Out Of Africa (Aug. 16-19)

At the time of this writing (and barring any complications), there are only two hours remaining in my Kenyan adventure.

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day in terms of getting footage for the documentary. We did a couple of brief interviews and shot a bit more scenic and supportive footage. That said, the highlight (or at least the good deed of the day) was rescuing a cow from an unfortunate predicament.

While we were taking a break from our not-so-hectic day, Gage was the first to notice a nearby cow walking with a pail stuck over the front of its head. Yes, it sounds a little amusing and, well … it looked pretty amusing. However, it was also clear that the cow in question was not nearly as amused. I don’t know who the cow belonged to but there were no locals in the area so we sprung into action. In actual fact, we slowly approached the cow so as not to startle it – we don’t exactly look like locals! The cow remained calm, seemingly sensing we were there to help. Moments later I dislodged the handle that was pinning the pail to the cow. From there the cow was free to return to the fields of Kenya. As it did, it nodded at me and mooed something in Swahili, I can only assume it was “Thanks”. Either that or “Eat more chicken”. Mission: Accomplished. I’m now considering adding “Cow Whisperer” to my resume of little used talents. My only regret is that I wish I had taken a picture of the cow but, sadly, I didn’t.

By Wednesday afternoon, we had essentially shot all we were going to shoot for the documentary. Not the WHOLE documentary. This year’s Kenyan visit was only intended as a scouting mission to get familiar with the area and the people. But we thought it would make sense to get some footage while we were here. And we did.

That said, we still didn’t have much footage of the town of Wote itself. So, with one of Lucy’s employees as a guide, we wandered around Wote for a couple of hours. Our guide, Charles, was entertaining and he seemed to enjoy telling many of the people he knew along the way that Gage and I were his cousins. Needless to say, no one believed him. Although, they too thought it was amusing.

We went to a couple of markets, we saw where Charles lives, and we wandered to the nearby riverbed where many of the locals get their water. It was an interesting sight as the riverbed was dry. The locals have to dig into the riverbed in order to get water from the area. They then scoop the water into plastic containers for transport (via donkeys) to their homes. For the record, Charles told us that the riverbed is only seasonally dry. But the dry season is MUCH longer. Apparently there is only water in the river in October and April. I’m sure it would be something to see.

For our final night in Wote, we had a very nice dinner at one of the more posh hotels in Wote. Quite the contrast to the water gathering we witnessed only a few hours earlier at the riverbed. Apparently the hotel in question is where many of the NGOs tend to stay. Apparently those that come to Wote to work on ending poverty prefer to stay in relative luxury while they do so.

Our final morning in Kenya began much like the others. It was sunny. Dry. Warm. And there was another full breakfast. There were also more mosquitos this morning than when we first arrived so perhaps we’re leaving at the right time.

Lucy came to pick us shortly before noon to begin the three hour ride back to Nairobi. The “us” in that statement would be Gage, Christina, Mary, and me. Mary is Christina’s daughter and Christina is a friend of Gage and another instrumental person behind the documentary. I’m mentioning them now because I just realized I don’t think I mentioned them earlier which I clearly should have considering we’ve spent the past ten days together. Did I mention it was a great ten days?

Even with the occasionally heavy (and crazy) traffic as we neared Nairobi, we arrived at the airport well in advance of our flight. But that was by choice. It was partially motivated by the fact that both Gage and I felt we’d rather wait in the airport than wait in the hotel in Wote. Christina and Mary aren’t flying back to Philadelphia until Sunday so they’ll be spending another day in Nairobi. Of course, we figured that getting to the airport early would allow us to take advantage of the free WiFi at the airport. We figured wrong.

We cleared security without issue – although, the hooks on my panniers did cause a bit of confusion. But only mild confusion. From there we made our way to the Java House to relax, grab some food, and pass several hours. That’s when we discovered that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport only provides 15 minutes of free WiFi. 15. One-Five. Needless to say, we weren’t impressed. On the flip side, it’s not like we had any urgent need to be connected. Instead we ate, drank, and talked about, well … a whole lot of stuff. We had a lot of time to fill.

Even without WiFi I did do a little bit of work on the computer – mainly transferring footage from my camera to Gage’s hard drive. While I did that, Gage went for a short walk to check out the Duty Free shop – one of those things you tend to do when you have a LOT of time at the airport. When she returned she was kind enough to do so with a box of KitKat Singles in her hands. After 20 years of friendship, she knows me so well. Side note: Kenyan KitKat tastes different than its North American counterpart. The chocolate is much more … well, chocolatey. And much less waxy. The chocolate actually melts in your hands – which is impressive considering the short amount of time chocolate tends to spend in my hands.

Fast-forward a few hours and we’re now getting ready to board the plane bound for Amsterdam. Even with our long wait at the airport today, I’m still amazed at how quickly my time in Africa has gone. I guess that’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to returning to Amsterdam and figuring out what my plan is beyond Amsterdam but at the moment I can’t help but think that I’m going to miss Kenya. A lot.