A couple of days after our arrival in Kisii it was my 30th
birthday. I wasn't quite sure what to expect since Noela and I had just
settled into our rooms at the St. Vincent Center and we had only met the
staff at the UW-KEMRI office in Kisii the day before. But the day was
full of surprises.
In the morning, I awoke to find a birthday card and small present from Noela waiting just outside my room. The cook at St. Vincent's made me an extra spicy Spanish omelet for breakfast. And then Jackie, our dynamic powerhouse of a project mentor at UW-KEMRI, arranged a lovely surprise party at lunch with the rest of the office staff. There was of course lots of sweet milky tea, but also popcorn, spicy chips, cookies, fruit, and even samosas. They sang me "Happy Birthday" and presented me with a ridiculously large card with a bald eagle on it (not sure if that was intentionally America-themed).
But the very best surprise of all came in the evening. The day before, Jackie had suggested that Noela and I go on a trip over the weekend to do some "experience sharing" and work on our research project proposal. She said that the Kakamega Rainforest, which is about 3 hours northwest of Kisii via the town of Kisumu, would be the perfect place for us to get away from it all. This struck me as pretty amusing because I had just "gotten away" from Seattle to Nairobi 5 days ago and then got away from Nairobi to Kisii a mere 24 hours ago. But Jackie's enthusiasm is infectious, and Noela & I were up for anything, so off we went!
We set off in the afternoon in one of the hospital's 4x4 jeeps down the very long and bumpy road through Kisumu to Kakamega. In Kakamega, we were met by Dr. Nyongesa, the Director of Public Health for Kisii, who is one of the senior staff at the hospital. His home is in Kakamega and he very kindly gave us a ride into the forest to our final destination.
After several miles driving down dirt roads filled with gaping potholes heading further and further away from civilization, I was beginning to get a little worried about what we would find at the end of the road. I mentally prepared myself for a weekend spent in a tent with a dirt floor, lots of mosquitos, and no running water.
But when we finally arrived at the Rondo Retreat Center, we were greeted by this:
We stayed in this enchanting cottage for the whole weekend. After putting our bags away, we were served late afternoon tea and chocolate cake in the cozy parlor in front of the fire. The entire place was frozen in time from the British colonial era, and somehow perfectly preserved in the middle of the Kakamega Rainforest. It started off as a sawmill in the 1940s, became an orphanage for awhile, and now caters to eco-tourism. And as we met several of the other guests over the course of the weekend, we discovered that nearly every person was an ex-pat or visiting physician taking refuge from the hectic atmosphere of Nairobi, Eldoret, or Mombasa.
Above is a photo of Noela & me taken by our nature guide Job after our early morning hike into the jungle and up to the top of this hill where we had panoramic views of the surrounding rainforest. It was absolutely lovely and we were lucky enough to see all 3 types of monkeys that populate the area: colobus, blue and red-tailed. Here's a photo of the black & white colobus monkeys:
After our hike, we got to work on our research project and came up with our proposal by the end of the weekend. More on that in the next post. Tutaonana!
In the morning, I awoke to find a birthday card and small present from Noela waiting just outside my room. The cook at St. Vincent's made me an extra spicy Spanish omelet for breakfast. And then Jackie, our dynamic powerhouse of a project mentor at UW-KEMRI, arranged a lovely surprise party at lunch with the rest of the office staff. There was of course lots of sweet milky tea, but also popcorn, spicy chips, cookies, fruit, and even samosas. They sang me "Happy Birthday" and presented me with a ridiculously large card with a bald eagle on it (not sure if that was intentionally America-themed).
But the very best surprise of all came in the evening. The day before, Jackie had suggested that Noela and I go on a trip over the weekend to do some "experience sharing" and work on our research project proposal. She said that the Kakamega Rainforest, which is about 3 hours northwest of Kisii via the town of Kisumu, would be the perfect place for us to get away from it all. This struck me as pretty amusing because I had just "gotten away" from Seattle to Nairobi 5 days ago and then got away from Nairobi to Kisii a mere 24 hours ago. But Jackie's enthusiasm is infectious, and Noela & I were up for anything, so off we went!
We set off in the afternoon in one of the hospital's 4x4 jeeps down the very long and bumpy road through Kisumu to Kakamega. In Kakamega, we were met by Dr. Nyongesa, the Director of Public Health for Kisii, who is one of the senior staff at the hospital. His home is in Kakamega and he very kindly gave us a ride into the forest to our final destination.
After several miles driving down dirt roads filled with gaping potholes heading further and further away from civilization, I was beginning to get a little worried about what we would find at the end of the road. I mentally prepared myself for a weekend spent in a tent with a dirt floor, lots of mosquitos, and no running water.
But when we finally arrived at the Rondo Retreat Center, we were greeted by this:
We stayed in this enchanting cottage for the whole weekend. After putting our bags away, we were served late afternoon tea and chocolate cake in the cozy parlor in front of the fire. The entire place was frozen in time from the British colonial era, and somehow perfectly preserved in the middle of the Kakamega Rainforest. It started off as a sawmill in the 1940s, became an orphanage for awhile, and now caters to eco-tourism. And as we met several of the other guests over the course of the weekend, we discovered that nearly every person was an ex-pat or visiting physician taking refuge from the hectic atmosphere of Nairobi, Eldoret, or Mombasa.
Above is a photo of Noela & me taken by our nature guide Job after our early morning hike into the jungle and up to the top of this hill where we had panoramic views of the surrounding rainforest. It was absolutely lovely and we were lucky enough to see all 3 types of monkeys that populate the area: colobus, blue and red-tailed. Here's a photo of the black & white colobus monkeys:
After our hike, we got to work on our research project and came up with our proposal by the end of the weekend. More on that in the next post. Tutaonana!
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