I went to Kenya!
My first (and only) trip to Kenya was in 2010, so I was glued to the window of the taxi for the entire journey from the airport to Kenyatta University campus. The amount of development that's taken place in those 13 years is astonishing. A forest of tall modern buildings sprouted downtown. The roads (thank goodness) now have central reservations, pavements, and pedestrian bridges so there were no repeats of the tragic accidents we witnessed on the roads during the previous trip. I was dreading those in the days preceding the trip, as I had lingering nightmares about them after returning home in 2010. There are safe, wide-laned elevated highways (toll roads) crossing the city, which afford fast passage through congested areas and excellent views of said development.
[Leaving Dubai]
[First glimpses of downtown Nairobi]
The campus was new to both the bloke and me. He has been to Nairobi on numerous occasions for his work on East African air quality, but usually goes to Nairobi University. The conference centre, which included our accommodation block, was located at the edge of the campus' vast acreage. Other than the distant roar of traffic, it didn't feel as if it were in the city. Around 70,000 students attend each year. Most live on campus. Since it was still the summer break and the students weren't there, it felt even more remote. We could see the marabou storks roosting atop the acacia trees outside our windows, and were awakened by the dawn chorus of weaverbirds and flycatchers.
[Marabou storks roosting]
[Yellow flycatchers and their nests]
We arrived in time to catch the last session of the first day of the training workshop we were there to help deliver. Afterwards we went to dinner with the organisers. The dining area was all of about 20 metres from the conference hall. We noshed on tasty Kenyan fare (for me, ugali, lentils and spinach), washed down with, successively, sugary tea, Tusker (Kenyan lager) and Jack Daniels gold label whisky that the main American organiser had procured from duty free (whattaguy).
I was a little stressed about delivering my session on space-based datasets since it was at 8 AM the next morning so partook only lightly of the booze. Thankfully I needn't have worried too much as it went well and I got good engagement in the room and online. It segued nicely into the bloke's and Robin's sessions. They brought things back to the ground (fnarr) and into the room, as Robin did a demo of his awesome light painting technique, which visualises the particulate matter in the room (PM2.5). I later got to help him make some paintings at dusk, with the storks in the background.
[Light painting prep]
[Livestream of light painting from the conference room]
[Light painting at dusk]
Demob happy, we enjoyed the afternoon session and a rerun of the Kenyan food, Tusker and whisky. Having sleep very little the previous two nights due to flying and then anxiety, I turned in hours before the lads did. Unfortunately, most of them were struck down by food poisoning the next day. I congratulated myself on avoiding it, having eschewed all meat and dairy since arriving. This would later turn out to be hubristic.
After Wednesday morning's sessions, those of us from US and UK universities were swept onto a bus and carted to the Administration Complex to have a formal meeting, and tea, with members of the University executive board. We caught the tail end of the afternoon sessions, and turned in early after a quiet meal.
Thursday was our final day. Unfortunately for me, it was also A-level results day, and as I am still nominally the admissions tutor for my department, my attention was divided between C&C activities and the workshop. Nevertheless I enjoyed the pre-lunch sessions, which were to be our last at the workshop.
Word had got round that we were leaving that evening, so the bloke and I had a very busy networking lunch while everyone got a last word in with us. Once that was finished, we hopped in a Uber with Robin to visit the giraffe sanctuary. Unfortunately we managed to get the slowest driver in the world. He was in a battered Nissan leaf and clearly trying to eke the last bit of life out of the thing. A journey that should have been a little over an hour was dragged out into almost two, not least because he got lost. That left us about 40 minutes to feed the giraffes. We opted to skip all the informative plaques and videos and go straight to them. It was worth it.
[Beware giraffe headbutts]
[Giraffes loitering]
[Snooty giraffe was my favourite]
The bloke and I hopped into what turned out to be a much newer Uber piloted by a satisfyingly kamikaze driver who got us back to campus far more efficiently, despite the traffic and missing the exit first time round.
We showered, packed, and checked out. Our third Uber driver arrived to cart us to the airport, which happily transpired without incident or deviation. At the airport, I made my fatal mistake and ate a non vegetarian samosa, thus ensuring a very uncomfortable journey home, from which I have now recovered. Huzzah. Also, the end.
[I’m standing at a lectern, woo]
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