘mine’. So I waited and waited but eventually the sale fell through. This left me in a predicament. My friend was working out in the bush for 3 weeks, and although he was passing through Nairobi on the way I had no Kenyan bank account to collect a direct transfer of money and I was not prepared to carry that amount of cash around Nairobi. Therefore I was left stranded in Nairobi with no car and no money! Help!
Consequently, the following weeks were a nightmare and left me vowing one day to do a course on car mechanics so that I know what to look for in an old car and how to repair one if it goes wrong. In Kenya, because
Maasai beads
Shompole Maasai can be recognised by the dominance of white beads of the state of the roads and the way cars are driven, the main reason for selling a car is that it is knackered. I was issued with a catalogue of known scams and horror stories. I needed a reliable car as Samburu is remote, the roads poor and I had visions of breaking down on an isolated track and being robbed or attacked. All my friends were out of Nairobi and I was left virtually on my own to hunt for a vehicle. For most things I think I am resourceful but cars to me are a mystery apart from basic checks. I ended up following leads through a new network of people and I went from suggestion to suggestion. I was very tempted at first to buy a lovely old Landcruiser, nicknamed appropriately KaTieK, that was quirky and full of character. I had visions of chugging happily through the bush in her. However, when I tried to hire her for a weekend to test drive and she wasn’t fixed well enough to deliver on time, I came to my senses. With only 3 gears she would have guzzled diesel anyway.
I spent days going round dealers firstly
alone and then with the help of Samuel, a friendly taxi driver (yes you can find them occasionally). I scanned notice boards in the malls as I was told, ‘Buy from a Mzungu leaving the UN. They are usually more reliable.’ But most of the numbers I phoned were dealers, too expensive or already sold.
On top of this many people I met enjoyed regaling me with stories of armed robberies, shootings and the regular dangers of Nairobi and Kenyan roads. Was I stupid to be willing to drive here at all? But how else could I do my work? Surely this wasn’t what fieldwork was about. I got more and more stressed by the day. After three weeks I was still in Nairobi and eventually totally scared of buying anything on four wheels. And without a reliable vehicle I became more and more reluctant to disappear into the bush. Travelling alone around the world was really easy compared to this.
However, there were some better interludes and despite my setbacks, I found that I had slowly built up a network of links. Firstly, I found comfort in staying in a privately run family ‘guest house’ in the
wheel
David prepares to dig in as Bui Bui Kubwa's wheel falls off. leafy suburb of Karen/Langata. I had stayed there before and I felt almost part of the family. They were really helpful to me as every morning I laid out my catalogue of woes in buying a car. Later, as they were fully booked, I moved round the corner to stay in a little cottage in the grounds of the house belonging to May and Robin. May keeps hens, guinea fowl and peacocks and five assorted dogs. At night the noises also include wild birds and tree hyrax that let out the most unearthly calls that could keep anyone with a nervous disposition awake. I loved it.
Early in my stay, I visited Simon Thomsett at Athi River who is an expert on raptors. His home is in the middle of a large estate with wildebeest, zebra, lion, cheetah and other assorted wildlife roaming around. He had huge aviaries next to his small cottage housing some beautiful birds of prey: a Verreaux’s eagle that he let me catch on my wrist and feed although I had to support its weight with both arms, two crested eagles, a lamergeier and a pretty little Lanner falcon that he flew to a lure
Lake Natron
Some of the three quarters of a million flamingoes counted on Lake Natron. and who slept in an alcove next to his TV. If you are interested in his falconer’s tales then have a look at his own blog
http://www.wildlifedirect.org/blogAdmin/simonthomsett run by WildlifeDirect. He was keen to counterbalance the belief I may have in indigenous knowledge and values being used for wildlife conservation. All too often raptors are seen to kill livestock and so be in conflict with traditional herders who therefore poison or shoot them. How could this human-wildlife conflict be turned into reconciliation?
I stayed a night in his ‘guesthouse’ which gave him time to tell me some frightening tales such as how he had been shot at in his living room where we were talking and how some recent political killings had taken place within sight of his isolated house. When I finally went out to the tumbling down banda that was his guest room I was staring into every shadow for bandits but all I saw was an owl and bats. The small dark room was lit with a couple of candles, the door did not lock and beetles and spiders filled all the corners. But the bed was clean and comfy and I soon fell to sleep
Christian Maasai
This Maasai lady wears a large image of Christ on her cloak anyway. It was too late to worry.
The following weekend I travelled to Shompole to see friends, researchers from Leicester and Kenya who were working and filming with the Maasai. I took a lift with Johann, a friend and wildlife guide, with many years of experience as a guide and lodge manager. He is now setting up his own company and if any of you are looking for a safari with a difference look at his website
http://www.maasaimara.com. It was a relief to get out of Nairobi and as we travelled south the landscape opened out into the acacia savannah of the southern rift valley surrounded by steep escarpments.
In conjunction with the African Conservation Centre and my co-PhD student Samantha Russell, the local Maasai women have set up a new community run research camp in a tranquil spot near the river. When I got there it was refreshing to feel the excited and happy atmosphere in the camp. A colleague from Leicester had organised a training camp for local Kenyan and Tanzanian students that included scientific research on birds, dragon flies and water sediment run by local scientists and training in film-making, run by a professional film-maker
Spiders Den
I share my room with spiders Ben Please.
The day after I arrived, the local Maasai women from the surrounding region had been invited to meet the visitors to ‘their’ camp. As the morning progressed colourful beaded figures appeared in groups from the surrounding bush and came to sit under the communal tent to watch the videos that the researchers had been making of dances and songs performed by local school children and the women themselves. They were enthralled as they pointed out themselves and their children in the film. They were equally delighted by a selection of videos of local wildlife. Later in the day the women grouped together to perform a selection of welcoming, happy songs from the region. It brought back memories of my previous visit when I had seen the women arriving to welcome a new baby at one of the manyattas. Following the songs, officials from the research camp and the local community exchanged speeches of thanks in the formal meeting set in the shade of the acacias that are a typical component of life in Kenya. Shade is important for these lengthy meetings as the sun bakes exposed heads and many of the Maasai women carried colourful umbrellas to
Goats
One man's wealth in a herd of goats supplement the sparse shade from the trees. I soon regretted that I had forgotten to bring a hat and, more essentially, a bottle of water from my tent. The speeches seemed to go on forever and my scalp was burning and my mouth totally parched by the end of the meeting.
The day of celebration ended in an energetic football match between students and locals. The edges of the pitch were imaginarily drawn on the arid ground, the rules of the game were flexible and by the end of the match one casualty had been carried off and several people were suffering from minor strains and pains.
The following day, I found a place in one of the research vehicles heading out to Lake Natron to collect water samples and count the large colony of lesser flamingos that breed there. Most of the students packed into the old landcruiser nicknamed Bui Bui Kubwa (Kiswahili for Big Big Spider) driven by Reuben. I found a seat in the following land rover and masked my nose and mouth from the thick dust with a bandana as we bumped our way across the rough ground. At a bridge on the edge
Bogoria Hot Springs
Steaming springs and flamingoes at Lake Bogoria of the swamp the vehicles stopped and everyone got out and rushed into the reeds when we heard that the local farmers had captured a leopard that had been killing their goats. The poor creature was trapped in a metal cage and had obviously been attacking the bars to try to get out. Its nose and head was covered in bleeding scabs. However, I felt that it had a lucky fate as the local farmers, now more aware of the benefits of wildlife conservation, were trying to get it relocated to a local sanctuary. In the past it would have been killed without question.
Our small convoy carried on but within a few kilometres one of Bui Bui’s front wheels flew off and the axle dug itself into the road. This event made me reflect on my endeavour to find a vehicle myself. I could not afford to break down like this when on my own in the more remote regions of Kenya.
We were only a couple of kilometres away from our destination so students and researchers shared out equipment and bottles of drinking water and set out to walk the rest of the way to Lake
kudu
Female Kudu catch a cooling evening breeze on the edge of Lake Bogoria Natron under the hot sun. I joined the bird watching team and as we came in sight of the soda lake shimmering under the heat we broke away from the path and started to climb steeply up to a vantage point from where we were to count flamingos feeding around the edge of the lake. A snake and an assortment of lizards slid off ahead of us. I plodded on behind the Maasai who were leaping ahead up the scree slope. Thankfully we stopped for lunch under the shade of a tree. Half of our water was already gone. Finally we got to the look out, Dominic, who works with Nature Kenya and was training the Maasai how to do bird counts, set up the telescope and we started counting the distant specks. Firstly by tens, then fifties, then thousands we added up the numbers until the count was three quarters of a million! Lake Natron is home to the largest breeding population of lesser flamingos in the world and numbers there far exceed any other site. Thankfully a project to build a soda extraction plant on the Tanzanian side of the lake that could destroy this fragile ecosystem has
mongoose
The dwarf mongoose that was scared to cross the road been put on hold after protests from environmental groups.
Returning to Nairobi after the weekend in Shompole I still felt frustrated by the difficulties of buying a vehicle and my fear of cars, roads, bandits and driving in Kenya had multiplied. I was receiving conflicting stories about safety in Samburu. Some local people assured me it was safe for me to be alone there, yet my Leicester colleague felt that safety in Wamba was uncertain as an Earthwatch team working there had been shot at just a couple of years previously. Finally I decided to visit Bogoria again to arrange to study there until the Wamba camp was fully occupied with other scientists.
Then the car situation was suddenly resolved. The owner of my guesthouse in Nairobi was coincidently the manager of the local Ford dealer that had a sister Suzuki outlet. He recommended that for a little more money than I was already spending I could by a brand new Suzuki Gypsy with a year’s warranty. The Gypsy is a small 4x4 made in India with absolutely no frills. It is light and extremely bumpy but is designed for the harsh conditions found in many developing countries.
Tortoise
My young friends hitch a ride on a tortoise He also magically arranged a tax PIN number so that I could register the vehicle in my own name, another big relief for me. It really is who you know that gets things done in Kenya! However, before signing up I decided to hire a Suzuki Gypsy to drive up for my excursion to Bogoria. This would allow me to test drive it as well as gaining experience driving on the chaotic Kenyan roads.
Being in control of a vehicle again felt good. I arranged for my friendly taxi driver to accompany me as far as Nakuru to both guide me there and to act as a reassurance on these roads filled with careering matatus and over loaded trucks. We started out at 7am to miss the Nairobi morning traffic and were soon heading north into the rift valley. For once there was little fog as we crossed the escarpment and I could see the spectacular valley spread out before me. We cruised along at about 80km/hr a comfortable speed for both me and the Gypsy. The road was good through to Naivasha and until we reached Gilgil when the tarmac became heavily cratered as though a meteor shower
Termites!
A termite mound and sisal had devastated this stretch of road. Then about 30 km before Nakuru the traffic stopped dead with no sign of movement for miles ahead. Just behind me cars and matatus were leaving the road on a rough cart track and in front vehicles were trying to turn in the narrow road way. I joined the exodus and followed the stream of cars jolting intermittently along on the makeshift highway across the farm land. Eventually we joined up with the new highway being built about a kilometre from the old road and speeded up as much as the dust and road would allow. At last, hot, dusty and tired we reached Nakuru. There we eventually found Anderson, who was to be my assistant in Bogoria, and Samuel headed off to catch a matatu back to Nairobi.
From Nakuru the road to Bogoria is gloriously straight and smooth (apart from a few unmarked speedbumps that send unwary cars flying) as this is the region in which ex-president Moi, a Kalenjin, lives. Although little money ever seems to have been invested in the Kenyan road system this was one exception!
I was tired by the time I got to Bogoria and
On the Buses - Kenya style
As passengers board one side, women sell tomatoes the other and the sofa sits on top I thought I would be able to go straight to the house where I would be staying. However first I met with Jackson Komen and then we had to drive to Sandai to try to find Amos who looked after the keys to the house. When we got there the local women were sitting under a tree at an election meeting and listening avidly to a local politician. I found that I was soon a competing attraction and after hugs and hand shakes with some of the women I briefly introduced myself then left before I took up too much of their time. I was soon to find that the forthcoming elections were the event of the year and the main topic of discussion everywhere.
Back in Bogoria, we had a meal of goat, rice and cabbage for Anderson and egg, rice and cabbage for me accompanied by sodas at the local Kenyan hotel. The total bill was about £1.50. Then after dark, Amos opened up William’s neglected looking house. My room had a comfy bed but other than that was creepy - hot, stuffy and surrounded by very large spiders and cobwebs hanging from the light and ceiling.
Equator Centre
With William Kimosop (on right) at the Equator Centre Luckily there was a mosquito net over the bed and it was too late in the evening to do anything about my eight-legged room fellows. I also felt hot, sticky and tired but that first night the shower didn’t seem to want to produce any water. By then I was without help as I had been left on my own in the gloomy house, Amos having returned to his election campaign. I was tired but disoriented and restless at the same time. I wanted to get on with real research and just at that moment, even though I had friends in Bogoria, I really wished I was on my way to Samburu. Eventually I curled up under the mosquito net in my own sleeping bag for comfort with the light on to deter creeping things and surprisingly I slept well.
In the morning I thankfully managed to get the shower working. Amos arrived and as it was Saturday morning the whole village was at the cattle dip where Symon, the vet, was overseeing operations, injecting cattle and de-worming them. The cattle dip seemed a rough affair as cattle were forced to jump into the murky concrete bath and swim along to get rid of tics. After the cattle it was the turn of the goats as one by one they were picked up and thrown in, bleating loudly. The cattle meanwhile were being herded into a pen for their injections. In the case of the large bull it took four men to hold it steady to receive the injection. Meanwhile I realised that I had some photos of longhorn cattle in England on my camera and the local farmers and children were impressed to see these strange looking foreign cattle with their crooked horns.
Later in the morning I met with Jackson, Symon, Anderson and Amos to discuss how I could carry out my research in Bogoria. They were all really keen for me to work with the community there. Jackson, the conservation officer in the region, sketched out local conservation initiatives, who was involved and how I could involve local people in my research. Many of the communities around Lake Bogoria are conservation conscious and there are a series of schemes that both contribute to livelihoods but are beneficial towards sustaining the environment. For instance, bee-keeping brings an income from honey production but also adds value to the acacia woodland and therefore dissuades people from cutting trees for charcoal making; and the Sandai community are setting aside part of their land as a wildlife sanctuary which will provide a habitat for Greater kudu to move out from the Lake Bogoria reserve and eventually provide a new tourist attraction. Working with the local communities with mapping and video I hope to find out how local knowledge and values can contribute to wildlife conservation. As the Tugen tribe have only changed from pastoralism to agriculture during the last 40 years I hope also to see what differences there is in knowledge and values between generations.
My second night alone at the house was no better than the first. I liked the geckos and bats but it was the smaller creatures that I couldn’t accommodate. Several species of spiders scuttled across the floors and walls; mosquitoes tried to get a meal from any exposed part of my skin or even through my shirt and jeans, bugs and moths whirled round the light in the lounge, several cockroaches ran off when I put on the light in the shower room and a troup of large soldier ants were exploring something sweet in the kitchen. I think it was the sheer number of insects and spiders that were intimidating. In ones and twos I can tolerate their company but here I felt outnumbered.
However, I started to make other friends in the village. William’s house is set at the top a small rise above the well and as I stood outside the house enjoying the view of the hills over the valley I waved at some young girls fetching water. Later they came visiting to welcome me to their home. When I said that I was driving into the Lake Bogoria reserve the following morning, Judith said that she had only been into the park once so I asked them to join me. The next morning it was fun to have four happy girls chattering with me. They were really excited about their morning out and seeing all the animals and birds in the park. I think their favourite animals were the wart hogs as they ran along with stiff bristly tails held high. Judith particularly seemed to know many of the birds and animals and we had fun identifying others from my book. I was glad of their company. At the hot springs they were fascinated to watch the flamingos feeding offshore and the eagles purched on the cliffs above. They had bought empty plastic water bottles with them to collect water from the lake which was apparently good for skin complaints and insect bites. After getting our fingers scalded by trying to extract boiling water from the geysers we found a cooler spot to fill the bottles from the soda lake itself. Driving on down the lake shore we were in for the amazing site of thousands or tens of thousands of martins, swallows and swift swooping around feeding on the black abundance of flies incubating from the waters edge. The air was filled with these graceful swooping birds.
As Bogoria is set on natural thermal springs a luxury hotel has been built with a natural hot swimming pool. I found it a lovely place to go and relax. At the pool I started chatting to one of the hotel staff who was also a keen bird watcher. I later found that Douglas was from the Pokot tribe and I listened with interest as he described life in his village. He also discussed the politics behind the forthcoming elections with me and I soon learnt a lot more about the two main parties and presidential candidates. Kibaki is the leader of the ruling PNU party. After independence in 1967, Kenya was run initially by just two presidents Kenyatta and Moi in a single party state. In 1995 the country turned to a democracy and at the first free elections in 2002 Kibaki was voted in. At that time the current opposition leader Raila Odinga fought for Kibaki by promoting tribal equality on his behalf. Subsequently, as Kibaki was following on from his Kikuyu predecessors, Odinga split away and formed the rival ODM party to try to establish a fairer multi tribal government. Everyone I spoke to in Kenya had an opinion on the election. Groups gathered together to hear local politicians or discuss the issues. However all felt that the election would be free and fair and debates were calm and for the most part good natured.
During the week that I spent in Bogoria, Anderson or Amos guided me around and I spent my time between meeting people or visiting the reserve. Unlike the tourist honey traps of the savannah reserves like the Maasai Mara or Amboseli, Lake Bogoria is quietly beautiful. In the early morning the geysers slowly come awake. Behind the warm sulphurous mist the flamingos parade elegantly lowering and lifting their heads as they filter out the plankton on which they survive. The scene is almost primeval. In the evenings as dusk falls many animals go down to the banks of the lake. One evening Anderson and I counted 17 greater kudu along the lake edge. They don’t go there to drink as the lake is too salty but to browse and catch the cool evening breeze. They are the second tallest of the antelope after the eland with the largest horns that spiral gracefully on the males. They are gentle, secretive animals and despite their size are normally difficult to spot as they conceal themselves in thick bush. Through the influence of local conservationists and researchers in the area many of the local people are involved in some form of conservation research as Friends of Lake Bogoria. As part of this scheme I joined Amos one morning to walk his transect at the far end of the lake to count kudu. The lake scenery was pretty and calm but that time we only saw three kudu. Every time I visited the park I was delighted with sights of wildlife. One day we sat and watched a family of dwarf mongoose that chattered to each other from either side of the track frightened of crossing in front of my car. I loved seeing pairs of dikdik, the smallest of the antelope with their long quivering noses and shy habits. The greatest surprise was what at first looked like a large cat slinking in the grass on the roadside which Anderson identified as a caracal.
I was made to feel welcome in the community, sitting talking to rangers and stall holders at the gate of the park or chatting over a soda in the hotel or outside the village store. Sometimes on first meeting people I had to get by the almost immediate requests or hints for money to learn to drive, for sponsorship for school education or to set up a business and I had to explain that I was trying to help through working with the community rather than individual aid. By many standards rural people in Kenya have very little. Many live primarily on subsistence farming. Education is free at primary level but costs about £200 per term for secondary education. University is just but a dream for most intelligent Kenyans. Young people in particular, are aware of the opportunities afforded by education and have a deep wish to improve their lives. One girl told me that she had just had a funding raising party to collect donations from the whole village which had raised enough for her next term at college. How different from the free education available in the UK, and the feeling that many children there have so little understanding of its value.
Anderson took me to meet one family with whom he thought I could do my study. I negotiated the Suzuki along faint tracks through the farms at Sandai until we arrived at their manyatta. Traditionally a manyatta is a thorn-fenced compound containing mud and wood huts with grass roofs, although modern corrugated tin buildings are taking their place. These new dwellings are hot and stuffy compared to the mud homes but they last longer as they aren’t destroyed by termites. The tin-roofs also enable water harvesting, by collecting runoff rain water which is stored in underground tanks for times of drought. At John’s manyatta the community was gathered in the shade of a tree drinking local maize and millet beer. I was offered a taste of the milky looking brew but sadly found one sip was enough. Although I’ve enjoyed beverages in different countries I found this one too bitter for my tastebuds. I wished I could have brought a barrel of traditional ale from England to share.
I spent an hour talking to the group and they seemed pleased that I wanted to work with them. We are so used to variety, change and hectic lifestyles in the UK that finding time for having community meetings called by an unknown researcher would probably be seen as a potential waste of precious time. Here my work and the community involvement were providing a new entertainment to the regular routine. People were pleased that I was interested in their culture and heritage. Immediately they set about teaching me a few words of Kalinjin and joking and laughing with me.
Back at the house I was glad to find that Amos had cleaned the spiders from my bedroom and washed down the bathroom to deter the cockroaches. The girls from the village then appeared and I showed them some photos I had taken of them in the park on my laptop. Then I left them entertained watching a DVD of Shaun the Sheep although I did wonder how much they understood of this cartoon humour from rural England. But then how much did I really comprehend their lives?
Finally it came to leaving. I felt that there was so much that I could learn from this community at Bogoria and hopefully they would gain in return by taking part and learning about maps and filming. I had some initial concerns about introducing technology in this way and generating an aspiration that was unsustainable but conversely the experience itself for both me and them could prove rewarding. I drove down to the village to say a few goodbyes and, as is standard in Kenya was asked for numerous lifts to the nearby town of Marigat. We gave priority to a lady who had a badly infected leg from a panga cut and I drove her to hospital. If someone is ill there is no ambulance service here, car-sharing is the norm, so she may have had to wait for a couple of days before getting to hospital.
On the way back to Nairobi I was looking forward to visiting my friend William Kimosop and learn more about how my studies could fit into his conservation schemes. I have always admired William’s enthusiasm since I taught him basic GIS skills at Leicester University a few years ago. William is now regional conservation officer working for the local council.
We arrived at William’s wonderful farmhouse in Mogotio and immediately his pretty little two year old niece with multi-coloured twisted topknots on her hair came and sat on my knee. William was out but had left a message that he had booked me a room in a hotel in town so I went to check in. The room was on the edge of a courtyard at the local pub - I just hoped I would get a quiet sleep - little did I know. Back at William’s house I was introduced to other members of his family who all made me feel welcome. Charity, his wife and a teacher of English, cooked a wonderful Kenyan meal accompanied by milk fresh from their cows. Being Independence Day, everyone was engrossed in the news and the festivities being shown on television and typically the conversation dwelt on the forthcoming elections. We listened to Kibaki using the opportunity for a political broadcast.
Later I finally had a chance to talk more fully with William. I asked about his house which on the outside is a very large version of a Kenyan house with organic shaped rich brown mud walls. Inside the timbers reach to the roof which, untraditionally, is covered with corrugated iron. The whole house is a combination of the environmentally friendly traditionally built walls using local materials but completed with a tin roof for water-harvesting. It was a true eco-house.
I spent a fascinating hour listening to some of his ideas for conservation and development in the rift including a walking trail and the equator centre that I had visited in the summer. He has been involved in so many projects during his life. I offered to interview him one day and perhaps to help him write his biography.
About 10pm, I went back to the ‘hotel’ to get some sleep before my drive back to Nairobi the next day. The locals were having fun, talking and laughing and the music was playing loudly until 4am. So much for a quiet sleep! At 4.30 the cockerels started and at 6am the cleaner arrived, singing, to clean up the mess. Needless to say, I had a sleepy drive back to Nairobi.
Realising that I wasn’t going to get any research done over Christmas, New Year and the elections I booked a flight home deciding to start afresh in the New Year. Although no one predicted any trouble it was obvious that every one in Kenya was only intent on elections for the next couple of weeks. On my last day in Nairobi I ordered my Suzuki, and packed my bags most of which I was to leave behind. I was sad to leave but also looking forward to being home and being able to go walking freely through the British countryside.
Two weeks later on New Year’s Day in the car back from Wales I was busy sending texts to Kenya, concerned with the news on the radio and in the papers. By the end of the journey I had made the decision not to return for the time being. It felt surreal to be so connected to this distant country in the middle of turmoil. My heart and thoughts are with all my friends in Kenya who want peace not internal strife.
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