Wednesday was just as busy as Tuesday. Downtown Nairobi was our first destination, tall building, hustle and bustle, and all. The first stop of the day was at the August 7, 1998 Peace Memorial (the site of the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi). It was moving, graphic, and harsh (even sensationalized). It did give the event through the eyes and minds of Kenyans though, and they were the ones who lost the most lives and sustained the most injuries by far – something most Americans forget or never knew.
Then we finally found an ATM that worked for Maureen and us. Thank you Barclay’s Bank.
A quick lunch at the National Museum for first hand views at the origins of mankind – the actual fossils discovered by the most reknowned archaeologists in the world. Included are Turkana Boy, Lucy, and many others, all up close and personal. There was also an art exhibit of some 150 current Kenyan artists. Very impressive.
And almost finally, at 5 PM Sandy and I went to visit the orphan elephants again in a special viewing for “foster parents.” We got to see and play with her orphan elephant, Naipoki, and the three other orphan elephants we gave as fostering gifts this Christmas (Ishaq-B, Sities, and Kainuk) as well as the other babies. Naipoki now seems t)o always be first in line when the elephants are moving from one place to another with the keepers. It might be that she wants to be the first one to the milk. She and Sities have sleeping quarters right next to each other. Naipoki loved Sandy immediately, giving her hugs and kisses and messing up her hair with her trunk. Overall it was a great experience. And we also met and talked to Edwin, the head keeper (he’s from Kakamega), about how he got his job and about how our orphan high school graduates might pursue the same kind of work. Perhaps some day he will come and talk to them when he is home in Kakamega on leave.
Our visit ended at six o’clock when we jumped in the car to a leisurely two hour traffic jam on the way to Connie and Chris’s new house for a seven o’clock dinner. If you do the math, you’ll see we did not get there on schedule. If you look at Maureen’s email which I will or already have forward to you, you’ll get a great description of what we saw during these two hours and the emotions it evoked.
Thurday morning came soon. A 5 AM awakening and packing quickly became a 6 AM departure back into the traffic of Nairobi on the way to the bus station to get our bus to Kakamega which was scheduled to leave at 9AM. A burst of early morning traffic had already put a worried look on David’s (our driver) face when he arrved at out hotel exactly at 6 AM, having expected to be there by 5:30. When we were on the road by 6:10 his face did not turn brighter. Another burst of heavy traffic greeted us as soon as we left Kasarani. David’s knuckles turned white. But, the tension was short lived and we arrived in downtown by 7 AM, in time for a leisurely breakfast before we went to the bus station. As David said, I’d rather spend my time waiting near the bus than be in a traffic jam. We all agree.
The bus, which normally leaves at 9 and goes through Kisumu was surprisingly rerouted to go through Kapsabet, and it left at 9:30 instead of 9. As we traveled through Nairobi we saw the one of the two manmade objects said to be “visible from space”, giant billboards, one after another, all in a row. We missed the beautiful tea fields in the highlands due to the rerouting but the trip was actually shorter and quicker, passing through Kaimosi after Kapsabet. Kaimosi holds special significance for Maureen because it is the home of the Quaker Theological College and the Kaimosi hospital, supported by FUM, a Quaker group headquartered in Indiana.
On the road between Kaimosi, we passed the Sabatia eye hospital (where we will expect to deliver the 200 plus pairs of Lion’s glasses later in the week) and the CLOUT sewing center/office. We were in Kakamega by 5:30 PM and to the hotel with all luggage (two taxi trips) by 6.
Today, Friday, we’ll shop for tomorrow’s meeting/celebration with the Watafutaji widows and explore Kakamega.
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