A weekend in the big city

After the last month of working very long hours trying to put together our input to the strategy meeting we had last week (as well as the preparations for hosting the meeting), I really needed a change of scenery. So when everybody was heading back to Nairobi on the Friday after the meeting I begged to come along. Luckily there was one more space in one of the vehicles and my food sec counterpart in another base offered to share a room with me if there wasn’t enough space at the house in Nairobi.

The weekend was pretty much jammed full of activities – just the way I like it. After arriving in Nairobi in the afternoon three of us went to the gym – actually, they went to the gym and I used the track. Later that evening four of us went out for sushi, complete with two bottles of wine (it’s nice to have some company to enjoy a bottle of wine with!), after which we met up with some other people at a bar for some dancing. Mojitos were suggested and I couldn’t possibly think of anything which sounded better than a cool minty dink. The night continued on to another club and into the early hours of the morning.

The start of the next day was a bit challenging but I managed to persevere with the help of a good breakfast and poking fun at one of the guys who received a somewhat bizarre text message from a (seemingly) normal girl the second club the night before. That afternoon a few of us went to Nairobi National Park – a game reserve just on the outskirts of the city. I saw my fist ever zebra which I was very excited about! We also saw a range of antelope-type animals from little tiny ones the size of a small dog to the largest kind there is. And waaaay off in the distance we saw a rhino. At first it looked like a big grey rock (even with binoculars), until it moved and then it looked like a *moving* big grey rock.

Right after the game park we rushed to the other side of the city to see a movie, had a nice dinner at a tapas restaurant, and then at midnight had to find a 24 hour grocery store to pick up the items we needed for the activity the following day: climbing a volcano in the Rift Valley.

The drive to the Rift Valley started the day off on a very good foot. As you leave Nairobi driving towards the northwest, the valley opens up before you wide and deep. That morning there was a lot of haze in the air which made it that much more atmospheric. Eventually we could see a large cone-shaped mountain in the centre of the valley which was our destination. From base to summit was only around 400-500m elevation gain, but the loose scree and narrow gullies made some spots a bit challenging. Eventually we all made it up to the top (all 11 of us) and most of us did the circuit around the top of the caldera. It seemed pretty surreal to be hiking up a volcano while spotting giraffes and zebras in the not so far distance. The views were incredible, but you’ll have to take my word for it as I forgot my camera back in Garissa :(

That night wrapped up with another good meal in a restaurant near the house, and finally with looking at some of the pictures from the weekend (from those who actually had their cameras), exchanging music between our laptops, and watching the soccer shoot out between Italy and Spain on the tv back at the house.

After all that fun, the following day was a bit of a let down as most everybody left very early that morning and I started to feel what developed into the second worse cold/flu I’ve ever had. I’m now back at the office sniffling, sneezing and coughing my way through this blog, and although I’m on the mend, I guess I should go home and get some more rest.