Then we turned around and this Crane was on the roof of the dorm.
Then as we walked into the dining hall, this potato harvesterwas being put to good use.
After breakfast we had about an hour to wander the campus before we headed to Kendu Bay. John and I headed to the farm first as we wanted to see more of the Crowned Cranes that frequent the campus.
Research Greenhouses..
Dairy research...
The Cranes...
Research Greenhouses..
Dairy research...
The Cranes...
Gates Foundation Malaria Research Lab...
The Main Campus Square
The Hospital with April, Fred and the Financial Director
discussing the issues the hospital faces.
We stopped here at Nandi Tea estates and they finally agreed to give us a tour. This was a real tour through the whole factory and close enough to touch the product. It was a great tour--right next to the machines where you could smell and feel the product as it changed. Not your standard OSHA tour :-)
Pickers in the field...
they are supposed to pick 2 plus 1..two leaves and
one bud for the freshest quality tea...
The leaves are then put in burlap bags and moved overhead to a storage
area. They then go into these huge moisture control tables where
they are dried with cool air to 67% moisture level.
The Main Campus Square
The Hospital with April, Fred and the Financial Directordiscussing the issues the hospital faces.
Time to head back and pack up for the trip to Kendu Bay. It was another really interesting day out the windows of the van!
Milk delivery...
market day...
John had asked yesterday if there was a possibility of visiting one of the tea factories and David had gotten on the phone and made some inquiries.
Milk delivery...
market day...
Cattle auction...
a taste of grilled maize...individual vendors for this
were everywhere-definitely not corn on the cob!
Then to tea country.
a taste of grilled maize...individual vendors for thiswere everywhere-definitely not corn on the cob!
Then to tea country.
We stopped here at Nandi Tea estates and they finally agreed to give us a tour. This was a real tour through the whole factory and close enough to touch the product. It was a great tour--right next to the machines where you could smell and feel the product as it changed. Not your standard OSHA tour :-)
Pickers in the field...
they are supposed to pick 2 plus 1..two leaves andone bud for the freshest quality tea...
The leaves are then put in burlap bags and moved overhead to a storagearea. They then go into these huge moisture control tables where
they are dried with cool air to 67% moisture level.
then through several choppers...
until they are very finely cut...
then they ferment for 2 hours in these large trays
that continually turn the tea.
then into the steam heat dryers...
then to the sorting and blending area...
then the tea is bagged.
Samples are taken and tested to determine grade...
the quality control taster for the batch!
then the bags are loaded onto huge trucks by hand and it's off for shipment to England,Egypt and other countries. The company has been in business since 1947. We stoppedat the outlet and picked up some tea for ourselves and it's quite good.
until they are very finely cut...
then they ferment for 2 hours in these large traysthat continually turn the tea.
then into the steam heat dryers...
then to the sorting and blending area...then the tea is bagged.
Samples are taken and tested to determine grade...
the quality control taster for the batch!
then the bags are loaded onto huge trucks by hand and it's off for shipment to England,Egypt and other countries. The company has been in business since 1947. We stoppedat the outlet and picked up some tea for ourselves and it's quite good.Time to move on. We're in different territory now. We're going up the Oloololo Escarpment of the Rift Valley and out of Masai area into new tribal areas. We're going through Kisii where the Kisii stone is mined and over to Kendu Bay in Lake Victoria. There is now farming and fishing and the views along the road are different.
Luo tribe housing. The driver we had to go to the Bomas was Luo.
The view from our lunch stop..nice and shady and cool.
Lots of Sugar Cane growing. These are on their way to the factory.
This little boy was standing across the street
so we gave him our lunch leftovers...big smile!
As we continued on our way we passed rice fields...
more roadside markets...
roadside tailors...
and this cute little lamb in the shade of a tree.
They removed the seed from the stalk...
and poured the seed into the bucket...
and the chaff would blow away...
until there was clean seed....it took
many times of pouring. They kept
laughing that we wanted to watch them
do this very normal life activity.
Then another hour in the car and we arrived at the Kendu Adventist Hospital compound just in time for dinner. The food was wonderful and ugali was on the menu!
The lodging was more basic. This was the sitting
room between our bedroom (lighted area behind
John) and the other 2 bedrooms and bath.
Even the tap water was a little more colorful...
and the toilet had some flushing issues...but,
it was much better than a lot of the folks we saw
today would have. Americans are very spoiled!
Thanks be to God for a roof over our heads,
good friends, laughter and another great day!
Luo tribe housing. The driver we had to go to the Bomas was Luo.
The view from our lunch stop..nice and shady and cool.
Lots of Sugar Cane growing. These are on their way to the factory.
This little boy was standing across the streetso we gave him our lunch leftovers...big smile!
As we continued on our way we passed rice fields...
more roadside markets...
roadside tailors...
then a short stop at Hippo Point for some birding...
no hippos but these swamp flycatchers were there...
and this cute little lamb in the shade of a tree.
American presence isn't far away...
And as we were driving along, David suddenly did a U turn and headed into a yard where the ladies were cleaning sorgham seed...
They removed the seed from the stalk...
and poured the seed into the bucket...and the chaff would blow away...
until there was clean seed....it tookmany times of pouring. They kept
laughing that we wanted to watch them
do this very normal life activity.
Then another hour in the car and we arrived at the Kendu Adventist Hospital compound just in time for dinner. The food was wonderful and ugali was on the menu!
The lodging was more basic. This was the sittingroom between our bedroom (lighted area behind
John) and the other 2 bedrooms and bath.
Even the tap water was a little more colorful...and the toilet had some flushing issues...but,
it was much better than a lot of the folks we saw
today would have. Americans are very spoiled!
Thanks be to God for a roof over our heads,
good friends, laughter and another great day!
