I am sitting at the porch in Kakamega rainforest lodge and enjoying the sounds of nature. The queen of the night is blossoming and attracting many pollinators with its amazing scent. The evening is amazing, and I am in a good mood. It has been a successful week at work-we have finished with the second digital competencies workshop, and things are advancing. What better way to celebrate it than a weekend getaway from dusty (but still sweet) Shianda. No garbage burning smell, just the fresh scent of the forest and instead of people going crazy about muzungus and money (actually, it is not as bad as described at the preparation workshop), you only have the monkeys, which occasionally might want something that is yours. To add to this, rainforests are my all-time favourite habitats, and I was thrilled when I found out that one is pretty close to us. Well, all of the Kakamega areas used to be a part of a big rainforest, stretching across the continent, but due to human impact, there is only a small patch left, situated 30 minutes from Kakamega town and an hour from our home in Shianda.
This is actually our second time in Kakamega forest. We really enjoyed the first visit and this time brought some more volunteers, Margit and Marten, with us. They were originally supposed to go to Uganda and work with the same digital competencies programme. Still, due to coronavirus, their plans changed, so the Shianda EU muzungu community got two more members for the weekly movie nights and cooking parties. It is great to have people share the work victories and struggles with, especially those working with the same programme to support each other. I helped with a short digital workshop session to Uganda that they are doing, and they will be checking out how the programme at the PAPO computer lab will continue as they will be staying a bit longer than me. And of course, it is nice to have a company to go on weekend adventures with.
Besides Kakamega, we visited the Maasai people, saw the great migration in Masai Mara national park, and made a sunset boat trip on Lake Victoria. Kenya is such a diverse country, and there are so many cool adventures to go for. If not for weekend trips, then nearby towns Kakamega and Mumias offer some fun activities, plus it is also nice to experience the daily village life-go to tailor and fabric shopping, discover new food places, go to a pedicure,(yeah, there are actually beauty salons offering facials and pedicure) or get lost in the cornfields and riverbanks. Life is never boring here, and each new day brings new adventures.
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| Boat ride on Lake Victoria |
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| We got carried away with kitenge shopping |
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| Sunrise rainforest hike to the top of Lirhanda hill |
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| Visiting Maasais |
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