Getting acclimated and heading north

Today was a day of gearing up and getting to our base of operations for the next 10 days.  After breakfast at our hotel, our drivers (and friends!) Happy James, Erastus and John took us to the Giraffe Center and the Shelldrake Elephant Rescue in Nairobi. We stopped for lunch in Karen on the outskirts of Nairobi and then headed north on the A104 toward Nakuru. 

Every year, we have seen positive progress in the areas where SWOK has been concentrating their efforts, but we also noted today the significant improvements the Kenyan government is making in an important part of the infrastructure: the road. 

Nairobi can often have crippling traffic congestion, particularly during workdays, but today we travelled on some highways around the city that were a marked improvement and saved some time. The trip north goes through small towns and plenty of beautiful scenery of the Kenyan countryside along the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Syria to Mozambique, over 6000 miles. We got to see herds of zebra, camels, waterbuck, impalas and other animals along the road. 

Then near Gilgil, we had to stop briefly because we couldn't even drive when a storm hit us with ferocity. Erastus told us it was the first time he ever saw hail.  And in ten minutes it was gone, and five miles up the road, all was dry. 

We got to Tumaini Cottages and Conference Center in Nakuru around 7:00 and got our room assignments before 7:30 dinner followed by team meeting. Tomorrow we'll be going to distribute fleeces, shorts sets and dresses we brought with us to survivors of the Solai Dam failure back in May. We spent a good bit of time after dinner unpacking crates and organizing supplies to be distributed and work supplies for our first day of construction tomorrow at Gituamba. 

Today wasn't as intense as some of our days will be, but it was a great start to what I'm sure will be a great, productive trip.