Nairobi

My experience in (and travel to!) Nairobi was eye-opening and exciting. I connected through Amsterdam, which was experiencing airport worker strikes from their labor union which were causing huge lines (up to 4-hour queues to get into the airport, so I ended up staying in security for my 7-hour layover!), and through Accra, Ghana, on which flight I met a financial entrepreneur from Ghana who is living in London, from whom I learned a lot about business in Ghana and West Africa versus East Africa (where I was going).

Upon arriving to Nairobi, I fed giraffes and learned about the different giraffe species in Kenya (three different species, one near Nairobi, one north of the equator and one south of the equator) as well as the human-animal interactions impacting giraffes, including loss of habitat, poaching, and drought. Students (two groups, one which must have been in middle school and another that must have been elementary school) were visiting the giraffe center, attending a lecture about the animals, and feeding the giraffes as well. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm and their restlessness – as well as how they behaved in their group and fought to the front of the line.

We traveled into the city of Nairobi and had the opportunity to go to the top of the Kenyan International Conference Center (KICC) where you could see the expanse of the city and the Nairobi National Park at the southern edge of the city. Nairobi is the only city that has a national park as part of its boundaries. Our driver, John, was explaining to us how much the city has expanded in the past 5 years, noting how far the city now stretches and how much construction is happening to keep up with the population growth. We could see mountains in the distance, but also noted air pollution from the fogginess of the city that was below the cloud level. John demonstrated many different religious buildings, from Hindu temples to Catholic churches to Jewish synagogues, discussing how most people in Nairobi are Catholic but everyone is religious. He couldn’t understand when we discussed that we were not religious, which apparently was a large cultural difference. We saw many signs for the presidents and governors running for election in August, but John explained that politics, and most of life in Kenya, is full of corruption. While we didn’t experience this, I saw many signs about corruption and “corruption-free zones.” I also noticed that most of the slogans of the candidates running were about working, like “Let’s Make Nairobi Work” and “Every Hustle Matters.” I asked John if Kenya has a lot of unemployment, and he said it does; I compared the GDP of Kenya to different US cities, and found that the GDP of Kenya and Los Angeles are similar. It is hard to imagine that LA has 1/14, or ~7%, of the population size but a similar production size. After visiting the city, we attempted to go to the National Museum, but we just walked around the perimeter and found the Nairobi River, which was pretty polluted and seemed to drain through the city. Kenya is experiencing one of the worst droughts ever, and I remember in my Water class learning about how the only water resource that is increasing globally is wastewater. Many places are reusing wastewater for agriculture and other uses, which doesn’t have side effects if you properly wash produce and cook foods over heat; I wonder if Kenya employs any of these practices, but I’m not sure to whom I would direct these questions.

We went on a safari as well – it was incredible to see the diversity and abundance of animals there! We saw hippos, hartebeest, buffalo, wildebeest, rhinos, alligators, impalas, ostriches, giraffes, zebras, lions, cheetahs, warthogs, and several types of beautiful birds. The protected land seemed so expansive and it was amazing to be so close to all of these animals. It was also interesting to see all of the other safaris happening at the same time; clearly tourism and especially the safari industry is a huge part of the Kenyan economy. It was fun to watch each safari driver stop by each other and talk, discussing where the animals of interest were or their day or something else because we couldn’t understand what they were saying as it was in ki-Swahili. Our driver John had taught us a few phrases and the number up to 10, so a few things we could catch, like “sawa” which means “okay” or “good”, when they said a number of something, or “how are you” which sounds like “haba ri aco.” We also went to an elephant orphanage and learned about all of the reasons why the elephants are rescued, including poaching, starvation of the mother (increasingly due to drought), and desertion of their family due to a disorder or physical impairment.

Finally, we left Nairobi but not without sadness. Our driver for our safari, Abu, has lost his son that morning, who was studying in Canada playing soccer and had fallen out of a 5^th story window. It was humbling to see him at work the same day and to visibly see his grief. Of course, it feels stupid to write about him and his family in this blog post, but it was a reminder that we waltzed into his life and the lives of many others as tourists, learned real things about their lives, and were there with him in a traumatic time, unable to do anything or help the situation since we were tourists about to leave. His son was 22, just finishing school at St. Andrew’s and about to go to school in Washington. They looked incredibly similar in photos.

Our other driver, John, has a wife, two sons (one 20 and the other 19), and a daughter (14). He visits his mother in northern Kenya every year for about a month, where they have some farmland. His tribe is Kama (sp?), the most common tribe in Kenya. His kids can understand some of their indigenous language, but are not able to speak it, which he hopes they will learn more with time (since English is from the British rule over colonization and Swahili is a language shared across the region but from another people, common between Indians, Middle Eastern peoples, and many West Africans).

Our trip was made possible because of the many Kenyans who invited us into their home and shared some of their lives with us. I will pay tribute to them as best I can by remembering their stories and writing about them in this (silly) blog post.

Diani

I was looking forward to arriving in Mombasa because I was expecting a very different city than Nairobi – since people in Nairobi explained that Mombasa is barely half the size of the capital. Immediately, I felt the humidity. You could tell there was an ocean nearby! We got into our shuttle and experienced the hustle of Mombasa; the train arrived in the northern part and we drove onto the island of Mombasa, and then drove onto the ferry to get to the southern part of Mombasa, from where we drove all the way to Diani Beach. Our experience in Mombasa made me the most aware that we really were in a developing country. Bridges had labels that they were build in collaboration between the Kenyan government and international aid organizations, like UK Aid. People were wearing American clothing that looked like it had been sent over from the US as a package of leftover items. People were begging to the car windows as we waited to board the ferry. Mombasa was a real wake-up call to the inequality and poverty that exists in Kenya.

After driving through Ukunda, we arrived at our AirBnB in Diani. It was beautiful, with an open air roof deck and multiple apartments. We saw monkeys in the ceiling in the attic and went to the beach almost immediately. The ocean was so turquoise blue, fully clear and warm. It was my first time seeing the Indian Ocean! The beaches were composed of white sands. Salespeople came up to us our whole walk trying to sell us coconuts or random trinkets, often convincing us to commit to purchasing something when we didn’t realize. The water is especially salty, so you’re extra buoyant in the water. You can also hear the crackling of a living reef if you listen under the water (the crackling sound comes from the oscillations of oxygen bubbles floating to the surface, which are produced by the coral when they perform photosynthesis).

We quickly got into a schedule. Waking up to leave at 8am to go to Colobus Conservation or at 6:15am to go to Diani Reef where you would follow monkey troops to fill out ODKs. Colobus Conservation always had plenty of work. We got our orientation from Maria. She showed us the rehabilitation cages, which were full of vervets at the time (you can see their blue balls!). She took us on a trail through the forest, showed us a Baobab tree, and told us about how indigenous Kenyan tribes used to believe the Baobabs had spirits, to which people would consult in both good and bad times. Greg stepped on an innocent snail. We began our routines. The Education Center was full of people painting, sanding, measuring, drawing, cutting, gluing, and more. The volunteer team would be composting, organizing nursing trees, working in animal care, cleaning the rehabilitation cages, and helping with odd jobs. Diani Reef would mean a sample scan every 20 minutes with either the Sykes troop or the Vervets. The Vervets liked to hang around buildings and moved more slowly, so they were easier to keep track of. The Sykes liked to move to the scattered bushes behind the abandoned buildings, where you had to trek through knee high grass and climb rock-laden hills to keep up with them. I was always nervous they would pee on me while I was counting them. Sometimes Colobus monkeys would be moseying around, more slowly than either the Sykes or the vervets, and they would look you in the eyes while munching on their leaves. Everyone (Sykes, vervets, and Colobus) would run away when the baboon troop arrived. Seeing the monkeys so close to people, literally paying them no mind but living side-by-side with the resort employees and guests, really hit home how much the monkeys’ lives are impacted by humans. There is not a single day without human contact. It was fascinating and heartbreaking to listen to Pam discuss how all of Diani used to be forest and the monkeys didn’t have to navigate resorts or roads or tuk tuks. However, seeing humans and monkeys generally live together in peace was also beautiful in many ways. Thanks to Colobus Conservation, the city of Diani—its inhabitants and its guests—has learned to interact with these monkeys and minimize our negative impacts so we can continue to live side-by-side.

The Diani Reef ODKs were also enthusing because you got to spend so much time with the other Colobus Conservation volunteers. My hours with Henry, with Evelyn, with Lakia, and with Rene were spent discussing life, family, work, school, hobbies, the economy, and more. It was interesting to see how each person had arrived at Colobus, why there were there, and what their home looked like. I especially appreciate Henry and Evelyn’s patience with me when I always exclaimed at the blue balls of any male vervet.

Though my trip was shorter than the rest, I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. Not only did I get to travel to Africa for the first time, but I had the chance to do field work, organize trees, talk to tuk tuk drivers, stand feet from monkeys, take selfies with giraffes and elephants, and ESPECIALLY swim in the Indian Ocean daily. It was so special to meet locals and conservationists in Diani through Colobus Conservation, to speak with Ken about his family and his cooking, to be welcomed by Lorrain, and to chat with Milli about the monkeys and about her family. Finally, the relationships I was able to make with my peers and my professors were some of my favorite moments. It was always exciting to listening to Angela, Dail, and Shauna’s experiences in academia, between schools, and in research; to their perspectives on Georgetown department dynamics and the scientific community as well as being a woman in STEM at an R1 university as a NTF. I was entranced with Pam’s stories of her trajectory to Africa, to her knowledge on primates, and her thoughts on cultural differences. I have so many cherished memories with my peers: my first adventure with Greg to the giraffe center, daily swims with John, adopting a stray dog with Jane, gawking at Alexa’s yoga (also sometimes waking up Alexa – hopefully not with snores), reading with (but slower than) Annie, learning ki-Swahili from Shelby, our Nairobi safari, our extremely long lunch at the National Museum in Nairobi, tuk tuk rides, getting convinced to buy things on the streets of Diani, animal tracking, coffee and tea time, avoiding COVID-19 (successfully!), rationing shillings, doing handstands, chasing monkeys that raided snacks (and shirts), but most of all: every conversation. I will miss it all unlike I can even imagine!