Mt. Kenya Climb

I successfully reached the 16,355 foot peak of Mt. Kenya. Our stellar team of eight Americans, two Kenyans and one Canadian climbed for three days across spectacular terrain to reach the peak.

The air was thin and the chill wind cut through us like glass, but we managed to prevail against all of Mother Nature's forces. The landscape reminded me of Patagonia, with a dash of the Utah Canyonlands, but populated with trees and plants from a Dr. Seuss book.

In following with standard protocol, our expedition hired five porters to carry gear and cook the food. I had lugged my frame pack and camping equipment all the way to Kenya and, to the porter's surprise, I was not about to let someone else carry my stuff. We hiked to two campsites before our final ascent. The campsites consisted of crude huts that were packed with bunk beds. Nevertheless, they managed to keep the cold at bay.

Paul, our Kenyan guide, was a professional marathoner from the famous Kalenjin tribe of Kenya. The Kalenjins produce a vast majority of the top Kenyan runners and Olympic medal winners. Paul completes a marathon in about 2hrs 20min and had little trouble hiking the mountain. The rest of our team included three Americans from Georgia. Their accents brought back good memories of my days in Nashville.

Other than the occasional fat Rock Hyrax, we saw very little wildlife. On our hike to the bottom, our guide noticed Jaguar prints and trailing hoof prints of the deer-like Dikdik. An angry bull elephant knocked an enormous tree down just as we turned a corner, but stomped away before I could get a picture. Climbing Mt. Kenya has given me the confidence to climb Kilimanjaro or maybe something in the Himalayas.

Back in action

So sorry to all of you for the delay in posting! I did not realize that people were actually reading this.

After my break in the bitter cold of Colorado, I am now back in Africa. The same beautiful weather. Plenty of poverty to alleviate. And the same long days of work under the whip of the Grassroots Business Fund. I managed to watch the US Inauguration ceremonies from a crowded bar (it was late at night here). The Kenyans were running in the streets waiving big American flags in celebration. Other highlights for me include joining an ultimate Frisbee league and taking official Swahili lessons

The K-Rep director and I attended another FSA launch ceremony this weekend in a village outside Nairobi called Kasikeu. Once again I was greeted with celebrity status and called “Obama” by the all locals. The K-Rep Bank employees think I give them good PR… I feel like a mascot.

I included a few videos from the entertainment and ribbon cutting ceremony. As much as I tried to avoid giving another speech, a group of old women demanded that I say a few words. Somehow my Swahili has progressed to the point where I was able to tell everyone what country I was from, where I work, and that Barak Obama wishes them all the very best.

Aleke, the district officer and ONato

Signing the official register

One exciting initiative I am working on is a partnership with my company and an online lending group called Kiva.org. This arrangement could deliver some new loan capital to all of our FSAs. Check back in a few months and hopefully you will be able to loan as little as $25 to all these friendly villages from my pictures.

Ribbon Cutting


Some local dances




Aleke Dondo from K-Rep motivates the crowd

Skiing in Kenya

Not really skiing in Africa. These pictures are from Colorado.

I survived several months in “Nairobbery” with out any incidents of theft but the first weekend in the US, my skis were stolen. Fortunately, the thief was apprehended when he tried to sell my skis to a shop outside of town. Not too wise.

Other highlights of my vacation included a bout with E. coli (always fun) and a weekend of extreme skiing in the deep snow of Silverton, CO.

It is about time for me to leave this -5 degree weather and return to the sunshine of Kenya.

Amboseli

Friday was Kenya’s Independence Day. The Kenyans call it Jamhuri day. My compatriots Craig and Crystal invited me yet again to chase down some wildlife in Amboseli, Kenya’s most pastoral game park at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The cloud-shrouded, 19,340 ft peak (which I hope to climb in August), gives the park a majestic backdrop.

This time we decided to take our tents and camp for two nights in the park. The park is much more exciting when you give the animals a chance to eat you at night.

Just five minutes after passing the west gate of the park, our car was immediately surrounded by a family of seven elephants. Normally dangerous, the Amboseli elephants are comfortable around cars and can even be a little too friendly.

We dropped into the posh Serena Amboseli Lodge a few times for some lunch or coffee on the picturesque veranda.

The rest of the time we spent driving through the rough back roads of the park in search of lions and cheetahs. No cheetahs this time but we made friends with plenty elephants, hippos, zebra, hyenas and a few lazy lions. The real thrill came when we returned to our electric-fenced campsite for a night of rest. Monkeys ransacked our site each day but fortunately never made it into our padlocked tents. The terrifying nocturnal roars and cries were chilling enough to keep anyone from sleeping for a few days. Craig and Crystal bought local produce and cooked some gourmet dinners for me over the campfire each night.

The local Masai people are indigenous to Amboseli and recently regained ownership of its management. As a result, the stick wielding, shawl wrapped Masai often came politely come through our campsite. They seemed pleased just to be speaking and even invited us to see their villages (for a hefty fee). The Masai still drink cow’s blood and kill lions so I decided to stay on friendly terms with all of them.

In the next few weeks I will be in the US for Christmas and not posting much.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nat.robinson&target=ALBUM&id=5281229889379200817&authkey=d-y5AjaHVrU&feat=email

Mombasa

Thanks to all of you for posting comments. Sorry I can not respond to them sooner!

I decided it was high time to take a short vacation after working so much. Unable to find a flight with my friends to Lamu, I booked a flight to Mombasa for the weekend to check out the coast of Kenya by myself. Mombasa holds a special place because we were denied entry with Semester at Sea in 2001 after the September 11^th attacks. The Kenyans will tell you that the pace of life in Mombasa is a little slower (probably due to the heat) and the coast is the location of the true Swahili culture. I can attest to both. The beaches north of Mombasa do not match up to those of Virgin Gorda, Barbados, Hawaii, Brazil, Costa Rica or the Seychelles, but then, I have high standards for beaches. My guide told me to visit the southern coast next time. For a tall American, blending in was tough and I was taken for a tourist by every street peddler in the city. The constant harassment and scamming usually does not bother me but here it detracted from the experience. Some of the trip highlights include, a walking tour of the Mombasa island, a day in the WhiteSands resort and a boat trip on a refurbished Arabian dhow. It was tempting to join up with a band of Somali pirates but I chose to return to Nairobi.

Here are more pictures…

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nat.robinson&target=ALBUM&id=5275206951436060929&authkey=Z7fxekrsg5w&feat=email

Mt. Kenya Dairy Trip

Happy Thanksgiving! No turkey or pilgrims in Kenya. I even had to work today.

K-Rep sent me to visit some rural milk chilling plants to evaluate their future investment potential. The milk chilling plants are supported by the East African Dairy Development Project (EADD), will provide thousands of jobs and create massive milk revenues for rural farmers. Like the village banks, the chilling plants are owned and operated by the farmers who receive nice dividend payments when times are good.

A team joined me from a fantastic organization called TechnoServe which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is involved in setting up these milk chilling plants. TechnoServe provides the technical assistance and training involved in running a chilling plant.

We drove up the slopes of Mt. Kenya near Nyeri and met with a group of dairy farmers in the lush valleys of the Central Province. K-Rep is much less involved in this program (at this point) so I did not have any opportunities to give speeches or do some dancing…

More pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nat.robinson/MtKenyaAndNairobi

Nairobi Slums

Last weekend, my friend from K-Rep Bank drove me around some of the worst slums in Nairobi. These places we could only visit during the middle of the day on a Sunday. My digital camera was making my friend nervous so I could not take as many pictures as I liked.


We stopped and chatted with a local mechanic and shopkeeper to hear stories about how many people are killed in certain streets and that you can arrange a murder for around 3,000 Kshs or $43. We actually had to pay a tax the slum lord just to drive through his neighborhood. They do not get too many Americans walking around their neighborhoods and I attracted plenty of attention. Although, at no point in my time in Nairobi have I any incidents of being threatened.
It was still a fun experience to some of the rough parts of the city.