Safari

Yesterday was an average Kenyan day for us, plenty of plans but few results. We had hoped to get out of here and up into the tea fields for some fresh air and relaxation. Unfortunately, as I am finding is the case for most of the Kenyan service industry, drivers arrive on their time or not at all. The later was our case yesterday, so we decided to take a walk and explore the Eldoret leisure scene. We went to the local country club.....yes a country club, and inquired as to what the rate for a one month membership would be. Hopefully I can at least golf here, even if it is on a really crapy nine hole course. My first trip to the actual city of Eldoret was....interesting. The city is pretty much an overcrowded filthy cesspool of a town; I was shocked at the amount of traffic--pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles--that was able to be crammed into the narrow crater filled streets. There were no traffic lights, no speed limit signs, and pretty much no traffic rules.

Today was nice, we finally managed to spring ourselves from the compound which feels like a minimum security prison at worst and a really bad summer camp for adults at best. After experiencing Eldoret's traffic, the two and a half hour white knuckle trip to the game reserve today seemed like a walk in the park and the natural treasures, tranquility, and companionship that we found there were more than welcome. Being able to experience the reserve and rural Kenya allowed my mind to detox from the cultural overload that slammed my brain the first week here. I feel at least a little more at ease and maybe even ready to start my first week of work here in Kenya. Additionally, I took nearly 500 pictures of rhinoceros, giraffes, lions, gazelles, antelope, and baboons. I hope to post at least a couple of pictures soon, but the internet here is so slow that I hold out little hope for being able to immediately share this amazing experience.

The past two days of observations about Kenya:

1. Just because a person works at an establishment does not mean that they know anything at all about said establishment.

2. Lack of traffic rules + Crappy highways + Zero law enforcement = Nightmarish driving circumstances. I don't think my mother, who is a more aggressive motorist than most NASCAR drivers, would last five minutes here.

3. Did you know- The Kenyan government does not provide public education past 8th grade? Only in the past ten years did they begin offering grade schools that were free to the public. FREE BASIC EDUCATION, I am now witnessing, is imperative for productive and dignified individuals as well as a just and productive country.

Talk to you all soon.....I hope.

CG