For our weekend adventure, Kenya Krew went to nearby Kitale for a day of activities. They started with Saiwa Swamp National Park, home to the only species of semi-aquatic antelope, the Sitatunga. We set off before the sun rose on the three-hour drive to the swamp near Kitale. The swamp itself is about 9 km long but only about a kilometer wide. Our local guide pointed out wildlife as we walked along the many trails and climbed up to the viewpoints surrounding the open swamp. The highlights included getting to within ten meters of a Sitatunga, watching over twenty different Black and White Colobus monkeys swinging from trees, and catching a glimpse of the rare De Brazza monkey.

Nearby is the Kitale Nature Conservancy, where the main attraction is a collection of deformed animals: cows with three-foot-long horns, cows with really thick hind legs, and some undeterred sheep that didn’t let crippled front legs stop them from hopping around near a stream and enjoying an endless supply of grass. Though at one point the park used to have a two-headed cobra and a three-eyed bull, we couldn’t find them. We passed on the opportunity of a ‘free boat ride’ round a very small pond, but enjoyed a one-mile nature walk, a small zoo of safari animals, and a delicious lunch buffet.

On Saturday, we spent the morning learning more about how we can help the Rift Valley community with meaningful, helpful, and sustainable service projects. Then, after lunch, we had to part ways with our fearless leader, Nic. Nic is returning stateside in order to meet the high school students on the trip with STRIVE Peru. Peru Crew, you’re about to get a good one. Be gentle with him though, he’s quite delicate.

On Sunday we decided on a more relaxed day with a trip to Eldoret via matatu. A matatu is nine-seat van which acts like a bus mixed with a taxi cab. They’re famous for their shockingly low rates (one dollar for a one-hour ride to Eldoret) and the undeterred Kenyan spirit of cramming as many people into one of these vehicles as possible. Matatus are a great way to travel cheaply as long as you don’t mind sharing your seat with two other people.

Eldoret is the fifth largest city in Kenya, and features a busy restaurant and shopping scene. We took the opportunity to stock up on snacks, although the 10 dollar frosted flakes didn’t make into our basket. Lunch was more western food with Fran super excited at being able to have a soy latte! Eliud Kipchoge, the world’s greatest marathoner, sponsors a running store in town, but we’ll have to come back later to visit, as the store is closed on Sundays.

We’ve enjoyed our fun weekend bonding together, but are even more excited for our future weekend trips. The STRIVE highschoolers arrive at the HATC on Tuesday, and we look forward to more adventures with them!

 

Tunane tena,

Catriona, Fran, Cam and Colin aka Kenya Krew