Summer holidays 2025 - The beach and the Isle of Wight

As the holidays began (and after I went up to Lewa for the annual Half Marathon in the Conservancy with work colleagues, and also the annual Nairobi Expressway Half Marathon the following week), the girls went to Germany for a week and then we met up in the UK.

We spent a day at the beach (in England, remember) as the weather was quite good, together with my wider family. The kids really enjoyed playing in the rock pools as well as on the sand and it was very successful, despite having to relocate our small tent for shade (which was not used, typically!) and our bags a few times as the tide came in. The beaches North-east of London in Essex won't win any awards, but it was not too far to go.

Next up though was 5 days in the Isle of Wight together with my Mum. This began with a ferry from Portsmouth, which of course initially had Leah moaning about getting up early for, but once she was on the ferry, she decided she loved ferries. So we all enjoyed sitting upstairs in the wind, seeing the military ships in the distance and a hovercraft passenger ferry overtake us.

We initially headed East and ended up at the Wight Aviation Museum, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Run by volunteers and put together in an aircraft hanger, there was a massive amount of stuff - from bits of airplanes and helicopters to uniforms, stories, sound exhibits, puzzles and all the history one would want about the World Wars. They even had a Virtual Reality activity that hooked up the goggles to the steering in a small cockpit. We spent a couple of hours on the Sandown Beach next to the run-down pier and then passed by the Arreton Barns, which has a dozen or more local craft shops next to each other. 

We stayed at the Thorness Bay Park Dean Resort in what Americans may call a trailer, but in the UK we might call a caravan or a Static Home. It was fine for eating and cooking dinners in (there was a small shop on site), and we didn't really use any of the facilities at the site, like the pool or other activities, but there were some nice views and I had some nice runs in the morning. 

On the Tuesday we went to see the Needles, walking from the car park up to the tip to seem close-up and visit the small military defences there (known as the Old Battery) which was also really interesting and fun with tunnels, underground rooms and some nice exhibits and views (and of course a nice cafe with Cream Tea). After that we drove along the spectacular Military Road that runs along the South Coast of the Isle of Wight to spend a few hours at the Carisbrooke Castle, which is also really interesting and well done. We stayed until the demonstration of the donkey in the water wheel, as that was how they used to get water from the well (nowadays the donkeys do barely a few minutes of work each day just to show the tourists).

On the Wednesday we went to Blackgang Chine, which was the country's first ever theme park, back when the reason it was called a Theme Park is because there were not really any rides, there were just different themed lands/areas to explore (like deserts, wild west, under the sea and the like). Nowadays there are a few rides (literally just a few), so it is not really much fun, but it is OK to spend half a day at, and the 2 rides (another 1 was closed) were quite fun - at least Leah really enjoyed the one that goes upside down, and we all enjoyed the other one where you sit on a ring and go down big slide. We had to have a Cream Team afterwards of course, in Godshill, a pretty village in the middle of the Island.

On the Thursday we went back to Godshill to explore the village and the shops. We also went on a nice walk to the Donkey Sanctuary, which the kids and my mum quite liked (and which also had a nice Cream Tea, of course!) On the Friday we did really wonderful walk in the Newtown National Nature Reserve. Not only was the path (partly a Boardwalk) really nice, the views were great (including of the old port that now just has a few fishing boats using it), there was a nice little bird watching hide, but the staff there also had made a great little hut with tea and water, some local exhibits and gave kids little packs with binoculars and nature treasure hunt items. Throughout the weather continued to be fantastic!

Next up was a quite cool tree climbing adventure by Apple Beach, which Leah did really well at. It was not really climbing up a tree per se, it was climbing up ropes that were tied to a massive tree, and which had some hammocks in. We finished our wonderful 5 days in the Isle of Wight at the spectacular Osborne House, which was where Queen Victoria spent a fair amount of her time (and actually where she died). Then it was time to get the ferry back to the Mainland and the drive home. In the course of the week we had covered almost everything we wanted to cover and seen most of the island (in fact many roads we went down multiple times!) It is a great place to spend a few days!

Horse Riding competition and Prom

The school term ended with a Horse Riding competition. This is a big deal in our family. Not just because the Kids go horse riding twice a week and really want to do well but because of what has happened in the past horse riding events - basically disasters, with the horses refusing to jump (possibly because the horses were not used to being in a new environment with so many other people and horses, but it could also have been because the trainers were not helping prepare the horses on site very well with warm-up and course run-through).

In preparation for this we had changed to a different stables with different horses. This time, despite the fact the kids were entered in the beginner category by mistake, the event was more successful. For Leah, she was fine with both her runs, which was great. For Hannah, something happened in the warm-up and she was thrown off the horse, but was keen to continue. In her first run, the horse didn't want to jump, but eventually did, and the first run was eventually quite successful. In the second run, everything started well but then the horse veered off and did the wrong jump (there were two jumps close to each other).

Anyway, there was not as much tears as previous years, and actually Hannah, Leah and their 2 friends (who were in a team of 4 and of which the best 3 counted) won the competition, which was great. Hannah had had a bad hip for a month or so before the horse riding and had not done much riding or exercise in general (and surely falling did not help) so she did really well considering. 

We were very relieved, after the previous disasters!

And if the stress of the horse riding competition was not enough, as Hannah was finishing Primary School, she had an end-of-term Dinner (aka Prom). The choice of dress and shoes had become an ongoing conversation for about 2 months but eventually everything was sorted out. The event itself was not so stressful - at this age there wasn't any of the boyfriend-girlfriend's thing thankfully, so Hannah was just going with her other girls. 

 

There were lots of photos and I think that after all the planning and anticipation it was a little bit disappointing for the kids, but they went and that was that. 

 

However, before the prom, there was an end-of-year assembly; and partly because some of the kids were leaving Kenya or moving to other schools in Kenya; and partly because it was the end of Primary Schools, there was a lot of tears in the assembly. It may not have helped that the whole assembly performance and songs seemed to be designed to bring out the emotions. Anyway, it is all part of growing up I suppose!

2025 begins with reflections on the political environment

We are almost half way through 2025 and it has gone by in a flash. The beginning of the year was busy with some big events at work in Kenya (and the usual trip to Spain in early March for MWC), then there was a lull and then another hectic period at work after Easter. Once June passes, it might calm down now a little until September.

Those trips took me from Western Kenya (Homa Bay) to the Rift Valley (Baringo) to the Coast with several places in between (Machakos) and a lot in Nairobi of course. The government launched a Cloud Policy and an AI Strategy, as well as a USF Strategy and is working on various other key documents to enhance the tech sector, so generally business is fine. Kenya is still doing well technology-wise.

Now the kids have their scuba diving qualification they often head to the Coast during half-terms (in Easter they also went to Germany). Over Easter we also did a few days in Central Kenya, rafting, and stayed in an old colonial-style River Lodge in Naro Moro where apart from swimming we played quite a bit of tennis as a family. Since the dual carriageway going North from Nairobi was extended last year, it is a nice and easy and generally fast drive up that way.

Hannah's swimming has taken up a bit of time, including a week in the UK for an inter-school swimming championship that was a good experience, and a school trip in Sagana rafting. Leah's also attended a few chess tournaments in Nairobi (and a hockey tournament a few hours drive away) and both kids continue to do a lot of horse riding, including winning a recent inter-school team show-jumping competition (at a fairly low level, but at least the horses generally were obedient this time, unlike the previous two events when they seemed to freeze in a new environment--next time they can do a higher level).

The environment in the country is quite interesting. Last October we had the impeachment of the Deputy President (a new worn was sworn in, and the Cabinet reshuffled substantially as part of various political deals between different political parties/factions), which had followed a few months of unrest due to protests over the Finance Bill. This has been a movement partly about the high cost of living, corruption and general feeling that the political elites were not listening to the rest of the country, or acting in their interests. It subsequently died down but has now come back again, as the new Finance Bill for the new financial year is readied, the anniversary of last year's protests (when there were deaths) nears, and due to the death of a recent blogger in Police Custody (there have been other issues over the last year of physical or online protestors being arrested).

Last week there were protests, and it is believed that later in the month there will be more again. Let's see what happens; a lot may depend on what the other political parties do or say (there is now a group of opposition parties with the former Deputy President amongst them). And, of course, how the security forces act and react, particularly related to force. The political leaders are at least proposing less new taxes in order to address the concerns over the cost of living, but many from last year still have come in--particularly for funding healthcare and housing. Unfortunately the government still has a very high debt burden they need to pay back, with the interest payments taking up something like 70% of all the government revenues (a lot of the local debt and some foreign debt is at high interest rates; whereas debt to foreign governments or development banks would be at much lower rates). 

The government still plans to keep running a deficit (i.e. having to borrow more money because revenues don't meet expenditures) which will just make the debt burden worse. It is a cycle that is not very good to say the least. And there does not seem to have been much success in improving efficiencies or reducing wastage in government.

The private sector gets affected, but in general is quite resilient and quite diversified (unlike many other countries on the continent). Not too reliant on any one industry for jobs or exports or growth overall. A wide variety of exports, a strong service industry, some manufacturing and important finance, logistics, agriculture (as long as there is no drought), and construction industries. Of course, the unpredictable international economic situation (including tarrifs by the US) doesn't help.

Talking of which, the President had spent 2 years cosying up to the US, and has now had to quickly diversify international relationships, which should be to the country's benefit. Whether it is Eastern Asia, the Middle East, Turkey, India or others, there are a lot of opportunities out there, and those countries are more stable and predictable. The relationship with Europe remains strong.

Christmas in the UK

Unusually the whole family was in the UK for all of Christmas (usually we go to Germany first), and there was thus a lot of time spent with family members, which meant a lot of eating and a lot of presents.

Some running and dog walking helped reduce the unhealthiness of the festive period to some extent. Other activities included ice skating, football watching (in the Tottenham Stadium), visiting playgrounds, shows in London and smaller theatres, seeing friends and cousins and lots of Mario Kart and Dance on the Nintendo Switch. There was some snow on our last evening before we left, but otherwise it was quite dry (sometimes cold, sometimes not too bad) which was nice.

Coming home with less suitcases than we went with was the most notable achievement of the holiday. There was some shopping but it was not as much as usual, and we seemed to have taken bulky gifts (the Christmas shopping markets in Kenya are outdoor drinking, eating and artisanal shopping affairs whilst the kids also have a small christmas gift market at school to buy from).

We went to the London Transport Museum which was worth a visit and Gullivers Theme Park (yet again), which had a decent Santa's Grotto and few visitors (but also half the rides were closed) - the younger kids especially enjoyed both. 

Work had been very busy in the few weeks leading up to the holiday so it was nice to have a good rest and break. Now to 2025! 

Ending 2024 and entering 2025

The second half of 2024 began in the aftermath of the protests - with a government promising to make changs and to listen to the issues raised by the youth. The Cabinet was removed. The proposed tax rises were dropped. There was uncertainty for sure, maybe optimism amongst some that there could be change.

Then the opposition leader joined together with the President; a new cabinet was appointed but that included some of the previous cabinet and some new faces proposed by the opposition. They may be new faces, but they are not new to politics, so a similar group of people continued to run things. 

The government regained control through the support of the opposition and by various other means of stopping others who had been protesting. Life went back to normal, the economy got back to normal. Work got back to normal. New laws were approved that brought in many of the tax rises proposed before (the government's financial position is weak and it is dependent on financing from the IMF who seem to be able to dictate tax rises to Kenya), and to top it all off, the President re-friended his former boss (the President when the current President was Deputy President) whom he had a falling out with before, and again proposes to replace some of the Cabinet members so the former President can nominate a few people.

The year ended with some social media commentators disappearing, then after a public outcry, they reappeared, though refused to say much about who was responsible. So as we enter 2025, the government seems in control, but the public are still suspicious and unhappy (particularly now with new taxes coming into effect), and the issue of technology is back in the limelight (before it was around slowing down of some social media sites) - now it is about freedom of speech online.

The election in the US might have implications for Kenya - Kenya was close to the Democrats for one thing. And the general opinion is that the MAGA movement will care less about Africa than the Democrats. Whether the implications are good or bad is too early to say. Kenya is one of many countries that benefits from an African free trade agreement with the US which may not be renewed (and the Kenyan-US Trade and Investment Partnership has not been signed yet, and thus may not be signed).

Outside of politics, there has not been any major droughts, which is good news for a change (last year there were some floods unfortunately). There have not been any major health or safety issues. The country continues to progress with strong progress in the roll-out of electric motor bikes and high demand for electric buses (more demand than the local suppliers can meet it seems), all taking advantage of the high renewable energy in Kenya's grid and the continued growth of the home and commercial solar industries. 

Digitization is all the rage still, with the latest initiative being in the health space; though it does not seem to be very clear what the initiative is, its cost effectiveness, and how well it will work. The bungled (and rushed) roll-out of a new health insurance agency and program to replace the old one left many patients and hospitals in limbo for a few weeks.

So we enter 2025 back as we began 2024 really. Nothing major has changed, progress has continued, though slowed a little. And it is a nice time to be enjoying the traditionally warm weather.