Lions and an iPhone

Sweet Waters Game Drive

What a beautiful morning!  We woke before sunrise and watched the sun come up behind Mount Kenya.  I could almost hear the opening refrain from The Lion King as I watched the sun crest over the majestic peak.  Mount Kenya is like one of our Rocky Mountains, captured, crated and carried across the ocean and planted in the middle of the savanna, all by itself.

Our game drive this morning was absolutely magical.  It was a crisp, clear morning, and within a few minutes of driving, Rob spotted an elephant in the brush beside the trail.  Well, it turned out to be a herd.  We stopped the van, turned off the engine, and quietly watched the elephant from a distance.  Soon, however, we realized we were directly in the intended path of a dozen or so - including two or three babies.  Charles warned us to be extremely quiet as they approached.  The elephants lumbered casually past the van - at one point we were surrounded by them - stopping occasionally to munch on branches. They basically ignored us, although one or two of the males were watching closely from a distance. These incredible animals, the largest on land, exude a sense of intelligence and awareness. They were a wonder to behold.

After that amazing experience, we caught site of three black rhinos, proceeding in a procession across the plain.  Following that, a small herd of ugly, mean-looking cape buffalo were hanging out at the water hole.  We were watching these for a few minutes when I took a closer look at what I initially thought were a couple of bushes.  They turned out to be the manes of two male lions in the long grass, just a few feet away! It was an incredible sight!  It is easy to see how their majestic confidence makes these animals king.  They look at you with a sort of disinterested disdain, as if they are tolerating your presence merely at a whim.  It’s obvious that they are the top of the food chain and they know it.  Safe in our little van, we marvelled and photographed for a few minutes, the lions no more than twenty feet away, until Rob accidentally dropped his iphone out the window!!  Charles had to use his mad, mad Kenyan mind tricks on the lions to tame them while he crept out of the van to retrieve it.

Male School

Today we visited Male (pronounced Mah-lee) School.  There are two campuses here: a primary (from preschool up to grade 8) and secondary (grades 9, 10, and 11).  ABW has been at work with these schools for a long time.  We met the headmaster of the primary school, Anthony, to tour the classrooms, check on the garden and water towers that ABW had provided, and to clarify plans for water distribution to the community.  Driver Charles lives near here and personally manages this project for ABW.  He has a passion for gardening, and is helping get a school garden going here to provide an on-going food source for the kids.

We walked from class to class, introducing ourselves and learning a little bit about what each class was learning that day.  The kids were respectful and well-behaved.  More than I would expect, actually, from a Canadian classroom.  They giggled behind their hands at the silly-looking mzungas.  

I was a little perturbed about the way the headmaster compared classes and even students right in front of them.  While we were standing in front of them, we would hear about how a particular class was not doing well on the standardized tests, and that the other classes were further ahead.  One or two children were even pointed out as underperformers.  I’m not sure if this is a cultural thing, or if, as a Canadian, I’m so used to exclusively positive comments for students.  I somehow don’t think it’s fair to talk about the students as if they aren’t standing there.

The classrooms’ walls were not in great shape - the paint, obviously watered-down, is flaking off in many areas.  They also need to be cleaned.  The schoolyard is just packed dirt, so when it rains, I can imagine that copious quantities of mud gets tracked in, and it’s all over the walls.  Dad and I are going to visit a hardware store to see if we can source a better paint and create a specification.  That way, on future projects or renovations, we can share with the schools exactly what to be looking for to ensure that the painter is providing a good product.

The preschool classroom is a hovel.  Dirt floors, a torn tarp to keep out rain, slat walls, and a rusty tin roof.  It needs to be replaced.  I can’t imagine what it is like in the rainy season.  However, the little preschoolers were super stars!  When we arrived, they were taking turns counting up to 20 by pointing to the numbers far above them on the chalkboard with a stick and reciting the numbers.  When each kid was done, he or she got a cheer from the other students, all sitting quietly in their seats waiting their turn.  I seriously doubt a class of Canadian 4-year-olds could manage that feat!  

Everyone was especially interested in Rob’s assessment of the garden.  Kenya has a great climate for growing produce, provided ample irrigation.  They have 12 months of good growing conditions, so they can continually cycle plantings to provide for an almost constant harvest.  It all comes down to water.  With that in mind, one of ABW’s endeavours is to enable every school to have a school garden, for food and education.  So they’ve provided Male School with a water tower and a drip-irrigation system, hoping to encourage them to begin gardening.  There have been some politics at the school and, as a result, the garden was bare when we arrived.  Rob did take a close look at the soil conditions, and assured them that the plot is great for a productive garden.  They’re using composted sheep and goat manure for fertilizer and planting maize, cabbage, spinach, and other crops.  Hopefully with some planning and organization this garden can get productive.

On the way back, we stopped in at a clinic: another example of disorganization.  ABW had paid to have the power connected to the clinic months ago.  Kenya Power put in the transformer, but never connected to the clinic.  They receive medication, but they are treating patients and delivering babies without power and no water source.  The nurses just keep on keeping on - they just shrug it off like it’s business as usual.

All in all, another interesting day in Africa.