Marrakesh - City of Snake Charmers and Mint Tea

We had high expectations for Marrakesh, and I'm happy to report that it exceeded them in every way.The city is an intoxicating blend of sights, sounds, smells and tastes.

Our journey to Marrakesh began with a pleasant 3 hour train ride from Casablanca. We made the decision to shell out the extra $15 to upgrade to first class which provided us with very comfortable seats in a private cabin that held 6 people. As the scenery of Morocco rolled by we caught glimpses of rural life as well as some interesting small towns. The terrain gradually changed from farmland and trees to rolling hills. Ironically it reminded us of the Prairies in Canada, minus palm trees of course.

We arrived in Marrakesh and disembarked into the city's ultra-modern train station where a taxi driver sent by the riad met us. The station is in the new part of the city so we had an interesting drive to the old Medina. New Marrakesh is palm lined streets and modern hotels and condos; old Marrakesh is quite a bit different.

As we drove through the walls surrounding the old Medina, we seemed to step back in time. The road narrowed quickly to the point where we had to get out and walk the rest of the way to Riad Puchka. Traffic turned into a crazy mix of pedestrians, motorbikes and donkeys pulling carts. A few minutes and alleyways later we arrived at our riad where we stepped inside a calm oasis amid the din of the Medina.

If you ever go to Marrakesh we recommend you stay at a riad, which is basically a household surrounding a courtyard. The open centre allows heat to escape during the day and cool air in at night. Riad Puchka, where we stayed, is fantastic, and at 60 Euros a night was probably the best value for accommodations on our trip. The place was fully restored 5 years ago and even has a small swimming pool and hot tub in the centre. We quickly settled in to our luxurious rooms and listened carefully as Mustafa explained how to navigate around the city.

That evening we successfully made our way down to Jemma-el-Fna, which is the very large main square in Marrakesh. How to describe it? Imagine life a few hundred years ago when everyone came down to the central square of their town for entertainment. In one corner you have storytellers entertaining the local audience with tales of arabian nights; in another corner are fortune-tellers and women applying henna; over on the other side are snake charmers and acrobats. In between all this are the food stalls and their intoxicating aroma. Surrounding the square, in mazes of narrow streets, are the souks, selling everything you could possibly want. And everywhere you go, the crush of people going about their business. All your senses go immediately into overload. What a wonderful place!

We were all immediately enthralled. Over the next three days we explored the souks and area around the main square. Mustafa gave us a very good tourist map that had each area of the souks marked by the type of goods being sold. Over the equivalent of about 10 square city blocks you could find the following types of things: wood carvings, ironworks, skins, leather, music instruments, clothing, Moroccan slippers, jewelery, fabrics, lanterns, herborists, wool, shoes, copper, dried fruits, olives, market fruits and vegetables, tailors, pastry shops, and crockery.

We also discovered some amazing coconut cookies that are sold everywhere on the streets and I highly recommend them.  On two occassions we ate dinner at the food stalls in the main square with a thousand others.  It was quite fun and a good cheap meal that typically consisted of bread, olives, and an assortment of kebabs and vegetables.  It filled us all up.  On the way back to the riad each day, Aidan would stop for some popcorn at the popcorn vendor; we became a regular customer during our stay.  We also drank a lot of mint tea while in Marrakesh.  Here it is made with real mint leaves and is sweetened.  Very tasty.  Aidan discovered that he likes kefta and had it on several occasions.  His food tastes have certainly changed over the last six months.

As well as visiting the many shops in the souks, we also went to several significant tourist sites. From the main medina area we could see the Ali ben Youssef Mosque, which is the largest and oldest surviving mosque in the medina and was built in the 12th century.  Alas it is closed to non-Muslims.  One day we walked to the Marrakesh Museum which is housed in a restored 19th century palace, Dar Mnebhi.  Once again the architecture and design in these buildings took our breath away.  We also visted the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, which is a Muslim religious school with some impressive stucco decoration.

On another day we ventured into the Royal Quarter (Kasbah) and toured the most famous of the city's palaces, the now ruined Palais el-Badi.  It once had the reputation as being the most beautiful palace in the world.  All that is left now are towering pise walls and the staggering scale of the ruins.  We then went to the Palais de la Bahia, which is certainly a beautiful palace and really reminded us of the Alhambra in Spain.  The nicest thing was that most of the colours were still present in the stucco decoration.  From here we walked to the Saadian Tombs, which are the resting places of Saadian princes.  It was a very worthwhile day, despite the 7 odd hours of walking around.  Everyone was very tired and I think Susan's comments were along the lines of "That's it ... I'm done."

A funny thing happended while we were  wandering between these sites.  We ran into Andy from the United Kingdom.  It is funny because we met Andy and his girlfriend Kirsten in Parachy, Brazil in November.  Andy was in Marrakesh with his father for a short holiday.  He came running up to us on the street and said he recognized Aidan.  We are now firmly convinced that it is a small world after all.

We're very glad we visted Marrakesh. It was definately one of the highlights of our trip. We would reccomend it to anyone who wants to experience the warmth of the Arabic people. Our only regret is that we didn't have time to go visit Essaouria or venture into the Sahara desert. We'll definately come back.

What I Have in Common with Humphrey Bogart (Besides Good Looks)

Casablanca of course!  Actually I'm not sure if Humph ever actually made it to the famed city since the movie was filmed in Florida.  

We arrived here on Royal Air Marroc but encountered a few minor but annoying challenges along the way.  After saying goodbye and thank you to my parents we made our way up to Lisbon on the bus and stayed overnight at the Gran Pension Alcobia (50 euro). We heard that Lisbon airport can have some long security lineups, so we arrived extra early, at 6:00 a.m. for our 8:30 flight.  Unfortunately, the check-in counter did not open until 6:30, and when it did open we all found out that the computer system for all TAP flights (with which Royal Air Moroc is affiliated) was down.  So everyone waited for almost an hour until and then it was announced that check-in would proceed by hand.  By this time the line-ups in the whole terminal were huge!  Just when they started doing manual check-in, it was announced the computer system was up and running again.  

When we got up to the counter, the staff person asked if we had our visas for Morocco.  I had checked on the Canadian Foreign Affairs website only days before and knew that we did not need a visa to visit.  However, some horribly worded English on the staff person's screen made it sound like we needed a visa.  We convinced her that this was not true and she let us go ahead.  So off we headed through some frantic security to our gate.  We were supposed to board at 7:50 and by 8:00 we knew something was wrong as we hadn't boarded. I checked the departures board to discover that they had changed the gate and were now on the final boarding call for our flight.  So we, along with two others, ran to the other gate, jumped on an airport bus and were whisked off to our plane.

Luckily the plane did not crumble apart during our flight because it appeared old enough to do so.  The only good thing about the trip was the breakfast.  The yogurt and croissant were yummy, but no coffee.  Boo.  As we landed in Casablanca we thought to ourselves, now nothing else could possibly go wrong.  Sadly we were mistaken.  Our luggage did not come directly to Casablanca with us.  For reasons unknown it was sent to Barcelona, Spain. Seriously.

So we headed into Casablanca on a train as the airport is 30+ km out of town, without our luggage.  From the train station we caught a Petit Taxi to the Central Hotel, which just inside the walls of the old Medina.  The hotel was in an old building that at one time might have been very nice.  Now it is a little worn around the edges and a bit musty smelling.  However, the staff were very nice and the location was good.

After  a quick freshening up, we headed out for a walk down toward the central market. Along the way we stopped at a cafe for some sandwiches and excellent coffee. The architecture in downtown Casablanca is best described as Moorish design meets Art Deco. Its really quite spectacular, however most buildings have been left to decline and are in need of extensive renovation. This is unfortunate given the obvious potential. Making our way back to the hotel we walked through the old Medina, with its maze of souks and narrow streets,   full of interesting sights and smells. We spent the evening catching up on reading and schoolwork and enjoying the mint tea.  

The next morning we went down and had a nice breakfast, which included local breads, apricot jam and some excellent coffee. Our plan was to walk over to visit the Hassan II Mosque in the morning, have a quick lunch, and then head out on a city tour for the afternoon (we made the tour arrangements at the tourist office the previous day). After the tour, we would then go to the airport to collect our wayward luggage, which had finally arrived.

The Hassan II Mosque overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is the third largest in the world. It was started in 1986 and completed 6 years later to commemorate the 60th birthday of Hassan II, the former king of Morocco. The mosque is really impressive and a wonderful showcase of what can be achieved when modern building techniques are applied to a grand religious structure. The building can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 people outside. The exterior is clad in marble and tile. It even features a retractable roof and a laser that points towards Mecca which was visible from our hotel at night. The inside is breathtaking. Its hard to even describe how beautiful the tile work, marble columns, woodwork and chandeliers are. Suffice to say there were 10,000 artisans involved in the project and 3,000 construction workers, working 24 hours a day in shifts. The mosque was definitely the highlight of our stay in Casablanca. 

Lunch consisted of really yummy sandwiches and fries bought from a small vendor in the old Medina. Total cost for three people - $3. The tour guide (Susan called him "grumpy Bill') joined us as we were eating and we spent the next few hours in an old Mercedes taxi visiting the other sights in Casablanca. The more memorable places included the waterfront, which is being completely redeveloped, the old lighthouse, several gardens and parks, the area where the rich and famous live, and walking around old streets and palaces in the Kasbah (royal quarter). We also visited a spice vendor where we got a lesson in the many spice products produced in Morocco and purhased some saffron and perfume. Along the way we got to see both the new and the old side of Casablanca and breathe a lot of car exhaust. Morocco will be very nice when they put catalytic converters on vehicles.

With our tour complete, we dropped off our guide and made our way back to the airport. The driver agreed to take us for the same rate that the airline would be reimbursing us for. All good so far, except that the traffic was horrible. Had we known it would be so bad, we would have taken the train instead and saved some money in the process. To make a long story short, it took over 3 hours to retrieve our luggage and get back to the old Medina.

Tired but hungry, we had dinner at a place recommended in Lonely Planet guide that was near our hotel. We ate some good traditional food including a nice tangene (meat and vegetable stew cooked slowly in an earthenware dish) and a mezze (five different small salads), but it was very over priced. One juice drink cost more than our entire lunch in the old Media.

After a quick breakfast the next morning we made our way to the Gare des Casa Voyageurs and jumped on the train to Marrakesh. We were glad we stopped in Casablanca for a day, however that's about all the time I think its worth. 

For the Love of My Liver...

For the health of my liver, I must leave the Algarve.  We have had a great deal of fun spending time with Mike's parents - Pat and Paul. They do know how to have good noshies and cocktails before dinner, followed by some fabulous Portuguese reds with dinner.  Oh, and I cannot forget about the sangria in the afternoons. Truthfully, I think Pat and Paul's livers could use a break from us as well.  Hehehe.

Aidan also had his share of fun with Grandma and Grandpa.  He had been counting down the days for several weeks and I don't think he slept much the night prior to seeing them because he was so excited.  His early morning cheerio eating contests with Grandpa resumed and he got all the bacon he could eat from Grandma.

Now all joking aside, the six days we spent in southern Portugal hasn't been all drinkies and nibblies.  We have seen a few things. Pat and Paul have spent the last four winter's in the Algarve and know it very well.  They rent a two bedroom condominium in Sesmarias, which is near Lagoa, which is near Faro.  It is a nice place (if you like everything done in marble - and really who doesn't) near the ocean.  It was here that we were introduced to many other expats who spend their winters in sunny Portugal.  The temperature really was quite nice, around 24 C every day.  Most of the communities were quiet, but we were told that in the summers when the temperatures soar to over 40 C each day, the beaches and towns are crawling with tourists (mainly Brits).   

We were treated to a couple of rituals.  First there was the daily coffee ritual.  This involves driving to Luis' cafe and having two cups of very tasty coffee.  We went on the regular pilgrimage to the chicken lady's for lunch in Silves.  There is a particular restaurant that is owned by the old lady and serves piri-piri chicken.  Actually, that is all they serve.  First they bring out bread, cheese, sardine paste, and olives.  Then comes wine.  Then the old lady comes and fusses over Aidan.  Then out comes platters of salad, piri-piri chicken and fries.  Pat and Paul found out about the place when they spoke to another couple who had stumbled upon it.  They sat at a table and asked the old lady for a menu.  At which point she slammed her hand down on the table and yelled "chicken."  So they had chicken.  We also went to sample the famous Pastel de Nadas (Portuguese custard tarts) at the Pastisserie. Finally, we attended the weekly expat Canadian meeting / Canadiana quiz at Smilers Bar.  It was here under the maple leaf that we helped Paul win the weekly trivia by knowing the answer to a tie breaking question (Q: The name of the movie about beer drinking Doug and Bob Mackenzie; A: Strange Brew).  Yay Paul - a bottle of wine to replace the diminishing collection!

Pat and Paul have a roomy car and therefore we were driven to all the fun sites around the area.  We visited the castle in Silves and the Palace of the Verandas.  This fortress sits on the highest point in Silves and is quite ancient, like before the Romans.  It was the site of the throne of Seville from 1053 onward during the height of the Arab rule.  In the 13th century it was conquered by the Christians. 

We spent another morning combing through the gypsy market and managed to find some replacement running shoes for Aidan and some very large sugary doughnut like things for all. On a different day we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the beach at Praia da Rocha. Wow what a beach.  It was as amazing as any we have seen in our travels, but with no one on it.  It is packed in the summer.  It was a hot day and Aidan had a good time building sand castles with Grandma.  On another day, we ventured to Monshique - both the top of the mountain and the small picturesque town.  Here we marveled at the wind turbines, the view and the hot springs.  We also managed to fit in some shopping in the small towns, where every street is made from marble stones.

Aidan did manage to get into the brand new swimming pool at the condo complex.  It was a fairly chilly day and even he couldn't stay in for very long.  A little too early in the season, but Grandpa and Michael sure enjoyed the show.

We also got some exciting news from home.  Our house renters (actually my cousin Brian and his lovely wife Wendy) informed us that their new home in Leduc is ready three months ahead of schedule!  They are moving in April 1st instead of in June.  Obviously the economy in Alberta has gone down hill a bit when homes are being finished before rather than after the estimated completion date.  What this means is that we are moving back to our whole home again in April instead of just into our basement.  We cannot thank Brian and Wendy enough for taking such good care of the house over the winter. 

All in all, we had a great relaxing time in the Algarve and Portual thanks to Mike's parents. Now back to our African adventure.

For the Love of Tapas

The past few days have been spent in tapas heaven...oh...and we saw some more stuff here in Spain too.

After finishing our time in Madrid we boarded the high-speed train for Granada. There is nothing more civilized than zipping through the countryside at 200+ kmh while you enjoy a glass of wine in the club car. The scenery was also spectacular and changes quite a bit as you move further south. We were also pleasantly surprised by change in weather, and stepped off the train to a beautiful 23 C Mediterranean day.

We looked around briefly for the local buses, but decided to hoof it to the downtown instead. It turned out that the train station was only about 1 km from our hostel and we had enjoyed a pleasant walk along Granada's Gran Via. Its worth mentioning at this point that we're very glad we decided to buy backpacks with wheels on the bottom. Its much easier to pull a backpack behind you than hitch it on your back. Although wheeled luggage is definitely a no-no for chic travelers (only backpacks with shoes and water bottles hanging off will do), we're no longer care. We've only had to carry our packs five or six times on this trip, but we have used those wheels everywhere.

We quickly found our way to Hostel Antares. The manager was elated that we were from Canada as he is a huge fan of Bachman Turner Overdrive. Anyway...we settled in to our very nice room and set out immediately for tapas and wine. We managed to pull ourselves away from the restaurants long enough to see the Cathedral and a few other sights in the city. Granada is nestled at the foot of the snow-clad Nevada Mountains and was a sanctuary for Muslims after the fall of Cordoba and Seville. The Alhambra is really a commanding presence over the whole town and we had tons of fun wandering around the maze-like streets of the town.

At the manager's advice, we walked up the hill (a very big hill) at 7:30 in the morning to get our tickets into the Alhambra. Because of the large number of people who visit each day, entrance to Palacio Nazaries is tightly controlled and everyone is assigned a specific time. We would have booked tickets on the internet in advance if we had known. The manager gave us good advice though and we got to visit the palace at 8:30 a.m., well before the crowds.

The Alhambra is one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic art and architecture in the Mediterranean. It is at once a fortress, a palace, and a maze of patios and gardens. The Alcazaba - the Alhambra's fortress - dates from the 11th to the 13th centuries and boasts spectacular views of Granada from its towers. The Palacio Nazaries was built for Granada's Muslim rulers and is the centrepiece of the Alhambra. The detail and intricacy of the stuccos and woodwork are really awe inspiring. We spent over 4 hours walking around the area taking picture after picture of carved stone and beautiful tiles. Then we headed back into town for sangria and tapas (again). We also ate some great Lebanese food at the Samarkanda restaurant.

We went to bed at a reasonable time so we could get up and catch a bus to Seville early in the morning; however being Saturday night, it didn't quiet down until 6:30 a.m. Oh well, we had a great breakfast and managed to head down to the bus station around 10:30 am. No need to buy tickets ahead of time here(love the public transportation!). We caught a noon bus and three hours later found ourselves in Sevilla.

We got a little lost trying to find our hotel in the old historic part of town. It is a beautiful city and the streets wind around every which way. Our hotel was down a busy street with no sidewalks. The door to the hotel opened off a cobblestone road approximately one foot from the traffic on the street (really). Fun trying to get luggage in and not get hit by cars.

Gradually, we started to "get" the layout of the crazy streets so that we could get to a tourist attraction and back without getting lost. Along the way we visited many impressive plazas and enjoyed looking in the shop windows. We also enjoyed the sangria and tapas.

Although we only stayed one night we did manage to see a lot. Seville's cathedral is primarily Gothic and it holds the honour of being the largest cathedral in the world (by floor area). Yeah, seriously, wow. It was built over-top of an ancient mosque. A tower adjoins the cathedral and is called La Giralda. It use to be the mosques minaret and dates from the 12th century. We climbed up the 37 floors to get to the top and see all around Seville.

We also visited the Alcazar and the nearby Starbucks. Okay, Susan and I really enjoyed finding Starbucks again. Anyway...the Alcazar was a residence of Muslim and Christian royalty for many centuries and was founded in 913 as a fortress. It has been updated over the centuries and is a real mishmash of styles. The gardens were beautiful and well, it is hard to find other words to describe some of these old buildings. A joy to be able to see inside and every bit as impressive as Alhambra in Granada

Oh, we also had more sangria and tapas.

My parents picked us up at 1:30 pm the next day and we headed to Lagoa, Portugal. Aidan had been driving us crazy for hours waiting for his grandparents so we were very happy to see them arrive. We are looking forward to being pampered for a few days in Portugal.

Real Madrid

Madrid is a magical city, and we have very much enjoyed playing
tourist here for the past few days. One of the best features of Spain
is the incredible food, and we made a point of visiting several
different restaurants for tapas. Most places have a set menu for
lunch (the biggest meal of the day) and then people eat tapas for
dinner. Typically, this includes small baguette sandwiches. Hams,
sausages and cheeses are important food products here and we really
enjoyed trying the different meats. We had our last dinner in Madrid
at the Museo de Jambon (yes, the Museum of Ham!).

Being in Europe, we knew it was going to be expensive, and we were right.
It is pricey here and I don't know how people manage to
eat out all the time (they do) and dress so nice. The one deal we did
manage was for accommodation. We originally looked into staying in a
hostel, but most were more expensive than the budget hotels, so we
ended up staying at the Best Western, in the centro for less than 50
Euros a night. It was within walking distance of everything.
Perfectly situated.

Yesterday we jumped on the double-decker tourist bus (ubiquitous in
every big European city) to see the sights. Madrid did not disappoint.
Our first stop was the National Museum. Interestingly, the Prince and
Princess of Spain were visiting the same time we were, so there was a
ton of extra security and sections were being closed off as the royal
party toured the exhibits. It took us about 2 hours to go into sensory
overload from all the paintings. We saw at least 20 masterpieces
during our wanderings, including works by Raphael, Titan, Caravaggio,
Goya, El Greco and Reubens. Aidan's favorite was The Triumph of Death
by Brueghel, which featured skeletons doing battle with people. All
that and we caught a glimpse of the future King and Queen of Spain.
Cool!

Our other big stop on the tour was the Royal Palace. After spending an
hour outside at a playground we journeyed back in time to the 17th and
18th century when Spain was still a colonial super-power. We enjoyed
seeing some incredible rooms (the throne room and the porcelain room
have not changed since 1755), a collection of 255 clocks, and 5
Stradivarius violins. Aidan particularly liked the Armeria Real
(armoury).

Once again we are reminded how functional European cities and towns
are compared to their North American counterparts. During the day,
there are hundreds of stores and cafes open and most people are
walking down the sidewalks enjoying the fabulous weather and
window-shopping. If you need to get across the city, you hop on the
Metro for the quick and whisper-silent trip. Airport, bus and train
stations are all reachable by Metro. At night, the streets fill with
even more people as everyone stops for a glass of wine and a tapa. By
9 pm the pubs have opened and the nightlife is just getting started.
The is an incredible variety of people on the streets at all times of
the day. Families, friends, and senior citizens are all out in force.
Groups of older women and men, dressed to the nines, are out having
glasses of beer and tapas or chocolate and churrios. It really was a
pleasure to wander around this beautiful city. What a difference from
the hollowed-out cities we live in!

One other interesting point about Madrid. There is a tremendous police
presence in the downtown, which makes you feel very safe, but also
makes you think about why all the security is necessary. You can't
even get into the national museum without going through a metal
detector. Ditto for the train station and any other important
building. An unfortunate reality for Spain.

Susan had her first severe diabetic low blood sugar of this trip on
our last night in Madrid. Luckily we are carrying several glucagon
injection kits, and after 13 years of marriage, I am an expert on
using them. Once administered, she was as right as rain. Aidan was a
bit freaked out, but once things were explained to him, he was fine.
The low blood sugar was a result of a lot of walking, a light dinner,
and a few glasses of wine. Things do go wrong and you just have to be
prepared to deal with them.

This morning we got up early to catch our train to Granada. Its a
pleasure to travel on European trains. As I write this we're being
whisked through the countryside at about 200 kmh in quiet comfort.
What a change from East Africa.

Out of Africa

Hard to believe we have already arrived at our last day in Africa.
Susan and I are really sorry to go. We've met some wonderful people
here and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Kenya and Tanzania.
Ironically, after taking it easy in Nairobi for a while, we're ready
to see the rest of the eastern half of the continent. We've heard
great things about Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana and South
Africa, That will have to wait until next time.

We spent our last few hours in Nairobi enjoying the perfect weather
and saying goodbye to everyone. We're really going to miss Lynita and
Alan, the two expat Australians who run Wildebeest Camp, and Aidan is
going to miss their young son Oliver. The other person we're going to
miss is Justice, a young Masai man who is living with Lynita and Alan
while he completes his degree in wildlife conservation. We promised
Justice that when he's done, we'll come back and he can guide us
around the Masai Mara. His family lives there and he said we would
have a great time visiting with them as well.

Alan joined us on the way to the airport. Their Land Rover has been
impounded in Customs for the past month. He was hoping that the import
problem they were experiencing had cleared up. At issue was their
import paperwork. A Customs official told them it would require
200,000 Shillings ($3,000) to make it go away. Lynita and Alan are
both upright people and refuse to pay bribes, which can be a real
impediment when you live in one of the 20 most corrupt countries on
the planet. They countered by writing a letter to the top customs
official who seemed to be willing to act on their behalf. Good luck
Alan!

After doing some last minute souvenir shopping in the airport we
enjoyed a pleasant flight out of Nairobi on Qatar Airways. Upon
arrival in Doha, we were pleasantly surprised to find the the airline
supplied free meals to people who had to wait more than 5 hours
between connections. We'll fly Qatar anywhere. Their service (and
food) is way better than any airline in North America.

We arrived in Madrid, Spain around 7:00 am in the morning. The
temperature outside was a balmy 3 Celsius, What a shock after 5 months
of tropical weather! After stopping for a quick continental breakfast
we made our way on the Metro to our hotel in the heart of the Centro
district.

We really enjoyed our time in the developing world, but its also fun
to be back in a Western country. Hot showers with unlimited water,
fantastic architecture, no litter or crime to speak of, and
outstanding food. We're enjoying Spain already.

The Other Side of Nairobi

We have spent the past few days learning about the other side of
Nairobi. The side that tourists don't usually see and the rich try to
turn a blind eye to. Over half of the population of the city of
Nairobi live in slums, which translates into approximately 1.5 to 2
million people. Unbelievably the slums themselves only cover 5% of the
land area of the city, so you can imagine the population density in
these places. People are practically living on top of each other.

Our first visit to the other side of Nairobi was to Kibera, which is
the largest in slum in East Africa and one of the largest on the
continent. Kibera covers approximately 2 square KMs and is situated on
government land. This means that nobody in Kibera can own property and
everyone lives under the threat of eviction. The exact population of
Kibera is not known. We heard estimates as high as 1.5 million people,
but more likely it is about one million.

Kibera is the largest but by no accounts the only slum in Nairobi. All
together there are 66 slums in the city. Other well-known slums
include Mathare and Korogocho. Slum populations have grown rapidly
over the past decade and continue to increase as a result of rapid
urbanization in East Africa. Its hard to imagine the living conditions
in the rural areas being worse than slums, but for many that seems to
be the case.

Perhaps our biggest surprise visiting Kibera was that there is large
socioeconomic gradient inside the slum. People are better off on the
outskirts of Kibera than those living in the middle. Many of the
people living on the outskirts have low-paying or irregular jobs and
walk back and forth to downtown every day. There are a large number of
shops and services catering to this group; and there is also hope.
Almost everyone we bumped into in these areas way happy and smiling.
They are trying hard to escape the slum.

Closer to the centre of Kibera the scene changes. Open sewers are
everywhere and people are living in absolute squalor. There is a
general feeling of helplessness. People don't have jobs and most exist
on less than $1 a day. They live so close to the edge that even a
small hardship would push them over the edge. Just walking through
these areas was hard. The smell makes you want to retch and you feel
completely unclean after spending only a few hours there. It was
overwhelming.

Our host for the Kibera visit was a young man named Sandi who
works/volunteers for the Kibera Community Youth Program. The
organization was founded about 3 years ago to help young people in the
slum build a better life. Most of the projects sponsored by the
program focus on self-improvement, like self-education and skills
development for young adults, but they also help offset costs for
nutritional food. Like many small grassroots projects, there is no
formal funding for the organization and they rely on the generosity of
small doners, like us, who visit them. We were impressed with the
group and what they were trying to accomplish. The most exciting
project from our perspective was to set up an internet learning
centre. To do this, the organization needs about 7-10 used laptops and
an internet connection. They figure that they can use 3 or 4 of the
laptops to set up a basic internet cafe, which would pay for the
internet connection and electricity.

Susan also joined our Wildebeest Camp host, Lynita, and her friend
Marion on a visit to the Shepherd's Orphanage Centre in the Kayole
slum. There are many orphanages in the city that are run as profit
making enterprises. Owners get money from the government and most of
it doesn't go to the children. This one was different.

A very caring man named Lusweti started the centre five years ago and
does not have any government support. Well, they do get a couple of
bags of maize every year. The orphanage (think tin shacks) was put
together under a major power line. Basically, they are squatting on
power company land and could be forced to move at any time. However,
they don't have to pay any rent. They do not have any outside support
and rely solely on donations of food, clothing, and money. They get
by on very little. There are 49 children ranging in age from 2 to 16
that live in the small compound. The majority of the children are
orphans whose parents died of AIDS, however there are some that were
abandoned or who ran away (e.g., mother was a prostitute). The
children all call Lusweti, Dad. There are also three women volunteers
who cook and help take care of the children.

Susan was immediately impressed by Lusweti's sincerity and all that he
is trying to do for the children. Thanks to the support from Marion's
donors in the Netherlands, all of the children have uniforms and
attend school. A child cannot attend school in Kenya without a school
uniform. Uniforms cost about 700 shillings (approximately $15). Many
children in the slums only have a uniform and no other clothing. Yes,
this is free education in Kenya.

Susan spent the next four hours talking to the children and seeing where
they live. There are two dorms - one for the boys and one for the
girls. They have latrine toilets and all take bucket baths. There is
no running water or electricity. When it rains the entire yard floods
and they usually have to move into only one section of the compound.
A tiny area is used to cook ungali (a porridge like mixture made from
maize). All of the children are very proud that they go to school and
they are so smart. These were probably the warmest and most polite
children we have ever met. They didn't ask for a thing and wanted to
know all about Canada. The little ones just wanted a hug.

Lynita was doing the tour to find out if the orphanage would be
something that she could funnel some of her great energy toward. We
visited Kibera through the Wildebeest Camp and she was seeing if
something could be set up for visitors to volunteer at the orphanage.
All kinds of options were discussed, including sponsoring a child.
The biggest thing on the wish list for the orphanage is to have their
own land so they don't have to worry about being kicked out. Susan
found out that they need the equivalent of $5,000 to do this. Seems
so small to some of us and so beyond their reach. They also
appreciate any clothing for the children, shoes, and other small
things. Susan found out that many of the girls miss a week of school
each month because they cannot afford to buy sanitary pads for them.

Our trips to the slums were a real eye opener. There is terrible
poverty, but we expected this. However it is one thing to sit in Canada and
discuss it and quite another to see and experience it. It certainly
made us want to get more involved, but what project to choose?

After discussing the pros and cons, we decided to support the
orphanage. We cannot change the world, but we do have the power to
improve the lives of 49 children. So don't be surprised if we hit you up for a little help when we get back to Canada.