Merry x-mas & Happy New Year

We're off to Lamu island paradise today. I'll tell you all about it when we get back.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Africa's most dangerous animals

The holiday season is approaching and that must be the reason why I haven't written in a while, I am in a pre-holiday mood. Not that I have been super busy but it's really hard to get to the computer when you have a hyperactive little boy who just loves computers. Many of you have asked for photos and I assure you, I am doing my best to find a cable that connects camera to the computer. The one we have is in a container still waiting to be sent from Sweden, not very clever I know.

I really should tell you more about Masai Mara, because it was really amazing! Looking at the vast landscape almost made you feel as if you had stepped into a painted picture.


We saw large herds of elephants some with small calves, we managed to get really close. At another stop a large, old,wrinkled male crossed the road just in front of our car. It didn't seem to take much notice of us or maybe he was just bored with people. A little later we were told that only last month, 18 people had been killed by elephants in Masai Mara..ooooops! Some dumb tourists had seen the baby elephants, thinking they were so cute and stepped out of the car, of course the elephant mothers saw them as a major threat and went berserk. One thing that surprised me was that there was no information or signs on how to act in case you were confronted by an animal at least not what we could see. There really ought to be signs and rules of how to behave within the park so as not to disturb the wild life and to ensure its preservation. That would make life easier on both animals and human beings.

We also saw hippos enjoying an easy life, relaxing in shallow pools of the rivers. Now that we're already talking about being killed..this gigantic creature that may seem like a floating gentle, kill most people in Africa second to mosquitoes. Here is the list of Africa's most dangerous animals:

1. Mosquitoes
2. Hippos
3. Buffaloes
4. Elephants
5. Crocodiles
6. Lions
7. The Desert Locusts (grass hopper)

For more horror tales on Africa's most dangerous animals


We also got to see crocs, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, gazelles and the list goes on.

The highlight though, the queen of the savanna, the lioness. We had driven to numerous locations to find the lions, however for an untrained eye they are really hard to spot, they nicely blend into the surrounding bushes. Then we got a tip from a park ranger, who kindly even turned back to come and get us in order to point out their hidden location. There they were, three beautiful lionesses, sun baking in the equatorial sun. We sat there in the quiet with our car windows down only 3 meters from them. What a strong, graceful animal! Noah got a bit excited and couldn't help pointing and talking loudly, since we did not want an armless son we quietly drove off with smiling faces.



P.S Intressant artikel om hur man kan hjälpa familjer i Kenya.( In Swedish, sorry)

Here is how you can help Kenyans to a better life, lend money to an entrepreneur!

Breathing in the wild

The tarmac ended just before the Masai Mara gateway town called Narok, which is the provincial town of Masai Mara.

Apparently the tarmac hadn't reached Narok due to politics, more likely to mean the bribe wasn't paid. Oh yes, Kenya is indeed one of the most corrupted countries in the world and it has reached endemic proportions here. I remember a while ago when there was an outcry in Swedish papers claiming that Ericsson had used bribes to get an Indian contract, well hello, how else would they get it? Unfortunately bribery is the way to do business here despite laws such as the Anti Corruption law and Economics Crimes Act. The legal and institutional framework simply doesn't work to stop corruption mainly because most public officials earns a small fortune (in Kenyan terms) by acquiring and accepting bribes hence delaying different projects.

Narok seemed to be a busy little town, what I find amazing is how men and women manage to look so clean and tidy despite living in tonnes of dust. Their clothes are always immaculate, white shirts with no stains and no wrinkles. What's their secret?

We continued the bumpy journey and finally reached the park entrance and thought we didn't have long to go. We were quite wrong, even if it was just another 12km it took forever. If you have seen the movie Shrek, I'd like to quote: Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. However it didn't really matter because the plains were beautiful,speckled with thorn and acacia trees, shared by herds of zebra, giraffe, elephant and buffalo.

We arrived at Mara Serena Safari Lodge around 2.30 p.m, just before the buffet lunch closed :).





























The lunch was delicious and the surroundings were absolutely stunning! The hotel is set on a high ridge and the actual rooms are freestanding mud huts, a modern version of the traditional African domes. Each hut has a small balcony overlooking the valley and the water hole. In the night, you lie there tucked in your bed hearing the lions roar over their last prey. I woke up in the middle of the night hearing the sound and at first I thought it was Mats snoring, then I heard it again and it definitely was not him! The roar and groaning of a lion is a deep, guttural sound and it is very hard to estimate the distance between yourself and the lion. My immediate thought was: Have I closed the balcony door properly...as if a lion would climb in. Then I realized it wasn't that close but still I wasn't watching a documentary with David Attenborough either somewhere out there was a real lion.

Safari to Masai Mara

At the very last minute we decided to go on a safari to Masai Mara for the weekend. For those of you that didn't already know, Safari means journey in Swahili and what a journey it was! We were choosing between the options of flying or driving and since we felt a bit adventurous and wanted to see more of the country we decided for the latter option.

Reading up on the Internet, various web sites said it would be a 6h drive at it's best and that the road range varied from acceptable to abominable. Coming from Sweden where most things are neat and organized I suppose we didn't expect anything as near as bad as it was. We set of at 6 a.m to escape the worst morning traffic and managed to get out of Nairobi taking the A104 towards Lake Naivasha and Nakuru. As you descend down from the 1600 m plateau you get a breathtaking view over the Rift Valley. Trucks and overloaded buses move slowly down the very steep hill without railings while cars overtake them at a killer speed. At a look out point shops more resembling wooden shacks, sell souvenirs and if you are in "need" you could always use the toilette hanging off a cliff, be sure to keep the door open for a magnificent view.














After turning left to Narok the road went from ok to really bad. We were shaking bums for the next 2 hours or something that felt like an eternity. I kept thinking of those vibrator shape up things they sell on TV-shop, claiming to increase fat burning, well hey those things were nothing compared to this and I was starting to look forward to see my flat, muscular tummy when arriving. Despite the terrible road condition the trip was quite enjoyable and suddenly out of the blue, we saw tarmac!

To be continued...

Casualties in the night

We have been here for a week now and I've still not gotten used the rock hard bed (I've gotten used to the pool), I try to convince myself it's good for me..but right now I am feeling quite stiff.

Like most expat wives, I have spent the last few days in the shopping mall, shopping for food, food and more food. Our driver must think we are crazy bringing back bag after bag,I tried to cover it up by adding that we came with nothing..

When telling friends and family that we were moving to Kenya I guess many of them imagined us living in a mud hut in an underdeveloped country with no western goods. It's really not like that at all, you actually find everything here. The food stores for example are as large as any food store back home and have everything that you might need but maybe not WHEN you need it. I've learned that what's available in the store today may be gone tomorrow. It is not as cheap as I expected it to be but then I suppose most Kenyans do not do their grocery shopping at the malls.

Local fruit and vegetables are very cheap though, you can buy a kilo of mangoes for an equivalent of 7 SEK, now that's cheap! You'll find avocados the size of water melons and they'll cost you nothing. Why are avocados back home so small and always the same size I am asking myself? There are so many type of fruits and vegetables that I have no idea what they are or how to use them but I am really eager to find out.

Along the roads you find all kind of vendors that sell anything from fruit and vegetables to furniture, mobile phones and flowers. I would love to buy fruit and veggies here, from the locals, but unfortunately I am not a big fan of pollution which is why I choose the mall alternative. The fresh flowers however are hard to resist, so I bought a large bouquet today and payed something like 32 SEK, the driver said it was a bit overpriced but it does not matter,the vendor fooled me but I was quite happy to pay.

Now to a complete different matter, how come there's no malaria in Nairobi when the rest of the country is plagued by the disease? They say it is because the malaria mosquito doesn't like high altitudes (Nairobi is situated 1600 m above sea level). Even if there's no malaria there sure are other type of mosquitoes here!

The other afternoon, Mats had just arrived home and we decided to take Noah for a walk around the pool. It was still daylight so I left the balcony door wide open, we were only gone for about 5-10 minutes. I forgot that the sun sets very quickly here and by the time we got back inside it was almost dark. I did not only leave the balcony door wide open I also left the lights on inside..lesson number three NEVER,EVER leave a door open after dark in Kenya. The apartment was swarming with a million mosquitoes, I kid you not! We turned the lights off inside and turned it on outside with the hope of luring the mosquitoes out again, that didn't work very well. I guess they would have flown out eventually but we didn't have the whole night. So we went berserk with the broom,which Noah found very amusing. You can still see the casualties smashed on the wall.

No more Kenyan hassles

I was so tired on the way from the bank to the apartment that I actually could not take in the view of our new home town, I fell asleep. The apartment lies in a nice area and is like most apartments around here, a gated block. This means that there is a large gate with armed guards, high walls that are wired with an electric fence and 24 -hour security, many may think this would make you feel like a prisoner, but actually for some reason is doesn't. I guess it is because this part of town is safe to walk around in "outside the fence", oh how terrible did that not sound?

Of course there are areas in Nairobi where one should not walk around alone and definitely not after dark but there are also places in London, New York, Sydney or Stockholm where I would not go either. One has to remember that this is Africa and that crime is fueled by poverty, I mean what would you not do in order to feed your starving family? If a muzungu (white man in Swahili) passes by flashing his Rolex, I guess he is more than likely to loose it to someone who is in better need of it.

Thankfully, Kenya is better off than most nations in Africa. It may be an exaggeration to say that the future looks bright, let's say that the future looks more positive than ever before but it will take time for change to take place and before its benefits reaches the whole population. Having that said, I almost feel embarrassed by telling you how we live. However, I have decided not to but rather let it remind me of being grateful and try and find a way to give something back to Kenya and it's people.

Within the fortification;) you find 3 blocks of apartments surrounded by a beautifully catered garden and pool. I am still amazed at how green and lush it is here, flowers of all kinds and colors. Could green possibly be greener in Kenya than back home?

The apartment itself is large, completely new and has an outdoor area where Noah loves hanging out, saying hello to anyone happening to pass by. This is the place we will live until we receive our residency, god knows how long that will take.

First day on Kenyan soil

After months of talking it feels quite surreal to finally be here. The driver, "our" driver was waiting for us at the airport, thank god what a luxury. Mind you, having a driver is actually a safety precaution from the company, one is not prohibited to drive but it is not recommended. Those who thought crime would be the major concern here in Nairobi are wrong, it is traffic that one should really worry about. Accidents are 25% more common than in Sweden and it can be quite tricky to find your way around unless you are a local. The good thing about having a driver besides the comfort, is that we are creating work opportunities.

After packing all stuff into the car we slowly moved away from the airport, traffic is really bad here especially at this time of the day. I saw some giraffes grazing in the distance and screamed out loud in excitement, the driver gave me an odd look. Well, it is not everyday you see a giraffe.









After about half an hour the driver asked Mats if he had any cash on him..as we just flew in from Sweden we did not have any Kenyan shilling (but we will next time). Apparently we were almost out of petrol, the car came with a driver but with no petrol, how peculiar. Lesson number one, do not take things for granted here.

We managed to get to a petrol station with an ATM but Mats' Kenyan card did not work, lesson number two do not take things for granted here. In the zombie state we were in solutions did not come to us easily, we continued the slow journey towards the city and found a bank. Something that would take 5-10 minutes to solve in Sweden took over an hour here. You see, the bankcard was not activated and this could not be done before 1 pm, it was 11 am right now. The white man in the zombie state managed to get the bank to write him a cheque, well done!

Would we make it to the apartment with no other hassles?

Trip to Africa

Finally the day had come for us to leave Stockholm. We were supposed to leave on Thursday and drive down to see our family down south and then fly out from Copenhagen, however on Friday night we still had heaps to pack and organize. Waking up on Saturday I looked out the window only to see a layer of snow on the balcony, great, really great. We had a 6 hour drive down south and without winter tires it would not be a very pleasant journey. On top of that we had to be out of our apartment by 8 o´clock since our new tenant would arrive. Somehow we managed to pack everything, well not really everything, we had to run to the attic twice to leave stuff behind and drive off before 8, oh and yeah, we also had time to argue about how little time we had.

We spent a few days saying farewell, Noah made sure to leave something from him behind, he contaminated the whole family with his nasty cold, thank you and good bye! The train to Copenhagen is NEVER delayed I was told, right..we apparently managed to catch the only, delayed train in history. We got to the airport 1.5 late but we still had time to run to our flight (and argue) on empty stomachs, they forgot to attach a restaurant to the train...

Anyway, got on the flight and Noah fell a sleep like a baby only to wake up 2 hours later, some time around midnight or just before the end of the movie. He then refused to sleep for the rest of the night but decided to turn in just before landing but by then his parents were already like zombies....

Flying into Nairobi is really amazing, especially if you fly in early in the morning. The sun rises over Africa like nowhere else, being right on top of the equator. You spot the vast savanna down there in between the high mountains and you can almost hear the lion's roar stirring up the hoards of the wilder beasts. Habari Africa!