Uganda-Nairobi Road

Just a bit of video on the way back to Eldoret from Lugulu on Saturday. This snippet is from the outskirts of Eldoret.

Church

Sunday morning the Sisendas took us to Catholic mass at the cathedral in Eldoret. They offer many services on Sunday with options of English and Swahili. We went to the 9:00 English mass. Mass is mass across the globe, but there were little differences here and there. As seems to be the case whenever and wherever a large group of Africans sing, the sound is amazing. The church seemed full and sat approximately 500.

Saturday evening

Our friend Lucy came to Eldoret from Uganda to visit us. We met Lucy the last time we were here and spent time with her when she visited us in the US this past summer. She is a law student in Kampala.

Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin took the three of us plus a few others to dinner. We went to "Mamma Mia's" which serves a varied menu. The name sounds Italian, and they do have a number of Italian dishes, but the also serve a lot of Indian dishes.

Anyway, we all had an enjoyable evening. Lucy then took a bus back to Kampala that was scheduled to leave Eldoret at 1:00 AM. And it's at least a six hour trip depending on how long it takes to get clearance for everyone at the border. She texted around 9:00 AM that she made it back.

Lugulu

We had a nice trip to Lugulu and the "Friends Lugulu Mission Hospital" and received a tour from the current doctor. Much has changed in 17 years!

On our way on uganda road. Just passed by a kenyan on the road wearing a bright green "my man mitch" t-shirt. Too funny.

Saturday morning

This morning we are going to visit the village of Lugulu. You will see it on the map on the west (left) side. It should only take us about an hour to get there. Why Lugulu? This is where Susan spent two months in 1993 at the end of her med school days. I've wanted to visit and since we aren't part of a group, this is a great chance. Javen, one of the IU drivers will take us.

Siam

Last night (Friday), Dr. Sisenda and his wife took us to dinner at Siam, our favorite Chinese restaurant in the world! We had a great time and learned a few new Swahili words.

Sent from Kyle's iPhone

Tailor

So Friday afternoon, after Susans work was complete, we wandered around downtown Eldoret. We visited a new shop in town, the Rivatex Factory Store. I visited and toured the Rivatex factory a couple if years ago. They manufacture fabrics, from raw cotton all the way to bolts of dyed and printed fabrics.

We then visited a souvenir shop we know well. While there, I asked if he knew a tailor who might make a shirt for me and a dress for Susan. He was happy to recommend a nearby merchant and introduced us. We talked about what we wanted, when, how much fabric would be needed, and cost.

We agreed to try it and went back to Rivatex, bought 6 meters of fabric at 110 ksh per meter (about $8.25 total). Then back to the tailor with our fabric. The tailor shop is small and crowded with both workers and customers. All the workers were men, cutting and sewing away. Susan noted that a similar shop nearby was almost empty. We hope that's a good sign that our recommendation was good!

One photo here shows notes for Susan before taking her measurements. For my name, he wrote "Kyle" which is not a name used in Kenya. The name "Susan" is more common here for someone's given Christian name. So for her, he wrote "Susan (Mzungu)" which means "white person". We thought it funny that he wrote it but it may help distinguish her order from other customers.

Eldoret

Back in crazy Eldoret.

Eldoret

We have safely arrived "home" in Eldoret at Indiana House.

Manda Island to Nairobi

We have made our way to Nairobi. When we arrived we were told that we are on an earlier flight to Eldoret, so no time for lunch.

The terminal at the airstrip is rather airy. They are building a new terminal building so when complete, it will just not seem the same. Our flight was apparently the first flight out. When we and others arrived, they fired up the generator and sent us through security. There was a modern luggage x-ray machine and walk-through metal detector. Both under a thatched roof.

We flew in a little Cessna Caravan and made the trip to Nairobi. Eddie took us to JKIA and we checked in. Soon we will be on our way.

Travel day to Eldoret

This morning we say goodbye to Majlis and our island paradise. We will boat back to the airstrip and fly to Nairobi. There, our driver Eddie will pick us up at Wilson Airport, take us to lunch, and then deliver us to JKIA for our flight to Eldoret...

When Eddie was taking care of us in Nairobi a few days ago, we made arrangements for him to take us to lunch. We asked to go somewhere that he would like to go. Not a mzungu (white or foreigner) restaurant. Hopefully we will experience something good!

We brought a couple of trunks with IU supplies. Eddie is currently holding them for us in Nairobi. With those, we will be grossly overweight for our flight to Eldoret. Hopefully they will let us by or negotiate a lower penalty for humanitarian goods. You never know in Kenya...

Peponi Hotel

Enjoying a Tusker before sunset at Peponi Hotel in Shela on Lamu Island. Susan is getting a Swahili translation from our waiter.

More pictures from Shela

Shela

Pictures from Shela.

Back at Majlis

We are back at Majlis now. Rehydrating and cooling off in this beautiful bar area. We are the only ones in here so we basically have our own personal bartender, Rodgers.

So glad we decided to visit the coast. It is a very different aspect of Kenya compared to inland. But still very Kenya.

Indian Ocean

From Takwa, we walked a few minutes to the Indian Ocean... Then we rode our bikes back to the resort. Later this afternoon we may take a boat to Shela town across the channel.

Takwa ruins

We rode our bikes to the Takwa ruins. Takwa was abandoned in the 16th century. It is believed that the Takwa people left Manda Island and established what is now known as Shela town on Lamu Island. Archeologists believe that their wells at Takwa turned salty and that is the reason why the left. The first three pictures are of their mosque which is in the best condition of the ruins.

Boabob tree

The Boabob trees are huge! Some are around 500 years old. We saw some that were bigger than this one.

Mountain biking

We went on a bike trip this morning with our guide Katana. We were instantly pouring sweat. Wow it's hot when you're away from the ocean breezes. Our first stop was a quarry where they remove coral stone which is a common construction material in Lamu. The locals use nothing but handtools here. Axes, picks, and shovels. And I thought I was hot...

Sunset dhow trip

On Tuesday evening we took a sunset dhow trip. We enjoyed a few Tuskers and had a great time. Our "Captains" were very entertaining. Will post pix later.

walking in lamu town. very very hot. homework/riddle for hart girls. what animal works in lamu?

Welcome to Lamu

We flew on a 17 seat plane (circa stone age) from Nairobi to the airstrip on Manda Island in the Lamu archipelago. The luggage was delivered from the plane in this human-powered cart and then transferred to a metal bench out in the open. Ta-da! "luggage claim"! We then went by boat to our resort. It is very nice. The last photo was taken from our room as the sun was setting. Tomorrow we will take a morning boat to Lamu town and see the sights and in the evening go on a sunset sail on a dhow.

staying at majlis resort on manda island in lamu. will post pix tomorrow.

Monday morning

Short night. Alarm goes off on Monday morning. Check the football scores from Sunday and realize the Sunday night game is just in the third quarter. Being 8 hours "ahead" is strange...

Today we fly to Lamu, an ancient port city with lots of Arabic influence on the Indian Ocean coast. We will be staying on the island of Lamu at a nice resort.

Sent from Kyle's iPhone

Fairview Hotel, Nairobi

At last. We are finally in Nairobi and at the Fairview Hotel. Local time is a little after midnight. We've hardly slept for 33 hours. Time for a Tusker and then to bed. Got an early flight out in the morning...

Just landed in Nairobi. Hopefully our ride is waiting for us. But first we need to get in the visa line and then find our luggage if it made the same flights that we did!

After an hour+ on the ground, the doors have been closed and portable stairs rolled away. Time to go!

Captain announced passenger had a stroke. He seemed ok and was awake and alert when he left the plane. Ground crew to do checks and add fuel. Hope we can depart soon.

Welcome to... Rome? Diverted for medical emergency. Hopefully passenger will be ok and hopefully we'll be back in the air soon.

Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam. Another 8 hr flight and we'll be in Nairobi! But first a soda with our new friend Terri.

Detroit

Made it to Detroit. On the plane awaiting departure for Amsterdam. Back of the bus - next to last row. Good news: close to restrooms. Bad news: close to restrooms. Forecasting tailwind and shorter flight (7 hrs instead of 8).

Making friends

The plane we are taking to Detroit is now on its way to Indy from Minneapolis. Apparently they have a winter storm up there. Anyway, we've been rebooked on a later flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. If no further delays, we will still make our scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. We will have to hustle to make our connections. Let's hope our luggage can also hustle...

So we've had plenty of time to make friends while waiting in line at our gate. We met a Kenyan woman who is also going to Nairobi. She went to college at Indiana Wesleyan and is now married to a man originally from Haiti. She is a nurse at Methodist Hospital. She is going to Nairobi for a court date as she is working to get legal guardianship of a 10 year old who is the son of a cousin but is now orphaned.

Sent from Kyle's iPhone