Kenya Update #2

May 27/06
I just wanted to write a quick hello before I leave for Nairobi!! Yesterday was our last day at the clinic (and more importantly, last grueling bike ride!) and Julie and I spent the whole day cooking an Asianm stirfry for 18 people at the clinic on small gas stoves. It was a lot of fun, I spent half an hour chopping up three big bags of green peppers while Julie chopped up copious amounts of garlic, ginger and onions... mmm it smelled so good. We also cooked 2 kg of basmati rice, which turned out to be just enough! We added chopped cashews, soy sauce, beef broth and some chilis and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal immensely. It was a lot of fun to cook again, especially since we think we've been getting sick from all our prepared meals. Last night we purchased some sweet potatoes in the Bondo market and asked the hotel to roast them, and to my surprise it was the most delicious meal ever! Topped with canned beans in tomato sauce, it was amazing. I never thought I'd like to eat bananas and beans (as a child I got turned off bananas because Yen Vi left peels lying around everywhere, heheh). I think Mike will like the fact that I like beans now. Speaking of which, Mike flies out tomorrow and we will see each other again on Monday! I can't wait, he brings with him crackers, granola bars and more food (and of course, himself)! Julie and I are looking forward to exploring Nairobi and tasting the international food it has to offer (especially Japanese). However, we do miss the clinic and Bondo a lot. The clinic staff were so nice, they loved all the make-up I brought for them as parting gifts and they were really sad to see us go. I also miss Bondo - the small city, saying hi to people on the street daily, the kids who will run up to you to shake your hand or give a high five. I only left Bondo today in the afternoon but I miss it already! It's hard to believe I won't be back. I can't wait to go home and tell my parents about all the tilapia I ate (it's a fish we prepare at home often), give them the Kenyan coffee and nuts I brought and let them know how similar Africa can be in some ways to Asian culture (coal barbecues, roots used in cooking, etc). I think they'll be pleasantly surprised! However I won't be back for another month - until then, I will try and update and thanks to everyone who has e-mailed. It is so nice to hear from you, it puts a big smile on my face and makes my day, and I swear once I find decent postcards (ones without fornicating animals you see on safari, which seems to be a big thing here!) I will send them off.

June 4/06
I haven't written in so long and so much has happened I feel like I will explode (and boy will this time at the internet cafe cost a pretty penny!) However I must start at the beginning, and that is when the four of us took our flight from Kisumu to Nairobi and said goodbye to Bondo for now (much too sad!) The boys had to leave right away for their flight to Ghana where they will volunteer at another clinic for a month and I will miss Chris' little sheep "baaaas" that I made him imitate all the time. Julie and I then headed to the Mennonite Guest House where we stayed until Wednesday (yes, we had prayers at breakfast and I was the worst pretend Mennonite ever) but it was absolutely gorgeous, with vast gardens and clean showers. We felt sooo spoiled, imagine when we had real french toast and maple syrup for breakfast, we nearly pissed our pants. It was unreal. The first day in Nairobi Julie and I ventured out downtown, mainly the business district where I was hoping to book a safari for Mike and I. Nairobi is a wonderful city, the people are very friendly but of course pushy too. The first person we met gave me a stack of safari pamphlets and kind of followed us around because when we were looking for a place to eat lunch and two of the restaurants our Lonely Planet recommended are now closed! he ended up suggesting an Italian place called "Goudas". So we approach the restaurant because we are desperate and hungry and it turned out to be "Hooters" - dang that Kenyan accent can be funny! It was pretty funny and we ended up eating there anyways, no real Italian on the menu and the concept of Hooters in Kenya involves no boobs, just the owl and the name, so we were still pretty happy. But in the middle of our lunch the safari tout came back with a women who he introduced as his boss, and she wanted to join us for lunch to discuss safari tours. Well Julie and I just eyed each other, lol and we couldn't really say no, but it turned out to be the best way to book the safari because we got to discuss it over food and Josephone, the safari manager ended up giving me a really good deal on a 3-day tour of Tanzania to see the Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge, where the earliest human fossils were found. It also worked out to be our very own private safari, with our own guide and car! Of course my excellent bargaining skills I gleaned from my mother also helped, I brought down the price of a camping safari by three hundred US dollars and we got to stay at the 5-star Sopa Ngorongoro Lodge, which was also way too luxurious and beautiful, situated on the rim of crater.
We saw so many animals on our game drives, including a pride of lions that approached the car, tried to chew on the tires and then decided to sun tan on the road and block our way. It was way too funny. We also saw wildebeests, ostrichs, zebras, hyenas, jackals, giraffes and flamingoes in their natural habitat! It was so amazing, all these animals comingling in the vast crater floor, with no human threat. After reading the Life of Pi I used to truly believe animals had it good in zoos because they always had a guaranteed meal and did not have to hide from predators, but now I know that is farther from the truth. Africa is so beautiful - it is too bad it is ravaged by poverty and disease, because it truly is a continent we should all seek to preserve.
Anyways I am getting ahead of myself because Julie and I had two additional days in Nairobi. On the first night Mike arrived(!!!) and we picked him up the airport and I felt so bad telling him that by the way, he must take out gajillions of US dollars to pay for the safari I just booked. However, I did bring him a gift, which was an orange Tusker t-shirt (Tusker is the local beer here!) and it fir him perfectly. On our second day in Nairobi I also wore an orange shirt that Sabrina got me (thanks Sab, I love it!) so we were a matching couple. Julie and I were very excited to have Mike eat his first African meal so we took him to a small African cafe where we had beans, chapati, grilled tilapia, ugali, arrow root and mango juice for lunch and the whole thing cost a mere 150 Kenyan shillings (divide that by 60 to get the Canadian cost - almost nothing!) Nevertheless Mike found it interesting and afterwards we went to the Nairobi Serena Hotel to meet up with a contact Mike had there to book the second part of our safari on the Masai Mara. One of Mike's friend's uncle works as an engineer for Serena Hotels, one of the leading hoteliers in Kenya and we were treated like royalty there, again it was surreal! We regretted taking Mike out for a cheap lunch because were were offered the world's most amazing buffet for lunch but we were too full. We ended up having dessert (Mercedes I had the best creme brulee EVER you would have DIED) and just soaking it all up. In the end Mike and I got a great 3-day deal for the Mara and that is our last trip (June 6-8) so I am very excited for that.
As if Nairobi hadn't already treated us well enough already, on the third day we visited Pam at the Canadian High Commission because they happened to have a happy hour Wednesday that day where expats all get together and mingle. We arrived in style by matatu (not really, lol, but we wanted Mike to experience a matatu!) and had a lot of fun. That night the second June group arrived and they were super excited to arrive. I envied the time they will have - I can't tell you how much I miss the Luo people and the small town feel - I taught them some Luo because the clinic staff will just die if they arrive knowing a few words.
On Thursday Mike and I had to say bye to Julie, it was very sad... I will miss her a lot, she was my saviour and roommate. Her boyfriend arrives tonight (Sunday night) where they will start a 3-week safari in Tanzania!
Tanzania is great but the bus ride there is long. Mike and I took a 6-hour bus ride from Nairobi to Arusha, where we had no idea what we were doing at the border crossings and thank goodness our bus driver helped us out! People were trying to confuse us and lure us to different places and it was the one time I felt very vulnerable and not so travel savvy during my time in Africa. From Arusha, the city that is the "Geneva of East Africa" we drove 3 hours to the Ngorongoro Crater. From Kenya we were warned the Tanzanians aren't as friendly and while I think we were a bit biased while we were there, I think it's true. We were so happy to be back in Kenya and immediately everyone was so friendly to us. Kenya truly is a great country!
Finally Mike and I have arrived in Mombasa, a gorgeous, hot coastal town on the Indian ocean. It is absolutely gorgeous here, the sand is white and the water azure blue. We flew from Nairobi last night and I wanted to stay in the city and get the real experience and rough it out, but Mike was so grossed out by the Kenyan standard "mid-range" hotel we had stayed in so today we caved in and decided to stay the Sarova Whitesands Resort for a night. It is again ultra luxurious, heaven on Earth. I had my best shower in a month, hands down today. If anybody enjoys resorts, this place is a MUST. It is so much better than my time in the Dominican. Seriously, book your next beach vacation in Mombasa, all the Europeans do!
This morning we walked to Fort Jesus, where the Portuguese had once colonized Mombasa. It was beautiful and we got to see Prince Charles' vacation getaway next door. See? If Prince Charles does it, you should too.
Anyways I have talked way too much, I will e-mail soon after our African trip is over! We fly back to Nairobi tomorrow, have 3 days in the Mara and then head to Amsterdam.