Kenya

Mount Kenya!!
Africas 2. highest and according to experts most beautifull mountain!

First part of the hike goes through dense bamboo forest. A very strange walk wich reminded me of the chinese movie "house of flying daggers"
A the first campsite monkeys hung out with us in the day time and our sleep was disrupted by grazing buffalos.
The buffalo is regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa as it is almost as unpredictable as the hippos and apparently gets really vendictive and can bear a grudge for several days.
We first saw a youg male grazing at some distance from the camp, later when it was dark our dinner was disrupted by a big female traversing right between our tents, as these huge beast can be quite curious and at the same time are utterly unpredictable we all moved closer to the lights and talked in hushed voices. As we went to bed we could hear them chewing in the thicket. At some point during the night i had to get up to pee (altitude makes u pee all the time) I exited my tiny little tent with my headlamp on, decided to stay very close to the tent but risked looking around in the dark with my tiny torch. The whole camp was sorrounded by huge grazing beasts! suddely all I culd hear was their munching, snorting and puffing, I stood very still finished my business turned off my light and just stood in the dark for a moment listening to these huge animals going on with their grazing.. Finaly i snug back into my tant and actually managed to sleep.

Cheeky monkeys hanging out by the tap.
these cute little fellas obviously lived close by and came by ever so often to check out our rubish og bags and have a sip from the tap.

flora and fauna in the mist, The landscape of the mountain changed every few hundret meters, from ghostly semiforest to openplains, most of the first day we hiked od a vertical bog, in the wet areas uit felt like walking on a sponge and we all tried to step exactely where Christopher did.
During our days on the mountain we saw tracks from elephant, hyena, jaguar some antilope and off cause buffalo.

The first peek to the peak! We are heading to the little knoll on the right.. actually its some 60m. lower than the wery top, but going to the actual peak requires mountainclimbing equipment and expirience..

The Group rests

Our porters overtaking us in full speed. most of them climbed the mountain several times a week and Christoper our guide was no longer able to count how many times he had been on the top.. All climed that this was the best job they had ever had, most of them never did anything else..

The happy hiker!

even cheekier critters posing for the photographer before attempting to steal our food.

More on these later..

Our basecamp "Naro Moru river lodge" at 4300 meters.

campsite and lodge, I chose to sleep inside as I was very cold the first night.

half an hour before this pic was taken I was completely unable to move due to altitude sicnes.
Basically I got out of bed too fast..
I had on purpose not been drinking much the evening before so that i might be lucky not to have to get up (in minus 10 degrees) to pee.. So when i woke up in the morning I figured that Id better gulp down a liter of water.. i then had to pee off cause. Jumped out of bed ran out peed and got seriously ill.. Nausea, banging headacke, vomiting. Felt like the worst Tequilahangowers I ever had multiplied by 5.
I went straight back to bed and curled up in featal position and whimpered.. untill some 10 min. later when the rest of the gang came to tell me that we were going to climp the peak in half an hour "are u ready?" I never felt so NOT ready in my whole life.
I managed to get up and joined the others for breakfeast, had one piece of pineapple and went straight out and threw up again. Needles to say I did not feel like climbing a mountain.
But then our guide Christopher took charge. He looked me straight in the face and asked me if I wanted to come. when I said yes he started pouring me black tea, no milk only a lot of sugar and a little lime. after 4 cups i started to feel like standing up. I was given 10min. to pack and get ready and off we went!

The original plan had been to stay at Naro Moru lodge for a full day acclimatizing and climbing the final peak from 3 am in the morning to catch the sunset on the top, but a nightly snowstorm and the promise of another one the following night promted us to push on straight away despite my sorry condition.

Our trusted guide Christopher, with his trusted umbrella.

Lisje in the snow

At the austrian hut the clouds liftet once more to show us point Lennana and allow us to rest a bit in the sun.

The clouds opening to reveal a look down on other clouds. The wievs were truely fantastic and the weather changed from minute to minute. Bright sunshine and wonderfull wievs one moment and fog , snow and rain the nxt.

Looking down on Mountain lakes

The happy climbers at point Lennana, we didnt stay long at the peak as it was quite cold and ione of the girls got altitude sick right at the top.. good thing about altitude sickness is that it gets better by the meter as u go down.

The hike down was done at almost running pace, it rained all the way down and everybody was eager to get down!

OOh yes the Quizz!!
The critters (not the monkeys) seems to be perfect for a quizz!
These little cuties were quite tame and seemed to be waiting to be fotografed.
first question! what are their name! (Liesje, who is e vet and does strange things to animals, hit one of them with a stick as it was stealing her candy and it loudly uttered a sound wich clearly sounded like their actual name!

second Qestion! to which large animal are they related?
Hint: Christophers trusted umbrella was brought along partly to scare of these animals and was acording to him most effective as lonfg as the wind is in your face..

correct answers will be rewarded somehow in Kenyan style!

So what have I learned about mountain hiking?
1 go slow very very slow
2 take time to acclimatize
3 bring loads of varm clothes and a good sleeping bag
4 eat plenty and lots of sugar and salt
5 drink even more! sugar and salt water tastes like.. well salt water but is very very good for u!
6 Bring proper footwear and extra shoes to use in the lodge
7 always trust ur guide
8 rain gear and sunprotection is a must

Did i enjoy it?
Ohh yes every moment (almost) was great!

Will I do it again?
No.. some other mountain maybe. Killimanjaro is still waiting in the mist!

Why did it take me so long to get this post up?
I was actually sick for almost 3 weeks after this climb. Some stomach infection. havent really found out what it was but i am fine now.

Last week we had a kyoto protocol top meeting here in Nairobi! more on that in nxt blog!

over and out for now Oh and congratulations to Søren and Christina and Mette and Kristian on their new borns! I have a new cousin! and a new.. 2.cousin(?)
:-D

I still need to sort my Mt. Kenya pics.. they will be posted shortly!
Im currently sitting at the office looking out on the grey Nairobi sky. We are in the middle of the Short Rains. Some tregard this season the worst as it sometimes rains in the morning when u go to work and in the evening when u go home..
The weeks up to the season has been marked by dcores of flowering Jakaranda Trees (pics will come!)Their purple flowers mark the comming of Christmas too.
Since I last spoke of Work I have gotten a new boss! Her name is Charlotte Just and she has been at home minding her two small kids for close to 2 years so she is eager to get things done. At the same time she herself was an intern some years ago so she is determined to make the best of my presence, which all in all has given way to a lot more interesting tasks than my first month here.. Basically I am kept busy in a good way. (and yes I am aware that anyone can find this page by google..)
Nxt week Nairobi hosts the COP12 s follow up om The Kyoto protocolls. A big danish delegation is comming and we are probably going to be quite busy.
Later to day I am going to my first meeting in the UN on the COP12 issues (more on all that later)
Yesterday I got my self a bike! Anders the 1. secretary has had it unused in his garage so he has agreed to lend it to me! I really miss biking in Cph!
here biking is for nutters.. as it was explained to me:
"bicykles do not pay roadtax, so naturally they have no right to be on the road!"
I biked home yesterday.. nxt to the road.. they dont really belive in sidewalks here, but people offcause walk anyways so there are always some kind of path, the biggest annoyance is the fumes from all the trucks and cars who definetely would not pass a normal danish environmental check.. anyways I did get some funny looks as I sweatinly went past the kangemi slums, the local do bike here, the only bikes awailable are the Indian retrobikes one can get in Copenhagen for round 1250,- Dkkr. They are really bad indian quality and break often, but the god thing about that is that every other streetcorner has somebody with a small bike fixing stall..
Business.. In afrika everybody does business.. Small scale, big scale no scale.. everything (especially in a big city like Nairobi) costs money. If u thought living in the slums were "free" think again. u gotta pay rent, pay for water, pay for toilet etc. (I think I make an entry with pics about african smallscale business).
Hmm just lost track.. the sandwich man was here! (another example of smallscale business.
Mmmm sandwich...

My parents and my big brother is comming to visit me! YAY! Just after christmas! well be doing Safari, Hiking, Biking and Beaches! And maybe even a bit of culture! more on the final program later!
Hope u all know that u are more than wellcome to come see me down here! I even gor a spare room for u to sleep in!

officework.. what do i actually do when in the office?
to day i have assesed acoulpe of support requests and sendt back replies. I have been working on familiarizinfg my self with "Logic Framework Approach" a how to manage projects"bible. and i have been trying to come up with some ideas on an environmental awareness campaign. Later i am going with Charlotte and Anders to the UN compound to participate in a meeting on the upcomming climate meeting COP12 here in nairobi

which other topics should i write about? Gimme some ideas and Ill look into them! Also comming up; the Mt. Kenya tale and a new foto quizz!

-A-

Better pictures might follow..
But anyways This is the front of My house on Loresho Cresent.
Kipanga our Askari (security guard) is dressed for going to church, he is a proud member of the African Unity Church and goes every Sunday dressed like this.

On the picture is also one of our dogs, Minor, who has caused us a lot of truble as he keeps jumping the fence to visit the neighbourdogs. According to Kipanga Minor "Climbs just like a cat when he wants to visit his girlfrienddog nxt door".

Oooh another thing!

The Quizz!

So far there has been no correct answers.
It is not devices to bring the branches closer to the ground so that u can pick whatever u want and at the same time keep the giraffes from eating it from the top, neighteris it mailboxes or foodstorage and its is not a "vindharpe" eighter..
BUT it does have to do with animals! (hint!)
And actually it is neighter out in the forest or out on the savanna but on a mountain slope...

Keep guessing and Ill get the nxt question ready in the meanwhile!

As I am still in a bit of a limbo at the embassy as the new environmental project manager doesnt start until the 16 of october I once again invited my self along on a field trip.
I was alloved to follow two independent auditors and the district manager from CDTF (Comunity Development Trust Fund)as they were visiting three different projects in the countryside north of Nairobi.
CDTF is a joint fund between the EU and the Kenyan government and the environmental program of DANIDA and the swedish equivalent SIDA is to be managed through the CDTF, this trip gave me a unique opportunity to observe well functioning projects and meet the lokal stakeholders.

The first project we visited was a newly buil maternetyward at the small town of Kirinyaga. The ward was finished and all that was now needed was 4 extra nurses wich the government had promised but failed to deliver so far..
We were shown around by the local board commitee and a very proud nurse. All in all the project looked sound and Julia and Bill (the two external auditers) were quite pleased. the visit ended with a meeting where god and the EU was thanked! (the pics from this visit was not as interesting as the ones comming up)

Second visit was to a waterintake, waterpipeline and waterkiosk project outside the small town of Machacos.
As with all the other CDTF projects the comunity has had to raise 10% of the overall cost as well as suppliying unskilledlabour. This is demanded as a way of ensuring the comunitys feeling of ownership.

We started the visit at the conferencearea under a big nice tree. I was presented as a representant of EU and Denmark and was thanked in full for our villingness to give!

The project community along with some of the daily users of the waterkiosks being questioned by the two auditors.

The actual dam and waterintake. We had to wait untill the early the nxt day to actually hike up to see the intake. It was a really nice walk through terrased and heavily cultivated fields of all kinds of crops up to the tiny stream and the dam.

This fine gentleman showed us around the dam area and followed us down afterwards showing us his plot of land (here seen behind him)

We were the shown the waterkiosks further down in the valley. In Kenya feching water is a womans job. Sometimes the women has to walk for several hours each way to fecth the water, so a project like this can save them countless of hours of work every day, hours they can then use for other more profitable deeds.
The line for this waterkiosk was by no mean the longest..

The setup is as follows: the waterclerk controls the flow of water and charges 20 Ksh (1,5 Dkr.) per 20liter, money that goes to his or her pay and to the maintaining of the whole setup. The project is thus supposed to be selfsustained.

It is EU policy that the locals should know who their benefactors are, normally there is a formal opening of the projects (of course the people start using the water as soon as it flows)and I am invited to the opening of a borehole project sometimes nxt month!

One of the waterkiosks was rigth outside a small primaryschool. The kids were very exited about our visit and as one of the villageelders pointed out "you two might very well be the first muzungus" (Whities) they ever see, so you better make a good impression!"
The guy in the picture is Bill the English Auditor, the other auditor was a Kenyan Lady called Julia.

So I talk to the kids and they all wanna shake hands and practice their english.. I realise that lots of the kids are holding some toy thingies in their hands and after trying really hard I finally get one of them to show me what she is holding... a tiny homemade clay mobilephone! Yup status symbols are the same all over even here in Kenya...

Third project we visited was a drift (et vadested) crossing a local river near the tiny town of Makueni.
As with the other projects the locals had collected some 10% and was supplying unskilled labour, unskilled labour in this case shoved out to be divided between them and the women with the men supervising ant the women carrying stone and clearing rocks with pick axes.. One of the local men realised I had a camera and quickly picked up the pick to pose for a foto withc I grinningly took while I explained to him that I had seen the women doing most of the work for the last ½ hour..

In the dry season crossing the river is no problem, but when the rain comes the river cuts people off completely, forcing them to stay on the side they just happens to be on and closing down peoples possibility to go to the market or the hospital or school. Thus this project should facilitate peoples life greately and make furter trade and prosperity possible.

We held our board meeting in the middle of the dry riverbed overlooking the constructionsite and numbers of women fetching water.

The dry time is perfect for building a project like this, but the disappering of the water forces the local women to dig for water to the household.
I had only ever seen animals in the natureshow having to dig for water like this so the impact on me was quite strong. Once again It was the women who did the hard labour, digging the hole and later carrying the water home.

These two young girls was digging for at least an hour to fill up their jerrycans. The thorny branches are to keep animals away from destroying the holes at night.

These two women dug for some two hours repeatedly to open up a new hole.

the water fetched from these holes are not exactely clean. But its is the only water there is so it is used for drinking, cooking, cleaning etc.

Once the water has been filled into jerrycans the jurney home starts, some water is sold at the market by those fortunate enough to have means of transport.

These visits have thought me alot. not only about how the aid money from DANIDA and the EU is used but also alot about the locals. I had plenty of time to chat with people and learned a bit or two about their lives, what struck me the most is the way the Kenyan women is being treated, there are quite big differences inbeteew the tribes, but generally the women are seen as something close to a workhorse. As I mentioned before one of the auditorswas a kenyan lady called Julia she is a trained sociologist and works with gender issues on all levels. She would try to raise the gender question as often as possible but without much luck. The three project commitees we met with consisted allmost only of men, even the maternetyward project and the waterkiosk project where the people mostly affected are the women had almost no female input. The general opinion of the men is that the women prefer to have no influence and that they would rather just work in the fields, fetch water and mind the kids while their husbands does all the thinking and desissionmaking...
More on gender issues is surely to follow!
gtg for now its friday close to 13 o clock and the office is emptying quickly. Im going to a local market to try and find my self a 2. suit (pics might follow..) and tomorrow I am of to Masai Mara for a short camping trip :-D
Take care and I hope this massive influx of pics and txt doesnt scare any of u away!
Remember that u can subscribe to the blog, u will them get an email everytime something is posted! Just check the little box in the corner next to the text. U can even start ur own blog if u feel like telling somebody about ur life!
Take care!
Asger

Was invited on a two day safari by Erik, Annamaria and Petra whom I met through other friends. We drove in erics huge 4wd north to Sweetwaters a small national park in the shade of Mt. Kenya.
Over the two days I did my first Night safaridrive, my first real safari drive and had a very close incounter with a black Rhino named Morani!
I saw the first 3 of the big five (and hugged one of them..). saw hundreds of antilopes of different kinds, gor stuck in a buffalo herd, met some of Jane Goodalls chimps in the parks chimp-rescuecenter and even had time to relax by the pool!

Our classic and very comfy safari tent at Sweetwater national park tented lodge

Two young and quite curious giraffes on my first safaridrive ever!

Close encounter with a young female elefant, at first it feels a little like watching a natureshow on TV, but then the smell of large animal hits u and the elphants warning trumpetsignal shatters the air and everything is suddenly very real and a lot more exiting!

The black rhino Morani was orphaned by poachers when very young and was taken in by the parkrangers, he is now too tame to join the other Rhinos and enjoys the company of humans more. We visited him in the morning where he was preparing for his dayly chores..sleeping.. he is active at night only and in the day he only gets up to move to a more shady sleeping area. Yet the feeling of being so close to such a huge annimal was quite unique!

When we first arrived at the park Mt. Kenya was hidden in the clouds, but early nxt morning we were offered magnificent wievs of Kenyas hihgest and Africas second highests peak.