Kenya was at one time a British colony.   Typical of the old non-voluntary members of the British Empire, Kenya was not always a happy child to the Queen.  A glance at  a wikipedia article about Kenya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya tells us an awful lot in a quick manner.  It has only been a Republic since December, 1963. 

Nairobi, home of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and our first stop, sits at about 5,400 feet. The temperatures this time of year are in the 70s during the day, and dropping into the 50s at night.  It sounds a lot like Cheyenne’s climate during the summer, so we shouldn’t be out of our element too much.

Read the Wiki article to get the lowdown on the history, politics and geography. Its fascinating stuff, especially when you consider that homo erectus walked the ground in Kenya 1.6 million years ago.

There is a human tragedy waiting to happen in northern Kenya. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are streaming across the border to escape the war in Somalia and settling in squalid refugee camps where there is little in terms of food and water. It hasn’t rained there in three years, and disaster is imminent unless the world pays some attention to it. The problem is that the world often ignores events in Africa. See: Rwanda and Darfur.http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/03/somalia.refugee.conditions/index.html

To get to Nairobi, we have to go from Denver to Toronto to Zurich to Switzerland. The way back takes us through Chicago instead of Toronto, but both legs require more than 20 hours in airplanes. 

We have been asked about vaccinations, and the answer is yes. We both received shots for yellow fever, tetanus, meningococcal disease,typhoid, polio and hepatitis.  Let’s just say that these things are not free.

 

That’s all for now.