Mombasa Beach Trip

During the week of April 16^th to the 23^rd all of us took a 45 minute flight to the beach at Mombasa. We stayed at a cute little cottage at Diani Beach about 50 steps from the water. This place was unreal; the weather was amazing and the beach was absolutely beautiful at all times of day. At dusk and nighttime the white sand beach was glowing from the light of the moon. It felt like we were in an alternative universe or at the same beach from the movie Contact. (Just look it up if you’ve never seen the film, it is pretttty cool). We spent a lot of our time relaxing, reading, and swimming in the 80 degree ocean water. Everyday around 5:00pm we would eat delicious dinners made by our cook Hassani, giving Sandra a much needed break from the kitchen. Ali and Myles would get up every morning and go for a run down the beach like weirdos, but good for them. Towards the end of the week we took a van to old town Mombasa and spent the day there. It was one of the more interesting cities I have ever been to. The roads and alley ways were extremely random so the layout of the city made no sense at all. Mombasa’s architecture is a mixture between Kenyan, Indian, and Arabic styles. According to our guide the city was constructed for around 40,000 inhabitants when in reality there are around 1 million people living there. Needless to say, it seemed rather crowded there.

We left Mombasa and had a few days left to relax on the beach. We left on Saturday the 23^rd to go back to Kijabe. The beach was wonderful, but we were all pretty glad to get back to Kijabe and wash off all the salt.

Katie

Kibera

It has been a while and much has happened. We are back in Kijabe now after a wonderful week at the beach and some time in Nairobi. Two weeks ago Katie and I had the opportunity to spend some time in Nairobi with a friend who is a missionary living there. She works in a school in Kibera, one of the largest slums in the world, where she runs a literacy program. It was an incredible thing to see and be a part of and we both felt so grateful to be there. We met quite a few other missionaries in the area and were welcomed into their homes with open arms and delicious food. Kibera was the most condensed, chaotic poverty that I have witnessed thus far. There was very little open space, save a dirt field where children could play soccer. We were walked in by two men who lived in the slum and also worked at the school. It was about a 20 minute walk in through twisting narrow streets with a network of huts and make-shift shops on either side. The streets were treacherous enough, with the manholes and questionable substances and such, that it was difficult to keep from watching our feet the entire time. When we did manage to glance up though there was much to be seen; fish heads and cow hooves ready for sale, blaring music from sources unknown, people and animals everywhere... We spent the day in the school meeting the other staff and doing some reading tutoring. Lunch was a pot of beans and corn which was a welcome alternative to the fish we had seen and smelled on our way in. We were tired by the end to say the least and were grateful for a hot shower and warm bed. I am grateful to have seen Kibera and had the opportunity to see how so many people have to live. Our next week was spent very differently on the coast, it could not have been more beautiful and relaxing. Ali.

Letters to Steph... :)

Our very good friend from home, Stephanie, wrote each of us an email with questions for us to respond to about our time so far in Africa.  It was such a good idea that I though it needed to be shared.  Listed below is her email and then each of our responses.  I responded a little more because as I was writing Steph I had the idea to put them all on our blog, and I wanted to get a little more info down.  So sorry Ali and Katie if my response appears to blow yours out of the water....ha, ha  ;-)  -Myles
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Stephanie Grow

Hello my friends!

It looks like you are having a wonderful time and seeing beautiful things and eating so much. This is exactly what you should be doing. So, of course, I want to hear everything but I remember how little I wanted to write super lengthy emails to everyone I knew when I was abroad. So, I'm going to make it easy for you. Fill in below.

Right now I feel ________________
The best thing I have eaten so far is _________________
I had ____ dubbies (bowel movements) this week (mostly for Ali but I would appreciate answers from everyone)
The coolest animal/bug I have seen was _____________
I wish Steph was here when I did ____________
The best Swahili word I have learned so far is _______________
The absolute craziest thing I have seen so far was _____________
I love you all so much and I hope you are having the time of your lives. Have an adventure for me todayyyyy!!!

Nakupenda sana,
Steph
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Katie Haynes

 

Right now I feel tired because we just got back from the beach where we expelled A TON of energy
The best thing i have eaten so far is every thing our cook made us at the beach.
I actually struggle in the dubbie department.
The coolest animal i have seen so far is a vulture. WOW they are big. I also found a babboon skull which i am trying my hardest to get home to sprr.
I wish Steph was here all the time.
The best Swahili word I have learned is Hapana (spelling?) or whatever means no.
Craziest thing I have seen so far, Kibera. The slum...look for the blog that place was so feral. (feral is my new favorite word)


I Love the crap out of you and think about you all the time

Katie

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Ali Fisher

 

hello hello!!

Right now I feel filled up on delicious homemade bread.
The best thing I have eaten so far is REALLY hard to say... you were so right on the mangos and avocados! o my goodness. just falling from the trees. what?! our cook at the beach made us chapati and the best guacamole i've ever had. Things have been so good on the dubbie front! I have been doing my early morning squats everyday and been doing almost a dubbie a day! The nastiest animal I have seen so far is the blue balled monkeys at the beach. The girl was in heat and had a huge tumor thing growing out of her privates.. I wish Steph was here every second. I really do think of you all the time. Best Swahili word is probably "pole pole" (slowly slowly) because it was the theme of our kili trip, theme of africa in general actually..
Craziest thing I've seen so far is probably Kibera, the slum that Katie and I went to. The most condensed, chaotic, filth I have ever experienced. Of course I want to come to the party! I hope that the planning is going well. How is everything at home, at the house, with the girls? I miss you all so much. Myles turn to write a blog, his goal for the night. LOVE YOU!

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Myles Knutson

 

Hey Steph great questions. I want to put all of our responses on our blog. So here we go...

Right now I feel happy, relaxed, and a little reflective on what I saw at the hospital today. I am sitting on the couch in the Fisher's living room with the Great Rift Valley at my back. The sun is shining it is warm and totally pleasant with a cool breeze coming in the window. Ali is sitting next to me reading and giving me funny looks. We are doing really great! And I can't wait to show you gals what I picked up in Tanzania.
Reflecting on the hospital shadowing today I saw several cases of HIV, lots of severe TB (stuff you would never see in the states), and a hip dislocation.  But the most significant was a 2 yr old boy who was having seizures. It was not something that would be super rare in the states but still very interesting because of how much hands on I got to do with Warren. While the boy was in Casualty (ER) I saw him have two seizures. Hands on turned out to be a big understatement.  He wasn't seizing anymore but I helped hold him down while Warren did a lumbar puncture on him to check for a Meningitis infection, a possible cause for seizures in young children. The poor little guy was in a lot of pain because it took me and his father holding him down to keep him from moving during the procedure. Man was he strong... I had to basically put all my weight on him to hold him down. The final diagnosis was that he had a seizure disorder and would need to go to Nairobi for a head CT scan. He was put on seizure medication and will come back in 2 weeks for a check up. I am really enjoying all my time in the hospital and am feeling more and more confident about medical school.

Food has been excellent!! We have had either fun and interesting African cuisine or some of Sandra's amazing home cooking. But the very best thing I have had so far was fresh Cajun garlic shrimp at the beach. We bought them from a fisherman on the beach and then had our beach cook Hasani cook them. And WOW they were amazing!

Dubbies have been only once a day. Strange for me, maybe its the altitude? But I'm doing better than Katie and Ali.

The coolest animal I have seen might have to be a chameleon. Their eyes are so crazy. But there are so many animals to choose from. We have seen some elephants far away. They are so cool, they are giant- way bigger than the Asian elephants they have at the zoos in Seattle. Giraffes are really cool and so funny. And the birds!! I saw one the other day that was metallic blue with a bright yellow belly. It didn't look real. But ask me again after this weekend because we are headed to the Mara tomorrow for a camping safari! I can't wait to see a lion and some elephants up close.

I wish Steph were here for...? Wow so many things. But I feel like you would best appreciate being here for drinking Tuskers at the beach. So great and so relaxing. The sand was powdery soft, the water was about 80 degrees, the sun never stopped shining, and Tuskers are my new favorite beer.

Best Kiswahili word so far might be "Poa" it means "I'm good and chill." So someone says "Mambo" (meaning how are you? in a chill groovy way) Then you respond "Poa!" Our Kilmanjaro cook Elsante taught me that during the climb.

And the absolute craziest thing? Hmm? It seems like everyday there are so many things that would be so out of place and crazy in Seattle, so crazy that if you were there you would talk about it for weeks. But because you see so many strange things you start to get a little numb to it all. Driving is always very crazy and eventful. And riding piki's hours across the rift valley to a Masai village was unreal. But one amazing and hilarious moment was seeing a man racing his donkeys across a Field. He was standing shirtless on the back of the donkeys cart whipping the donkeys to a full sprint through the grass. He was like a gladiator racing his chariot. So funny!!

Thanks again for the fun message to us all. I am glad to hear that everything is going so well at home. Hopefully the weather keeps getting better and better. Miss you lots Steph.

Take care

Myles

PHOTOS YO!

For your enjoyment...

Here is our campsite at Suswa. Fully equipped with a Masai shepherd.

again...Suswa camping.

This is us in front of the coolest tree in the world.

At the beach in Mombasa

Thanks for watching!

Piki Xtreme By: Katie

The African welcome I received by everyone here in Kijabe was absolutely great. The morning after I arrived, John, Erika, Jon, Myles, Ali and I took off on the dirtbikes (or Pikis) to Mt. Suswa. The Piki’s put up a fight which delayed our leaving time by about two hours. However, by 11:30am we were on our way. Mt Suswa is located in the midst of the Masai territories, which basically means it is very far away from anything resembling a paved road. For the majority of the ride we were dodging pot holes, struggling through sand, and navigating through small fields of rocks. By around 4pm we made it to the campsite with only a few cuts and bruises. The campsite was overlooking a giant crater with Mt. Suswa behind it. It is the rainy season so everything was green and absolutely beautiful. We were all a little wiped from the Piki ride so we laid in the sun and rested before we set up camp. Once we felt energized we set up the tent, gathered fire wood and started making preparations for mealtime. Erika and Jon made bread the night before so we ate that as well as skewers with sausage, onions, peppers and pineapple. It was delicious! All the while we were at camp we were visited by Masai men herding their goats. Since they spoke neither Swahili nor English, our interactions were limited. Most of the time the Masai would stand and stare at us and every once in a while we would give them a cookie; It was a little awkward but mostly funny.

The next day we woke up early and headed out to the top of Mt. Suswa. However, we never quite made it. We ended up venturing away from the trail at the beginning which slowed us down quite a bit. Since we had a date with the Fisher’s Masai friend Samuel we were not able to continue and only made it about ¾’s of the way to the top. It was still a great time. So, we headed down at around 10:00am, packed up the Piki’s, and headed to Samuel’s house. However, when John called Samuel to let him know we were almost there, Samuel mentioned that he was not going to be there but his wife was waiting for us. When we got there his wife Sarah led us into their home. There were three buildings: one was the house, one the kitchen and the other was Samuel’s sister’s home. The house was a very small aluminum? building. She sat us down in a very small room with SO many flies where we waited for Sarah to bring us mugs of warm milk that had just been taken from the cow that morning! We met her children (4) and her sister in law and saw the kitchen.  It was very interesting to see a legitimate Masai home and we were all thankful for the experience, probably more thankful that the milk was the only thing we were obligated to consume. We left Samuel’s and made the long trip home. Such a great first two days in Africa!

Katie

Pole pole

Kilimanjaro is not a long walk! We returned just a few days ago from our climb. It was an incredible week. Jamal, our driver, took us down in a green safari jeep/truck to our starting point. There we met up with the army that would get us up the mountain. In order to climb Kili you must have guides, porters, and a cook... So the group headed off into the jungle and began our "pole pole" (slowly slowly). Day one was a downpour, transforming our trail into a raging river. We were soaked to the bone and worried that this may be it; the rain may never stop and we may never get a glimpse of the mountain. Our fears were washed away though upon our arrival to camp # 1; The sun broke through and dried us out, and the clouds parted revealing Kili in all of its glory. The next days were beautiful as we moved through the ever-changing landscape. We hiked out from the jungle and into the open as the trees and plant life changed, and finally disappeared. Our porters had camp ready and waiting for us at the end of the day, our cook prepared us delicious feasts, and our guides slowly and diligently showed us the way. Our team was wonderful and made the trip a great success. Our head guide Zebadiah was 60 years old and the sweetest man in the world. We had two other guides as well; Gaudens (who we insisted on calling Guidance...), and Rashid (a young, smart, extremely attractive person). They were all so kind to us; celebrating with us in our little victories and encouraging us through our struggles. As we gained in elevation we began to understand how important the slow and steady pace was, as the air thinned we could feel the change. The morning of our final ascent we headed out into the darkness just after midnight with headlamps on and so many clothes we felt like stuffed sausages. We climbed for over 6 hours up steep switch backs to Gilman's point, THIS IS NOT THE TOP! I felt like I was going to die; the altitude had really hit me hard and my brain and bowels felt like they would explode at any moment, luckily only one coming true. Our guides cheered upon our arrival as the sun filled the sky, and asked "mama" if she was going to Uhuru. My mama is going to the top crawling if she has to, so we waddled off along the crater's edge. Another 2 hours passed before we came to the highest point. We felt sweet relief upon our arrival, spent about 15 minutes taking it all in, and quickly began our descent to the the thick rich oxygen far below. The trip could not have been a greater success and I feel so grateful that every detail fell into place. We are back in Kijabe and Katie has arrived! We are heading out on a piki camping adventure today. More to come...

...and Here We Go!

I feel so lucky to be here.  My first time abroad and this is where I get to be!  Funny to say but Kijabe is as African as you can imagine.  The Fisher's home is nestled right in the small town of Kijabe witch is perched right on the edge of the Rift Valley.  From their living room window you can see for more than 50 miles into the heart of the valley. 

Most of the roads require a 4x4 and if not available you piki! John has shown me how to ride the piki's (dirt bikes).  They are so much fun! Today we rode down to the small trucking town Maai Mahuu in the valley about 3 miles below Kijabe.  The whole time I expected a zebra, elephant, or lion to jump out onto the road.  But John informed me that the the closest big game is about 100 miles away. Some giraffes and zebra could be found closer, but further down in the valley.  In the trucking town as well as in Kijabe the level of poverty is clearly visible.  It is the first time I have seen this kind of living.  It is a lot to take in.  And so far not sure how I can fit into the community. 

Sandra has given us a tour of the hospital and it is incredible.  The community is so fortunate to have the hospital here and all the volunteers.  I can't wait to get back from the climb to have the opportunity to shadow Warren and the other doctors in the hospital.  There is so much to learn here. 

But next is the Kilimanjaro Climb.  Tonight we are packing and going over all the last details of what we need.  It is very fun to do all of this with the Fisher's.  We leave tomorrow for Narobi to meet our ride to Lotokitok, then the next day we start climbing from the Kenya side of Kilimanjaro. We are doing the Loitokitok route to the Rongai route.  It is 5 days and 4 nights on the mountain and we will end up in Tanzania.

3/31 Day 1 Lotokitok to Sekemba (2900m)
4/1 Day 2 to Third Cave (3875m)
4/2 Day 3 to School Hut ( 4750m)
4/3 Day 4 to Summit (5895m) to Horombo Hut (3720m)
4/4 Day 5 to Marangu Gate and stay in Protea Aishi Hotel

We are all having so much fun and are really excited.  Wish us luck and talk to you again soon.
-Myles