A Colonial Era Relic

I went on a research trip on March 29, 2012, to look at the changing nature of the urban-rural continuum in western Kenya.  But that isn't what this is about.  In the process of driving around, and interviewing various people, my co-investigator Tom Esipila, a lecturer in the department, took us to the Kapsabet Hotel.  What I find interesting about this little place is that it was clearly built during the colonial period, and represented a place for those living in what are still called "the white highlands" to gather near the forest, where I believe it may have been cooler during the dry season, and have their gatherings.  The stories of the colonialists are rampant, in terms of drinking, wife swapping, and other tales, but today this relic is a bit down on its luck.  Still, with a little imagination you can easily imagine the well dressed British colonialists drinking cocktails during a garden party at the Kapsabet Hotel.

This is the bar and restaurant at the hotel.  It is in bungalow style, which would never be built today, but clearly shows the influence by the British.

This is a typical bungalow.  During the colonial period, no blacks would have been welcome at the hotel, though they would have been nearby as servants and workers.

A view down the walkway.  You can almost imagine the lighthearted laughter of the colonialists as they made their way down the path to the dining room.

The inside of the bar, where the men would likely have stopped first before going to dinner.  You can almost imagine Denys Finch Hatton stopping in for a beer or cocktail before dinner.

The fireplace in the bar, a sure sign that the British had been here.  Kenyans don't put in fireplaces....

A view of the grounds.  Still well taken care of, it's the rooms that have gone to heel.

You can almost imagine Beryl Markham (that maneater), sitting around one of these tables with a martini in her hands, regaling her companions with her flying exploits.

Dorothy, one of the students who was helping us that day.  Hard to believe that before 1963 she couldn't have even visited here as a guest.

Me in my Moi University shirt, on the steps of the bar.

These bungalows were in pretty good shape.  There was a lodge as well, which would have held about ten people in various rooms.

What remains of the pool.  It was probably more for light swimming, so the British could drink for a while and then get into the pool and cool off.  Sad to see something like this disappear.

The boiler system that was installed to make sure that the guests had hot water in their rooms.

All in all an intriguing remnant of an entire way of life swept away.  This place doesn't show up on a google search, it really isn't in any of the guidebooks that I've seen.  Nevertheless, if these walls, if these trees, if these grass canopies could talk, oh what I am sure they have seen!

The Green Hills of Africa

We traveled a few weekends ago to Mt. Elgon, which includes the second highest peak in Kenya.  The thing about Elgon is that it was at one time a huge volcanic peak, much like Kilimanjaro or Mt. Kenya.  Apparently, at some point the thing blew up, leaving a group of mountain peaks around it.  What got left behind are some of what Hemingway calls the green hills/mountains of Africa.  I read that recently, and though I couldn't relate to the hunting, there are great descriptions of the landscape.  Because the peaks don't rise to spectacular cones, it doesn't have the cachet of the other two peaks (Kili or Kenya), but it was beautiful--and difficult--in its own way.  Here are some pictures from the two day trek to the mountain.  Later, as we were talking to people, they couldn't believe we had gone there, because it is notorious for poachers and robbers.  I think that is in the past, but I'm glad we didn't know that going in....

The first day we trekked on some very nice trails to a couple of caves.  The park has over 400 elephants, and we saw exactly 0.  However, the elephants come to the caves at night to lick the salt from the cave walls, so that was the first thing we did.

This is Evan on the trail.

This is me on the trail.  I would look much less chipper on Sunday...

This is the entrance to Kitum Cave.  Hard to believe elephants go into this cave.  Several years ago an insurgent group used this as one of their hideouts.  We didn't find that out until later either.  The local people used it for their circumcision ceremonies, so it had religious importance for local peoples.  I think it probably still does.

This is me in the cave.  I just liked this shot.  There were bats everywhere in the cave.

Our guide pointing to where the elephants come and lick the salt.  I tasted the rock and it did have a salty flavor, though Evan couldn't really detect it.

This is Evan at the waterfall in front of the second cave.  You can see the water in the background.

This is Evan atop a massive rock in the cave.  We did not go far back into this cave, because some of the people with us were excreted on by the bats.  I figured that was no way to end the day.  It is so interesting to think about early hominids discovering these places as they struggled to maintain life in an incredibly harsh environment.  This is all part of the early history of us.

Looking out from the cave entrance on the lush landscape.  Truly the green hills of Africa!

This is the front view of the Mt. Elgon Lodge.  Let me just say, it looked a lot cooler than it really was.  It is the only hotel out by the mountain, and this area does not see a lot of tourists.  In fact, the night we were there, we were it.  Still, pretty interesting old place.

An interior courtyard.

Our room.  Pretty basic place.  The food was pretty good, though.  Not Kerio View good, but good.

A view of the grounds around the hotel.  They were very nice.  And that night Evan and I went out and could make out the Milky Way in the night sky.  It gets DARK here....

What I suspect is a semi-permanent resident of the hotel.  He may end up in a soup pot eventually, which is why I consider him semi-permanent...  He was certainly a vocal resident!

This is Eunice, she is a young single woman who works for Moi's international office, and has come with us on several trips.  Several of us stayed up fairly late talking about Kenyan dating and marriage customs.  Very interesting stuff!

The next morning we headed off towards the caldera, the collapsed peak of the volcano.  The caves and forests above are at the foot of the mountain.  We were a two hour drive over tough terrain to the mountain itself.  The above and the following are just some of the formations and landscape that you can see in the area.  Very beautiful, rugged, green...

Very rugged, as I said.

One of the cooler formations, it reminded me of Jaba the Hutt's citadel from Star Wars...

Evan discovering Mt. Elgon.

 I really felt like we were at the end of the road.  After the hike, I thought I was REALLY at the end of my road...

More interesting rock formations.

A beautiful valley looking down towards the base of the mountain.

Moving upslope the vegetation really changes, from the lush trees at the base to the much drier vegetation here.  Still, spectacular green plants all around!

This is an outstanding glaciated valley, you can tell by the beautiful U shape to it and the smooth sides.  Here we are just north of the equator, and there were glaciers here millions of years ago.  Very interesting to see.

This is the peak we were getting ready to climb.

This is the group that was going to tackle it.

And this is William, who was going to guide us up the mountain.

 A view of the flatlands of the caldera, with the ridges in the background.  There were springs through here, and I got me a bottle of Mt. Elgon water.  Very good, very cool.

We are now starting to climb, and there is the old volcanic core, I believe, with Uganda in the distance.  Elgon sits on the border with Uganda, where the poachers apparently come from.  We were really out there, with no one around at all!  The peak in Uganda is slightly higher than the peak here in Kenya.

We were up quite high at this point, but we still had a long way to go.  Evan was in much better shape than me.  Somewhere around here the older Canadian, David, said that he had had enough.  I thought about quitting, but I don't know, stubborn I suppose.  Maybe having Evan there pushing me helped.

But we made it.  It was COLD at the top, and very windy.  Evan and I of course did not have a sweatshirt or anything.  We're from Louisiana, what do we know from cold!  Or from mountains!

On the way down, I had to represent my school!  That's my NSU hat, if you can't tell.

On the way out, we searched for elephants and found none.  But we did see these two giraffes by the side of the road.  Four hundred elephants, saw none, ten giraffes, saw two.  Go figure.

It is so cool the way they blend into the vegetation.  God and nature, pretty amazing stuff!

On the way out we saw this waterbuck (I think that's what it is) chilling by the park entrance.  Mt. Elgon is little visited and underappreciated, which made this visit even more memorable!