Epilog - African Adventure

 EPILOG OF OUR AFRICAN ADVENTURE

Greetings family and friends,

We have arrived home and therefore conclude our African Adventure. Our trip home was long and tiring. We spent nearly 30 hours in travel status at airports and in planes. The long trip from Frankfurt to Denver was really tough. We were chasing the Sun, which was nice as it stayed daylight the whole way but we were in the center seats of the huge 747 aircraft. It was not easy to see anything outside. Another situation was that there were 6 babies in our economy section. It seemed that one or two were awake and crying during the 9 hour flight. We wanted noise canceling headphones! Someday it would be nice to travel in first class, especially in one of these massive aircrafts. The crew of Lufthansa was great throughout the trip and did what they could to help the parents of the babies and to provide good food and free drinks for the rest of us.

During the flight we were able to review our journals and relive our wonderful time in Ethiopia and Kenya. What fun it was to travel through Ethiopia with our friends, Bob and Nancy Sturtevant, and to have Ethiopian Rift Valley Tours be our guides. Jonas and his various drivers were great. With them we saw areas and museums highlighting the beginnings of humanity and early the early Christian Church. Then there were the Semien Mountains and Bale National Parks which presented unique and threatened animals and natural resources. It was also a privilege to visit and socialize with so many Peace Corps volunteers through Bob and Nancy. What a challenge these volunteers have in performing their assignments but also in adapting to really challenging living conditions. Ethiopia is noted for its coffee and we took advantage of that as often as we could by having our “chai-bunna” (tea-coffee) stops at local coffee shops nearly every morning and afternoon.

Our Kenyan safari took us to many National Parks in southern and central Kenya. Yes, we were able to see the Big 5 (Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Water Buffalo and Black Rhino). We learned a lot about the flora and fauna through our guide, Isaac. He was a wealth of information. Sadly, my brain couldn’t retain it all, even information about the trees. Experiencing the life on a rural farm in the Kenyan Highlands was most interesting. It is hard to imagine day to day life without electricity but that is the way it is with the majority of farmers. Isaac showed us some of his efforts to be progressive with a manure digester which provides methane gas for cooking and lanterns and a small solar panel to charge his cell phones. It was interesting to note that major businesses in the villages are stores which do quick charges for cell phones and car batteries. I think many people use 12 volt lights in their homes and need to have their batteries recharged if they don’t have a solar panel like Isaac. Isaac is also doing his part to promote "agroforestry" techniques with his neighbors on their farms so they don't have to use the community forest to harvest wood for cooking and charcoal.

Finally we spent a week in the Nairobi area seeing the activities of one of our church’s Global Ministries missionary, Phyllis Byrd. We are so happy she was able to give of her time and to allow us to join a group of Young Adult Volunteers from the Presbyterian Church, USA. We saw some major social justice issues during that final week of our African Adventure. By the time we left Kenya, we were ready to reconnect with conditions back home. I think everyone, especially young people, should spend some time in a developing country. It becomes an experience of “relativity.” How fortunate we are compared to many others. Just the simple fact of having clean water and air is such a privilege.

We were retrieved at the Denver airport by our friends, Dean and Eva, and we made back home to our abode on Atwood Ct., Fort Collins. We were very tired but we still managed to sort our mail and listen to the phone messages before going to bed. Surprisingly, I was wide awake again at 3 am and spent about two hours on the computer addressing the various Emails that accumulated.

Later....It has been a week since getting home. Marcia has adjusted well. I'm still struggling with the time. I'm awake at 3 or 4 am. We have gotten back into our routines again as well. Meetings, repairs projects, winterizing, sorting through photos, etc, etc. We've already had requests for giving talks about this trip. It will be great to relive our African Adventure each time we give a talk.

Thanks for coming along on our trip though it was through email.

Phil and Marcia..

Westward Ho, Going Home

Tuesday morning Nairobi time,
Greetings family and friends,
This evening we board a plane for Zurich, then to Frankfort, then to Denver. We will be leaving Africa and heading back to the home of good water and steady electricity (which hasn't been much of an issue in Nairobi). These last few days in Nairobi have been interesting. We visited a project of Habitat for Humanity in the Rift Valley where the Office of African Instituted Churches, where Phyllis Byrd works, is participating in the construction of a house. Then we enjoyed an afternoon at the National Museum on Saturday. On Sunday we attended a lively church service with Phyllis and the five Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteers. Services here last 2 hours. Afterwards we went to a fabulous buffet at the Intercontinental Hotel. It had all sorts of meats and vegetables and desserts and salads. We spent the whole afternoon there so Phyllis' daughter could swim in the pool. The Young Adults enjoyed all the food as well. Pricey but good! So, we decided to let that big dinner take the place of going to another famous restaurant called Carnivores. Yesterday we went to another slum area and visited two schools. Children are all well disciplined and, in this case, the schools were a bit more "modern" than the one we visited last week. Grounds were cleaner but classroom sizes were still 50+.

We aren"t sure what will happen today. Phyllis is busy with arrangements for the death of a famous Nobel prize winner for the Environment, Wangari Maathai. Reading about her has been interesting. She was major lead in encouraging Kenyans to plant more trees throughout the land. Millions of trees have been planted because of her efforts. Kenyan forests have been devastated over the years so Agroforestry is being encouraged on private lands. The public lands need much attention too. Anyway, Ms. Wangari really pushed for the environmental improvements. She won the Nobel prize in 2004. I wish she would have pushed for vehicle emission controls. Fumes here are sickening. Thank goodness we have the EPA.

It will be nice to get back and go through all our photos. There are well over 1000.

Our next posting, The Epilogue, will be sent from our home computer if it knows how to turn on after a month of inactivity.

A la Salama,

Phil and Marcia

Nairobi, Part 2

Greetings friends and family,
We are still in Nairobi and enjoying our time here. Each day is full since we are part of a Presbyterian's Young Adult Volunteer program. We are "Young at Heart" Volunteers. I will review our activities for the last few days.

On Wednesday, Marcia and I took a cab to the Elephant Orphanage that was highlighted in the IMAX Movie "Born to Be Wild." It is only open one hour, 11 am to noon. That is when they bring the orphaned young elephants into a viewing area where they play in a large mud pit and dirt pile. There are two age groups: 3 and less and 4 to 8. Most of these elephants were orphaned because poachers killed its mother. There were some from other natural causes as well. Trainers work with these elephants until they are 8 or so and then taken back to where they were found, if possible. Trainers stay with them until they are finally accepted by another family of elephants. Very interesting.

In the afternoon, we met the 5 other young adults at the New Life Home which is for orphaned or abandoned children/babies. I believe there are five such places located in central Kenya. I'm sure there are other church sponsored facilities similar to this that do similar care activities until the youngsters are adopted. Marcia and I and another couple decided to work with the 9-12 month old babies. We helped entertain them and feed them and hold them. It was a little difficult for me since I'm not much of a baby person but after a while it was fun playing "horsey" and "so big" with these kids. They all had great smiles. Afterwards we met at Phyllis Byrd's home for debriefing and discussion and dinner. Phyllis recently had back surgery so isn't able to attend many of these sessions with us but she is well aware of all that goes on.

Yesterday was very unique. We went to Kibera, the largest slum in Africa and maybe the world. Over 1.2 million people live in this area. Obviously we only hit one small, narrow street. We went to a small church school to see what tries to happen in the way of education. First of all, we may all think we know the characteristics of a slum. Movies such as "Slumdog Millionaire" may paint some idea of slum conditions visually, but until you walk the streets and smell the conditions, it is hard to describe. I've tried to come up with descriptive words. The conditions are almost disgusting and yet people survive. We went to this one church school where 200 students attend. There must be 100's of other schools similar. We feed them cooked beans and rice. And then we went to a session where a few students recited poetry and a group performed a rhythmic dance which, I understand, helps them memorize certain facts. They were singing in Swahili so I don't know what was being said but they sure had the dance steps and recitation down pat. All of this takes place in one room maybe 12' x 30'. We learned that there aren't any public schools in the slum areas. Government funds don't make it there. We learned that the teacher (I believe there are 8 plus the "bishop") may get $30 per month pay. There was a section where orphaned children could actually live. Rooms for 4 were not much larger than 10 x10 feet. Again, conditions which are just hard to describe...Afterwards we met at Phyllis' home for dinner, debriefing and discussion. It was a difficult time to share what we experienced and wondered how can this cycle of poverty ever stop. Where is the justice part of these conditions. We all agreed that education is the only means to get a few children to have hope for something better. All these kids had beautiful smiles. Reminded me again of how everything is relative.

Today, Marcia and I are going to a displaced peoples area (homeless) to see what is happening there.

Vacation? We had a wonderful time visiting Ethiopia and the wildlife areas of Kenya. Now we are experiencing some of the major social and justice issues of an undeveloped nation. Though, Kenya is pretty well-off compared to others from what I understand. What a finale this week has been in our lives.

Until next time.

Phil and Marcia

Nairobi

Sept 21, 2011
Greetings friends and family,
Yesterday afternoon we ended our "official" safari by being dropped off at the Mennonite Guest House where we will stay until we depart on 27th for the USA. It is a comfortable facility and close to where our United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ missionary lives. Last night we had dinner at her condominium. We met 5 other young volunteers who are currently being trained in language, Swahili, and other social issues. They will then be working with some of the churches in Kenya and Tanzania. We will learn more about their efforts during our visit with Phyllis Byrd, the missionary.

Prior to this time, we spent a couple days in a beautiful farming area west of Mt Kenya. It is the homeland of our guide, Isaac K., We spent two days at his home and farm. It was very rustic. Rural electrification hasn't come to these parts of Africa. Kerosene lamps, outhouses, mechanical pumps, shower bags lifted above head, etc. Isaac is progressive compared to many of his neighbors. Through the help of Doane College professors and students, he now has a solar panel with a couple 12 V batteries to help charge cell phones and power a small TV. They also installed an interesting manure digester. It is a couple concrete vaults which takes the mixture of manure and captures the methane gas. They use that to light a couple lanterns and a three burner cook stove. Theirs is a large enough digester that it will eventually be used to light a few more lanterns on the compound. I think Isaac said his was a "four cow" digester, i.e. the manure from four cows can be mixed and deposited into the system every other day. It takes about a month for the process to complete. The effluent is then "cool" enough to use as fertilizer in his large vegetable garden.

One day, Marcia and I attended a school for disabled children. It was a boarding school for some. Marcia spent the day there helping the teacher and with Isaac's wife, Joyce. I went on to a community forestry meeting where we discussed possible ways to encourage farmers to do more "agroforestry" so fewer people use the common forest for gathering fuel wood. Remember, most Africans still cook with charcoal and fuel wood. The forests have been over abused and now they are attempting to get farmers to grow and produce more wood on their properties. I talked about various recognition programs used in the US such as Tree Farmers, Stewardship Lands, etc. Recognizing farmers that meet certain standards might be a way to promote more tree planting and proper pruning for fuel wood.

Needless to say, staying at Isaac's Place was interesting however it was a bit rustic. We are glad to be back to some comforts again. We are going to suggest that he have some magazines or books for people to read because there wasn't much we could do after the planned activities. We did take a hike along the rural roads to look at other farms and greet neighbors. Oh, one other thing that Isaac and his dad and uncles do is melt down plastic bags, mix in some soil, and place molten material into a square mold. When dried, they use these as tiles for flooring and walkways. Plastic bags are a big mess in villages. There don't seem to be common dumps anywhere so trash just builds up along streets. This might be a means to at least reuse some plastics.

One other thing. My camera lens, Canon 18-200 mm, finally fell apart. I managed to take one photo of a tree nursery near Isaac's village and it finally stopped functioning. Inside lenses move around freely when shook. Luckily I got the big game photos.

I better end and send this message. Breakfast is being served and the computer is acting funny.

That is all for now from Africa and Nairobi.

Phil and Marcia

Lake Nakuru and Samburu National Parks

Greetings family and friends,

Finally we got to another computer here in Nanyuki, Kenya which is near the base of Mount Kenya. All is going well though we are feeling the affects of time and driving.

Lake Nakuru was an interesting wildlife refuge. We spent several hours each day driving around it. We were able to see black rhinos and white rhinos at this place. So that completes the Big 5. We also saw a Rothchild giraffe, which is endangered. I didn't realize there were so many different kinds of giraffes since we saw another one in Samburu Park way up north. Interesting thing about this lake are the pink flamingos but we saw very few of them. Pelicans are beginning to take over the system and changing the habitat for the flamingos. I didn't realize how interesting it was to just park and watch these birds, flamingos and pelicans, just come and go. One really gets tuned into their landing and take off patterns. After a full afternoon we went back to our guest house which was located within the boundaries. We got back to electricity being out. It never came back on while we were there. We ate by kerosene lantern and our head lamps.

Next morning we took off for Samburu which is way north of Mt. Kenya. I didn't realize how far it was. We drove nearly all day. It's environment is much lower, hotter and dryer. We found some interesting sightings of elephants, zebras, Reticulated giraffes, crocs, giraffe gazelle, etc, etc, Again, the hunt was as much fun as the sightings. We stayed at Samburu Sopa Lodge. Very nice. Above our style of lodging but it was nice to have toilet that flushed properly, hot water, and good electricity. Tusker beer was as good there as elsewhere. We had to be escorted to and from dinner due to wildlife concerns. I think it was more for tips. Everyone wants tips. It was very nice. Today we left there and headed south to where we are now staying in Nanyuki. We are also in a nice hotel but even this one has issues with plumbing but I shouldn't complain. At least I didn't have to lift the toilet bowl lid to check out the flushing mechanism.

We are wrapping up this part of the trip. Tomorrow we head for our guides community and will spend a couple days their doing some volunteer work. Then back to Nairobi where we will spend another 6 days. Maybe we might check to see if we can change our flight if not too expensive and come home a day or two earlier.

That is all for now. Phil and Marcia

Maasai Mara

Greetings family and friends,
We just finished 3 wonderful days in the Masa Mara National Wildlife Preserve. We saw many wild animals doing their thing of survival. Hundreds of other safari vans searched for lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, etc, etc.Hundreds of photos taken. It is quite the expansive park. Seeing the wildebeast and zebras was also fascinating in their migration. Also, the pecking order of lions after a kill is made. Very interesting. There is tremendous fascination about watching a kill take place and then devour their prey. We did get to see the birth of a gazelle one day. We don't know if the little fellow survived.

Our camp was just outside the park. It was a small camp. We had a large rectangular tent with toilet and shower attached to the back. It was covered with a reed type roof structure over the tent. Cooking area was small and our cook provided excellent meals.

Kenya is definitely more prosperous than Ethiopia. More privately owned vehicles and a lot less of cattle, donkeys, etc along the roads. Road conditions into the Mara were a bit rough to say the least. Roads between towns are good paved highways. Paving into Mara was done years ago but no maintenance. Pot holes are prevelant. Most of time the drivers are on shoulders where there is gravel and smoother.

Now we are at Lake Naivasha, north and east of Mara. We took a nice hike through Hells Gate, a slot like canyon. Good geology because of sedimentation and volcanism over the years. We had a good guide as well. Our facility here is pretty nice. We have a cottage with just the two of us thought hot water is limited. They also have some drainage problems in shower. Name of this place is Fish eagle inn. Tomorrow we will go out and photograph some of the eagles.

We just read about the explosion in Nairobi. Paper indicated that this has happened in past where people tried to salvage the free fuel only to have it ignite and kill many people. We were not in the area when this occurred.

We've seen four of the big 5. Rhino hasn't been spotted yet but we should see this animal in Samburu National Park. We will have a couple game drives there.

Though our guide and driver and cook here are good and entertaining, our Ethiopian experience was much more personable. ERVS Tours is really good and we thank Bob and Nancy Sturtevant for arranging such an experience for us. They should be getting back to their Peace Corps residence today or tomorrow after being in Addis to drop us off and then to do some PC things.

Marcia is enjoying her shopping experiences. I enjoy watching.

No sicknesses yet, thank goodness. Now it is time for a Tusker beer and a coke light.

Until next time.

Phil and Marcia

Ethiopia, Last Night

Greetings family and friends.

We arrived back in the big city of Addis Ababa this afternoon. We had a wonderful journey through the northern and southern parts of Ethiopia. We left Wondo Genet this morning and traveled to an archeological site just south of Addis. It was interesting to see the science done in this area to reveal ancient Hominids up to Homo sapiens. I could have stayed in one of the exhibit huts for another hour or two just studying the information they had displayed there.

Tonight we are staying in a very fine hotel. Too plush for me but that is where they placed us. Then we went out to a really fine Ethiopian restaurant called Yod Abysinnia where we ate our traditional "last" dinner while here. They also had some ethnic or regional singing and dancing. Quite the deal.

We got back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to our wonderful guide, Yonas, and then our driver for the last 8 days, Getu. They will be missed. We had a good time with them.

Tomorrow we rise early and head for the airport for our departure to Kenya. I'm not sure what kind of email coverges we will have there especially since a lot of the evenings will be in campgrounds or lodges in the Massai Mari. (sp?) and other similar locations in west Kenya. Tomorrow night, though, we should be in a hotel in Nairobi. Then on Sunday, head west with our guide and cook. I hope the weather will be drier and warmer that what we had here in Ethiopia. It is higher elevation here, I believe, and that is why the cooler temps. Our highest elevation was over 10,000' but most of our evenings were around 6 - 7000'.

Ethiopia is definitely different but challenging. The living conditions are far below most standards one would experience in the U.S. It is sad.

That is all for now.

Phil and Marcia