Kakamega Forest

The peace center is located maybe 15 miles outside of the local city, Kakamega, which besides being famous for it's internet access (in my eyes at least), it's also host to one of the few remaining segments of East African rainforest. Two weekends ago we took a guided tour which was really informative, and we got to see the conservation efforts that are being undertaken to save the remaining pieces. One of the American work-campers missed the first tour: lucky for her the forest extends to right near the Peace Center, about a 15 minute walk down the local paths. The walk takes you over the beautiful rolling hills that are everywhere here, and past each families plot of maze and sugarcane. Every house we passed children came running, and by the time we hit the forest we had quite the following.


This worked out great for us, since one of the braver kids (maybe about 6 years old) led us through the winding trails in the forest on a sort of mini-tour. The forest is everything you'd expect from a rainforest: amazingly dense with plant life, Monkey's overhead in the trees, and unbelieveably humid air. Our guide (the 6 year old) told us that if we bring ripe bananas down with us and hold them into the air, the Monkey's will eventually come over and take them. Something fun to try later, though a Monkey's about the last thing you want to get bitten by.

On a somewhat related note, almost everyone here is tri-lingual. The first thing they learn is their native tonge, which you get from the tribe you grow up in. Then when you're about 4, you start learning Swahilli so you can communicate to all of East Africa. Finally around 5 or 6 you start English in primary school. Pretty amazing, I have trouble with the one I know. They do have a funny saying here they use when their English isn't the best , they say 'it fell off the boat'. When they were bringing English to Kenya all the way from the UK, some of the more important words fell off the boat, and have never returned.