Africa: Life in the Raw

I like to reflect on what makes life here in Kenya so much of a contrast to life back in Scotland. Recently, I have realised a little more that life for most people here is life in the raw. This thought crystallised most of all the other day when I was initiated a little more in the African lifestyle by slaughtering my first chicken. The chicken was given to us as a gift for dinner, but being a live one, obviously required a bit of work before it could become a meal. That we white people have no idea what to do with a live chicken to make it ready for earing always causes a surprised look on your average Kenyan, showing how normal it is for them.

David killing chicken for dinner

The whole act of killing and preparing the chicken is quite a gruesome experience, something that I mostly did not enjoy at all, apart from the pride in having done it and having something new to boast about. However, having to slice through the neck of any living creature (especially with a blunt knife...), watching the blood pulsate out of the throat, removing intestines with my bare hands and cutting away the bird's anus brings you right down to the nitty-gritty of life. I think I am now quite intimate with the gory details of a chicken's digestive tract.
Anyway, the point is, is that this type of thing is just a normal, day-by-day occurrence here in Africa, demonstrating in one small example, how far apart our lifestyles in the West contrast. The word that came into my head when I thought of how life works in the UK, was 'sanitised'. We aren't really a hands-on, getting our hands dirty type of culture. Here, though, many people are still living 'life in the raw'. This aspect of life is pervasive throughout all of the culture here.
(Personally, it may be a bit less exciting, but just now I think I prefer the sanitised life of the West, things are much easier most of the time...I like buying my 2lb cold chicken from the refridgerated section of Morrissons).

So, from killing one animal for food, to preserving animals for tourism, we took an excursion to a Lake Nakuru National Park on one of the last days of Emma's family's time in Kenya. Nakuru is on the way to Nairobi, so it made sense to divert there for a couple of days indulging in the natural beauty that makes Kenya famous the world over.
The day of the tour started off extremely badly, however as the tour guide organised for the early morning start (6:30am), didn't turn up, producing very worried and despondant faces on all of us, especially as this trip was so eagerly anticipated and we were paying good money for it. The guide did turn up later on, however, he had been drinking heavily the night before and was very hung-over. His boss, having been summoned by phone, was very apologetic to us and extremely angry at the errant driver, whom we found out later lost his job.
So we were very relieved to get into the park at all, though our problems didn't stop there, as while driving around, a shock absorber came loose from the underside, clunking noisily against the wheel and forcing us to stop and sort it. Supposedly, this was also the fault of the drunk driver from the night before who had taken the van out and had been driving it for long distances.

Break-down

Local with the map trying to help us with directions

After those mishaps, we were all very ready for our tour through the National Park, which has beautiful landscapes as well as incredible wildlife. It is set in the stunning Rift Valley area of Kenya which contains dramatic scenery. My favourite part of the park were the flamingoes (as pink is my colour), but also because their bright colour can be seen from miles around hugging the fringes of the lake.

Flamingoes on show

Full of Tourists

VIew over Lake Nakuru

Overlooking the national park from baboon cliff

You can see why they called this place baboon cliff

A squeaking rock hyrax

Grazing Gazelle

2 heads are better than one

Looking at you, looking at me. The King of the Beasts

Resting at Makalia waterfalls

Eerie Trees

Lastly, back in Kisumu, Emma wanted to share her experiences of inviting some ladies over for baking, baking using the sun's energy- solar baking. She says it has been one of her highlights of her time here so far, and is a type of baking which suits her style right down to the ground. The reason for this, is that Em's style is a hap-hazard, slap-dash, inexact measurement type of baking (these are her words, not mine), which solar baking at a more grassroots level, happens to be. It is incredible to think when you are eating some cake or bread, that it was baked only with the sun's energy. I wonder if it is an idea that would take off in Scotland....

Lemon cakes

Moringa cake

Sam tucking into solar baked bread

Eating

Solar baking class