Kakamega Rainforest

This weekend we ventured to Kakamega Rainforest.  It is the only rainforest in Kenya, and it is only about 1.5 hours from Eldoret.  We stayed at Rondo Retreat.  It is a really nice.  There were 9 of us who went, and we got our own house with 2 to a room.  We had our own veranda with a beautiful view.

 Bird of Paradise

 Our cottage

 I have no idea what this plant is, but it reminds me of a cinnamon bun!

We had lunch before going to explore the rainforest.  Hamburgers and french fries were served (with real ketchup!!).  This is big news because what they call ketchup here is like a watered down version.  Not very yummy.  Our group ate 2 bottles.

After lunch, we went on a hike through the rainforest to see the river.  It was about a 4 hour hike.  It was not an easy hike either.  It was muddy, slippery, steep, but alot of fun.  We got to see monkeys and birds, and heard babboons.  There were tons of guava trees throughout the forest.  We were told that they grow in openings in the forest.  I think the inside looks like snot, but one of the ladies that went with us ate it.  Her name is Lu, and she is a doctor at Mother Baby Hospital.  She said it was tasty.  I just took her word for it.

Beginning of the hike

There was tea and cake waiting for us on our veranda when we got back from our hike.  The tea here is amazing, and Kakamega is very close to 'tea country' in Kenya.  On our drive in, we saw lots and lots of tea fields.  I plan on bringing back a large amount of tea bags for everyone to try.  Tea is very common to have here in Kenya.  Many people in the hospital break for tea and mandazi (kind of like doughnuts) around 11a.  Hot tea is pretty much offered every where and with every meal.  It is very nice on cold days, which is what I have been experiencing a lot of.  I am freezing my butt off right now.

Tea and cake :)

For dinner at Rondo, we had leek soup to start out with and then pan fried pork, with candied cabbage, zucchini, and potatoes.  I tried the pork (yuck!).  It took me about 5 mintues to chew 1 piece.  The only thing I ended up eating was the potatoes and leek soup.  I tried it all, and that is all I liked.  Picky, picky, I know. 

Dinner was done, and we went back to the house to relax and play games.  We played a lot of euchre, solitare, and banana grams.  It was cold enough to have a fire, so we did.  We were supposed to go for a sunrise hike in the morning, but it was raining and no one wanted to go.  Breakfast was delicious too.  Eggs (which are practically orange they are so fresh), sausage, pancakes, and fresh squeezed OJ.  And tea and coffee, of course.

Bananagrams

When we arrived back at the IU House this morning, the power had been out for a few hours.  The generator was running, but it got burnt out about 3p.  Myra and I went into town, and they were without power as well.  I hear it is pretty common, great.  While walking through town, there are street boys who beg for money and food.  I gave in and gave him my granola bar so he would finally leave us alone.  The proper response is "Sino leo" which means 'Sorry not today' , or "Hapana leo" which is a more firm way of saying it.  They are very persistant though.  We walked about 30 min to the new, big Nakumatt.  It is similar to a Walmart.  I got a variety of interesting snacks and alcohol. 

The power was out until about 7:30p, so we ate dinner by candle light.  Now I am catching up on work, emails, facebook, and such.  Hope everyone had a happy weekend!