Saturday, 21 May: Bryson, Pat, and I made our first excursion into Nairobi without a driver. This means we took matatus, these privately owned vans that act as public transportation. Catching the one into Nairobi wasn’t so difficult because we just had to catch it from Nderi, the town right down the road. We went into the city to go to the animal orphanage and meet up with some other SPEA students. The animal orphanage is right by Nairobi National Park so there’s a ton of different monkeys and baboons running around. A guy who worked there offered to get us photos with cheetahs for $10 as the “local price” (he said it costs $500 with a receipt, i.e. officially). A handful in our group agreed to do it. We had to wait, though, for them to feed the cheetahs while the boss was out of sight. In the meantime, the guy got some of the monkeys that were running around to sit on our shoulders. That was nice for me, because even though I opted out of paying for the cheetah photo, I still got to buddy up with a monkey. Also, I got to go into the cheetah cage and take photos of the others with cheetahs and get a few photos of the animals without a fence in between.
After the animal orphanage we went to eat and then proceeded to head back to our place at KEFRI before it got too dark. Finding the right matatu home was a pain! We had to ask about fifteen people at least to find the right matatu number and then to find where this matatu picked up passengers. I doubt I will ever be a master of matatus. It was fun to ride back as it was getting dark because matatu drivers like to add some bling to their vehicles – a lot of them have black lights inside and play music so it’s like a mini party for the evening ride. Silly.
Sunday, 22 May: Pat and I were picked up by George, our driver, and Sammy (fellow intern) for the drive to Mombasa on the coast – about an eight hour trip. Once we got into Nairobi we picked up Rosemary, another KEFRI intern (though she is older with grown children – she went back to university). Pat, Rosemary, and I were squashed into the pack of the truck for the drive so it wasn’t terribly comfortable. However, the drive was cool because the scenery was really great. Not too long after we got beyond Nairobi, I spotted two giraffes (twigas!) just munching on some leaves! We also saw baboons and zebras. For the zebras we managed to stop and get photos. There were also tons of baobab trees.
We drove through Tsavo National Park too. As we got closer and closer to the coast the change in temperature was quite noticeable – it is actually pretty cool around here near Nairobi because of the altitude, but it is really hot on the coast. We checked into a hotel for a good price – 600 Shillings (about $7) for bed and breakfast. We ended up staying at this place for all but one night.
Monday, 23 May: We met up with the coast contingent of the fieldwork team and started off. The project was an assessment of traditional knowledge and how it may be used to deal with climate change and how/whether this is reflected in policy. We drove out to Kaloleni, which was quite a drive. It had been raining so we plowed through bumpy muddy roads for at least an hour. First we interviewed both the agricultural and livestock officers of the district. Then we drove a bit more to meet with a group of farmers and a group of livestock keepers. Even though these last two meetings were conducted in Swahili so I couldn’t understand much, I found them to be the most interesting. It was neat to see how these people live, because it is so different from what I’m used to.
These guys are the livestock keepers we interviewed. Both groups of people were really friendly and laughed a lot during the interviews, so it was fun. It was also neat to see all of the different animals wandering around at the livestock keepers’ place. However, I did see a few kids with distended bellies there, which was pretty depressing. It is disconcerting to think that the value of goods I had on my body at the time (namely my laptop and camera) could feed these kids for probably a couple of years.
Tuesday, 24 May: We got off to a later start this day because the car being used by the other group had to be serviced in the morning. In the meantime, Pat, Sammy, George, and I hung out in Mariakani, a town not too far from Mombasa. While we were there, George bought himself a new Swahili hat because his was worn out and he bought one for me too! Silly, but fun. Once the other vehicle was ready we set off for Kaya Fungo. Kayas are the sacred forests of the Mijikenda, an indigenous group along the coast. It depends on the Kaya, but most are off limits except to the elders, who govern them and give permission to enter. A number of them have been gazetted by the National Museums of Kenya in an effort to preserve them, and some are also UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are a bunch of superstitions surrounding Kayas, so people don’t destroy them partially out of fear. However, a lot of these beliefs are now weakening. Anyway, we met with a group of elders outside of Kaya Fungo. Again, the interview was conducted in Swahili so I couldn’t understand much but the guys were pretty friendly.
I had to cover my hair and wear a long skirt because women are supposed to do so and are often not allowed at all into certain parts of the Kayas. We didn’t go into this Kaya, but it seemed like it has held up fairly well so far. The people around looked quite poor but it seems like the traditions surrounding the Kayas have stuck around so far there. After meeting with the elders we then met with the district forest officer, which concluded the day’s work.
Wednesday, 25 May: We started off quite early to journey to the South Coast, which involves crossing over on a ferry. Once we got there we ate some breakfast and then I had to buy a lesso (a colorful fabric worn by women) to cover myself with for meeting the next group of elders at Kaya Kinondo. We met in a building right by the forest, which is now host to an ecotourism project supported by WWF. First we interviewed a group of fishermen, then a group of farmers, and then the elders (again, in Swahili). After this, Pat, Sammy, and I took a tour of Kaya Kinondo. Like I mentioned, it has been developed into an ecotourism project so we paid for a tour. The rules were basically: be respectful, don’t engage in any inappropriate behavior, don’t take anything from the forest, don’t take any photos in one particular part of the forest, and wear these black skirt things they had. The tour was interesting and our guide showed us a lot of trees and plants and their different uses (there was a leaf you could sniff to clear up colds, for example). We also got to swing on a vine.
There are endangered Colobus monkeys in the area and we were lucky enough to see a number of them. I could tell that the traditions and the superstitions surrounding the Kaya in this area were a lot weaker (the elders were a lot younger than the other group too), so the ecotourism project is a new effort to protect the Kaya by putting monetary value on its preservation. After all of this, we had dinner at a nyama choma place (yet again… nyama choma is this type of grilled meat and the only stuff I can eat at these joints is french fries and this local vegetable kind of like kale so I had an awful lot of that) and hung out. Bryson and Rox (another KEFRI intern and our boss’s daughter) joined us that night, having taken the bus from Nairobi. We overnighted there at the South Coast.
Thursday, 26 May: We finished up our work on the South Coast, interviewing the district agricultural officer in the morning. Then, part of the team travelled to interview the fisheries officer but a group of us stayed behind to save on fuel. This was nice though, because we got to go to the beach! My first time to the Indian Ocean and now I have visited all oceans (if you don't count the optional Southern Ocean), alright. It was very pretty.
Hawkers kept coming up to us and were super persistent, which got pretty old pretty quickly. This is one of the drawbacks of being white around here I guess, though it’s understandable. We weren’t the only mzungus around though like we usually are because the coast has a bunch of tourists and a lot of (often Italian) investors. That afternoon we interviewed the district forester. A common theme among the officers was that they were working to introduce “new and improved” more efficient crop varieties, which weren’t always being taken up by the local people because they preferred to stick to their traditional crops (“out of ignorance,” according to one officer). Also, a lot of the policy seems to be directed nationally, without much in the way of local bylaws to adapt to the conditions of the region, though there are some. Furthermore, a lot of the officers hadn’t been stationed long in their areas, so while they may have been knowledgeable about their subject area, they didn’t know much about the local traditions. It seemed from our interviews with the different locals that climate change (or at least pressure on resources and changes in weather patterns) was being felt in certain ways. There is traditional knowledge that exists and some (like crop storage methods) could be used to help deal with the effects of climate change. I still need to go over my notes and get English ones on some of the Swahili interviews to speak more intelligently on the subject though.
After all of this, we drove back to the hotel we had been staying at in Mtwapa, outside of Mombasa, and hung out there. This was quite a nice place to stay overall, despite the lack of mirrors in my room, haha. We got to have breakfast on the roof and also hung out there during the evenings. It was really pleasant with a nice view.
Friday, 27 May: The group congregated in the morning to discuss our preliminary thoughts about our work. This didn’t last long, and then we went to lunch. Bryson especially wanted to get seafood but it is impossible to get if you’re on a budget, apparently. Most of the catch is either exported or sold to resort hotels so you can’t get it at normal restaurants. It seems to be similar to the coffee situation – Kenya grows a lot of good coffee but the only coffee I’ve seen here is Nescafe. The coffee beans are exported and roasted elsewhere because there is more money in that. I guess it’s the same with seafood, even along the coast. After eating we went back to our hotel and then went to the beach. This time I got to swim (and in doing so avoided the hawkers). The water was quite warm. Then we hung out on the roof of the hotel again. During these roof hang outs I spoke a fair amount with George, and he gave me the Swahili name “Kadzu.” I think this is because I am about the same age as one of his daughters, and his wife comes from a place called that, so that’s a name he would give to a daughter of his, or something. I also spoke for a while with Rosemary, who is a very nice lady. It is cool to learn about people’s lives because the way they grew up is so different from what I am familiar with. After hanging out we went to eat, and then crossed the street to look inside this club called Lambada. It was free entry for women (and 100 Shillings for men, haha) so we just popped in to look – there is a swimming pool in the middle of the bar area and we wanted to see. There are a lot of prostitutes around, though as many at this time because it is the tourist off season. After peeking in the place, I went back to the hotel to go to bed.
Saturday, 28 May: I don’t have much to say about this day other than that we drove back because, unfortunately, I’m sick. I had started to feel properly unwell the night before, and by the time I woke up I was sure I had a fever. The drive back, therefore, was pretty miserable for me because I kept having fever/chills, but because of my state I did get to sit up front. We got back around 8:30pm or something and I didn’t watch the Champions League match because I thought it would be best for me to go to bed (and Man Utd lost anyway). The Kenyans I was with said that my symptoms sounded like malaria, but hopefully not (I have gotten a ton of mosquito bites but also have been dutifully been taking my malaria pills daily); there is a good chance I could have had bad food or water too (it’s quite dirty there, trash and flies everywhere).
Today I think I am a bit better. I have been taken meds to keep down my fever which I think has helped and I don’t feel nearly as weak as I did yesterday (then it was a real struggle just to walk around). I have also been drinking a ton of water. Yesterday I was a bit frightened that I would have to go to the doctor because I really haven’t felt that badly in years and years, but since I’m no worse (and probably a bit better) today, I think I’ll hold off until tomorrow at least. If I still feel bad, I can go to the KEFRI clinic. In the meantime, I’m taking it easy today. Bryson and Pat went into Nairobi to pick up groceries but I didn’t feel up for that so I stayed behind. I finished my book (The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa, continuing my kick of Latin American lit). We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully the internet will be back up so I can finally post this blog entry too! Sorry it’s so long, hah. I guess that’s what happens when you’re doing interesting things with no internet!
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