Lake Nakuru

Our weekend trip to Serena Mountain Lodge just teased our appetite for wildlife. So on our final weekend in Kenya we squeezed in another quick trip to the wildlife park at Lake Nakuru. We arranged to travel on Friday evening, have a tour of the park on Saturday morning, and return to Tumutumu Saturday night. We traveled with Kris and Lucy, a couple of British medical students also working at Tumutumu Hospital.

Typical matatu and patrons

Our objective: see amazing animals as quickly and cheaply as possible. Per Google Maps Nakuru is approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Karatina. We priced hiring a car and driver and instead decided to engage the most common method of public transportation: a matatu. Matatus are 14 passenger vans that travel between communities at a nominal rate. They are notorious for being over crowded and their drivers are notoriously aggressive and reckless. When debating whether or not to travel by matatu Matthew often said “More people die in Kenya every year from vehicular accidents than die from malaria”.

Rooster in Matatu

We were determinied not to visit the ATM machine during the trip and only use the shillings in hand. We through caution to the wind and decided to travel by matatu.

The trip to Lake Nakuru took 6 hours on 3 different matatus. Highlights of our journey included a passenger carrying a rooster in her lap (quickly revealed by sound and smell), an hour delay in Nyeri as we waited for our van to fill, and a deteriorating highway riddled with potholes. The highway itself was so poor I'm not sure what difference a private car would have made... I'm certain the asphalt was poured without the proper gravel subgrade. It was an exhausting journey.

When we arrived in Nakuru we checked into our hotel and we had a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was a lovely and welcome meal – good food and good company. At 6:30 the next morning our tour guide met us at the hotel with an open top van. We were oogling at the animals of the park by 7:30.

And then it was all worth it! Lake Nakuru is well known for the variety of birds it attracts, most famously, pink flamingos. But in addition to spectacular birds we saw loads of baboons, zebras, giraffs, hyenias, rhinosorases, cape buffalo, warthogs, empalas and antilopes. We saw them laze about, get in fights, feed each other and play with each other. All quite close from the safety of our open top van. The only regret is that the lions and the lepords, which are present in the park, did not make an appearance.

White Pelicans

We stopped for a snack break at an overlook at 'Baboon Hill'. We climbed out of the van with our packed lunch and before we knew it a baboon had snuck up and stolen our bread and biscuts! So much for sandwiches! Obviously we were not the first victims... they had practiced well and are known for stealing bananas and other goodies right out of the hands of distracted tourist

Matthew and I with Kris and Lucy at Baboon Hill.

The animals were fantastic and such a wonder. It is easy to see how they are personified in in 'The Lion King'... they each have such distinct character and habits.

Our return matatu trip only took 5 hours. This journey featured a sick passenger, vomiting out the window adjacent to Matthew. We were also seated on the back row and which meant little leg room with the wheel well and spare tire under our feet. The trials of being jostled around the back of a matatu was enough to make us admit our age and that we just weren't interested in this type of travel in the future... the extra expense would be worth the comfort of a safe journey.

Worship at Tumutumu

Christina and I have had the opportunity to worship with the people of Tumutumu Presbyterian Church. This has definitely been a cultural experience for both of us and departs from our traditional Presbyterian services back home. Both of us have worshipped outside the US before, but it is always a blessing to share the intimate act of worship with new community.

Tumutumu Presbyterian Church

Africa has always been a place of music, rhythm, and dance, and the church service was no different. Most of the service consists of clapping, singing, and even dancing in the pews. The service starts with serveral songs before the leadership arrive in the church. After their arrival, general announcements are performed and visitors (like us) are introduced. A time is given for testimonials, which are generally given in a song representing their dedication to Christ. A time of prayer follows and then the reading of the scripture. A leader then gives a brief sermon (usually preceeded and followed by more singing.) and then performs the benediction.

On Sundays, the Tumutumu church has two services- a 9AM English service and an 11AM Kukuyu service. Often the music flows from the end of one service to the begining of the next. (This sometimes made it difficult for Christina and I to know when to leave.) Most of the music was in swahilli although a few English hymns were attempted. The Africans had some difficulty with the rhythms and pitch of the hymns, but what they lacked in talent was more than made up for in passion and volume.

We were able to attend the Good Friday service at Tumutumu and it was quite a departure from our traditional somber service. There was only one service that day and it was in Kukuyu. It was a joyous noise that arose from the little church and it was well attended. It was somewhat difficult for us to follow the sermon, but a few of the lines were punctuated in English- "there is no life without Christ," and "The American's are used to 1 hour of worship. Today will be 3 hours!" Many of the people around us helped us through the motions to the songs and although we did not understand the language, we easily felt The Spirit.

We also attended the Easter Sunday service and although many hymns were sung, Christina was upset that we didn't sing "Jesus Christ is risen today." The sermon was surprisingly taken from the Old Testiment and we are pretty sure that the word "Easter" was not actually uttered through the whole service. Perhaps as lively as the services are, every Sunday is considered Easter. Or at least celebrated as exuberantly.

Kenyan Observations

Just a couple of cultural differences worth mentioning:

The dress code always errs on the side of formal. If in dought, dress up. Any occasion that brings you to the hospital, whether a visitor or patient, is reason to dress nice. Even if it is an ill-fitting, third hand, dusty sports coat it is dressy and should be worn. I think everyone is confused that Matthew wears scrubs daily (though he was told to bring them). Scrubs here are only worn in the surgery theater by those preforming the procedure. They change out of those scrubs, into their suits and ties, before walking back through the hospital. Everyone from nurses to bus drivers to doctors are better dressed than Matthew and I every day.

A couple of my favorite questions asked while I've been here: “How many tribes are in the United States?”. Its really an interesting question... yes, there are some unique cultures but I don't think it compares with their tribal identity. They are always shocked that I only speak one language and that that is common in the US.

“How much did your husband pay for you when you were married?”. They Kenyans raise a combination of money, crops, and livestock to pay for their bride. They will enter into a contract with a family and spend time raising the money, which is their engagement period. Depending on how beautiful and wealthy and well educated the girl this sum can be as high as $3000 US, which is quite a lot for their standards.

Food: We eat very well at the guest house. Breakfast is pretty international, toast, cereal, boiled eggs and sausage. Lunch and Dinner always brings more food than is necessary. Soup (usually a simple broth), two starches (usually a light pasta dish and potatoes), two meats (chopped beef in a gravy and either chicken or fish), and two vegetables (peas and carrots and a cabbage slaw). Fresh fruit for dessert. No cheese or yougarts. There is warm milk for the cereal at breakfast and in the tea.

Tea is at 10:30 and 4:00. Take your tea, take your time, enjoy it, do not be stressed about all the other tasks you must complete. Its amazing how that instantly becomes trivial and takes a back seat to the matter at hand: tea. Matthew gets frustrated that this is such a priority with nurses serving patients... tea before medications? Really?

Though the finest coffee in the world is grown and roasted in this region of Kenya you won't find it is served among the people. It's far too expensive. Instant is the only option if you prefer coffee. Matthew is surviving quite well. And sleeping much more than normal.

There is an interesting paradox between cleanliness and aesthetics. Everything is cleaned emphatically. Floors are mopped often, sidewalks are scrubbed. Much effort is devoted to keeping the hospital and any general living space clean. However, I can't say the same pride is always taken in construction of the facilities. I don't think a general design aesthetic is ever considered and the craftmanship of building projects is often poor. Paint jobs often reveal huge drips, linoleum tiles are askew with the wall and don't match up (often several un-coordinated tile patterns are used), concrete is poured inconsistantly and unlevel. Resources are obviously available, they just aren't always allocated and put together well. Regardless everything is well worn and used, and mopped and scrubbed.

The Presbyterian Church has a strong hold over the region. It seems 2 of every 3 civic institutions we pass along the roadway are PCEA institutions (Presbyterian Church of East Africa). Chuches, schools, hospitals, orphanages... And they seem to be well used and populated institutions.

Though it rarely gets below 65 degrees here this is still their coolest season which means the winter clothes come out. Kids run around in parkas. Everyone wears sweaters and knit hats. It's crazy.

Everyone here has a cell phone. Unfortunately this culture has not adopted a cell phone etiquette. No one puts their phone on silent. Doctors, students, nurses and patients will answer their phone if it rings, regardless of what they are doing at the time. Very few smart phones.

Yes, our guest house has running water and power. But this is really a temporal condition. The power blinks or simply shuts down for 'rationing' at any time (the hospital has a deisel run generator which is often used). And I haven't figured out why water has become a problem... I see water in the tank behind the guest house... but we have been without water for a few days now. Sometimes everything is working great but often one thing or the other is out of order. An emergency bucket of water is always wise for flushing the toilet or taking a sponge bath.

And my final observation... this is the first place I've ever been where no one has made a comment about my hair.  No one has asked to touch it or inquired if it's naturally curly... nothing.  I think maybe it far too common here to be considered special.