Tumaini Counseling Center 
 
Willie, Hugo and I paid a visit to the Tumaini Counseling Center, here in Nairobi. As long as we are involved in Member Care have I heard of Tumaini in Kenya. I’ve met Dr Roger Brown at one of our Member Care Conferences and Willie has had contact with him over the years. 
 
We are invited for lunch and meet Shirley, Roger’s wife and their daughter Hannah. We had a wonderful lunch: toasted ham-and cheese sandwiches with a crunchy, fresh salad that we cannot get enough of! We had such a special time of sharing, listening to Roger and Shirley’s story, their vision for a counseling center, all the foot work done over a period of almost 10 years to have the vision crystalize into the counseling center.

 It is an amazing complex designed and planned with such care: from the professional layout, interior decorating and thought given to minute details:  – there are counseling rooms, a well-equipped library with resources available to counselees and families, a conference room with facilities available to house conferences and seminars –all nestled into a beautiful garden which is an extension of the tranquility and peace flowing from everything and everyone.  

For more information: www.tumainicounseling.net 
 
We also meet with our friend and colleague, Dr Gisela Roth, who is a psychiatrist working at Tumaini. Gisela is from Germany and we’ve had contact over the last 7 years at conferences and Member Care gatherings. It is wonderful to see where Gisela works and to be able to have more context of where she has lived and worked for the last 7 years. We hope to be able to network in the future with Dr Brown and his colleagues at Tumaini as our vision for Member Care in Southern Africa unfolds. 

26 May, Thursday Camp Twiga 
 
We’ve heard from other campers about a place to snorkel 100 meters down the beach. There are 2 pools called Australia and Africa because of their shape, so Willie and I go to explore. The diving is not bad, but I think  we were spoiled at the Red Sea. We do discover a cave with bats hanging from the roof and it is kind of creepy – just the thing the guys will love, of course. It is the case – they went later in the day and came back with stories of diving through a tunnel to a different cave and jumping from the rocks into the water. They also took the spear gun, but had no luck with fish.

 The fish man brought the calamari and a humongous red snapper. It is the first time that I have to prepare ink fish from scratch and I do not really know if what I do is right. I have to wash it probably 6x, because of the black ink coming out of it. After cleaning and cutting I put it in a marinade.

The fish becomes a team job: Ruco descales it, Andrej and Ruco try to cut it and Willie finally does the fileting. We grill it on the fire in foil. The meal is wonderful – the calamari came out much better than expected and we all enjoy our seafood at the beach.

25 May, Wednesday  Camp Twiga
 
It is beautiful and we find ourselves in paradise:  white, sandy beach as far as the eye can see; an ebbing Indian Ocean that has receded for almost 200 meters leaving a shiny, sparkling footprint behind; palm- and coconut trees complete our real life painting. This is vacation and we have Ruco with us…all would have been perfect if Kristi could have join us.

 Beach vendors soon descend on us selling all kind of things from curios to produce to seafood. We meet the fish man and order calamari and fish for the next day. The guys go snorkeling and the rest of the day is spent around the camp. Andrej and I decide to walk to a nearby town alongside the beach. Our instructions were: walk along the beach, cross the river, go to the Baobab tree, follow the dirt track to the road and find a matato (taxi) to take you to the
center of town where there will be a Barclays and Nakumatt grocery store…Ok…?It works!

We cross the river, pass the Baobab, find a coconut seller who attaches himself to us and shows us the road to the matato –a kombi with no engine cap, but we find Barclays and the grocery store. I forgot to mention that bare feet Andrej armed himself with a spear gun, because we’ve heard that bandits were operating in the area - apparently not this year, but , just for in case… So, we walk into Nakumatt: a bare feet, bearded Andrej with a spear gun draws a lot of attention! 

We fill my back pack with all kinds of goodies and start our trek back to the camp. This time we know what we are doing and we give the matato driver 60 shillings without asking for the price. Our first matato took advantage of us and took 100 shillings, even though we knew the price was 60. 

We play backgammon, swim, and I have a lot of help from the guys with the chicken-potjie that we cook over the fire. Sammie is being harassed by monkeys who come to find him and once they have his attention they mock him,stick out their tongues for him whilst staying just out of reach. He also finds the hole where a big lizard lives and we often see him with his head stuck deep into the hole waiting for the lizard.

We had an interesting trip down from Nairobi. The road was not bad, just very busy especially when we got to the outskirts of Mombasa where the road also deteriorated to water filled potholes. Patience is not a virtue on Kenyan roads and if the wait for a truck, stuck in congestion, is a little bit longer than it should be, each one does what they want. They go off the road and drive beside it where there is no road, or worse, they race down the wrong side of the road until oncoming traffic forces them to where ever - quite exhilirating to watch as long as you are not caught in it.Dolla, our GPS lady, took us on a 9 km reroute which helped to bring us to Mombasa: a chaotic, bustling city pulsing with people, pedestrians, shops, restaurants and  more. An efficient ferry service took us across a river and by this time it was already dark which always makes driving more difficult: no signs or lines or lights.
We drove on a corrugated road to Twiga Camping, found a spot on the beach of an Indian Ocean hiding in the dark. It was more humid and warm and we were excited about the surprise waiting for us in the morning.

Our reunion with Ruco exceeded our expectations - we were so happy to see him! What a bonus that we could meet from all over the world here in Nairobi.

We had a restful few days here at Jungle Junction. Ruco's lost luggage finally pitched up and we are leaving for the beach, close to Mombasa, today. Ruco's summer project starts on Monday when we will begin the last stretch of our journey.
Andrej went to a Tropical Disease Lab yesterday and we received good news: he is on the mend and does not need to take any medication!

Ethni-opia 

Ethiopia: a wondrous, weird, wacky and wild country with unique, eccentric, eclectic, enigmatic people…

 Ethiopians are inextricably linked to an umbilical cord that’s never severed - an umbilical cord that binds everyone together from the biggest city to the most remote little village in the mountains or valleys. It is silver-grey with brown-red branches and it carries Ethiopian life in all its diversity; it is mega-multi-purposed: it serves as:

 Shops/stores: selling anything you can think of and not think of 
  
Warehouse: used for storage

 Workshop: to fix, weld, construct, deconstruct, transform, build, 
 
Scrapyard 

Rubbish dump 

Bedroom 

Meeting room for any kind of social gathering of all ages

 Playroom

 Bathroom 

Hang-out joint for teenagers

 Educational project-room

 Café; coffee shop; tearoom; bakery; restaurant; fast food; take-out

Farmland

 Transportation: primary intended function and is used extensively by anything and anyone that can move or be moved: humans; goats; donkeys; cows; dogs; roosters; chickens; geese; sheep; horses; cats

 Its surface was intended to help propel devices with wheels:
 
1-wheel: wheelbarrows; pushcarts, play-wheel 
2-wheels: bikes; motorcycles; carts, carriages
3-wheels: tuk-tuks; evolving motorbikes; wannabee cars 
4-wheels: skedonks, cars, trucks, lorries, tractors 
5-wheels: I’m sure there will be something I was not fortunate to see
6-wheels – 24-wheels: big, jumbo trucks 

Ethiopians have an intimate relationship with their umbilical cord: it feeds, transports, brings, takes, carries, connects: it is a lifeline – regardless of the condition; whether tar, corrugated, muddy, dusty, potholed, rock-littered, trash littered

 It became obvious, very quickly that vehicles take second place and they do not have right of way – they have right to stay or at least wait until the activity passes, crosses, rolls, rides, stops, peddles…

The word, concept ROAD has taken on a complete new meaning for me after Ethiopia…

I’ve tried to capture Ethiopian Life happening around, beside, in, on, at, over, under, by the Road from my rearview window. (some of the photos are not the best quality, because I really needed a faster reflex at times…)

Enjoy with me:

Drive-through Ethni-opia – from a distance
(See Gallery:photos: Ethni-opia

Jungle Junction is an overlander's dream...secluded, safe place to park vehicles; gravel area where maintenance on cars can take place; house with an equipped kitchen, living -and diningroom; wireless internet; hot showers; laundry facilities; meals prepared if you so wish; notice-boards spilling over with useful information about Nairobi, countries and overlanding, visas, GPS waypoints and more...

I can update our blog; Willie did important maintenance on our vehicle; Hugo and Andrej read, write and relax; Sammie got dog food...not happy about the downgrade!

Willie and I will visit a counseling center here in Nairobi today.
 
Pictures will follow. I am all caught up! Wow!

17 May, Tuesday   
Kembu to Lake Naivasha 
 
Willie and I wake up early with a beautiful sunrise. Willie makes us coffee and we go for a long bird-watching walk. The dairy farm belongs to 4th generation Kenyans, originally from England, who fought in the Boer war in South Africa. The estate is big with sprawling manicured lawns and gardens. We have an easy morning and are packed up by 1pm.

We drive back to Nakuru and Hugo, Andrej and I go to a supermarket…a real supermarket with trolleys, baskets, aisles and choices. We relish the experience and walk around almost wide-eyed, open-mouthed. It is so interesting how far removed we are from what was ‘normal’. Everything is sooo expensive and I have a hard time making decisions. We are so used to roadside vendors and ramshackle little market joints where we buy fruit and veggies in
  season and every now and then when we got brave we ventured into small-hole butchers where the cow carcass suspends from a hook in the ceiling. This far we had no problems with food that went bad.

 The guys help me decide our menu: hamburgers, because we found real ground beef; chips-fries (for that we need potatoes from the roadside); rolls and new condiments. It is a short drive to our next campsite and we have 3 lakeside choices. We decide on Fish Eagle Lodge, because they had wireless and a decent price. The wireless we found out is not free and the per minute tariff is outrageous, so no internet until Nairobi.

 Our camp site is 75 m from the lake on green grass and under the shade of tall trees. Maraboe Storks stand around with their wizened, aged appearance and as we unpack we hear hippos snort! Yes, they do have hippos and they often come out during the night to graze, says the guard. There is an electric fence which they activate after 6 pm at night. We are excited about
 the water birds we will see.

 The hamburger and chips do not disappoint and we sit around the fire for a couple of hours before we go to bed. The slower pace, less kilo’s and fewer hours in the car were good for all of us. The difficult roads since we crossed into Kenya made us travel weary with plummeting morales. We are pepping up and are more excited about the rest of our journey to Namibia. It is almost time to pick up Ruco in Nairobi and we are excited that we will be able to see him and share some of our experiences with him. We are sad, though, that Kristi will not be able to join him.

16 May, Monday  
Mountain Rock Lodge to camp Kemba  
 
We have slept well and are so enjoying the tranquil surroundings of our camp. We watch birds; Willie does some maintenance on the car; Hugo and Andrej sleep in a little. We have a late breakfast and start to pack up at noon. The plan is to drive to Nakura lake through the Rift Valley and it is a beautiful and scenic drive with lush green forests and grassland spread over
rolling hills and mountains down into valleys. We cross the equator 3 times as the road zigzags across it. 

Nakuro is the third biggest city in Kenya and it is bustling with people, cars and activity. Driving in Kenya is much easier as the road is used mainly by wheels and less by people, animals and strange activities as in Ethiopia. Nakuro lake is beautiful and teems with bird life, but it is impossibly expensive: US $ 60/person and then more money to camp and for the car. Our unanimous vote is no – we cannot afford it. 
 
Now to find a place to sleep. We have several GPS co-ordinates, but accommodation is expensive as well. Andrej reads about Kembu campsite another 30 km away – it sounds as if it will be something we will like and it is exactly so. It is a campsite on a dairy farm and is often used by overland trucks. There are 2 different groups of over landers in the camp which is
beautiful and clean. It also fits our budget better and we are happy about our camp-find!

 We find a secluded, private corner and I even have a table and extra work space to cook! How important certain little luxuries have become– things that I would not have thought of before: table top work space; a cage where we can store our food in; showers with water; clean toilet; running water from a tap. On the mega-luxury list: hot shower!; clean, flush toilet…