Work and some Play

My Apartment is 2nd floor at left


Roadside shops are all over the place


A food Kiosk


Another Kiosk


Jambo!...and the next installment is here. My actual work day is normally 7 hours as we start at 8 am and get out at 4:00 pm, if we can. But, what makes it long is the commute in traffic, especially going home. That’s why it’s important to get out by 4:00. Depending on which of the 2 offices, or the factory, I work from that day it will usually take between 45 min. to 1½ hrs. to get there, which isn’t too bad time wise, but weird time/distance wise. From the Apt. to the closest office is 5 km (3.1 mi.), to the factory is 15 km (9.3 mi.), and to the other office is 45 km. (28 mi.). However, the reverse commute is from 1½ - 4 hrs., as the traffic is brutal. The far office is especially bad, as we must go through the town center to get to the Apt. It’s a double edged sword on where to work from since the far office is better to get stuff done since there’s not as many people to interrupt your day…but then you deal with bad traffic. The close office is hectic as that is where most of the ‘business managers’ work from. The factory is also a pain because…it’s a factory and factories have constant fires to put out that can’t wait until your meeting or other work is done. In spite of the traffic, it’s still very exciting to be here.

This weekend I took in a few more sights and sounds (birds that is). I also found the American Embassy, the new one…remember the original was blown up by a terrorist bomb back in 1998! It’s now away from the city center and near the plush American Expatriate compound…huge houses that remind you of an expensive neighborhood in any affluent US town. There is also the ‘Village Market’ nearby, which is a very nice “mall” with upscale stores for browsing, nice restaurants, a bowling alley with foosball and pool tables, and a cinema. Then you go to the outskirts of Nairobi and see the complete antithesis…slums that have ‘living spaces.’ I can’t think of another way to describe the places. It makes the word slum appealing in comparison. Boy are we a spoiled society.

I joined Nature Kenya, which is connected to the Kenya National Museum. It cost a whopping 1,000 Kshs (Kenya Shillings), <$13.00, for a one year membership. This allows you unlimited access to all of Kenya’s National Museum sights as well as free participation in their various sponsored activities, the first of which I took advantage of last Sunday. One Sunday each month a group of birder’s of various skill levels get together and go on a trip somewhere about ½ a days journey away from Nairobi. That gives you time to return during daylight…very important here! Our target spot was the Oloregasailie Prehistoric Site. About 90 Km (56 mi.) away, way out nowhere in tribal Maasai land. In the 1940's the Leakey's were out here and made several archeological finds (handaxes and stone tools) supposedly attributable to our precursor Homo erectus (1/2 million yrs ago). We stopped along the way from and to the site, and at the site to do 'birding.' I saw about 65 birds, of which 50 were new (also called 'life birds'). There were about 20 people in the group, and I made some local friends.

The pictures I took won't upload as they take up too much memory, so I'll decrease the the size to get more pics of cool stuff for you to ogle over!

Kwaheli