A Trip to Kenya

A waterfall in the rainforest

In a new travel article by Jenna Kellam on GoNOMAD, the author discusses a trip to Kenya. The differences, new experiences, and impressions are all discussed in this interesting and informative piece. Here’s a short sample from the article.

The drive to the safari site was incredible. We passed through villages, towns and desolate areas. I got to see a new side of Kenya, the majority of Kenya, the slums.

About half of Kenya’s population is below the poverty line. Houses are made of corrugated aluminum, mud brick, or elephant dung. All the houses double as stores so people can sell their crops or goods to passers-by.

On a separate occasion, we got a flat tire and had to change it on the side of the dirt road. A bunch of children ran over from herding cattle to see what was going on. They had no shoes, barely any clothes and could barely speak Swahili. They wanted water, pens, and money (emphasis on the first two). They also fell in love with my digital camera. More people from their village came to see what was going on and try to sell us goods.

A four-hour drive over bumpy dirt roads and the equator brought us to Lewa Conservancy. Lewa used to be a rhino sanctuary and to this date Lewa contains a large rhino populaion. We saw cheetahs, black rhinos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and more.

I cannot begin to describe the difference of seeing these animals out in the wild in Kenya compared to the Baltimore zoo. Even though it is winter in Nairobi, it is summer here because we are above the equator. I could feel the difference.

You can read the rest of Kellam’s article at GoNOMAD.com