Gorge Myself

Well, the past weekend was spectacular. James and Angela are two med students from Britain who are volunteering at the same facility, and we have been doing alot together lately. We decided to strike out towards Lake Naivasha NP, which should be about an hour away, but in reality is 3 1/2 hours due to the patch of land that vaguely resembles a road. We arrived at Lake Naivasha Country Club, which is the only place you can catch a boat to Cresent Island on the lake. When I say it was like Jurassic Park, I truly mean it. It is one of the few places where you can walk on foot through wildlife legally in Africa. No fences, just you and the animal: mano y mano. I stood less than 10' from a giraffe, had a field of wildebeest, zebra, waterbucks and gazelles part like the Red Sea to allow us to amble on through, and, finally, saw hippos in broad daylight - in all their hulking purple fat glory. We only dared get about 20 yards from them... Monkeys, eagles and even wild horses were some of the other animals we saw. To get to walk through the place was really special, and this really isn't on the main tourist circuit, which really baffles me.

We moved on from there to camp near Hell's Gate NP, just a short ride away. We had very ambitious plans of starting out at 06:30 the next morning to avoid the mid-day heat, but got going around 09:00, due to our discovery of Vat 69 whiskey.

Now, I love hiking a gorge. You give me something to climb on or through and I am a happy camper. Anything that resembles my first gorge, the Samaria, in Crete, really gets me going. Add to that the cool factor of this one being in Africa, and I am really excited. Then layer on the fact that it was where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider II and that about seals it. (It seems as though I subconsciously really enjoyed the Tomb Raider movies, as I have followed them from Cambodia to Kenya. Then again, maybe it was just Angelina...)

We hired mountain bikes from our camp and took off! Straight up a mountain!

Yeah, that part totally sucked as bad as it sounded. But, we did this consciously for the cooler morning weather and the assured descent in the afternoon. The region along this hill/mountain is one of great wealth in Kenya, due to it flower farms. Entire villages are formed around these farms, paid for by the owners to entice workers to the area, due to the poor wages. Soccer fields, housing projects, bars, etc. are all placed as bait. We rode past all of this to the park entrance, where we bargained for resident rates, as we actually do work at a public hospital. After much negotiating we were in. We rode past the geothermal power plants, which are eventually to supply the entire country with electricity and on into Hell's Gate. It is very aptly named, as it is really hot and really dusty. You leave your bikes at the park rangers station and hike down into the gorge. Amazing erosion patterns are around every turn. Boiling water pools overflow down rock faces which nourish a covering of dark green algae. Waterfalls shower you at irregular intervals. Sunlight creates all kinds of dancing shadows off the undulating wall surfaces and overhangs. Really magical place.

After exiting the gorge, we had to make the final leg of the bike journey. I was really whipped at this point due to lack of good sleep (really cold night and aforementioned Vat 69) , being in the sun all day, and 30, I guess. The path out of the park was through huge fields flanked by high rock cliffs that were glowing red by the time we rolled through. Monkeys were in the trees, warthogs, gazelles, zebras and numerous other animals were all around. We made it back to camp, showered in really cold outdoor showers and headed back to Nakuru.

We did this instead of listening to our bodies messages of "Sit Down! Lay Down!! Just Don't Move!!", due to the fact that we had chosen to put on soccer matches for the street boys of Nakuru, followed by a proper lunch. I teamed up with ICROSS members to help set this up with a former street boy, who now runs a rehabilitation center for these abandoned 5 to 20 year olds. Basically, they usually come from a normal family, but the father can't afford to support them everyone, so he leaves, and then the mother can't support them, so she leaves, and the boys are left to fend for themselves on the streets. At night, you can walk around and see these guys carrying a bag, looking in all of the road-side stalls for one that he can sleep in. They beg during the day, and I'm sure, steal when they have no other resort. What's really sad to me, is that most of them go around sniffing glue. They just walk around with a bottle "attached" to their nose. Mwangi, the former street boy, said they do it to get high and forget their problems, but also to reduce their appetite, as they can go days without eating. All of them look like they were dipped in mud after having their clothes/rags thrown under a lawn mower.

So, we had them come out to the pitch (soccer field) and we had at least 3 good games. Kenyans really love their soccer, so the games were played amazingly well. No fouls, no arguing. Afterwards we fed 70-80 of them a huge plate of rice, potatoes, peas, meat and pineapple flavored cordial. They definitely liked the food and games, but really did not like us trying to take away their glue as "admission price" for the food. Basically we had to just give up on that and just let them go. Still a really great thing to be a part of, and a massive success in organizing, as this is Africa.

So, needless to say, I was in the sun all day Saturday and Sunday. Still can't pass for a local, but I am getting there.

Cathy came today for another adjustment for her socket, which went perfectly. So, Thursday is the day (as it stands now...) for her fitting and "first steps." Also, I will be joining the Keoch family for their Christmas dinner on the 24th. Due to the abundance of generosity from you guys, there is a little extra money from the "prosthetic drive". I was thinking of 2 things: 1) buying a goat for her entire family to use or eat, or 2) give the entire remainder to help with her school fees next year. I was hoping to solicit everyone's opinion/vote on this. The leading vote-getter I will make happen. If there is a tie, I guess I will just chose...

Cast your vote!