Leah at 4

Early October was Leah's fourth birthday party. When she was at Bambini she had a couple of friends, especially Arthur (though as he was French Leah mispronounced his name Achu) although he left earlier this year to go back to France. At the German Kindergarten she has made progress and has a few new friends (though interestingly not that much with Leni, who is a good friend of Hannah's because they were in the same class until Hannah moved up to the primary school), but she's still not the most sociable. Maybe because Hannah has always been her best friend, or maybe it is just her personality?

For her fourth birthday party in early October we had something fairly simple beside the swimming pool at the German School, which is better than our pool, which lacks and chairs or tables or much of a grassy area to run around in. The kids mostly spent time in the swimming pool, and playing some games (we did have one clown come too). Of course the most important thing is the Cake, so in what has become a tradition, we take the kids off to the cake shop to pick the cake they want (it can take a long time to decide!). The present situation is normally fairly easy, with birthday present requests over the years varying from a unicorn to a dinosaur; never anything too expensive thankfully, though there are boxes and boxes of toys that have built up over the years.

Most birthday parties in Kenya amongst our friends are similar affairs involving pools, BBQs/food, bouncy castles and clowns at this age. One friend organised a slime-making birthday party (they also made cookies) and slime seems to be the toy of the year. Another friend organized a proper disco with a tent, lights, and dance teacher for the kids, which was popular.

Leah had a phase where she would hit people if she didn't get her way, though that seems to have passed. She still quickly gets angry and starts shouting though.She's often very stubborn, but can easily be convinced if push-comes-to-shove (e.g. if you don't brush your teeth then the advent calendar is being given to the monkeys). She is usually better when there is only one of us around, and seems to act better without her parents around!

She still understands a lot of Chinese when the Chinese teacher talks or reads books (and most of the TV she and Hannah watches is in Chinese) but Leah is not keen to make the effort to speak Chinese. It didn't change with the month of kindergarten in Shenzhen last year. I am not sure if it will change during the 3 weeks of kindergarten in Beijing this year, but we'll see once kindergarten starts next week. It's probably as much a desire issue as an ability issue. She just doesn't want to and doesn't need to in Kenya at least.

Over the last couple of months she's really enjoyed horse riding and cooking, but has not really gotten into any of her ballet at school. Funnily enough she is very shy in public. At the Christmas concert last week she didn't seek much at all, but in the car home she sang the entire song. She doesn't have the best of singing voices at the moment, but can really get into it!

Though she used to be a very good eater, she's become much more picky and generally refuses to eat vegetables at home, unless she's required to (i.e. no x until you've eaten y). She's very attached to Andrea, and had a hard time when Andrea was gone for a couple of weeks, being especially difficult when a neighbour was taking her and Hannah to and from School every day.

So she's definitely in a slightly awkward time. Though she settled into the German kindergarten quite well (she's not yet speaking much German but that should come next year), she's still learning how to handle her emotions and interact with other people. Let's see what next year brings for her!

Malindi

In September I went back to Durban for another conference, and in October to Johannesburg for a similar reason (though I also popped in to our fairly new office complex which is almost as green as Shenzhen HQ with lakes and waterfalls). It does make a nice change to travel occasionally and it is nice that it is not too often.

During October school half-term my Dad came out and we went to Malindi and rented a place by the beach, just to the north of the town, where the beach stretches for kilometers and is empty all the time. It is great for running, though of course fairly primitive. Just by the town itself the beach has a small pier, which is occasionally packed. We did go to some places to the south of the town where there are a few more hotels and beach bars, but still quite basic and not very busy (December should be peak period). The kids were a bit put-off by the 10 minute walk to the beach and spent most of the time in the pool, making the most of their mermaid costumes (at least Hannah was, since she can swim) with mermaid tails which enable swimming butterfly-style. In fact it was hard to get them out of the pool and we were worried they would get sunburnt!

Airbnb has really broadened up the opportunities for tourists along the whole coastal areas as many holiday homes are available. With fairly low demand, and more and more supply through airbnb, prices are good and there are a lot of options (though many of the nice hotels are still expensive) which tend to come with cooks and cleaners.

Malindi has historically been the center of Italian life in Kenya and still many properties are owned by Italians, and there are some good restaurants in town. Though the town itself does not have too much to see, transport by tuk-tuk is fairly easy, its a short flight from Nairobi, and its not expensive.

Nearby (heading south towards Watamu) is one of the major historical sights of Kenya, called Gede Ruins, which are the remains of a town from 500+ years ago which was quickly abandoned and of which the remains are fairly good quality. It is well worth a visit, though the guide struggled to keep the kids entertained with the history of the place and the buildings. There are several complexes available for viewing and many still have walls as well as foundations. It reminded me of visiting Roman ruins in Barcelona or the UK. 

Next door was a butterfly center which has a short tour and talk about butterflies whilst walking in the butterfly house, but is primarily a social enterprise. This means it helps create work for locals, it does this by helping locals breed butterflies which it then sells to butterfly centers across the world. With butterflies only living a couple of weeks, there is a steady stream of revenue (the larvae are flown overseas) though butterflies don't sell for a lot of money.It was certainly not something that I would have ever thought of but was interesting!

Also near Gede is a little-known tourist attraction next to Mida Creek. The Creek itself is great for exploring by boat and seeing the birds, mangroves and small islands. Beautiful water for swimming in too. The attraction that was built is a boardwalk, that stretches for a few hundred meters about 2 meters above the mangrove forests. The fact that about a third of the wooden planks are missing makes it quite an adventure, especially with kids! I'd highly recommend spending a day there with a walking tour around the creek, another tour of some local villages, and a meal at the ecocamp making for a packed day. The local village tour included the rice-wine that I'd sampled in Lamu before (made from coconuts), coconuts, and a visit to some of the locals' houses and even the local cinema (i.e. a hut with a TV). The whole host of activities has been set-up by some entrepreneurial locals.

Next time we might head to a different beach, but Malindi is definitely worth visiting. Though I returned early back to work, the rest of the family also found a place to visit with owls and eagles and the like (which like the butterfly center rarely gets any tourists), so there are a few things to do beyond just the pool and the beach.

German School

In late August, Leah moved from the local kindergarten (Bambini) to the German kindergarten; a switch which went fairly smoothly. It probably helped that Hannah was just one building over, and that Leah was already friends with one girl in her new class. With both kids at the same school, we decided that Andrea would drive them to school, stay and work from nearby the school or at the school itself, then drive them home afterwards, rather than using the school bus (which was fairly expensive, and took a long time). It did cause some problems with Leah running out of her class looking for Andrea at the beginning, but it settled down and Leah seems fine, with a few German words already coming.

Hannah moved up from the kindergarten to the primary school (you need to be 6 to start the primary school), and though it didn't really seem like a big deal to me (she's already had her first day at kindergarten in Beijing, and in Shenzhen and in Nairobi, and now she was only moving from one building to another one), it was celebrated as a big thing at the German School. There was a whole ceremony with a show from older primary school kids, speeches, photos and shultute that parents watched. I am not sure Hannah felt particularly different compared to kindergarten, and the schedule is still similar with classes in the mornings and after-school activities in the afternoons. 

She does, finally, have more normal school lessons (as the kindergarten is not very academic in the German system, but primary school is) with maths, english, german, art, science and even ethics. They start learning to read and write (in German, they won't confuse the kids with reading/writing English until next year) using an approach focusing on syllables rather than letters. And they have homework. Hannah has always enjoyed doing homework since she had it in kindergarten in Shenzhen. Long may that continue!

The afternoon activities at the German school are quite good for both Leah and Hannah. Leah is doing cooking, karate, ballet and swimming for example. Hannah is doing cycling, scouts and ballet. The Chinese teacher also comes to kindergarten to do some lessons a few times a week, to fill in some gaps. So far everything is going well though it is becoming more demanding for us parents. Not only the homework support but also teacher-parent days and much more. They are very keen to keep parents informed on what the kids do and how to help them.

Their classmates are a big mix: the German school (especially at the playgroup and kindergarten stage) is quite popular amongst Kenyans, and also non-Germans who like the "play rather than study" approach, or just like the location of the school. As kids get older though the numbers tend to fall, and usually there is only one class per year group (which means class sizes of around 20-25, though this year Hannah's year has two classes, each around 17 kids per class), and more of those remaining are of course those who are German, half-German or German speaking, but that still leaves quite a diverse group of classmates. All communication with parents is in both English and German since at least one of the parents often doesn't speak German.

The school is celebrating its 50th anniversary next year but it's current compound is less than a decade old I think. It has all the normal things a school should have along with a swimming pool, volleyball court, tennis court etc. Although its certainly not the most modern or grandest school in town compared to some others, at least some of the fees seem to be reinvested into the facilities quite regularly. The focus is really on the teaching and activities for children than facilities, and so far so good!

Durban and Lamu

A couple of months ago I went to Durban for the first time. Though I was there for work and didn't see much of the city, the hotel was right on the beach promenade, and it is a fantastic beach promenade: along several kilometers there is a perfect beach, a theme park, aquarium, a few small water parks, lots of showers and cafes and a well-used cycling and walking path.

I attended a meeting at the conference center in the World Cup stadium there; a nice stadium but it doesn't seem like is used much. I was reminded though that South Africa is a strange place with some very typical African problems in terms of inequality and crime, some unique ones in terms of racial conflict, and then infrastructure as good as much of Europe which doesn't look like Africa at all. 

Last month I also went back to Lamu, a county, a town and an island on the Kenyan coast neighboring Somalia, where I've been a frequent visitor for a health project for a few years. The town itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the oldest towns in the region with a long trading heritage with the middle east. Most people in the town are muslim, and the town has no roads, just tiny streets, large, solid stone houses, and then some small villages with huts on the sand stretching across the mostly barren island.

It is hard to describe Lamu town really, because it is very local, with a bustling market and everyone involved in trade or fishing. There is a tourism industry, mostly in the neighboring village of Shela, a half an hour walk along the coast from Lamu town itself. There is a wide range of hotels from backpacker budget to luxury private beaches and everything in between. All the buildings are spectacular, the weather is always great, and the fish and swahili food is excellent. Time stands still and no-one is in a hurry. There are some things to see, like the fort, the museum, some villages, and various ruins, as well as explore the other islands on the picturesque Dows (a wooden boat).

Many wealthy Europeans have houses in Shela and its very quiet and clean compared to Lamu; there are even some small tourist boutiques in dramatic contrast to Lamu town with very local shops providing the fundamentals along with some craft workshops that still make traditional wooden doors and furniture in a unique style. 

Of course something else somewhat special in Lamu is the mode of transport (apart from boats), which is primarily on donkey, well at least for transporting goods, as donkeys are the only things that can squeeze in the narrow alleyways (apart from a few wider streets that you can push a handcart down). Though recently some motorbikes have appeared (controversially) to go up and down the promenade, and out to some villages.

I'm sure I'll be back there again, hopefully one day as a tourist!

World Cup in Kenya

So the World Cup is over now - the Kenyans have been watching it, though maybe not avidly. The local media has of course been disappointed that no African teams did very well (the Kenyan team is not particularly good and has never participated in a World Cup). Football is probably the most popular sport in Kenya, though the Kenyan National team do better at some other sports, including Rugby, as well as athletics of course. Most Kenyans support a Premier League club, and there is not much interest in the other leagues (though of course some interest in some of the other superstars around the World)

Certainly it has been on all the TVs in all the restaurants and bars (it is very common for restaurants to have TVs, especially local joints, though usually showing the news). Even our local vegetable street stall downstairs had it on the TV (they have a few other light bulbs in their tent too); I can't recall them having a TV before the World Cup, but maybe they did. It was also easy to watch the World Cup online, as the main mobile phone company had a deal with one of the broadcasters which made it quite affordable to watch in on one's phone (many matches were also on the state broadcaster, as well as on the expensive satellite station).

I think most Kenyan men especially like going to one of the many many bars around town, some small joints along the street in tents or small buildings; others larger in former houses now converted or in shopping malls and other buildings. The World Cup was as good a reason as any to get our more, and the timing was very good (the same time zone as Moscow). 

In general it seemed they liked to support the underdogs, and not one team in particular, and most days the scores of the night before would take up a small part of the front page with further reporting inside, though of course the larger and more important matches took over most of the front pages.

Towards the end of the competition some MPs took a selfie of themselves watching a game. The problem is they were actually in the stadium in Russia watching it, using taxpayers money to study how to organize large-scale events. This became a big storm in the media who enjoyed adding up how much the trip would have cost including their daily allowances, the hotels, flights, match tickets etc. The trip was officially approved (at least for some of them), so they didn't do anything wrong; it is just what happens...They would, it was promised, write a report to parliament on what they had learnt. 

The media of course pointed out that it didn't need a dozen people to go, they didn't need to book their flights last minute (which were expensive), they didn't need to attend such expensive matches, and of course, Kenya is very unlikely to ever host such a large sporting competition ever. It even had the regional African Nations Championships tournament given to Morocco instead recently as stadiums weren't yet ready (this is not even the more prestigious, more well-known African Cup of Nations; the 16 teams playing in the African Nations Championships are only allowed to field players who play in Kenya, not players who play overseas). I don't know how much the MPs really studied the logistics, operations, maintenance, construction, media, sponsorship and other important aspects of the competition that might be useful, but we'll have to see if the report is every made public!

Laikipia

It rained a fair amount the week before last when I spent the week at a hotel the other side of Lake Naivasha (a two-hour drive away) for a conference. Having a golf course nearby provided a suitable place for running anyway and keeping up the training in preparation for doing a full off-road marathon at the end of June. Earlier this month, during a three-day holiday weekend I did slightly more than a half marathon off road in Laikipia, the same area where the full marathon will be. A very tough route included a couple of miles of full-on mud and a lot of hills, and beautiful views of the snowy peaks of Mount Kenya during the whole run.  It was organized by a campsite, so less than a hundred runners took part, but it was well organized and enjoyable. I saw a few locals who lived alongside the route but I wouldn't say they were there to watch: they were just out working in the fields or outside their huts.

During that weekend, with a few other families, we rented a large house nearby that was beautifully furnished and with spectacular views as well as an amazing swimming pool. The kids all ran around a lot and parents relaxed before and after the run. Kenya is full of amazing houses, lodges and other places built in rural areas in a completely different side to the country compared to the urban chaos (although there are still many amazing houses in the suburbs of the main cities, which were in the countryside when they were built)!

I actually went up to the area where the marathon will be for a few days to visit some of the community projects there that we support through our sponsorship of the race. The Lewa conservancy is incredibly well run and does tremendous amounts of work in the communities so the communities not only support the and benefit from conservancy (rather than resent the land that is set aside for wildlife), but also so they themselves are willing to prevent, deter and even monitor potential poachers. 

The conservancy has a great security set-up (including a system to monitor where many of the animals are, which are wearing collars, along with the rangers and that can also track and respond to any incidents reported in/by local communities) but it is clear that is success is mostly based on successful community engagement. From supporting water irrigation projects to clinics, schools and fencing to keep wildlife away from villagers' land, they end up letting the local government off the hook for its responsibilities. In fact it seemed to me that Lewa has almost become a police force for a major part of the region, with its security forces monitoring and responding to incidents every day, most not being related to wildlife (there is police liaison officer stationed with them).

The whole region in that area is full of conservancies, which are privately owned and managed parks to protect wildlife. It is actually incredible to see how much of Kenya is either national parks or conservancies, which is certainly positive in terms of wildlife protection. Some areas are just privately owned farms (often but not always run by White Kenyans) though, and those are areas that have been scenes of conflict during areas of drought where locals would be desperate to look for more land to graze their animals (though, as with most things in Kenya, apparently local politics also had much to do with the conflict as local politicians sought opportunities to benefit).

In Lewa I was able to stay at and visit some of the very nice high-end tourism lodges there which are all stunningly designed with incredible service. I can see why some people pay so much to stay there, though as a Kenyan residents the rates are much more affordable and good value for money. Of course much of the income goes towards conservation. 

This part of Kenya is not particularly accessible so there are a lot of small, often grass, airstrips and a few airlines that run services, almost like a bus. The planes often sit between 10-20 people and every day the route will change based on who has bought tickets. On our way out we stopped first at the Mount Kenya Safari Club airstrip to drop some passengers off. On our way back out we first went further North to pick up some passengers from another lodge in Samburu (really in the middle of nowhere, I didn't see any tarmac roads anywhere as we landed) before turning around to head back to Nairobi. 

From the plane it is clear how empty so much of Kenya is, how barren it is, and also how little transport there is. The views from these low-flying aircraft are fantastic and really interesting. After half an hour we reached the more fertile and populated areas, and then we came into Nairobi. Seeing the changes (as well as Mount Kenya in the distance dominating the skyline) makes it a very enjoyable trip.

We'll be back again in two weeks for the race!

Mating!

Early in the year we were given a couple of bunny rabbits which kept the kids entertained for a few weeks (they then got bored of having to take them downstairs to play from their hutch on our balcony)... the bunny rabbits became just rabbits, and too large for the kids to even get in/out of the box to take them downstairs. A few weeks ago one of the rabbits began shedding a lot of hair and the next day we noticed six small hairless ugly things in the hutch. Well, three have grown hair, become cute and survived into adulthood, after we were told we had to kick the male out of the hutch.

Though the little TV the kids watch is usually cartoons in Chinese to help with the language, I also think its better they watch some real TV sometimes or good Disney movies which nice plots and characters. So sometimes they go to the cinema, or watch something on our portable projector at home. Last week I thought they could get into some non-fiction, so they've been watching BBC Earth's Africa series. Attenborough at his best, and the footage is spectacular: it covers birdlife, large mammals, small insects, oceans, lakes, savannahs, forests and much more. The kids have generally enjoyed it, however most of the episodes are all about birth, fighting, death and mating... whether animals, insects or flowers. It's a bit much for the kids sometimes, especially the part with the baby elephant dying from the drought.

Talking about fighting, Leah still occasionally has bursts where she'll hit people if she is angry and unhappy... usually teachers or parents, so this is something we still need to work on. She's not great at controlling her anger. Maybe its the terrible threes or something! In other news, tennis continues and Hannah has experimented with several dance classes and currently enjoys tap dancing, though Leah has decided against it. The kids are definitely sprinters rather than distance runners. They often enjoy running so much that if they complain about walking, they'll prefer to run (which is more of a game) instead!

This week is also a little more than a month since Hannah got her smartwatch, enabling us to call her and see her location at any time (and see how many steps she does each day!). A relatively expensive luxury but quite useful. We can see the ridiculous route that her school bus takes as it picks up and drops off other kids taking more than an hour each way mostly, so after the Summer we'll work out an alternative for her and Leah (Leah will also start at the same school as Hannah soon). Generally Hannah doesn't complain too much about the bus, occasionally listens to music and often talks to friends.

After a couple of relatively dry weeks, we can be be fairly sure the rainy season has basically ended so the government have been out fixing roads, thankfully, as the storms had made the roads so bad they made driving dangerous as cars weaved all over the place to dodge holes that were often half a meter or more deep, let alone the traffic jams ensuing from the slow driving.

Meanwhile our apartment complex invested in a borehole to directly get underground water instead of buying in trucks of water every week (drinking water is still provided separately)... there was a lot of noise for a week. Last year it also invested in a backup generator in case of power cuts. Despite all the rain these last three months the Nairobi Water company still does not provide regular water supplies, hence the need for trucks or boreholes; and Kenya Power does not provide regular electricity either (most of the electricity comes from hydropower or geothermal; hydropower is affected by the rains) though often both companies suffer from the infrastructure as much as the water or power generation.

Dealing with the rain and Easter

A whole two months have passed since the last blog which is unacceptable. There's no doubt how long it has been: just look at the size of the bunnies which are now definitely rabbits. It really is time to work out what the gender is of the two rabbits...

Since the last blog we had our annual team building and awards dinner event, though it was somewhat disrupted my the rain. In fact the rainy season came early and the rain is still coming down hard two months later... and there's possibly two more months to go of the "long rains". It is filling up the reservoirs, but causing havoc in rural areas. Actually the drainage on the newer roads in Nairobi is fairly good, but not as good on the older roads or the more densely populated areas. It tends to mostly rain overnight, but it does rain a fair bit during the daytime as well; or at least it is this year. The roads themselves, unfortunately, can't handle the rain as well as the drainage ditches alongside and underneath them (there are a lot of rivers around Nairobi). As they degrade, and the stop-gap stones dumped in holes get washed out again, at least it saves on building speed bumps!

I was in Malaysia for a few days for the World Urban Forum (In Malaysia it rains every day around 5pm for a couple of hours, and it is fairly regular) which was fairly interesting. I went to visit Kenya's main e-waste center, which is doing its best, but mostly just sorts and exports for actual disposal elsewhere. It's also been non-stop conferences in Kenya, since the cabinet was confirmed (and the opposition has come to an uneasy truce with the ruling party), business has not just gone back to normal, but has tried to catch up on a lost year. And this means lots of conferences, speaking or attending which are part of my job. Few are that useful, but some are necessary. Some are less necessary and I'm fast learning which are which. I'v sent interns to some, and just got hold of the notes/presentations of others. In the meanwhile there's plenty of nice food and lots of tea breaks (the Kenyans love their tea and cakes during conferences). 

Meanwhile during a couple weeks of Easter I gained way too much weight across Manchester, Birmingham, London and Germany. Going to Cadbury's World during Easter was never going to be a healthy encounter; any time near my mum's house is time spent eating (fantastic food). There was occasional exercise, chasing kids in museums, Go Apeing, or trying to run in flooded fields. We managed a few short walks in the Cotswords and Parks of the Midlands during short trips with my family which showed the kids can walk a long way when accompanied by family, pets or ice cream! The weather was warmer in Germany, but the highlight of the two weeks was Hannah getting the confidence to abandon her swimming bands and actually her the swimming skills she has had for almost two years.

The girls and I are doing quite well managing when Andrea travels for her PhD: they tend to survive on simple food interspersed with leftovers from restaurants. Today Hannah enjoyed her first tennis lesson and second viewing of Peter Rabbit. I suppose that is one way to try to get some English culture when rarely actually living in England or having many English friends. At least she gets all the fairy tales from the stories. She's made great progress with her simple maths, and is beginning to make progress on at least writing and recognizing letters which should soon lead to actual reading, hopefully by the end of the year, and then we can start her on reading some classic English books. 

It's an ongoing consideration, as parents, to resist the demand for TV and encourage more indoor play, outdoor play, art or homework. In fact the kids enjoy TV the least of all the options, but it still seems to be a regular request that needs to be side-stepped or avoided (or when it is granted, is in Chinese only). I think we are doing fairly well with this so far, and that we're lucky that our two daughters are so happy playing together so much of the time. A shame they don't seem to care too much for those rabbits now they are so big...

Jazz festivals, play dates, and new four-legged additions to the family

Today we went to the Safaricom Jazz festival which is held in the grounds surrounding the national stadium, with a large stage and overhead pavilion to provide shade for several thousand, many food and drink stalls, and a large kids area.

Though we spent some time at the music stage when we first arrived, and again later as we ate, 80% of the time was in the very hot midday sun at the play area: riding camels and horses, watching magic shows, riding a circular train, jumping on trampolines and playing inside various other balls floating on water. Even though young kids are free, even the adult price ticket of $20 would still be worth it for the kids to be able to have so much fun for 6 hours. They'd have kept going longer but I managed to get them away before the predictable breakdown (caused by tiredness and heat) began... there had been a warning from a collision on the bouncy castle (resolved by an offer of chips for dinner). 

With hair washed and both kids asleep by 8pm, it was a successful, an unusual night. During most of the last four weeks when Andrea's been away, they've been going to bed later once I've got home from work, sorted out dinner of some sort and then got them to bed. During that time I also had to fly to Malaysia for a day, leaving the kids with Mary-Anne for a weekend, who was Leah's teacher last year and is the person we rely on to look after the kids in the afternoons when Andrea is away. The kids have managed great and its nice to spend a lot of time with them!

Over the last few weeks there have been some birthday parties (usually at the house of a kid with swimming or bouncy castles or other entertainment) as well as an interesting talk by a former astronaut that I attended at one of the Country Clubs (there are a few elite, members-only, colonial-era country clubs). We've been at other friend's houses playing, eating and painting at River Cafe in Karura Forest, and trying to give the rabbits exercised. I'd also attended the Kenyan Sportsperson of the Year Award (SOYA) invited by a friend and sat next to Edna Kiplagat, who won the Boston Marathon last year (and she's older than me, which is incredible)! It was quite inspiring with so many categories for community and school sports teams and individuals, but especially the focus on coaches and teams, even though I was not aware of who most of the people were. My friend introduced me to most of the former winners though... reeling off what long-distance world record or marathon or Olympic medal they had achieved as she introduced them to me!

The rabbits had been offered to us by my boss when his daughter left them behind when she returned to South Africa, and we've invested in a hutch and "runway" (as the local who build it called it). Both were handmade; the hutch by an entrepreneur in the Eastleigh part of town, an area with a lot of markets and Jua Kali (local street side craftsmen and entrepreneurs, and the runway at our house by the former gardener of a friend. We're hoping it has a positive impact on the kids to take some responsibility for them, but of course the early excitement has somewhat died down.

The Malaysia trip was fairly successful (organizing an event as part of the World Urban Forum), and work has been busy, with the odd interview on television, speeches at events and interesting discussions with all kinds of people on how to use technology to improve life in Kenya. Now the election is over, the new cabinet is finally in place, work is beginning to move forward again after the challenges of last year. There is a lot planned for this year, so fingers crossed things go well!

Hannah's birthday party

Hannah had her birthday party two weeks ago: several friends (and their brothers/sisters) at Nairobi Art Center making and painting clocks, along with some gymnastics and games in the garden there.

Most birthday parties this age in Kenya (at least for well-off people) involve something like this. Leah's was similar (though with a bouncy castle). Others may have acrobatics displays (as happened yesterday at the birthday party of Hannah's best friend, Padme) or organised activities like playing drums. Of course there's some food provided depending on the time of the party, often including a BBQ as meat is eaten so much here, and there's a variety of different portable BBQs around. One was meant to cook a few pizzas in a vertical stack.

As with Leah, we went to the local Cake Shop down the road and ordered a cake, balancing the desire for pink icing (the soft icing is not as bad as hard icing) with the opportunity to have a cake that is actually nice (chocolate fudge). We encouraged Hannah's friends to give arty presents instead of toys, and now our living room looks more like an art studio there is so much stuff everywhere: some completed, some underway, and all the paints and other things around.

This year Hannah didn't have a breakdown during the games like she did last year, and managed to keep her calm well during the treasure hunt to show she is maturing. Incredible that she is six years old and ready for primary school. She enjoys writing though she can't spell yet so we need to help tell her what letters to write. Still some way to go with reading, but that will be next as the German system doesn't start that until primary school after they are six.

She's fine playing downstairs on her own and usually gets off the school bus and comes up on her own, though we're not yet ready for her to go alone to wait for the bus in the morning, where she might be waiting around and it's still quite dark that early.

Christmas and New Year in Kenya

After a year of many public holidays, another few have passed. With the girls still in China, I've had a few weekends and evenings to myself, though work was still fairly busy. Apart from running, I watched a few movies and did some reading. There was also a bike ride through some tea plantations in Tigoni, not far from Nairobi. Nairobi is fairly quiet without much traffic as most people all go back to their villages in the countryside for Christmas, and some head off for vacations on the coast or elsewhere.

Aside from the odd pop-up Christmas shop and aisle here and there, there's not too much in the way of Christmas decorations around town, at least not compared to Europe or the US, though in some way its nice not for it to be too commercial (and waste money on trees and lights everywhere in a poor country). Still, as many Kenyans are fairly religious (mostly Christians, some some muslims), millions of WhatsApp messages were sent at Christmas.

During the last two weeks a friend has adopted me into her family - with her two sisters as well as various spouses and children around - so I went over for drinks one night, Christmas Lunch one day, and away for two nights over New Year around Lake Naivasha.

Christmas was most notable for finding a Christmas Pudding from a local Kenyan company in a tin: after boiling it for an hour and setting the brandy around it on fire, it wasn't too bad (the custard helped). There were also mince pies, a ginormous turkey and much more besides. Various interesting people were there from the UN, media and even a politician.

The night before New Year's Eve we stayed at Olerai House, a farm owned by a couple who run the Save the Elephants NGO. The rooms and houses (including a converted dairy) are beautifully decorated and Oria, the owner, is a wonderful, fascinating and incredible hostess who is a delight to talk to. The food is very good (much is grown in their own organic farm). There are also plenty of swings from the trees and a swimming pool. The large conservancy borders the lake and has hundreds of zebra, gazelle, monkeys, warthogs and hippos amongst many other animals which walk right next to the houses and people. I had a wonderful run doing laps of the airstrip and even saw a baby hippo.

For New Year's Eve we stayed at Sanctuary Farm, also on the lake, with a stables that has been converted into a dozen rooms or so, and a clubhouse that now serves as a restaurant since the polo ground is no longer used. We went Horse riding which was a great way of getting close to the animals on the farm, especially the zebras and wildebeest who let you get very close when you are on a horse (and its safer than being on foot). We had a very nice New Year's Eve dinner before the fireworks and in the morning did the hour-long climb up to the crater at Mount Longonot, two years since I was last there.

There are so many wonderful cottages and farmhouses in Kenya, though these may be some of the best around that area. They all have so much history and their owners have a lot of character. They provide a nice getaway from the city and interesting people to talk to, as well as a place to relax right next to the animals. I'll certainly have to bring the family back another time.