Jumatatu 20 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is : "Tamu" for Sweet. Also can be used for "delicious!"
I have arrived in Watamu, named for "watu tamu", sweet people. I am staying at Tiki House which seems too good to be true. Its hidden off the main road, has a beautiful garden, a kitchen, hammock, and couches. The beds are Arab style and the people who work here are so helpful and friendly. I booked a snorkeling tour for tomorrow.
I have already gone to the Gede ruins and butterfly park. The Gede ruins are much larger than the ones in Mnarani and my guide, Kendi, was really cool. She was doing an unpaid internship, so we bonded over being students.
There are SO many italians here. Children in the street run up to me saying "ciao!" and speaking Italian.
I met an older American couple at an Italian restaurant; they had lived all over the U.S. so gave me great tips on American national parks.
Jumanne 21 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "Mikoko", Mangrove trees.
Thankfully my guy showed up to take me on the snorkeling tour, so he dropped me off at the ocean and I got on a glass bottom boat full of Kenyans and Italians. Everyone was really tan. And everything was said in either Italian or KiSwahili for the rest of the day.
We went so far out away from shore but still the water was very shallow. The reef is very large and the water was clear. There were a lot of fish, but compared to snorkeling in Maui, it was nothing spectacular. But still fun.
We stopped at a beach for lunch and were fed so much! Rice, prawns, lobster, fish, and shrimp. By the time the lobster came around I couldn't eat anymore, so I still have never eatten lobster. So good...
I paid another 500 KSH to go out in a dhow tour around the mangroves. I saw barracuda eggs and crabs. Awesome.
Jumatano 22 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "Msafiri". Traveler.
I'm in Malindi! (I later found out in Mombasa that Vasco de Gama was chased out of Mombasa so relanded in Malindi, where he received a warm welcome and received a wife, named Malindi, from the sultan of Malindi. The city is now named after his prize wife.)
I was sad to leave Watamu because I really liked the people that I had met. I am feeling slightly uprooted. I'm staying in Premier Guest House. I arrived an asked my took took driver to take me to one of the lonely planet recommendations and we got so horribly lost and were driving around forever on dirt roads (dying) bumping around and his gas was on empty, so any minute I was expecting it to break down and I would be stuck in the middle of no-where. Finally I was begging "Please! Just take me to any guest house! I really don't care!"
I saw the Vasco de Gama pillar and made a new friend, Muhammad. He comes from Somalia. He was really intelligent and friendly, but I think was mostly just interested in me helping him get refugee status in the U.S., which I have no idea how to help with, so eventually we parted ways. He left in 1993 and was living on Lamu for a long time. Good luck to him.
So excited to leave for Lamu tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Pekeangu
Jumamosi 18 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is: pekeangu. alone. As in "unasafiri pekeako?" "ndiyo, ninasafiri pekeangu." I travel alone.
Safe and sound in Berachah Guest House in Mombasa. I have a really nice room with a window and a television. When I spoke in KiSwahili to the man showing me the room, he moved me up to a better room in the front of the hotel with the TV, which I didn't watch but really appreciated his consideration.
I am listening to the call to prayer coming from the mosque accross the street. I also met another woman traveling by herself. She is from the UK and older than I am. She was telling me about hiking Mt. Kenya with her brother and we talked about porters. She specifically wanted to climb Kenya and not Kili, because Mt Kenya can be climbed without a guide and porters. BUT going up, she saw this other group with the porters carrying wheel-suit cases on their heads going up- disgusting. I can't beleive that people would make the porters do that.
I sat next to a woman with a very animated baby the whole bus ride. The baby didn't cry once. Maybe almost half of the 8 hour bus ride was spent with the woman feeding her baby. Sweet but awkward.
Really no problems with the bus ride though. All of it was paved and minimal traffic.
Jumapili 19 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "mnara" for minnarette (unfortuanately I cannot spell in my native language...)
Made it out of Mombasa on a matatu to Kilifi, only about an hour and a half. I finished seeing the ruins and snake park and my hotel, "Dhow's Inn" is so nice!
The snake park in itself wasn't that great, but my guide was very animated and dedicated to the care of snakes and stopping snake trafficking. He was an undercover agent essentially. 007 Kenya. His role is to catch snakes that have come into people's homes to hunt and release them again into the wild far away from homes. He also has been very involved in catching people who illegally export snakes to other countries. He goes undercover to find the people involved then notifies the government. Unfortunately, it is hard to get the government to actually take action so he has been frustrated. Most often snakes are exported to Germany, now there is also a growing demand from Japan.
I also learned that all snake antivenom in East Africa is produced in South Africa. And considering that black mambas, green mambas, and other fun poisonous snakes are endemic to this area, creating a factory in Kenya that would manufacture antivenom could be very lucrative. For a green mamba bite, you have 40 minutes to get the antivenom but for a black mamba, 15 minutes only. Crazy! My guide's dream is to open an antivenom factory with a snake-park and a clinic that specializes in treating snake bites. Hope the best for him.
I also saw the Arab ruins. My hotel was actually in Mnarani, on the other side of the river from Kilifi, and was named for the minaret at the ruins.
The Arabs caused the birth of KiSwahili and traded clothing and other goods for hides, iron ores, and slaves. They converted many Africans to Islam, so the ruins at Mnarani are of ancient mosques.
I also learned about mkilifi, the tree for which Kilifi is named. Drinking a tea made from its leaves is said to cure 40 illnesses, including malaria. The leaves taste bitter like quinine.
I learned also that before the Arabs, Africans worshiped the Baobab tree. Even today some people come to slaughter animals at the trees and place coins inside it. I got to taste the baobab fruit, which was really dry and sour. It was disgusting. He said it is good for pregnant women and tastes good on fish; its probably high in vitamin C. The shells of the fruit can be used to make drums or mouse traps. It can also be used to make soap and shampoos.
My guide was really great. He also told me a lot about the history of the area and issues today. There is a lot of malaria in Kilifi, because of the creek. The hospital there gets additional funding for this reason so my guide says the Kilifi hospital is better than the one in Malindi.
At dinner I fed feral cats and made a new friend who was very eager to show me the beach at night. Thanks, but no thanks.
KiSwahili word of the day is: pekeangu. alone. As in "unasafiri pekeako?" "ndiyo, ninasafiri pekeangu." I travel alone.
Safe and sound in Berachah Guest House in Mombasa. I have a really nice room with a window and a television. When I spoke in KiSwahili to the man showing me the room, he moved me up to a better room in the front of the hotel with the TV, which I didn't watch but really appreciated his consideration.
I am listening to the call to prayer coming from the mosque accross the street. I also met another woman traveling by herself. She is from the UK and older than I am. She was telling me about hiking Mt. Kenya with her brother and we talked about porters. She specifically wanted to climb Kenya and not Kili, because Mt Kenya can be climbed without a guide and porters. BUT going up, she saw this other group with the porters carrying wheel-suit cases on their heads going up- disgusting. I can't beleive that people would make the porters do that.
I sat next to a woman with a very animated baby the whole bus ride. The baby didn't cry once. Maybe almost half of the 8 hour bus ride was spent with the woman feeding her baby. Sweet but awkward.
Really no problems with the bus ride though. All of it was paved and minimal traffic.
Jumapili 19 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "mnara" for minnarette (unfortuanately I cannot spell in my native language...)
Made it out of Mombasa on a matatu to Kilifi, only about an hour and a half. I finished seeing the ruins and snake park and my hotel, "Dhow's Inn" is so nice!
The snake park in itself wasn't that great, but my guide was very animated and dedicated to the care of snakes and stopping snake trafficking. He was an undercover agent essentially. 007 Kenya. His role is to catch snakes that have come into people's homes to hunt and release them again into the wild far away from homes. He also has been very involved in catching people who illegally export snakes to other countries. He goes undercover to find the people involved then notifies the government. Unfortunately, it is hard to get the government to actually take action so he has been frustrated. Most often snakes are exported to Germany, now there is also a growing demand from Japan.
I also learned that all snake antivenom in East Africa is produced in South Africa. And considering that black mambas, green mambas, and other fun poisonous snakes are endemic to this area, creating a factory in Kenya that would manufacture antivenom could be very lucrative. For a green mamba bite, you have 40 minutes to get the antivenom but for a black mamba, 15 minutes only. Crazy! My guide's dream is to open an antivenom factory with a snake-park and a clinic that specializes in treating snake bites. Hope the best for him.
I also saw the Arab ruins. My hotel was actually in Mnarani, on the other side of the river from Kilifi, and was named for the minaret at the ruins.
The Arabs caused the birth of KiSwahili and traded clothing and other goods for hides, iron ores, and slaves. They converted many Africans to Islam, so the ruins at Mnarani are of ancient mosques.
I also learned about mkilifi, the tree for which Kilifi is named. Drinking a tea made from its leaves is said to cure 40 illnesses, including malaria. The leaves taste bitter like quinine.
I learned also that before the Arabs, Africans worshiped the Baobab tree. Even today some people come to slaughter animals at the trees and place coins inside it. I got to taste the baobab fruit, which was really dry and sour. It was disgusting. He said it is good for pregnant women and tastes good on fish; its probably high in vitamin C. The shells of the fruit can be used to make drums or mouse traps. It can also be used to make soap and shampoos.
My guide was really great. He also told me a lot about the history of the area and issues today. There is a lot of malaria in Kilifi, because of the creek. The hospital there gets additional funding for this reason so my guide says the Kilifi hospital is better than the one in Malindi.
At dinner I fed feral cats and made a new friend who was very eager to show me the beach at night. Thanks, but no thanks.
Nairobi
Alhamisi 16 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is: Karibu. Meaning is "you're welcome", but in East Africa, it really is much more generous and people saying it whole-heartedly welcome others to share in what they have.
Today I saw the elephants again! So great, and they had a new rhino named "Shida" that was adopted here when she was 2 days old, she was premature and only 25 pounds, so crazy.
We got a free ride on our way out when leaving in the back of a pick up truck. Beats getting eaten by lions. I went with 2 Americans and an older woman from Australia who came to find a long term volunteer position in hospice care here. She's really sweet and I really respect her opinion on things, especially because she has much more experience than I do. She was criticizing me for always telling the shop keepers that I would come back, which I honestly do intend to do when I say this, but she says so many people come here and make promices that they never fulfill. She said it is therefore more honerable to not make any promices at all, no matter how small.
She also criticised me again on the bus because I was asking the matatu driver if we were getting the "mzungu price". She was saying a few extra cents does not make a difference to us, to which I retorted that everybody should get the same price, its only fair. She said she believed that everyone should have the same standard of living, but clearly, do not... is that fair? She got me there... and even though for this it was only a few cents, it really is the Robin-Hood connumdrum: Is it fair for the poor to cheat or steal from the rich? Ultimately, I don't think that anyone should be able to rise above because they were cheating, but in this case, I was fine with handing over the collector the stated price.
Conversely, earlier in the market I was trying on these GORGEOUS necklaces, great craftmanship and really high quality beads. But simply could not afford them at all. The same woman was telling me essentially that this price was too high and he was somewhat cheating me, but I really felt that the necklace was worth the stated amount and in good conscience, I did not want to rob an artist of money that he really did deserve.
Ijumaa 17 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "Amani", meaning peace. Usually written on the back of matatus or dalla dallas.
Today was really eventful. I stayed an extra day in Nairobi to go to Hell's Gate national park and bike with the other American girls I met the day before. They are leaving for safari tomorrow, so first we went to the safari office, then Jim from the safari co. escorted us to the bus stand below Moi Ave to get the right matatu to Naivasha.
The bus area was so hectic in a really exciting way. I was just remarking how wonderful everything was, all the different people and the brightly colored shops and matatus driving everywhere. Just in front of us was a matatu that was having difficulty starting, and of course there were people absolutely everywhere.
The matatu suddenly lurched to a start. A man had been passing in front of it and we saw his arms flail upward and he went down like a rag doll. It happened so quickly then time stopped. Everything was quiet and people came out of the shops and from the sidewalks and gathered around the fallen man. I grabbed hold of one of my new friends' hand and firmly looked away as we passed.
"It happens, ya?" was pretty much the response from Jim. It just made all the dangers of bad driving suddenly real. Being in the bus area no longer was exciting because I felt like death was everywhere.
And with that, I was ready to get out of Nairobi.
We waited in the matatu for an hour and a half, waiting for it to fill up so we could leave. The three of us just wanted to get the hell out of there. The drive was gorgeous. We passed along the rim of the rift valley and during our waiting time, made friends with a guy on the matatu who was really mellow and welcoming. He enjoyed quality American shows like "Ellen", "Oprah", and "The Kardashians", so funny. Also it was nice to talk to the other girls and hear about their travel experiences.
We unfortunately didn't get to bike that long because we spent so much time waiting to leave, but we biked to the gorge and saw zebra, pumba, and a lot of different kinds of birds.
I am excited to leave for the coast tomorrow.
KiSwahili word of the day is: Karibu. Meaning is "you're welcome", but in East Africa, it really is much more generous and people saying it whole-heartedly welcome others to share in what they have.
Today I saw the elephants again! So great, and they had a new rhino named "Shida" that was adopted here when she was 2 days old, she was premature and only 25 pounds, so crazy.
We got a free ride on our way out when leaving in the back of a pick up truck. Beats getting eaten by lions. I went with 2 Americans and an older woman from Australia who came to find a long term volunteer position in hospice care here. She's really sweet and I really respect her opinion on things, especially because she has much more experience than I do. She was criticizing me for always telling the shop keepers that I would come back, which I honestly do intend to do when I say this, but she says so many people come here and make promices that they never fulfill. She said it is therefore more honerable to not make any promices at all, no matter how small.
She also criticised me again on the bus because I was asking the matatu driver if we were getting the "mzungu price". She was saying a few extra cents does not make a difference to us, to which I retorted that everybody should get the same price, its only fair. She said she believed that everyone should have the same standard of living, but clearly, do not... is that fair? She got me there... and even though for this it was only a few cents, it really is the Robin-Hood connumdrum: Is it fair for the poor to cheat or steal from the rich? Ultimately, I don't think that anyone should be able to rise above because they were cheating, but in this case, I was fine with handing over the collector the stated price.
Conversely, earlier in the market I was trying on these GORGEOUS necklaces, great craftmanship and really high quality beads. But simply could not afford them at all. The same woman was telling me essentially that this price was too high and he was somewhat cheating me, but I really felt that the necklace was worth the stated amount and in good conscience, I did not want to rob an artist of money that he really did deserve.
Ijumaa 17 septemba
KiSwahili word of the day is "Amani", meaning peace. Usually written on the back of matatus or dalla dallas.
Today was really eventful. I stayed an extra day in Nairobi to go to Hell's Gate national park and bike with the other American girls I met the day before. They are leaving for safari tomorrow, so first we went to the safari office, then Jim from the safari co. escorted us to the bus stand below Moi Ave to get the right matatu to Naivasha.
The bus area was so hectic in a really exciting way. I was just remarking how wonderful everything was, all the different people and the brightly colored shops and matatus driving everywhere. Just in front of us was a matatu that was having difficulty starting, and of course there were people absolutely everywhere.
The matatu suddenly lurched to a start. A man had been passing in front of it and we saw his arms flail upward and he went down like a rag doll. It happened so quickly then time stopped. Everything was quiet and people came out of the shops and from the sidewalks and gathered around the fallen man. I grabbed hold of one of my new friends' hand and firmly looked away as we passed.
"It happens, ya?" was pretty much the response from Jim. It just made all the dangers of bad driving suddenly real. Being in the bus area no longer was exciting because I felt like death was everywhere.
And with that, I was ready to get out of Nairobi.
We waited in the matatu for an hour and a half, waiting for it to fill up so we could leave. The three of us just wanted to get the hell out of there. The drive was gorgeous. We passed along the rim of the rift valley and during our waiting time, made friends with a guy on the matatu who was really mellow and welcoming. He enjoyed quality American shows like "Ellen", "Oprah", and "The Kardashians", so funny. Also it was nice to talk to the other girls and hear about their travel experiences.
We unfortunately didn't get to bike that long because we spent so much time waiting to leave, but we biked to the gorge and saw zebra, pumba, and a lot of different kinds of birds.
I am excited to leave for the coast tomorrow.
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