So the last week has been great. My two worlds have officially collided now, my American world and Kenyan world, with my parents being here. They arrived last Friday night and we woke up super early on Saturday morning and did a safari for half a day in Nairobi National Park. We saw zebras, giraffes, ostrich, gazelles, impalas, hartebeest, wildebeest, etc. It was pretty sweet. Sunday we spend most of the day at the Maasai market buying crafts, jewelery, carvings... all the fun Kenyan stuff. We had some Ethiopian food for lunch and shopped more afterwards haha. Monday we took a walk through Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa. A friend of the people we are staying with took us and I think it was definitely an eye-opening experience for the fam.
Monday night we took the train to Mombasa, which of course left 2 hours late and took 16 hours. My mom had food poisoning so she threw up most of the way and was really sick, but is totally fine now. Kenzie, Dad and I did some shopping Tuesday afternoon while Mom recovered. Wednesday morning we went to the Akamba Handicraft Center which is a cooperative that employs over 10,000 people from the Akamba tribe who are trained in woodworking and carving. You basically just walk around to all the little pavilions where the artisans are working and watch what they're doing and ask questions and everything. All the stuff they make is put in a show room and sold to tourists. There is also a show room for Kenyan residents which is about half the price of the tourist one, so of course me being a Kenyan, I talked to them and we were able to shop in the residents-only store. Needless to say we bought A LOT of wooden stuff.
We shopped more in town that afternoon. Mombasa has great cloths, materials and leather sandals. We stayed at a great guest house right in town that was recently renovated so it was very nice and clean and had a restaurant/bar/club attached which was so convenient. New Year's was low key because we had to wake up so early the next day.
Thursday morning we got up and went down to the ferry (the city of Mombasa is an island). We crossed the water and got on a matatu to go to Bodo, the village I did a homestay in when I was a student. The ride was about an hour and at one point we estimate there were 24 people in the 16 passenger car... pretty sweet. We got to Bodo and my American family got to meet my Bodo family. It was quite exciting! My Bodo father and brother and friend took us on a boat ride on the Indian Ocean and we also went down some fresh water stream to see some crocodiles, but unfortunately we couldn't find any. The boat ride as awesome though. We also had two meals in Bodo. Chapati, donut type things, coconut beans and team for breakfast... Red snapper in coconut sauce and coconut rice for lunch. The food was amazing. It was cool for my mom to see the Bodo primary school (being a teacher) and we also got to see someone climb the pal tree to get coconuts and we got to drink from the fresh coconuts. We took many pictures....
We got back to Mombasa in the evening and took the overnight train again back to Nairobi today. Were leaving early in the morning for Kisumu, so they will finally be able to see where I live and what I'm doing. So far so good, besides the minor food poisoning.
More from "The Moores do Kenya" coming soon....
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Hey Kels,
I'm so glad that you have your family there for a visit so they can see what you are writing about. It sounds like you are working hard, but really enjoying yourself too ... what an awesome experience! We are going out to Portland next week to see Lauren. She has really enjoyed having your extended family "adopt" her. I hope we get to meet them while we are visiting! Stay well and safe and love to all the Moore's!
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