Field Trip to Nairobi with Class 8 - Joyce

Traveling to Nairobi can be a huge adventure in itself, but imagine taking 24 8th graders with you on a adventure of a lifetime.  For five days last week I traveled with a group of kids from Christ’s Gift Academy, and 9 other adults (7 teachers and 2 PTA members).  Many of the students had never been out of Mbita so we were looking forward to introducing them to things they had never experienced or seen before.

After traveling for the whole day in a hired bus and one private vehicle, we arrived at our destination.  There were only 4 or 5 kids that vomited along the way…pretty good considering some had never been on a road trip.  We all stayed in a dormitory at a primary boarding school within walking distance of downtown Nairobi.  It was a decent place with two big dorm rooms (one for girls and one for boys). 

The next morn ing we were up and out early to go to the Giraffe Center and we fed real giraffe’s!

The kids enjoyed it so much but were a little intimidated by their long slobbery tongues.  Off then to the Elephant Orphanage where the baby elephants came running out of the bush to their caregivers who had huge bottles of milk (?) to feed them…so adorable, and the kids were amazed.  Then the teenage elephants surprised us all, after the babies left, by charging out of the bush and making a lot of noise.  The caregivers gave some great information about how all of the elephants were orphaned or found alone.  This place is only open for one hour a day and the elephants are actually part of Nairobi National Park.  I love those baby elephants!

Took the kids for a quick look at The Bomas of Kenya, but we actually only went into one building for about 2 minutes.  Not really sure what that was all about.  Then, the most exciting part of the day!  It was buy-one-get-one-free day at the local pizza place.  Joe and I thought it was a great idea for lunch, but we were only about 50/50 on the kids liking it, or not.  The boys said “it is so light”…basically, I think they were hungry since they are used  to filling their stomachs with Ugali (a big lump of maize flour and water…boring, but filling).  We probably should have fed them twice as much pizza so they would have been satisfied.  Oh, well.

Off then to the Safari Walk, part of Nairobi National Park.  It was a nice walk through a zoo-like area right in the beginning of NNP.  It was great because the kids got to see animals up close.  Colobus monkeys, a rhino, ostrich, leopard, cape buffalo, emu, baboons, crocks, and the cutest little pigmy hippo.  We all really enjoyed that day.  It was a mix between a zoo and a nature path.  The animals had really nice enclosures.

I think one of the highlights of the day was our tour of Wilson Airport. This is a small airplane airport and we were able to go right out on the tarmac with the small airplanes. The kids really loved watching the take-off and landings of the airplanes.  The day ended back at the primary school with dinner and a guest bible study leader.  The day was great and the kids loved it.? 

Day 3 began by walking into town and going up to the top of the KICC building, which is the 2nd tallest building in East Africa...about 29 floors.  The kids were a little unsure about the elevator but jumped in, ready for adventure.  We had a nice tour guide who explained a lot about the city as we looked over the rooftops of all of Nairobi.  We also had the opportunity to go to High Court and sit in on some hearings/trials.  One lady was being tried for sending threatening text messages to her husbands lover.  Kind of nice to see that Kenya actually hears cases like that…she pled not guilty!  We had a great Q & A with a court official and the kids asked really good questions.  Then on to lunch at The Stomach Clinic.  Yes, The Stomach Clinic.  Sounds tasty, doesn’t it? It was actually really good Chicken and chapati (or Ugali if you were so inclined…and I was not!). 

Off then to Parliament.  We were able to spend about 50 minutes watching the MP’s and Cabinet discussing political/government issues.  Not quite sure how they get anything done because people came in late, put their feet up and slouched around talking and laughing each other – while presentations and questioning was happening!  Most primary schools are only allowed 10 minutes in Parliament, but Joe and Mr. Gwalla had connections and we were able to stay longer.  Our day ended with a really long walk back to the school in the middle of rush hour.  Rush hour in Nairobi is not anything that you want to be in the middle of.  As a pedestrian or a vehicle.  Every time we crossed a street I was praying that we wouldn’t loose anyone.  We were very successful!  We did not lose anyone or have any injuries…thank you God.  Back home for dinner and sharing.  The kids were great at discussing their day, but the three old ladies (we are 40, 52 and 54) went to bed a little early.  Great day!

Our last day full day in Nairobi was spent touring Kenyatta University, which actually has a nice campus – sort of like a U.S. university.  It was fun when our library tour guide sent one of the girls through the library metal detector with a book that had not been scanned.  The book beeped and the class thought that was hilarious.  They also got to play DJ at the radio station. After lunch we took a drive to Thika (you know, the book The Flame Trees of Thika?) where there were 2 great waterfalls, and a small animal park.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  Then off to Kasarani Sports complex.  It is the biggest sport complex in East Africa.  It was built about 27 years ago, by the Chinese, and is now having a complete overhaul.  There were workers inside the arena working on something.  I did find a box inside (like a “suggestion box”) that said “Report all corrupt practices here”.   I thought that was pretty funny.  We went into the football stadium, the basketball arena and the amazing swim center. I wanted to jump into the pools so badly!  They had an amazing diving pool with 1, 3, 5 & 10 meter diving boards.  It was beautiful.  I think the next time the kids tour there they need to bring their suits.  Then back to Nairobi to try to get to the National Museum before it closed at 6:00.  We made it with 5 minutes to spare.  So a quick (fully priced) 15-minute-run-through-the-museum and we were finished.  It was a great museum, and the kids were disappointed not to stay longer.  However, they did have shopping on their minds and did not want to delay that.  So, we took them to a big Mega-supermarket called Nakumat after we barely made it through the crazy rush hour traffic of Nairobi.  They had 30 minutes to shop with the little pocket money that they had, but they came out with big bags of stuff.  Lots of candy that they proceeded to eat over the next hour…and I don’t need to tell you how that went.  We had to finally stop the madness, especially since they had just eaten dinner.  When we finally pulled them off of the ceiling, we had a nice closing bible study and finally went to bed, but had to pack first.

Off and rolling by 7am to stop to tour a tea plantation in Kericho by 11:00.  Well, we made it there by 12:45 and had to leave by 2 to make the 6:00 ferry.  We were lucky that we left about 3.  The tea plantation tour was really interesting as our tour guide showed us how all the workers had to sanitize their shoes before they could go inside the plant. After his explanation, we all just walked inside the plant…without sanitizing our shoes.  DRINK TEA FROM KENYA!!! From when the picked tea leaves were put into the processing plant to the end product - it took three hours.  Wet tea leaves to dry tea!  Pretty impressive (except for the shoe sanitation part) We were lucky that none  of us were impaled by the swinging hooks that we ducked under during our tour.  So, about 3:00 (making us quite nervous about the time, since the last ferry to Mbita leaves at 6pm) we rushed out of the plantation and grabbed our lunch that Joe had arranged to be bagged-up-to-go.  Yummy – greasy chips (french fries) and sausage or beef pilaf (with no silverware) for the teachers.  Oh well, it isn’t about the food is it?  We had to drive like crazy to get back, but by the grace of God…we made it…just barely!  We only had one student vomit in the car on the way home!  Thank goodness the ferry did not leave on time and that there was not one more car ahead of us.  Joe’s vehicle barely made it on!  God is good and protected us all along our journey.  The kids had an experience of a lifetime that they will never forget.  I was so happy to be a part of it.  Thanks for letting me tag along Mr. Gwalla!