Nairobi - Things are settling down

Well, the past few days have been really exciting indeed, but finally things are settling down here in Africa as I get accustomed to the surrounding around me. Africa is a little like being in first grade again actually. The ground rules are as follows. First, don't stay out after dark. Most things happen then so always be where you are staying or inside a guarded building after about 7 at night. Secondly, don't talk to strangers. Third, always lock your car doors. Even when you are riding in the car. Most problems occur due to car jackings. Fourth, don't advertise the fact that you are an American. I say I'm from Montana, and that it is near Canada. Thanks Colter for that wonderful bit of advice! And fifth, Make friends fast!

No, actually it really isn't that bad here. You DO have to be careful though. But it is not like I can't go out in the day or anything. I have found a problem though. It's funny here because they use the U.S. dollar more than they use the Kenya Shilling! But, all the ATM's are dispensing Shillings, and I'm more or less out of my "extra" U.S. money that I've been carrying around with me for the last 3 months! I just find it odd that they use U.S. dollars I guess. Also, I just found out not 10 seconds ago that on a computer keyboard in Kenya, they have switched the " key with the @ key. So, if I'm tying to quote something, and I accitdently say @ for some reason, you now know why.

Anyway, Since I last wrote, I have had a roller coaster of emotions. When you land in a foreign country and the first thing you hear is how all the accomidation and plans that you had when getting here have (probably) fallen through, you get worried. So for that, I need to give a formal @thank you@ (hehe) to Gilles, for taking me in this last week or so and introducing me to some very cool people. First he brought me to a meeting of the "Mountain Club of Kenya." Here I got the opportunity to meet a person by the name of Lucas. Lucas and I have now fixed the Mt. Kilimanjaro part of my trip, and instead of climbing Kilimanjaro, I'm making the best of it, and I will give my all at attempting to climb Mt. Kenya. In fact, Mt. Kenya is a much, much, much more difficult climb. It has an elevation of 17, some feet. And instead of being merely a hike to the top, technical climbing is actually required. In fact, 17 pitches of technical climbing is involved. Luckily though, it is only 5.4 climbing (VERY easy, although you still want ropes). So, the plan now is to leave on Wednesday and spend a week on the Mountain. Complete with Acclimitazation days, and training on lower rock walls to see if we can still climb well at altitude. I think both Lucas and I have good heads on our shoulders so we won't let "peak envy" get to us. I will happily give up the peak if weather turns bad or otherwise.

Since the last post, I was able to join Gilles on a trip to the North Eastern part of Kenya. We went to a small out of the way place called “Garrisa.” And wow, as a tourist, I can definitely say that I was able to get off the beaten track here! Garrisa is where the Nomads live. It is a little settlement that is officially in Kenya, but it has Somali influence all around it. In fact, it should be considered to be a part of Somalia entirely. I stayed in a very nice hotel that was located half a degree of latitude away from the equator! And to add to that, I was only approximately 100 miles south of where the U.S. has bombed Somalia. (I’m not exactly up to date on my current events though, so I don’t know if it was the U.S’s only bombing, or one of many. Anyway, from this hotel we drove about 100 km northeast and got to the middle of a desert. In this desert there is a VERY small Nomad settlement of about 100 people total. They gave us a tour of their area, and showed how things work there. They have a pump that is pumping what little water they have from 120 meters under the ground! The biggest problem they face though is if the pump breaks down. The pump was given to them by an outside agency trying to help. But they never helped in teaching people how to use it. So, if it breaks down the Nomads are SOL. That is why Gilles took a trip out there. He was seeing what can be done to fix this problem. And if I haven’t mentioned this yet, Gilles works for USAID, which is part of the U.S. Government. Well, considering I had the strangest feelings running through my head every step of the way, I was very quiet during the stay there, and tried to just take it all in. Part of taking it in included seeing wild Baboons, Shoats, Camels, and some awesome looking buzzards that have a six foot wingspan. Actually the wildlife here is AMAZING! But more of that later.

Actually, I feel this post is getting awfully long and possibly a little boring to read. So with that said, I’m going to just tell you briefly that I also got to go climbing with Luke in the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is the Valley that is being created as the East Horn of Africa is moving away from the rest of the Continent. But yeah, it’s a cool site, and I also saw some Giraffes that were about a mile away! But I saw them nonetheless. So with that said, keep the emails and comments coming! You have no idea how much it makes me smile thinking of all you at home! Also, with all that said, I believe my next post will be in a little more than a week, when I have hopefully conquered Mt. Kenya! Wish me luck! Love you all!