4th of July

This is my third 4th of July spent outside of the US. The holiday takes on a different tone when u celebrate it privately. You think more about what it means in the absence of fireworks and bbqs. This year has been a bit different, for reasons I may right about tomorrow, having nothing to do with geopolitical location.

Before I dive in I just want to say that I've seen the pictures that the others took and the trip and they're amazing. The links on the right will take you to Sam and Blair and Graces blog both sporting some sweet pix of the trip.

This weekend was our trip to Lamu. The trip started off swimmingly; we got on to our bus without any issues at 7 am, I saw giraffes and baboons on the bus ride down, and although the 160 mile ride took 6 hours, it flew by. The high point was when the buss stopped for a moment to load and unload passengers and among the people selling mangos and peanuts ran up a woman selling LIVE CHICKENS!!!!!!!! Ya, LIVE chickens. I thought there is no way in H E double hockey sticks someone will buy one of these with 5 hours left on our ride. No sooner had I thought this than she booked it out of my sight and ended up selling the chicken to the people across the isle from Grace and I. All of the sudden there was a chicken which had been flapping its wings fifteen seconds earlier lying completely still on the floor. Needless to say we freaked out. I was sure she had killed the thing. Grace tried to snap a pic of the (we thought) dead chicken. Not sure If she posted it - you can see the links to her blog on the right. Once we got off the bus, we crammed 55 people 23 chickens, and goat on to this boat.


If you look closely, there is a guy getting off the boat holding 4 chickens (alive in his hands) along with all the other passengers. Things were still going well, we meet Sam and Blair with no mishap, and as we headed through the alleys of the 14th century city all seemed well. This unfinished house had become a barn and everything was new and interesting.



As we walked Blair and Sam told us that they had chosen a different hotel, which was cheaper than the one Grace and I had planned on staying at that was just as nice. It sounded good, and I try not to rock the boat. Then the world came crashing down:



Most of the hotels in Lamu are more """"Guest houses""""- if they even qualify for that flattering of a title- and ours didn't really look like what I had envisioned in my minds eye for our "vacation from vacation". I took a second to lie down and let everything process and once they brought sheets for the "beds" I felt better. We quickly set out to see the town and get some lunch. One of the high points of Lamu were the milkshakes served at all of the seaside cafes. The were a bit unconventional in that the flavors were all tropical fruits and there wasn't any ice cream. In a word, they were amazing. Passion fruit, and mango were my favorite flavors, and I probably had ten of them during the trip. After lunch we parted ways and I decided I would walk the 3Km to Shela at the other end of the island. As I walked I heard loud drumming coming from the street/trail/donkey path ahead of me. As I approached I thought I saw kids in a fight -which looked exciting - so I hurried up to the site where a small crowd had gathered. As I got closer I saw that it wasn't a fight per se' although there were men in a circle hitting one another with long sticks. I tried to blend in to the growing crowd. A repetitive drum beat which sounded like drum and bass filled the air. I sat and watched for an hour feeling really fortunate to be part of some cultural event that we are usually unable to see, let alone understand. As I watched for the next hour some things became clear. It was some kind of traditional wedding celebration, and this party was mainly for the men.



If you look you can see very few women in the crowd. I cant really explain the game other than one guy hits another guys stick and wins the the competition somehow and a new competitor enters the match. In the back ground you can see a bunch of men dressed in white with a table covered by a green table cloth where the groom sat. I think the men in white were fathers, or clerics of some kind. They were obviously respected in the community at large. I posted this picture because it seemed like a tender father son moment. The older man with a beard playing with (I think) his son. They both were beaming. It was truly one of the more unique experiences and indicative of Lamu as a hole. Its deeply communal and very cultural. The island is 95% Muslim and seems very close knit.

The evening wound down quickly, and had some great sea food then headed to bed. I must admit that I am a huge baby about mosquitoes. I also must admit that I am a bit of a baby about trying to sleep when it is really warm. Given that both of these conditions existed the first night In Lamu made me about lose my mind. It took every ounce of self control to not leave the island at 3 AM as I lie in bed talking myself down and telling myself I could make it and that the trip would improve.

In the morning I realized that there were holes the size of tennis balls in my net all round the bottom of the bed. I felt better after getting two or three quality hours of sleep. We had breakfast as a group and then went to meet our Dhow for a day of fishing and exploring etc. I had told the group that I don't love killing things and wasn't sure that I would be fishing but wanted to go for the BBQ and other events. Once we got there, I decided I may as well make the most of it and ended up catching 3 of the 9 fish caught by our group of 9. I was the only one in the group of interns that caught more than one and the irony was a little humorous, I must admit.

After the fishing, the dhow sailed to this island where we meet another boat of friends which had fished in another spot.


We ate on the Island of Manda which as you can see is not densely populated. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It all felt very surreal to be sitting on a beach under a tree while some strangers BBQ'd the fish we had just murdered caught. We swam in the warm ocean water while they finished lunch.


They served the Fish whole and again, like the fishing, I figured I'd just dive in head long rather than beat around the bush. On my plate, you can see the head which you remove prior to eating the fish. Looking closely you can see the tail of the fish in my right hand. it was good and easier to eat than expected.



After Lunch we headed up the channel towards some ruins on a different part of Manda. My mom will be mad about the shirtless pic. Sorry mom, 'ma holla at 'cha. I'm looking skinnier and darker people keep telling me. I have a mega farmers tan which is really funny. Its nice to see that I do indeed have cheek bones still.



The ride to the ruins was interesting. Sand bars don't pose as much of a problem as the Mangrove trees lining the route. It felt like a canal ride more than a ride on a sail boat because the sail would make the boat faster than could be controlled through the narrow channel.



Another shirtless one which is only remaining because it shows the awesomeness of my farmer tan. Fear the Farmer Tan!!!!



I've no realized that I wore one of the ugliest outfits ever orchestrated on the trip. Once we got to the ruins I got a picture next to a Baobob tree similar to the one I posted earlier in the trip. You get a much better perspective of just how big the trunk is relative to the height of the tree. They're so thick its amazing.




Compared to Gede, the ruins were quite a let down. This picture is inside the mosque and is probably a bit sacrilegious... though I really hope not.


The roosters that they had were huge and really unique looking near the ruins. This one loved the camera and really worked it for the camera. It looked very velociraptorish in my opinion.

We got back to Lamu Just in time to shower and head to dinner at "Hippie Ali's" house. He's a man that has been hosting guests at his home for over 35 years. He's a very jovial man and a great host.



We meet him in town and walked for what seemed like an eternity threw the narrow alleys to his house. We sat on the floor and took a bunch of pictures as he prepared dinner with his wife and daughter. The food was great and he sat and talked with us as we ate an interesting though somewhat smaller than advertised dinner. Following dinner they played some songs for us as a family with some guest musicians one of which was an albino black man. I've never seen and albino black person in real life but they are here a lot. I haven't seen any albino women, just men and this was the first time that I felt comfortable taking a picture. They have blond hair and skin that is whiter than any of the the white people in our group. He was an amazing drum player. Its hard to see from the angle of the shot but he was playing two drums at the same time.



I slept much better after dinner that night. I got a freezing bottle of water that I snuggled up to and I duct taped over the holes in the mosquito net which covered the two major problems from the night before. The 3rd day was mostly exploring town. We shopped, and saw the sites. I may have mentioned before that all the transport is done with donkeys including movement of construction materials like these carrying sand to sum unknown destination.



The main square in town is next to a fort and is a big gathering place for the locals. You don't see many white people east of the square but like the rest of Lamu, it doesn't feel dangerous there. It felt like the safest place we've been in Kenya. I walked around a lot after dark and never felt unsafe at all even in the dark alleys which make up basically every square inch of Lamu. In the square this tree was growing out of the window of a building. It seemed really mind blowing that A. it could grow out of a building, and B. that whoever owns the place has never cared to remove it from the window. It looked really cool regardless.



This picture is a good indicator of most "major streets" in Lamu. You can't usually see much more than 15 feet in front of you and you can touch both walls to your sides with little effort.



This is the fort that is adjacent to the square. It has been turned into office space although the structure was mostly maintained really well. Grace insisted that I posed and this is the least horrible of the poses.



The fort was a little lackluster, but the views were amazing. We got a vantage that allowed us to take pictures of things that I wanted to photograph but didn't really feel that it would be appreciated.



This lady selling chickens is a great example. Each of the baskets in front of her had 5-10 live chickens under it. Not the grocery store we're used to at home. She obviously has some customers though. Good for her.



This is looking down on a market that sold spices and vegetables and other foods. I think it was mainly an impromptu area that had just been taken over by entrepreneurial minded people who seem to congregate well here in Kenya.



These three sinks are everywhere. I don't really know what they do or what they symbolize but they are really common.



This building is east of town and really cool looking. They were really upscale apartments as far as I can tell, but they appeared to be for sale of something. You never really know here. Signs are really not accurate.




Muslim women, fully covered walking on a beach. nuff said.



This was what we eventually dubbed "Gotham City Power Plant". Black exhaust billowed out of the the generators in the back ground and this oil/diesel/pollutants just sat out side spilling over the sand and into the sea. Like a lot of things in Lamu it just seemed to fake to be real. I keep thinking that things in Kenya look like Disneyland which has made me respect the park more than I did before. They do a decent job making the jungle ride look like the jungle etc.



I was glad I had gotten my fade tightened up before going to Lamu... the DUDU barber didn't sound like a great place to have my hair did. Joking aside I think that DU DU means pest in Swahili. I could be wrong though.



The moon, some boats, and Grace with the dock in the background.