The enigma of Lake Naivasha

Lake Naivasha is a lake North-west of Nairobi in the Great Rift Valley. We were fortunate to get to spend a few days by the lake at a camp that is home to many hippos. Aside from hippos the lake area is full of wildlife conservatories and flower farms. An odd mix of white greenhouses and lush native flora and fauna. Kenya is the world's fourth largest exporter of cut flowers and 75% of that is due to lake Naivasha. Our interest in the area was more the natural flora and fauna. We spent a day on Crescent Island reserve. A small lake island where animals were brought in for the filming of Out of Africa and never taken away. Now tourists can pay to wander among the giraffe, zebra, wildebeasts, impala, warthogs, ostrich and such. It was such a great day of wandering by foot among these animals. We spent another day bicycling to the animal corridor (where animals go from the national park to the lake). The mix of busy road, dusty bumpy road, and then scenic paved road really gave us a feel for the Kenya road life. Our stops by a grassy fishermans launch spot and at a hillside farmhouse were equally representative. 

And I would write so much more about all of it but really somehow my mind has become captivated by a more ecological part of the lake. For the past 10 years Lake Naivasha has been growing. Significantly. Along the shore are rows of dead submerged trees where there once was no water. A whole town has been flooded, greenhouses have been flooded, and the many nature conservancies are shrinking. As the lake is endorheic (no water flowing out), naturally most people will blame global warming for the increase in lake size. This could make sense as there is more rainfall and the lake has no outlet. But this is a simplified understanding. Our driver let us know that the lake was increasing in size as water was entering the lake from below. A guide I spoke to gave me a more complicated explanation involving lake drainage via an under lake crack, tectonic shifts causing the cracks to seal and thus making the lake finally truly endorheic. Add in the increased rain to the lack of drainage and bam you get a bigger and bigger lake. Some think this is an issue that will self resolve. The lake grows and then the lake shrinks. And in fact the lake has shrunk so much in the past that it was a sad two meters deep. Others are doomsday about global warming and feel the lake will continue to grow. Still, once upon a time the Great rift valley was full of water. Perhaps with tectonic shifts, unrelated to global warming, there will be a return to that. The other Kenyan lakes in the Great Rift Valley are also growing in a similar manner. As people and animals shift their lives away from the water's edge, everyone is left unsettled by the mystery. 

Crescent Island

The focused child

Looking good with zebras

Game time!

The explorers 

The best kind of entertainment

Levana sang to me much of the bicycle ride

Imagine living at this farm house!

Grocery shopping (photo courtesy of Maria)

Jambo Kenya

 Africa is a huge continent with 54 countries in it and accounts for 20% of Earth's landmass. There is a lot of adventure to be had in Africa but so far we have not partaken in any of it. So, when we were granted the opportunity to travel to Kenya with a friend and get to know a small part of the continent, we were all keen. Our first few days were full of new discoveries - baboons filling the role of racoons, baobab and acacia in place of pines, ugali and chapati in place of bread and rice. We spent our first few days on the masaai plains south of Nairobi National Park. It was a quiet area that overlooked Nairobi National Park that felt remote as it it was isolated between the park and grazing land. Still, in the horizon the big buildings of Nairobi were always visible, making the landscape a nice tableau. We visited giraffes, went to a cultural show, walked to a glassworks, ate large breakfasts, watched a local version of the Lion King play, and generally had a nice time getting to know a new place and vibe. 

Kenya life (photo courtesy of Maria)

National park border life

Such nice scenic dirt roads to walk along

The path to the glassworks

Looking good with glass

Visiting a sacred tree

The explorers (photo courtesy of Maria)

The perfect travel buddy

Feeding giraffe

Giraffe centre life

Her face after meeting the hyena actors in the bathroom (pretend and real life blur)

To be a child

Bonjour Au revoir in Pau

 That time of year has rolled around again where Aurora and Sophia have to take exams. It has been kind of intense fitting two exam periods into one year but that is just the way it worked out after half a year off to walk Japan. This time around we found a school in Pau, France, which was accomodating to both Aurora and Sophia's exam needs. Also fitting that Aurora has managed to complete the three main exam sets on three different continents. Point for us and double points for the crazy large influence of the British education system. The school in Pau is much different than the last one in Kuala Lumpur. The staff are more laid back and open, with the biology teacher coming to cheer on the students with a giant toy lizard before each biology exam. 

Pau has been a lovely town to relax in. It is beautiful and peaceful. There is always that hopeful view of the mountains on the horizon. There is a palace (Henry IV was born here!). There are lots of bakeries. There is a river.  There are cobblestones and spires. Everything one could hope for in France. Here are a few things that also come to mind. 

The library here is a mediatheque. At first I was dubious of this progressive new title as my interest is in books rather than media. However, in moving with the times I think they pull off the distinction excellently. A mediatheque seems to be a library with perks. A floor dedicated to video, CD, and record loans. A small room for video game play and loans. Access to computers and printers. Finally, a big internal courtyard where there are regular concerts. I really enjoyed sitting in the kids section reading books to Levana on Sunday mornings while the live music drifted up from below. 

The lunches here are epic. Pau really is most alive between the hours of noon and two pm. Shops all open late and most things close early (including public transportation). The middle of the day however by far makes up for the quiet mornings and evenings. People stop work. Kids leave school. Shops close. Everyone piles into the streets for a long, leisurely and social lunch or stroll. How glorious these terrace lunches seem to me. Such a great tradition. With the small caveat that smoking is prevalent on the terraces. 

There are many social rules and norms in France. My favourite, that is universally adhered to in Pau, is the practice of saying hello and goodbye. It is considered quite rude not to greet a person before speaking to them or when entering any building. Similarly, at the completion of any transaction or on departure you must thank the person and say farewell. This holds true even when entering and exiting a bus. It must be much nicer being a bus driver when each person says hello to you and then hollers out their thanks and farewell on departure. Seems kind of normal but it did make me realize that we don't really consistently do this. So the children and I have doubled down on ensuring we always greet and farewell. 

Quiet mornings

 

Mediatheque concert

The river

Just in case we forgot the name

Tova's favourite activity - in the mediatheque lobby

Neighbouring Lourdes

Mountains behind Lourdes

Games at the mediatheque

Baking like the locals - choquettes

Lake in neighbouring Orthez

She made herself a reading nook

Andorra has it right

 Sometimes it is the small out of the way spots that have the most character to them. This was definitely the case with Andorra. I have been itching to get into the mountains. From Pau we have a grand view of the Pyrenees but without a car they are just a touch too far away. The girls had a week long gap in their exam schedule and a country completely up in the highest of the Pyrenees seemed just the spot for a getaway. 

Andorra is one of three sovereign principalities in the world (other two are Monaco and Lichtenstein) and the only co-principality (shared by president of France and Spanish Bishop of Urgel). Andorra is a country of extremes. On the one hand Andorra's capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe. On the other Andorra has the highest smoking rate in the world at 36%. On the one hand Andorra is fairly inaccessible and has no airport. On the other hand one of the main reasons people come to Andorra is to shop. On the one hand Andorra is a hikers and skiiers paradise. On the other hand Andorra is a destination vacation for those seeking to buy alcohol, cigarettes and weapons. Basically, Andorra does what it takes to makes its mark when its entire country is composed of high alpine valleys. 

It was a fascinating place to visit. I liked how the capital had to squeeze itself into a fairly narrow valley with steep mountains on all sides and multiple rivers running through it. I liked that the country is so small and intimately connected with the mountains that the public transportation is as good as a trail bus. I liked that only 4% of the country is built up. I liked that even though the country is small and secluded they all learn multiple European languages. But really most of all I just liked the mountains. It is not a country for the weak thighed. Every hike we did was beautiful and I could probably have stayed there much longer gradually bulking up in lower body strength and lung capacity. Lots of countries have mountains but there is something really special about the countries that are exclusively mountain. 

The capital

Walking the main shopping street

Kind of the best country abbreviation

Andorra Le Vella from above

All the valleys are this picturesque

I could live in this valley

Mountains in the Spring

Got a bit of snow hiking in

We have one movie on our computer - frozen

Dix-huit ans

 We managed to raise a child to the age of majority. Well done us. But mostly well done Aurora for turning into such a great and kind adult. I could gush about all the great things that Aurora is but really she doesn't like that kind of flattery so suffice it to say that she is that perfect pebble. You know that one that is picked up by a river, has just the right amount of heft, a slight sheen to it, a subtle but soothing pattern, nicely rounded edges, with a surface that is not perfect but perfect enough to make you never want to let it out of your grasp. Anyways,  Aurora knows what I am talking about. Usually we play a game or two on Aurora's birthday. This year Pau really knew how to celebrate her coming of age as the annual game convention coincided with her birthday. A big auditorium full of people coming together to play games was a convivial way to up a year. Rather than posting photos of Aurora (she doesn't like that either) I am posting 18 photos of the street we have been living on for the past month and half. It is a beautiful street and I started taking a photo of it each day as I enjoyed the way it changed subtly. Aurora took it as an invitation to have a best photo competition. Each of us now has dozens of photos of our street in Pau. I am posting 9 of Auroras and 9 of mine. I know Monet would be proud of us. 

Tamar

Aurora

 

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Aurora

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Aurora

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Aurora

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Aurora

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Aurora

Aurora

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Aurora