Thursday, June 11: Rainforest

This morning our agenda was to visit the Rhondo Retreat Center which is located in the rainforest South of Kakamega. It is about 16 km on a dirt road. We arrived at 11 AM (after planning to be there by 10) and stopped at the reception center to order our lunch before going into the forest. The man behind the desk told us that lunch would be 800KSH per person. Now, this is pretty much. We asked what they were serving, and he had to go ask the chef. When he returned, we learned we would all get fish, salad, and some dessert, but the drinks would be extra. We canceled our lunch order and decided we would just get sodas.

Then we walked through the grounds of the center to the path that led into the forest. A little way down the path, we saw some monkeys playing in the trees. We watched them for some time. They were pretty far away, but fun to watch. The path we were on circled the retreat center grounds. Some other paths led deeper into the forest. We tried one, but had to turn back after a short time. Our time was limited by the need to get back to Kakamega for lunch.

We saw some other monkeys later. One was a baby that enjoyed peeking at us and then jumping from branch to branch to hide. The larger ones were too interested in eating leaves to pay any attention to us.

The sounds were very interesting. We saw some fish, and some birds, but no snakes or other creatures. It was a very nice walk, and the sodas in the dining hall afterward were cold and refreshing (many places serve warm soda).

We drove back to Kakamega and stopped at an outdoor restaurant for some needed food. Charles dropped Gail, Evey, and I off at Naomy Ruth's office. We wanted to get some pictures from her (of the woman that received the wheelchair) and we also wanted to see how she was liking her camera (a gift from us). I showed her how to offload the pictures from the SD card and how to take videos. She needed some tips on focusing and some of the other settings. She is enjoying the camera very much, and was excited to learn that it had so many other features.

On the way home, we stopped at the Internet. In the middle of emailing, almost everyone in the place suddenly got up from their computers and left. Their screens were all dark. Ahhh, the power had gone off. My computer was one of two that were connected to a UPS, so it continued to operate. The workers pulled a large generator out of the back room and out the front door, parking it on the sidewalk. They started it up, the Internet reconnected, and I hardly knew the difference. I was glad to be able to finish the last couple of things without a major interruption.

I inquired at the SafariCom store (cellular provider) next door to the Internet about a cellular modem for MTTF's computer. They had one for 4000KSH ($50). The service plans available are all prepay, and cost about 3 KSH per MB ($0.04). This seems like a pretty good deal, but I have never priced plans like this in the US, so I have little to compare to. Internet options are pretty limited here. I think we will try this out tomorrow.

The chicos are completed. They just need to cure for a few days before using them. I hope the cook likes them. If it reduces firewood costs and reduces smoke, it will be a success. I wish we would be here to see them in action. Mr. Rotich was here to inspect them this evening. He brought his son, who just finished the Kenyan equivalent of high school. He would like to go to a university for art or design.

We are all thinking about packing for our departure. When we get to Nairobi on the way to Mombasa, we plan to send some of the extra baggage to the guest house where we will stay before flying home. It will be nice to travel with less baggage for a change. We are looking forward to a few days in a hotel with warm showers and running water. Hopefully we will not be disappointed.

Gail and the kids are busy making little gifts for the children here. There are still things in the suitcase that we brought to give away. Gail just gave a story book to Abendego. He started crying, then ran off to read it. Gail likes to find just the right thing for each child.

I put some programs on Charles's computer. I hope I will have time to get things set up so they are easy for him to use. There is so little time left. I feel like I must have procrastinated, but that did not really happen. There has just been a lot to do, and some of the ideas of what needed to be done only occurred to us recently. Things also happen more slowly here. It takes some getting used to.