Drove 8 hrs from Nairobi to the Kenya coast yesterday. Leaving Nairobi, the red earth devoid of vegetation was shocking. Hillsides and plains are all brown. The drought has been so severe that it looked like a lunar landscape - no green whatsoever, just dust devils and brush. Cattle and goats with ribs showing.
After Mariakani, on arrival at the coast, it's like another country. Lush, green - breezy, showery weather. We wondered why the long grass on the side of the road here could not be harvested and fed to cattle upcountry.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
Hello from Holland
ReplyDeleteHi there - I'm a journalist doing a book on parenting in other cultures. Love if you could email me? Mei-Ling Hopgood, info@mei-linghopgood.com
ReplyDelete"We wondered why the long grass on the side of the road here could not be harvested and fed to cattle upcountry. " No offense but this is abit too practical a thought for us Africans. I should know....
ReplyDeleteIt's wet and overcast "back home" for you by the way. You and I have more or less swapped countries. I saw some shocking footage on the BBC's Wildest dreams the other day, very thin hippos in Kenya.
Thought you should see this from twitter
ReplyDelete@paulakahumbu Is Expat a derogatory word? I am annoyed with Expat link in Nairobi and the blog expat wives ...do Kenyans in USA call themselves expats?
I agree with anon 2. - whilst I probably do not relish telling people that I am an expat - there seems to be some stigma attached for some unknown reason - I chose this name for the blog because an EXPAT is what I/we are and I thought I'd embrace it and make something of that.
ReplyDeleteUnintentionally, the term 'expat' conjures up ideas of somebody passing through, a fleeting visitor who is not really connected to the place where they are based.
I might be tempted to say to people, 'but we are long termers/settled - so not like other expats really' - only that is neither here nor there. 'Expatriates' is what we are and there is no shame in that. Expats are everywhere!