Second and final update for the day.
Aunts Take on Kenya
Two of my aunts, Kari and Joanne, made it to Kenya a week and a half ago. I met them for breakfast near their hotel the morning after they landed in Nairobi. It was great to see some familiar faces after not seeing any family for the last 2 months. We were able to catch up on what I’ve been up to and what they did in South Africa before coming to Kenya. I don’t think I’ll have time to make it there this year but after hearing them talk about it I know I must visit at some point.
The next day I met them at Bomas of Kenya in the afternoon. Bomas of Kenya has a show with traditional Kenyan dances from a variety of the tribes here. There are also replications of the housing that different tribes have used over time. We learned that in the past a man might have had 3 wives, with each wife getting her own hut. The man would have a hut to himself, and each wife lived with her children. It was very interesting to hear our tour guide talk about what life would have looked like. He lives in “normal” housing in Nairobi right now, but when he returns home to his village it is similar housing to the replications that he was showing us. Joanne and I both shuddered hearing the story of when he got into bed with a 4ft long nyoka (snake).
A couple days later, I met Kari and Joanne at their hotel again. We rode to Amboseli National Park all morning, finally arriving around lunch time. I got my first glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but the top was still covered by clouds. Our lodge was within the park and we spent 3 days there. This meant that we could get up 10 minutes before the start of our morning game drive, come back for a late breakfast, and then rest up until right before our evening game drive. I was absolutely blown away by how close we were to the animals and loved the view of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. Our driver, Stephen, was also incredible. He knew everything there was to know about the plants and animals that make Amboseli their home. He was also very interested to hear about my time in Nunguni at the pre-wedding celebration, as he’s from the same tribe (Kamba). Our time in Amboseli flew by, and it was time to come back to Nairobi all too soon.
Two days after our return to Nairobi, Kari was able to join me at work. She met me at Alfajiri and got to meet the street boys that I spend time with a couple times a week. It was really fun for me to watch someone else seeing what goes on here with fresh eyes. The staff was very welcoming too and gave Kari a full rundown of what goes on at Alfajiri. She joined Paul (one of the boys) and I in a heated game of basketball against Hayden and John Paul (Alfajiri staff-member). The jury is still out, but I’m pretty sure we won. The day wrapped up in the chapel, where Kari was able to use her preaching skills to deliver a sermon to the boys. Afterwards, I got supper with Kari, Joanne, and Stephen, and said my goodbyes.
Altomatum Part One
Hayden and I joined a hiking challenge for the month of November. It consists of three different hikes that are all extremely difficult. Our first one was last Saturday. We got up at 2:15 AM and took an Uber downtown. From there we hopped on a bus that took us to the Aberdare mountain range. I was able to listen to Andrew’s section championship game live on the way. I nearly woke up the rest of the bus when the announcer said, “Touchdown, Lipke!” The Hutch Tigers won just as we arrived for our hike. The day’s journey brought us up to the top of Table Mountain and then continued on to Seven Ponds before ending back where we started. There were about 30 hikers hoping to complete this journey, but the guides were quick to let us know that if we had not reached Table Mountain by 1PM we would be turned around. Hayden and I took this to heart and led the way to the top with our guide, Robert. We spent the next 3 hours following him up a steep mudslide, with running water taking the trail down as we fought up against it.
We made it to the top by about 10:30AM and took a short break to enjoy the view. I had stepped in the wrong spot on the way up and sunk into mud up to my knee, so I took advantage of the break to try and get some of the mud out of my boots. After the break we pushed on to Seven Ponds. The nice thing about this hike was that we were done climbing once we reached the top of Table Mountain. This meant that even though we were tired it was easy hiking. After Seven Ponds was the descent back to the bus. I had thought it was tricky getting up the mudslide, but getting down was much worse. Our group had grown to 8 hikers and there were a lot more than 8 falls on the way down the mountain. I was responsible for more than my fair share of those. Luckily, I made it down without hurting myself and was feeling good about completing part one of the Altomatum.
It wasn’t all sunshine and daisies for me though. The company had advertised a breakfast to start out the hike. I was picturing a typical American breakfast spread. Instead, we got two apples and an orange. I ate all the fruit plus the snacks I packed for the day by 9:30AM. I spent the rest of the hike feeling my blood sugar drop lower and lower, and Hayden said I seemed very angry for the second half of the hike. I don’t remember being angry, but I was certainly suffering. As we approached our bus we passed a young boy selling papayas and carrots. He had an eye for a customer in need and asked me if I’d like any. I got on the bus carrying a full bag of each!
The next two hikes will both be significantly harder than this one was, but I’m confident that we’ll get them done. I’ve got a lot more food packed for this weekend and already have a massage scheduled for the day after!
Thanks for reading!