Arrival

(see album on right)
 After three months of preparation and over a year of anticipation, I am finally in Kenya. Travel was long (~23 hours total), but not at all bad. I slept for most of the 7.5 hour flight to England, and then read and watched movies on my way to Nairobi. My two travelling companions (Josephine and Sarah) and I met up successfully in Newark, and were together for the whole ordeal, which made things a lot easier (especially when I fell asleep during important arrival information…).

 We spent Saturday night at ICIPE, the International Center for Insect [something]. We were picked up by a driver at the Nairobi airport on our arrival (~10pm) and taken to the hotel. Kenya is an old British colony, and in addition to having all British outlets and light-switches, they also drive on the left side of the road. Sitting in the passenger seat, I had many small moments of panic where I thought I ought to be steering the car. The travel was very different from what I’ve come to expect in the US: none of the roads are marked with signs (at least that I saw), most were un-lined, and the roads sloped off into dirt on either side. Driving involved a lot more weaving, often into the oncoming traffic lane. Most striking to me was the number of people out walking alongside the dirt slopes that lined the road, even at 10:30pm. We were greeted warmly at ICIPE, given rooms, and after meeting John, our driver, and working out morning plans we went to bed.

 We woke up Sunday morning, and after a pleasant breakfast of fruit (mangos!), bread, eggs, and cereal we left ICIPE to head for the Mpala Research Center. The drive was long, about 3 hours total, and we spent most of it sitting silently and observing the Kenyan countryside. Once we were out of the city the scenery alternated between farms (coffee, eucalyptus), open spaces, and small towns. Again we saw many people out – more than the night before – Some were obviously on their way to or from church, others were just sitting and watching cars. Even in areas with no towns for miles people were on the roads. We stopped at Nanyuki to buy calling cards and stock up on supplies for Mpala, and then continued on, along about an hour’s worth of dirt roads, to our final destination. On the way we caught our first glimpses of Kenyan wildlife – two cape buffalo and an impala. We made it just in time for lunch, and were able to meet some of the researchers at the center, as well as the professor for our first course, Corinna. The rest of the day was orientation – a tour of the buildings, setting up our computers to work with the center’s wireless, finding our rooms, and unpacking. By the end of it I was so tired that I ended up passing out around 9 while watching an episode of Planet Earth with Sarah and Josephine. Thus ended my first day in Kenya.