Welcome to Kakamega!

I hate self-diagnosing any illness or situation I am in, but I’m pretty sure bed bugs it is. If you have never had them before, consider yourself lucky. The bites itch like crazy! Therefore, this morning I told the Guest House about my situation. I found it kind of funny how the receptionist had no clue what I was talking about. Finally I told the head of the Guest House and the maids. They seemed shocked. They said they would fumigate the rooms to get rid of them. Hopefully by the time I return the bugs will be gone. Bugs don’t really bother me as much as they do most people. Thankfully bed bugs don’t carry any diseases.

After visiting Sarah and Karen in their offices, I said my goodbyes for the week. Now that I am switching to Fabian’s project, I have a new project team to work with. We loaded the car and headed out for our seven hour drive. With the amount of time it takes to get anywhere in Kenya, I do have to admit seven hours no longer feels as long as it used to. I slept part of the way. The other part I was either sweating from the sun beating on me (they don’t like to use air conditioning in the cars here) or admiring the scenery. Going west brings different types of environments than my trip east to Taita. The vegetation is dense and bright green. There are no signs of the arid, dried out land as there was in Taita. The scenery looked pristine and untouched, besides the sporadic farms on hillsides. During our journey we passed through the equator. I don’t think I’ve ever been on ground when passing through it. Maybe on the way back I will be able to get a picture. The shacks lining the roads and the random animals inches from the car no longer surprise me. It’s almost expected now that I’m used to it.

Kakamega is similar to Nairobi in the way the streets are lined with vendors and packed with people walking and biking. The small children never fail to amaze me with their hundreds of, “How are you?” I smile and wave feeling almost as if they expect something from me or expect me to be famous. We stopped at the local Nakumatt for some groceries for our lunch. I didn’t attempt to find fruit snacks or granola bars; I think it’s time to accept that the food here will be different than what I am used to.

Right down the street from the Nakumatt is the Guest House I will be staying in for the next few nights. Lindar, will be staying with her sisters in the area. I asked the driver if he would stay with us. He said he was staying somewhere else. Fabian later explained to me that he never knows where the drivers end up. They bring their receipts but he can never seem to track them. Fabian thinks it has something to do with hierarchal order and how people below their supervisors feel the need to stay away. It took a while for us to get all the paper work filled out to be able to get our rooms. I was astonished at how cheap mine was for three nights, 4,500 shillings (about $55). I should have expected what I came to when entering the room then. This place is probably in the worst condition of anything I’ve ever slept in besides camping. I had to ask the lady who works here how to use the shower. There is literally a shower head in the middle of my bathroom. The ceiling is molding through. The wallpaper is pealing. I just hope there aren’t any bed bugs. As much as the sight of the room bothered me at first, I realized how thankful I should be to have a roof over my head, especially when right outside my door children roam the streets, homeless.

After settling in, I met with Fabian to discuss the project and just what I am going to be doing. The project I am working on is called Biosystematic Water Monitoring. This project is funded by Biovision. The project uses Rapid Water Sampling methods to collect macro-invertebrates (bugs) and based on what macro-invertebrates are collected, the water quality is apparent. We will use a system founded in South Africa where each insect is given a point value and the average of the values is determined which determines the water quality. The higher the number, the better the quality. The biological component of water is accessed because the biological component most accurately captures past and present issues with the water. Different insects take up different niches and some can withstand pollution better than others. The project has been going on for the past few years with routine trips to Kakamega. I asked Fabian what he was planning on doing with these results to help the community. I was surprised to know he would give the community his report but beyond that he is “not a social worker.” I find it kind of silly to be doing all this research if nothing is going to happen to help the people understand it is unsanitary to wash their vehicles and cattle in the same water they drink and wash themselves in. As of now though, I don’t have any other solutions for the people so maybe the response to the findings is understandable. Fabian also inquired on why I was working with his project and how I ended up in Kenya. He was quite confused why a student interested in marine sciences would want to work at an insect center. I told him any research experience would be helpful and make me well-rounded for my future.

Before going to dinner the power went out. Supposedly in Kakamega the power is greatly affected by storms. It storms nightly here. You would think someone would realize that this isn’t good and change the powering system. They had a generator in the dining hall, so we didn’t eat in darkness, until that went out as well. I saw pizza on the menu and was excited for some cheese. About ten minutes after ordering the pizza someone must have realized they didn’t have cheese and came back out to tell me. The menu looked nice with a wide variety but what was actually available was another story. Our food took about an hour to prepare. I was beginning to think they had gone to catch the fish themselves. Without power, I went immediately to sleep upon returning to my room.