On the Slopes of Mt. Kenya

We had a scare this week. We took three days with the Wachiras to go up the slopes of Mt. Kenya to stay in a hunting lodge built for King George in 1908 (forgive the previous incorrect information), and then to visit Wachira’s ancestral home not too far out of the forest. Unfortunately both of us got violently ill the first night—diarrhea, chills, fatigue—which in Popie’s case turned into a strong pain in both her knees. For the next two days she could barely walk. What scared us was the thought that she might have an infection in her artificial joints, which is extremely serious. We couldn’t get in touch with any medical help until we came off the mountain.

Once we got back to Nairobi we got advice from Popie’s brother Hank that it was almost certainly not an infection. Even more comforting, Popie’s knee rapidly stopped hurting.

Even with these health woes, we had a wonderful time. The lodge was lovely and amazingly peaceful—here’s a photo--and we would like to go back another time just to lounge, read books and take hikes.

On our last day we visited Wachira’s mother and met a lot of his relatives—three brothers and their families live just a stone’s throw from his mother. The country is verdant tea-growing hills with small farms. We saw ox carts and donkey carts and women carrying huge loads of wood from the forest. We saw tea being picked and rice being dried in the sun. We bought mangoes and pineapples in the market—beautiful mangoes for three cents each. We filled up our eyes! It’s impossible to convey the full experience but these photos should give you some clues.

The Wachiras are on the right, standing next to his mother, a very lively woman who was saved from alcoholism a decade or so ago. The other women are the Wachiras' sisters-in-law.

This is Wachira's mother's home. It's in a beautiful setting, with shining fields of tea on steep hillsides.

Here's the kitchen where our lunch was cooked.
Wachira, pictured here with a mathematics class, is chairman of the Thumaita East Girls School, a high school he is working hard to improve. As always, he is extremely optimistic.
Here I stand with Wachira in front of the new house he is building, which will serve as a second home.
This gives you a dim idea what tea looks like. Margaret and Wachira own this; their relatives take care of it. That's Margaret in the background.
We saw many women carrying huge loads of firewood out of the forest on their backs. Popie is playing at lifting this; it's really heavy. The rules don't allow them to use their oxcarts to haul wood; you can only take what you can carry, and you have to use downed logs.