I am just back to Maralal from two fabulous weeks in Samburu North.  It has been a long dusty drive back from Ngurunit today with two tire changes and lots of rolling in the dirt under the car.  Thus a bit exhausted to write anything really coherent or interesting now.  So instead, will start sharing a series of journal type writings I was doing while wandering around in the bush.  Will post them over the next few days one at a time so not too inundating or confusing.  Here is the first one - then I'm off for a good rest....

13 February 2017

Well, my intentions of writing regularly and recording actions, thoughts and insights even while not having access to the web haven’t really carried through.  Even when I do have access I seem not to get to it.  But from today, sitting in Baragoi waiting for car repairs to be done, I will start…but before the details of how I came to be in Baragoi with a broken car (not my car) I will digress to the crazy week of my Nairobi/Nanyuki trip and back to Maralal.  Lots of fun along the way and lots of visitors coming along. 

After getting back to Maralal from Ngurunit the last time, a few days later I had the plan to travel to Nairobi to see daughter Naiboku for parent’s day.  The simple plan of down and back again sort of turned into an epic journey, as many of my trips seem to do. In fact, I seem to still be on an extension of that epic journey sitting here in Baragoi thinking of its beginnings.  As I said before, more on that later.  Now I am thinking of  Friday morning the 3^rd February, 10 days ago….

Morning saw my friend Sissa fly into town and arrive for breakfast in my Maralal home with her two doggie buddies.  This was exciting for my pack as they are regular visitors and actual family members of my dog Mouse.  Mr Foo is her father and Minnow is her brother.  They certainly do have a great time when they have their little family meet ups.  I have been to many a Sissa family activity in the past and when people would ask how I am related, the answer would be “Laura is related to us through the dogs..”.  This was taken in with amusement and the question asker would move away thinking we are all a bit crazy from too much African sun.  But it is true I have found.  There is as much connection through the dogs in Kenya as there is relationships between the communities here.  When asked where I got my Rhodesian Ridgeback I answer not just with the names of the people I got him from, but also the fact that the woman is the sister of the wife of the son of the people from such and such ranch who is related to the owners of such and such dog who is also the uncle of my little dog whose mother was also owned by the same owners as the mother of Bruin and I found her because of a friend who is married to a cousin of the husband of the sister of the wife of the owners of both mothers of two of my dogs and so on and so forth.  But I always end it with pointing out that the father of Mouse is Mr Foo so that makes me practically related to Sissa and her whole family, so there. Anyway, after that digression, I had a wonderful breakfast with my ‘family’, dogs included, then we each took off to our separate destinations. Sissa up to her farm on the hill above Maralal and I heading South to Nairobi with Mouse to see Naiboku. 

On the way to Nairobi I had a lovely night stop with friend Anne and her son Stephen in Gilgil.  As well as a social stop, it also had a practical purpose.  Since January 1^st this year, I have engaged a new Manager for Salato Camp in Ngurunit and we are making a real effort to get the lodgings up and running again.  Stephen had taken a lot of videos while he and his mother were staying with us in Ngurunit over the New Year.  To promote my camp effort, I asked him to help me make a short promotional video.  Part of my stop over was to see how it was going.  Within a few days after that, he sent me the final version which is amazing.  I have given it to a tour company friend in Nairobi and hopefully will have some business from it in the course of this year.  It should be up on the web somewhere soon so will one day share the link for that here when I know it. 

Anyway, on to Nairobi and springing Naiboku from school at 7:45 am Saturday morning which meant I was up and driving by 5:30 am.  The one major issue I have with Kenyan boarding schools is the lack of openness and the recognition that parents should be a part of a student’s school life too whenever need be.  I’ve harped on that before so will not get into it again.  Despite the difficulty of getting her out of school, we had a great weekend and interesting times.  On Sunday while going to a holistic doctor appointment, we stumbled upon a very popular AA meeting.  As our car was blocked in by so many others in the parking lot, we decided to be patient and just wait for it to be over.  I met a very interesting gentleman coming out of the meeting.  A returned Peace Corps Volunteer who never returned, sort of like me.  He had been in Tanzania and eventually married a Kenyan and has been in Kenya 52 years.  It was wonderful chatting with him.  There are so many of us Americans who have gone out to explore the world in various ways and never really go back.  We make a home in a new place.  As a U2 song says “It’s not where you’re born but where you belong”.  But we still have a great concern for our ‘home’ country.  Looking ‘in’ from the ‘outside’, what has been happening the last few months seems so unbelievable.  As another U2 song says “Where is the Love? Where is the Peace”.  It was good to be able to discuss my concerns with another like-minded long ago American.  I simply pray that one day America will get back on track again and remember its true foundations. 

I keep digressing and now I need to go.  The story of why I am in Baragoi will have to wait.  I am in in-between land from Maralal to Ngurunit and I will leave the details hanging…as I am….till next time.