Kakamega

I made it to Kakamega Forest!! I left on Monday at about 10:00 in the morning, and we arrived at about 7:00 pm that night. We only made two short stops on the way. One to grab something for lunch (I got bread and juice, yum) and the next to just stretch. The drive was supposed to only take about 7 hours. But the conditions of the roads really slow you down. There was a lot of construction, so the roads were completely torn up, with huge potholes and rocks in the way. Thank goodness for seatbelts! But my driver, Kilonzo, is very good.

I came to Kakamega with Kilonzo, who is doing some work here also, and a girl named Bridget from Nigeria. Thankfully, neither name is hard to pronounce J Plus, it is kind of fun to say the name Bridget again. Reminds me of home!

Today (Tuesday), I went to the field. The drive into the forest was beautiful. The people here live very simple lives. They live in mud huts with thatched rooftops. Also, bicycles and motor bikes  are a major thing here! Some corners look like a motorcycle show with how many are lined up. Both bicycles and motor bikes have seats on the back to give people lifts. The women here also do a lot of work. They carry huge amounts of firewood on their heads, work the fields, and sell at the roadside stands.

Upon arriving to the site I am working at, I was able to set up my experiment and talk to Mark (who owns the apiary) and his fellow coworkers. I told them about Nebraska and my thoughts on Kenya. They introduced me to a lot of new fruits, including passion fruit and another that I can’t pronounce! They were shocked to find out I hadn’t ever had mango till I came here.

Upon returning to my hotel, I was able to swim some laps in the pool. This makes me incredibly happy, because not only is it great exercise, but swimming calms and relaxes me, so it was greatly appreciated to swim J

I think I will really enjoy my time in Kakamega. I have already made friends with the staff at the hotel I am staying at, and the bed is absolutely amazing to sleep on. I can definitely see why this is a 3 star hotel now