Today I took my first shot at climbing the mountain behind the hospital. I only had about an hour before sundown so I knew there was no way I was going to make it to the top. I told Francis, the clinic officer, I was going up the mountain and asked him for the best route. He did one better… he got someone who lives on the mountain to take me up.
On my way up the steep, rocky slope I was surprised to see how many people live up there. Several schools could be found on those steep rocky craigs which would cause the untrained climber to turn their ankles over and over on the ascent. Cries of “Nzungu!” (Translation: Whitey or Honkey, but in a loving and nice way, because we are so rare) came from the children as they smiled and followed me.
The children of Maseno are so sweet and innocent, even if they yell racial slurs at you while you sweat through your clothes... doing what they do with ease. Kids will freak out even more if they see you have a camera. They LOVE getting their pictures taken and seeing the picture on a digital camera! From just about half-way up the mountain, my guide and I stopped and took pictures of the amazing landscape and lake Victoria in the background. Check out the photos below.
In this shirt, in this pose, on that mountain - I felt like I was embodying the spirit of Anderson Cooper 360 himself.
Hard lessons in Swahili
I told you to keep the sideburns jackass!
Kinyozi aliyeninyoa alikamatwa
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