Absent Bloggers

Yeah, yeah, we know - we haven’t updated the blog in a while. Well, we haven’t had a whole lot to report. Stephanie is waiting patiently for her security clearance so that she can start her (not so) new job with USAID. Tired of merely writing about good ideas for the environment, I’ve been busy trying to launch a new sustainable energy business. Maybe a crazy idea in this part of the world, but a fascinating challenge nonetheless.

In the meantime, we’ve had some old friends in from out of town, which gave us a great excuse to see more of this beautiful country (we don’t need much motivation). The first trip was with Sarah and Wes up to Sangare Ranch in the Aberdares, near Mt. Kenya. It’s a beautiful 1,2oo acre spread with a few bandas along a lake with amazing views of the mountain. We walked the grounds with our fearless leader Wambua, who had the uncanny ability of magically transporting himself from one end of the property to the other in no time armed with a rusty but durable old shotgun in the event of an animal attack. Driving through the Aberdares, which consists of a high mountainous plateau to the northeast of the Rift Valley, was truly spectacular, except for the unbelievable amount of dust that somehow managed its way into the closed cabin of the car. Check out the photos.

A few weeks later we were off again to a little town on the coast north of Mombasa called Watamu. Erin, who was in Kenya doing field research at the Kakuma refugee camp near the Sudanese border, and her boyfriend Thierry joined us at a spectacularly simple house on the pristine shores of the Indian Ocean. After a few days of utopian splendor, we headed back to Nairobi via the always adventurous Mombasa Highway. Check out the photos.

Now we’re back in Nairobi, looking for a new place to live (one with some green and peace and quiet) and seeking out some normalcy amidst all the craziness.