Habari Ako from Kenya!

After crossing the mangrove-lined Takaungu Creek in a canoe, walking along a red dirt road under the blazing African sun for 1 1/2 hours, and greeting about 50 people along the way, Bryan and I have made it to a town with internet access today!

We arrived in Nairobi a little over a week ago, to find out my luggage was still in London lost somewhere... rather than let it get me down, I remained optimistic that it would turn up soon (after all, Bryan had his bag.) After exploring Nairobi for the day, we embarked on a 13-hour train ride from Nairobi to Mombasa- quite an experience!! The train was overnight, so we awoke to the African sun rising over Baobab trees on the horizon- it was a rickety ride, but romantic. Only later, once I saw the side of the track littered with toppled-over rail cars did I learn that Kenyan Railways are notorious for derailments...

Once we arrived in Mombasa, we were greeted by the Vutakaka School Volunteer Coordinator, and driven to the small village on Takaungu where we met our welcoming, warm, traditional Swahili host family. Swahili culture is a blend of Arabian, African, and Indian influences and is a culture all its own. Our host family is Muslim, so I wear conservative skirts that cover my legs, and hear the "call to prayer" echo through the village mosques five times a day. Since my luggage was lost for 5 days, my host mom loaned me clothing to wear- so I looked especially Swahili in my first few days here! Bryan has taken to wearing the traditional male-skirt, the Kikoy, around the village and home.

Although my Kiswahili language skills are improving in very small steps, many people in the village can speak a little English (especially our host-mom, Tuma, and her father Mzee Rashid). We are very lucky to be living with this family- the children (Ryane, Sue, and Baby Umu) are little darlings, Tuma is known as the best cook in the whole village and has been teaching me how to prepare some traditional dishes, Mzee Rashid is like the chief or mayor of the village and knows everyone, our family has a large shamba (farm) so we have a variety of food including fresh milk, and our host-father Khamis brings home ocean-caught fish several days a week. Most of the food is prepared with some form of coconut in it, and we have fresh mangoes and chai tea every day. It seems I'm talking about food a lot, but when you live in a small place where everyone is very poor, life really revolves around food.

Our volunteer work this past week has been at the Vutakaka School- a 30 minute walk from our home. I mainly help with the 7-11 year-old class every day, where I have already formed friendships with many of my students as well as the Kenyan teachers that work there. The children here are so sweet and happy- everywhere I go, I hear little voices calling, "Jambo! Jambo!" Bryan has been helping 3 guys: Katana, Safari, and Kigili, with the construction of a basketball court; although the "court" is only in the bush and coconut-tree clearing stage at this point.

Last night I went with Tuma and 6 other women from the village to a traditional Swahili wedding, which was quite unique! This week should be full of more new experiences, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with our host family.

Off to Africa! & Bryan's Graduation

We're off to Africa for the summer! After a crazy-whirlwind last week or so, Bryan and I are packed and ready to leave tomorrow for Nairobi.

We're leaving the U.S. for two months to travel where I've always wanted to go: East and Southern Africa! Something of a delayed honeymoon four years later… (Peace Corps in Jamaica definitely did not count as anything close to a honeymoon!) We're also moving from our lives in Santa Monica, to Santa Barbara, since Bryan has been offered a full-ride fellowship to earn his doctorate at UCSB! We'll be moving to Santa Barbara in early September, where I also plan on pursuing my graduate studies (applying this Fall).

We spent the last week wrapping up our responsibilities and getting the next phase of our lives in order… my last day of work at TreePeople was Friday, Bryan finished his master's thesis and graduated Saturday from UCLA, and we packed all our stuff out of our apartment and into storage for the summer (our kitties and aquarium will be cared for by Troy in Wrightwood).

We'll be on the continent of Africa for two months, leaving tomorrow, returning in late August. First we'll be living with a Swahili family on the coast of Kenya, doing volunteer work and teaching at a local school. After that, we'll be camping and traveling overland through 8 countries in East and Southern Africa with a group of other travelers for a month, ending in Johannesburg, South Africa. During our last two weeks we'll be roaming around South Africa on our own, flying back to California from Cape Town. Thank you VERY much for those of you who have passed on tips from your various experiences in Africa—your suggestions definitely have helped!

I have always wanted to explore Eastern and Southern Africa, and I am absolutely thrilled that this is our chance! Ever since I took geography courses on African wildlife in college, I've been aching to go and experience the continent for myself and see the places, people, and wildlife I've only been able to read about. I am also really looking forward to helping local communities while we travel, volunteering where we can, and am only sad that we won't be staying longer to help more...

Although I anticipate internet access being very intermittent, I plan on sending out update e-mails when I can to let you guys know we're OK.

Thanks again for all our friends and families' support during our last couple busy weeks- love you guys!

Here are a few pictures from Bryan's graduation Saturday:

Summiting Mt. San Gorgonio

For my birthday weekend, Bryan and I decided to backpack up to the summit of Mount San Gorgonio- the highest mountain in southern California. After doing a little research with our backpacking books and trail maps, we decided to break the climb up over 2 ½ days. The weather in CA was shaping up to be perfect for a backpacking in the mountains- very hot in the valleys (upper 90s!), which meant that we would expect conditions in the mountains to be in the low 70's during the day.

We planned to drive out to the San Bernardino Mountains after my meeting for work on Friday, departing from the Santa Monica area around 1:00 p.m., with plans to hit the trail by 2:30/3:00. Our goal was to hike up to 'High Creek Camp' by sunset, which seemed doable if we hit the trail when we'd planned… But, as Robert Burns once wrote "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." One guess for what delayed us in L.A… traffic, of course! We didn't get to the trailhead until 5:30! Three hours later than we'd planned, and after over 4 ½ hours on the road!! Lucky for us, backpacking is a great way to "stretch your legs" after a long road trip!



Although we had less than 2 hours of solid daylight, we geared up and hit the trail, as the moon began to rise over the mountains.



The first part of the trail took us through a wash, where tall mountains loomed above us.



The first couple miles were pretty steep, climbing from about 6,000 foot elevation to close to 8,000 feet. One point in the trail led us to a neat little rock outcrop where we had a great view, including a waterfall!



We soon passed the first camp along the trail: Vivian Creek Camp. The sun had just set behind the mountains, but there was still enough light that we felt like we could push ourselves to the next camp, 2 ½ miles further to Halfway Camp- that way we'd give ourselves a little less mileage to cover in order to get to the summit the next morning. We kept our headlamps handy, as we figured it would get dark before we reached camp. The sky's changing colors through the trees was beautiful!



Most of the dirt in this portion of the trail was dark brown, with most of the rocks a light granite, so even as the light began to fade, we could spot the ankle-twisting rocks in our path, illuminated by the moonlight. It was nice to allow our eyes to adjust slowly to the night, and we actually ended up backpacking quite a bit in the dark by the moonlight with our night vision. We only put our headlamps on when we came to a crossroads in the trail, and weren't sure which way to go. After consulting our map, and looking around a bit with our lights, we found the trail again and arrived at camp after about 30 minutes of backpacking in the dark.

This is where we encountered the only other backpacker of the day. As we hiked past this solo backpacker's tent, I noticed he had used branches to form a wall circling his tent, so I asked him about it, and he said, "Oh, I'm just making barrier." So, me being me, I just asked him, "Why?" He said, "Ah, I don't know, I just felt like it." I was thinking, 'OK… we're not in the bush in Africa, dude… yes, there are bears, but you don't need to make a boma to keep out lions or anything." But I didn't say it to the guy, just to Bryan in whispers. As we moved past him, he asked if we had a camp stove (Of course we did! Who wouldn't?) and Bryan said, "Yeah, you need to use it?" No, the guy had a brand new one, and was just asking. No wonder this guy was hiking by himself… Strange dude…

We pitched our tent at the base of a big ponderosa pine, cooked dinner, stashed our food in a bear canister and wedged it between some boulders, then hit the sack.

The next morning we emptied our backpacks of everything but the essentials: food, first aid kit, headlamp, and a jacket. We planned to hike up to the summit, then back to Halfway camp by the evening, leaving our tent, sleeping bags, therm-a-rests, etc. at the campsite. We hit the trail by mid-morning, passing under a huge fallen ponderosa pine.



After a mile or so following a gradual incline, we arrived at High Creek Camp along a cold, mountain stream. We filtered a couple litres of water into our hydration packs, and began traversing switchback after switchback, some through patches of snow, up the rugged mountain.



A couple behind us cut through the switchbacks straight up the mountain which infuriated Bryan and I- they were causing massive erosion!! Why even follow a trail up to the summit if they were going to cut their own?? I almost said something to them, but refrained. Bryan reminded me that I'm not the police of the world… but I was a park ranger for a couple summers, so doesn't that count for something?

Anyway, back to the hike. After dozens of rocky switchbacks, we slowly approached the top of the mountain we were climbing, figuring we were getting pretty close to Mount San Gorgonio…


Steep Switchbacks

Once we got to the top of this ridge, we were greeted with a cool view of the Palm Springs area, and Mount San Jacinto across the way.


Almost to the top!

After admiring the view, we trudged on, thinking we could see the summit ahead. I found a cool rock outcropping of granite and took a couple minutes to do a little bouldering.


Pause for bouldering

The last couple miles didn't get much easier… most of the trail was above the treeline, the ground littered with white granite; the sun was intense, reflecting off the white rock onto our faces.

Even though the elevation kept the temperature in the 70's, our proximity to the sun, coupled with our exertion kept us pretty hot. It seemed strange that we were hiking through snow in shorts! The last mile was mainly along a ridge- finally we were done with switchbacks!


Getting close! The sign says so!

We pushed and pushed, and appeared to be approaching the summit, but once we were there, we saw another peak just behind it… looked like we had another ¼ mile to go! A false summit! This is what I've read about a lot of summits, once you're up there it's hard to tell which peak is really the highest.


Almost there!!

After hiking through melting snow, we arrived at the real summit of Mount San Gorgonio- at 11,501 feet, the highest point in southern California- on my birthday!


Elevation Marker


A little corny… but we were happy to be up there! And, I deserve a birthday kiss!

Apparently, on a clear day, you can see all the way out to the Pacific, over to Telescope Peak hundreds of miles away in Death Valley, over both the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and out to Joshua Tree National Park. Unfortunately, due to the heat wave southern CA was experiencing, most of our views were hazy with clouds, but we could see over to Big Bear Lake, and a 180-degree view of the Mojave Desert including Joshua Tree NP and the Palm Desert.




At the summit

While partaking in a little lunch of beef jerky, yogurt covered pretzels, dried fruit, and nuts; we were given quite a treat- a herd of 5 endangered Bighorn Sheep and one little baby traveled across the ridge in front of us. What an inspiring birthday present!


Bighorn sheep at the summit

After snapping a few pictures, we put our names in the registry box, and began our descent. Luckily we had our trekking poles, but the descent was pretty steep at points and was rough on our knees. Plus, as always, my heels were beginning to kill me- I was sure I had blisters. (I always get blisters when I backpack, so now I'm just resigned to the fact.)

After a few hours, we got back to camp. I doctored my heels a little, and was grateful to get my feet out of boots and into my flip flops! Since we still had a couple hours of daylight, I set myself up against a rock, drinking some Cabernet and reading my book, but also drinking in the changing colors of the sky through the towering pines as the sun set. Before darkness set in, we cooked a scrumptious (by backpacking standards) curry and lentil dinner, a little apple desert, and fell quickly to sleep.

The next morning, we packed everything up and were back on the trail, passing through areas we'd only seen in the dark on our way up.




Bryan emerging from the creekside after filtering water

We passed brambles with thorns, immense ponderosa and sugar pines, and trickling mountain streams. As we descended thousands of feet in elevation, we could feel the temperature rising pretty quickly- into the high 80's. Arriving back at the trailhead in the early afternoon, we reflected on a nice, exhausting trek, rolled the windows down and drove home, enjoying the breeze.