Colorado River, Istanbul and Juhudi

Colorado was warm, beautiful and full of good times. The fishing was
a little slow. My brother and I successfully navigated a pristine 40
mile piece of water in our drift boat along the upper Colorado River. The stretch included the passage of a wild rapid called Rodeo- an experience I do not need to repeat in the near future. It was also comforting to be camping in an area where only three animals might be deadly (bear, mountain lion, rattle snake) instead of 35+ around Kenya.

On my flight back to Africa I made a stopover in Turkey to visit
Istanbul. The majestic roof-top vistas of the Bosporus River and prominent
architecture of the mosques will remain etched in my mind for some time.

I think Istanbul has just made its way into my top 10 lists of favorite
cities. Since Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia, I managed to
set foot on four continents in just four days.

During the last weekend before my official work start-date I took a
quick trip to Diani beach on the southern coast of Kenya. This time of
year yields the best weather at the coast and I took advantage of the
superb diving in the Indian Ocean. My friend and I rented mountain
bikes and managed to get stranded with four flat tires and no cash in
a little village about 15 miles from the hotel. A small group of
young boys evaluated our plight and then dug deep in their pockets to
produce the $1.50 needed to repair our tires. This money was probably
their month savings but they were eager to donate it to help some
complete strangers. Someday I hope to return the favor.

I am now starting my first week as the new CFO at Juhudi Kilimo.
The expectations are well beyond any of my capabilities but
I am excited to begin. We have an aggressive financing plan with
hopes of bringing in $2 million by the end of November.
Perhaps we will find some investors and donors as generous as the
village kids near Diani beach?

Kilimanjaro

I successfully made it to the top of the 19,341 foot summit of Kilimanjaro. It was a rough climb. My group chose the Machame route (also known as the whiskey route) which is one of the more challenging climbs to the top.

I was graciously joined by a fantastic Canadian family and a professor from the UK. Our group of five climbers required an entourage of 15 porters, two guides and one cook to carry us up the mountain.

The scene certainly brought images of the Colonial Era expeditions in Africa. I thought I had signed up for the budget tour but that even came with the full floral display on our dinner table which the porters took to each campsite.

Other groups on the mountain had as many as 200 people in their company with house-sized tents, elegant meals, gas generators and flat screen TVs. Each night was like staying in a tented village. Not quite the camping I had in mind.

The physical and mental challenges of the climb were intense and at many points I seriously questioned my ability to continue. It took us five days to climb and one day to descend back to the town of Moshi.

The more time people spend on the ascent the better their chances are of avoiding altitude sickness.

The ranger station at 14,000ft sold cold beer.

The summit of Kilimanjaro was one of the most spectacular views I have experienced in my life. It made the whole journey worth all the troubles.

Now that I have mastered the two tallest peaks in Africa, I will set my sights on the Americas, Asia or Antarctica.

One more job update:

I was recently given an enticing offer by a UNDP organization called AMSCO that places expatriate managers in companies across Africa. I will now be working under AMSCO instead of Accenture with my new role as General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Juhudi Kilimo. AMSCO provides all the benefits of a UN employee such as diplomatic immunity and tax free salary. I will still be in Nairobi until December unless our team can finally raise some money to keep the company going.

I will be in the US for the next two weeks which includes a long fishing trip on the Colorado River.

Job Update

Here is a long awaited post...

Job
I managed to convince the Grassroots Business Fund to pay me through Accenture to continue and work with K-Rep until December. This is nice because I can continue doing the work I love and get paid this time. If our new company, Juhudi Kilimo, lives up to its potential we will transform the agricultural sector of Africa and secure jobs and food for millions of people.

My next task with this company is to design a new business that finances “rural enterprises” or SMEs (small and medium enterprises) like the chilling plants I was talking about earlier. There is a massive demand for this type of financial service and we only need to convince a few innovative investors or donors that we can do it profitably. If we do, the potential social, developmental and financial returns are spectacular.

Samburu
Our most recent national park adventure was up north to Samburu near the town of Isiolo. It was the usual crew from the US Embassy and Accenture but this time we were joined by a free-lance photographer who put me to shame on any kind of photo-taking endeavor.



We have a few too-close encounters with the local elephants and I was able to snag a few good videos too.


Fly fishing
I finally caught my first trout in Africa. It was a puny little brown but good to break in the continent. My most recent fly fishing student, Craig, somehow pulled in five fish to my one on the trip.






Kilimanjaro
My trip to the summit of Kilimanjaro begins on July 31st and will take about 6 days from the town of Moshi. Should be fun.

Tsavo and Watamu

Highlights from the last month include a trip to Tsavo National Park where the movie about the man-eating lions, The Ghost and the Darkness, takes place.

We did not see any man-eaters but we were chased down by an angry mother rhino and her child. Fortunately, the rhino was intimidated by our Toyota Rav4 and backed down. The animals are much wilder in Tsavo than the other Kenyan parks.

Normally leopards are of the most difficult animals to see in the wild due to their shy nature and nocturnal feeding habits. My friends and I are becoming excellent game trackers and managed to get some close-up shots of this juvenile leopard.

Tsavo reminded me of parts of Boulder, Colorado.

I joined a few friends from Accenture on a trip over the Easter weekend to the coastal town of Watamu. Tourist season never happened due to the economy and we managed to get a fantastic rate at a beach-side Italian villa for the weekend.

I am not going to post the name of this place because of alleged ties to the mafia but here are some pictures.

Our group spent a day trying out careers in pirating aboard a wooden dhow.

The rest of my time is spent doling out work for the Grassroots Business Fund in our efforts to launch a new rural financial services company we are calling, Juhudi Kilimo. When we finally get this thing off the ground in the coming months, I know it will have a tremendous impact on rural poverty in Kenya.

With the spring months on their way, I thought it would be high time to return to the US for a few weeks. I will be attending a wedding in CA and Workshop in DC with the Grassroots Business Fund titled: Metrics from the Ground Up. The outcome of this trip home will likely determine my future in Kenya.