Author: Julie

The next morning we moved to the Treetops Hotel room run by the Outspan, one of the most famous lodgings in sub-Saharan Africa.  In 1952, Princess Elizabeth of England and her new husband, Phillip – The Duke of Edinborgh, came to the Treetops among press and ceremony to visit one of the earliest places that valued viewing wildlife over hunting them.  During their stay, King George VI unexpectedly died, and Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth at the Treetops.  Kenya gained its independence eleven years later, in 1963, but always remained proud of their remarkable tie to the throne of England.

 

 

The original Treetops burned down but was rebuilt on the other side of the watering hole in the 1980’s.  Animals come to drink 24 hours a day at the site, which is a large rustic treehouse, built of trees trunks, with 2nd and 3rd floor rooms and a rooftop observation area – all hewn wood.  In the late afternoon, we took a drive through the local area, and came across Colobus monkeys, water buffaloes, waterbucks, a baboon, a black spotted hyena, warthogs, a giant forest hog, and numerous small antelope and other animals. 

 

                   Waterbuck                                                             Hyena

 When we returned to the Treetops, we had dinner, and had no sooner settled in for coffee, than two young male elephants showed up.  They explored and drank, but then engaged in a ceremony of one elephant demonstrating dominance over the other, as the dominant male would not let the other elephant up the bank and out of the watering hole.  This play-battle went on for over an hour as the trapped elephant tried all sorts of means to out-flank or out-manoeuvre the one on the high ground.  In the meantime, the rain started, and apparently in an effort to keep dry, a Genet Cat, a small relative of the leopard, showed up under our doorstep.  This nocturnal animal is not often spotted by people, but apparently was comfortable being so close to us.

 

 

                 Elephants                                                                   Genet Cat

 

The rooms at the Treetops are equipped with an optional buzzer to wake you if activity at the watering hole picks up during the night.  We bedded down as the elephants left at midnight, and slept uneventfully until sunrise at 6:00am, when we had coffee, packed, and journeyed back to the Outspan Hotel for breakfast, and to meet our driver, Samuel, again.  By the way, today’s Rocky’s birthday!

 

After breakfast, Samuel drove north over the equator, where variation of the Coriolis rotation of water was demonstrated and the Equator Crossing was memorialised. 

 We continued north through the town of Nyahururu, home of Kenya’s Olympic Marathoners, and on to the northern tip of Aberdare Park where we visited Thompson Falls, discovered in 1878, with a vertical water drop of 283 feet into a tropical ravine.  Unfortunately, the popularity of the location has engendered a large, annoying contingent of local panhandlers, looking to provide any friendly service for a fee.  Although this type of activity is common in Lagos, Nigeria, it is the first time that we’ve seen such activity in the country of Kenya.

 

 

Road travel in Kenya is easy, as the major roads are generally in good condition, and lightly travelled.  They still drive on the left-hand side of the road, as learned from their British rule.  Every 40km, or so, are police roadblocks, (with nail-strips to insure that you stop),   checking for proper licenses and papers, and looking for illegal Somalia immigrants. Also, every town insures you slow down for their safety by having multiple speed bumps every 10 meters.   Gasoline is plentiful in the cities, but costs 105 Shillings per litre, (over $6 per gallon); therefore, most people walk, ride bikes, or take local buses.  Often, the road is lined with common telephone poles, but seldom are there any wires remaining strung between them, as the value of the wire greatly exceeds many people’s income, and it is often stolen for resale income.  For this reason, one sees hundreds of workers digging trenches by hand along the side of the road for 10’s of kilometres all over the country, in an effort to bury the future wires.  In addition, one sees no highway signs of any kind for the same reason – they are too valuable and will disappear quickly.

 

To be continued……

Our adventure starts in Lagos, where we are up at 4:30am to take a 1-hour bus ride in the dark to the Lagos airport.  We are flying Kenya Airways, and no surprise; there is no Kenya Airways counter at the airport.  Since there is only one flight a day for the airline, the staff only arrived to set up their counter at about 9:00am.  We finally checked in and were told that the plane was delayed and would not arrive in Nigeria until 2:00pm.  The 3-hour delay dictated that a complimentary lunch at a bar counter be given, where we were given an update to our flight that now was due to arrive at 4:30pm.

 

While waiting for our plane, we finished novels, played PSP video games, browsed every shop at the airport, and were generally bored.

 

Finally, our flight left at 5:30pm and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya at 1:00am, including a 2-hour time change.  After clearing immigration, we met our Driver and Guide, Samuel, who drove us to the Hilton in Nairobi City Centre.  The streets were quiet and still – a big change from the chaotic fervour of Lagos at night. 

The Hilton was built in 1945, and still maintains that old world charm.  After a short night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, Sam met us at the hotel front door at 9:00am to begin our wilderness adventure. 

 

Nairobi in the day is a clean, bustling and organized city with beautiful landmarks, parks and historic buildings.  We traversed the city and headed toward Aberdare National Park.

 

 

Our driver, Sam, has 1 wife, (most Maasai have 4-10 wives), and 1 daughter.  He was born and raised in the small town of Narok, about 150km outside of Nairobi, and has been driving and guiding these safaris for eight years.

 

After travelling north for 2 hours past vast pineapple groves and extensive coffee crops, climbing up to 2000 meters altitude, we stopped at a little curio respite for a stretch and cool drink.  Other safaris stopped also, but they were heading further north to Samburu Nature Reserve. 

We went west to Aberdare National park, another hour’s drive, and checked into the Outspan Hotel.  The room is a picture out of the 1920’s and could be a shoot location for “Out of Africa”.

 

 

We explored the grounds, watched and listened to numerous birds, and kept looking to see a better view of Mt. Kenya, the 2nd tallest mountain in Africa. As if on cue, as we sat on the patio for afternoon tea, the clouds parted, and there in the distance, with the sun streaming down to illuminate it’s face, was the mountain.  Although we would not be going there, it is a popular hike on the international circuit, and one of the tallest mountains on the continent.

 

 

To be continued……

One of the more endearing aspects of Lagos is its American School for children.  We had the wonderful fortune of seeing the school and meeting its Headmaster during a recent Saturday when Rocky went out to assist with the organizational tryouts of the school’s Saturday Soccer program.  The school is located on Victoria Island across the street from the Federal 1004 complexes, (a series of apartments and condos that were sold by the Nigerian Government when the Federal Government offices moved from Lagos to the Capitol city of Abuja).  It is a wonderfully modern campus of classrooms, sports complexes, food services, offices and teacher’s housing, all contained within an oasis of well-maintained grounds and facilities, on land under permanent lease to the American Government.  A.I.S.L. was founded ~46 years ago, and is one of the most renown international schools worldwide.  The school currently boasts an enrollment of over 780 students, ranging from Pre-K to 11^th-grade, from 51 different countries, has an internationally recruited teaching staff, and is U.S. and internationally certified as a baccalaureate preparatory program.  Next year, the school will expand by opening a new High School Campus on 40 acres nearby, that will allow them to include classes through the 12^th-grade.

 

 

AISL – Quadrangle One

 

 

AISL – classrooms

 

 

AISL – Teacher residences

 

On Saturday, Rocky went out to help in the evaluation and placement of children into recreational team formation.  At the central sports field complex, 375 children, (~half the school), showed up to be placed on teams, and to begin the Saturday Soccer Program.  While children of one age-group participated, other siblings used the closely supervised gymnastic room, playground, or swimming pool made available to them every Saturday.  The children were a wonderful assemblage of diversity, easily mixing, joking and helping the staff and each other.  Parents volunteered and supported each other’s children, making for an efficient and fun-filled day for all.  Rocky will help the league by serving as a guide and advisor for coaches and players, both at practices and on match days.  One can certainly appreciate the breadth of education that these children will receive here.  For more information on the American International School of Lagos, go to:  www.aislagos.com.

 

Soccer Saturday

 

 

 

Previously (August 1) I wrote about my search for drapery material.  Well, I found material close to where we live but at very unreasonable prices, so I continued my search.  After all, I have temporary curtains that will stay with us till our sea freight arrives.  In the meantime, I joined the British Women’s Group (BWG) and the American Women’s Group (AWG) and the Outpost (Shells local group).  Now I receive emails from all these groups and that is how I found drapes.  A young Shell couple is transferring to Kuala Lumpur and advertised the items they were not taking to this location.  I bought all their drapery and a vacuum cleaner.  I ended up with drapes that were in good condition but too big for my windows.  So I borrowed a sewing machine and cut down and modified till I covered all my windows with drapes.  So the “Temporary gold with brown flower curtains and yellow sheers” are gone.  They had been in every room.  Instead I have white sheers with green flowers and a window topper of the same.  They let the light in and brighter the cream walls.  These are in the living and dining rooms as well as the master bedroom.  Then a friend gave me some one inch white wooden blinds and those are in the bedrooms.  The two spare bedrooms have white cotton brocades that only required ironing to hang.  Viola! Drapes everywhere!  Even did the kitchen with washable white polyester.  I plan to use stain glass contact film on the glass door in the kitchen.  The next time we are back in the states I will get that from Home Depot.  Why they hung a curtain over a kitchen door, I’ll never understand,  because every time you open the door it gets stuck in the door (at the top and on the side).  The flat looks brighter, lighter and cleaner just by changing out the drapery!  I could not have done it without Rocky though because I am too short and we have no ladder.  So nightly he was hanging drapes!  It was a very productive week!

Old drapery below:

New drapery:

Living in Lagos is culturally different but there are a lot of similarities to things in the USA.  Our car is a Toyota Camry readily available in the USA but a luxury item in this town (because it is a full size car) as are SUV’s.  Most people get around by bus or okadas.  In the USA being chauffeured around in a limo is a luxury for the wealthiest.  Now picture us being driven around Lagos – here we are considered to be the wealthy. 

 

Our water is from a borehole which is then pumped to a container and then pumped to a roof top container and into the flat.  Currently our borehole has a problem and water is trucked in by tanker 3-4 times a day and then pumped to the containers.  This complex of 32 flats has 3 water containers on the ground. This water we use for bathing and cleaning.  We have a bottled water dispenser in our flat for drinking and cooking.

 

We have electricity provided by Nitel, the local electricity provider.  However, power interruptions happen daily lasting for a few seconds to 20-30 minutes.  Our complex has its own generators (3) to mitigate the power interruptions so our power is rarely off more that 2-3 seconds.  And then, we personally have UPS (Universal Power System), an emergency battery power system on several appliances:  the television, the sound system and the computers.  The Governor of Nigeria has a goal for Nitel and Nigeria – “no power interruptions by 2020” (but we do not intend to be here that long!).  Today it rained and there are more power interuptions thatn usual so 2 of the 3 generators have running since morning.

When shopping, one needs to keep an open mind.  What is in on your list is not necessarily what you will find in the stores.  It pays not to be in a hurry and to be willing to browse.  Today, there were no AA batteries and no black pepper.  However, there were taco shells and taco sauce.  Daily there is only brown eggs (and even quail eggs) and long life milk (milk in a box on the shelf-there is no refrigerated milk here).  There is no sour cream, dips for chips or chocolate chips ever, yet there are all kinds of candy bars.  Hummus is everywhere and but not pita bread.  When you find an item you really like, buy several and freeze or store it if possible.  The beef comes from South Africa.  Goat is commonly in the meat case and there is a fair amount of lamb.  Chicken abounds but is just as expensive as beef.  Locals eat a diet of white yams, beans and rice.  Juice is everywhere in long life boxes and is 100% juice and cheaper than milk.  Long life boxes do not need refrigeration till opened.  Cheeses are best from La Pointe, a French shop that gets its shipments in late Wednesday night and so is packed on Thursday mornings.  However, I have yet to find parmesaan cheese.  A lot of the vegetables come from Egypt.  Corn on the cob is seen here occasionally and is very small and spoils quickly, the same with lettuce.  Our salads are shredded cabbage, with carrots, green peppers, cucumbers and occasionally tomatoes.  Tomatoes are expensive and also spoil rather quickly.  There are all kinds of pastas and rice in abundance.  Most of the cereals are imports from the USA or Europe so if you see your favorite, get it because it will be gone tomorrow and the containers only come weekly and don’t always have every item that is out of stock.  If your favorite store is out of what you want, then generally most of the groceries are out of it because people all shop more than one grocery.  And most groceries have some imported items from the Netherlands and Britain.    The groceries are very congested with people and shelf stockers alike.  When shopping during the lunch hour or on Saturday mid-day, checkout can take an hour.  Since shopping is hit or miss adventure our menu varies quite a bit.

 

 

 

 Well, we don’t have our furniture from the U.S., yet, but we decided to acquire our first Nigerian piece of furniture.  Now furniture in Nigeria is mostly made of wood, usually mahogany, and it’s thick, heavy, and usually hand-carved.  One of my Shell colleagues was transferring to Kuala Lumpur, and they had had a custom-made bar built for entertaining while in Nigeria.  While Julie bought their curtains and vacuum-cleaner, I made an arrangement to purchase their bar.  It came with all of its glassware and any alcohol left-over from its last party on Friday night.  The only catch – we were responsible for arranging moving it on Saturday.

 

On Saturday morning, we hired a group of drivers, security and other local workers at the original owner’s complex to get the bar down 3 flights of stairs, (elevators – what are elevators?).  Although the bar weighs ~500 lbs, the stairwells were wide, and the group of 6-8 men maneuvered it down to the front successfully. 

 

Then, we hired a local driver with a small covered truck to move the bar the 8 blocks from the original owner’s complex to our own complex.  Upon arriving at our complex, we again hired a group of local men to carry the bar up one flight of stairs to our Unit.  Unfortunately, our stairwells are much narrower, and this required a complex series of rotations and inversions to navigate our way up.  Finally, however, the bar made it into our unit, and everyone was happy to have made a few naira!

 

 

And so, we are poised to host our first “happy hour”!  We may not have much furniture, few dishes, and little entertainment, but we have a place to pull up a stool, rest your elbows, and chat with friends over a few drinks.  Of course, all of our friends are welcome to drop in any time – hope to see you soon….

 

To those of you who like pictures – enjoy.    This is The Civic Center across Five Cowrie Creek frm our home:

Okadas (motorbike taxi’s are everywhere and haul people and their goods (these are 20 foot long metal tubes ):

Lawma are the highway and roadway cleaners.  You see them daily sweeping the roads and road gutters.  There are no mechanical road cleaners.  This Lawma is fortunate as she has a long handled broom, most utilize the small wisk brooms.

The sign says it all:

There are very few big trucks here, in this case though, the load is bigger than the truck:

Local folks – the dress is always very colorful and in this case incorporates carrying the baby:

 

 

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day – a not-so-unusual lull in the middle of the rainy season.  We met Inayat and Conrad (expats who have been in Nigeria almost 3 years) and Steve (a new expat neighbor) at the front gate of our complex, unloaded their car, and crossed the street to the water, (Five Cowrie Creek), where our tennis courts and pavilion are also located.  There, at the bulkhead, a boat that Conrad scheduled came by and picked us up and we headed ~ 20 miles northwest to a beach house on the Atlantic Ocean via the intracostal waterways and the Isahayi Sea.

 

We then traveled up intercoastal waterways, under bridges, past the yacht club, the container shipyard,

 

 

 

 

the abandoned ship graveyard,

 

 several waterside villages

and the harvestable coconut palm groves

to an area of palms and small docks.  We walked up a short trail through the brush and over the dunes to a beach house facing the Atlantic Ocean.  Conrad leases the land from the local tribal chief, and hired him to build this beach house for them.  It is a 2-story beach house, open on the bottom, with a storeroom and a large deck up top.  It has an enclosed bedroom, and a covered sitting room – bar area, which is open to the ocean view.

There is also a large area of deck open to the sun, with two staircases, one to the ocean, and one to a shower and bath area.  There is a private borehole with a water pump for running water.  When planning a visit, Conrad generally text’s the chief, and then the house and surrounding sands are swept and made ready for his visit.  We brought the food and drinks for the day, as there is no roads or electricity to the area.  Occasionally, during the day, venders walk by with their wares: beads, baskets, table clothes, birds, and woodcarvings.  There are no roads but lots of sand, water and coconut groves of palm trees.  We walked, flew a kite, and relaxed.   Conrad and Rocky tried out a boogie surfboard.  For dinner, a couple of the local boys prepared and grilled the corn and meat that we brought.   Overall, it was a very relaxing day with no traffic or city noises.  When we left the children assisted us in getting our bags to the boat.

 Here is a map to help you see our trip:

 

 

 

 

 

Milk is one of those items that is taken for granted in much of the world, but not so in Nigeria.  Nigeria is not well suited for dairy farming, causing nearly all milk to be imported.  On top of that, the lack of dependable power and/or refrigeration makes storage and transport of milk supplies a somewhat recent development in this part of the world.

 

On Saturday, August 9^th, we adventured with The Nigerian Field Society to the Lagos Mainland and toured the Peak Milk Factory.  We met at the hotel and traveled with MoPo (Motor Patrol otherwise known as security vehicles) for a 45-minute drive to Ikeja (north Lagos, near the international airport).  At the Peak factory, we were given a slide show on the reconstituting, homogenizing, pasteurizing, sterilizing and canning of Peak Milk.   Since few Nigerians have dependable refrigeration, canned milk is the most effective and dependable source.  Peak Milk is a Dutch company and was the first dairy company in Nigeria, entering the country 53 years ago.  It was the first manufacturer, here, of evaporated milk.   Peak employs locally ~1400 people, including 160 engineers, and operates the factory 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, closing only for 2 weeks at Christmas.  After dressing in proper gear, (a white lab coat and white hat), we toured the milk production floor and the factory that makes the (tin-plated steel) cans.  The machines are kept continually running, with a rotating preventive maintenance schedule for 4-8 hours on every machine weekly.

 

All the cows in Nigeria could not produce enough milk for Peak milk daily operations.  Therefore, all milk for the factory is shipped via milk powder from the Netherlands.  Reconstitution of the powder is then done at the factory by the addition of water, fats, minerals and vitamins. The most popular manufactured product that Peak produces is the 157 ml can of evaporated milk.  The principle reason for this is that while sealed, the milk will last in excess of two years, and once the can is opened it will last for 7 days without refrigeration.  All the tin-plate for the cans is imported from the Netherlands, and all waste materials from the milk production and canning factory are recycled.

 

Facts:

• 1600 lids are manufactured per minute
• 450 cans are made per minute
• The warehouse has a 4 day supply of empty cans
• The warehouse keeps 4 weeks of powdered milk on-hand
• Powdered milk is recombined with water/vitamins/minerals in 90 minutes
• 1000 cans a minute are filled with milk
• Every can is scanned with x-ray to check its fill level
• The warehouse has a 2 week retail supply of milk
• Peak has its own distributors (trucks and 3-wheel cycles,[used in small villages])
• Distributors deliver product and return cash to Peak in 3 days
• Peak invests 1 billion Naira, (~$9MM), a year in Nigeria

 

As part of its license to operate, Peak demonstrates a large CSR, (Corporate Social Responsibility), presence.  Peak sponsors local water projects, school adoption, and tertiary endowments.  The water projects include 19 water boreholes that provide potable water to small villages.  The boreholes and water testing is all maintained their company.  Peak also considers the access to a basic education a necessity, and contracts with selected schools for 3 years. The schools are selected based upon the local population and its location.  If selected, the school then receives computers, books, first aid equipment and notebooks.  Tertiary endowments are made to: 1) universities to further the research in food and nutrition science for the development of the people of Nigeria, (for example, soy as an alternate to milk), 2) Twenty-two charity homes (orphanages and young mother homes), and 3) the OACNC (Olu Akinkugbe Child Nutrition Center).  The OACNC provides education on nutrition and child nutrition (breast feeding education) including a daily 5-minute radio program “Peak Wholesome Living”.

 

 

The Peak billboard on the expressway Lagos mainland. 

 

After the tour, we lunched in the employee canteen on chicken curry and rice, fruit, cole slaw and French fries.  We were given a souvenir bag, which included Peak evaporated milk, a Peak hand towel, a Peak hat and pen/notebook. And then made the trek back to the coast, a little wiser and better informed.

On a hot day we have discovered a local drink native to Lagos.  A Chapman.  A Chapman’s is served in large frosty mug  or cup.  It comes from the bar and is quite tasty and refreshing.  So I set out to find the recipe.  Over ice 1 shot of Lemon or Lime juice, 3 shots of Grenadine, equal parts of Orange Fanta and Sprite with 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters.  Garnish with a Lemon or Lime slice and a Cucmber slice and a sprig of Mint.  As I said this is native to Lagos and they are served poolside as well as with lunch or dinner.  A Chapman is very poopular here.   However, do not confuse this with the Chapman listed in most bar recipe books which is green and made of Pisang Ambon (banana liquer) and  milk, shaken and enjoyed.  Pictured below is a luncheon Chapman.