As always, in Kenya, reaching the destination is as much of an adventure as the destination itself. We started with a pleasant ferry ride from Mbita, followed by a two hour bus ride to Kisumu, and another hour bus ride to Kakamega. Then, we took a matatu from Kakamega to Shinalayu. Matatus are small "buses, that are actually pickup trucks with two benches facing each other. The western capacity of such a truck would be 12 people, 5 on each bench and two people in front. In Kenya, however, there is ALWAYS room for more. Thus, the ride to Shinalayu started off with 12 people seated on the benches and two chickens underneath the seats (presents from a new grandmother to her daughter-in-law). Along the way, we proceeded to add FIVE more adults and TWO more small children to the non-existent space in between our knees and hanging off the back of the bus. I thought I was going to lose my patience at once point, when the chickens starting acting up and two additional children were crammed into the space, leaving us with practically no oxygen and a fear that I was going to contract a disease resembling avian flu from the chicken's pecking... The nightmare ride ended, shortly thereafter, however, and everyone descended together in Shinalayu, the end of the public transport line.
The remainder of the journey was on boda-boda, where Christine and I were backseat passengers on bicycles. It was a great way to see the lush, green countryside and the huge maize farms on either side of the red-dirt road.
The forest itself, is absolutely beautiful, filled with a plethora of flora and fauna. There are eight different species of monkeys, at least 45 different types of butterflies and an astounding array of flora. Our guide was superbe, pointing all the different medicinal plants, showing us the flying squirrels and pointing out the cute little Colombo mokeys, pictured here.
We
stayed in little huts, called bandas, without electricity or water. Thank goodness for the huber-thick blanket on each bed, or I would have frozen, fleece and all. It was very pleasant to fall asleep to the sounds of the birds and monkeys, performing their evening rituals. During our day, we met a woman majoring in Behavioral Ecology, performing research on the blue monkeys. She had been living in the forest for 6 months now and had 6 more months to go. I admired her will and her passion for nature because I would not be able to live there for an extended period of time. As I enjoyed my time in the forest, I must admit, I was extremely thankful for the running water that awaited me back in Mbita.The matatu ride back was great and although was still cozy, was much nicer, since Christine and I had actual seats. In Kisumu, we met up with other staff from FACES and drove back to Mbita together in our own 12 passenger van. We dealt with not one, but TWO flat tires on the way back home (the roads are is a state of dissaray in the Suba district) but finally made it back Sunday evening.
