Africa 2006-2007: Matt's Final Thoughts

This is adapted from an article I wrote for the newsletter of the project that I'm working for, so it's not really in my usual voice but it summarizes my thoughts, and was easy to copy and paste into a post (and perhaps illustrates the reasons I did poorly in English class):

When planning this working-trip back in Canada, the choice of Nairobi was at the top of the list. I had spent two months in Namibia and Botswana in 2003, and had been looking to get to back to the continent ever since. Jessica and I first and foremost wanted to get some wet-lab experience in Africa, and we knew that we needed to be in a major center for research in order to maximize our job prospects. In Kenya we would have no major difficulties with a language barrier, and east Africa would offer us some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in the world. The recent travel advisories issued by the Canadian government warning against travel to Nairobi – known to many travelers as “Nairobbery” – were somewhat concerning, but as with many big cities we knew it was just a matter of avoiding specific areas of the city at specific times. Once we got over the mental hurdle of committing to Nairobi, ILRI was a top choice for me since I was already involved with research on cell surface antigens of African trypanosomes.

Upon arriving at ILRI we were blown away at how nice the campus was, and how good the lab facilities were. Looking at the aerial view of the campus on Google Earth back in Canada I could see that it was beautiful, but the detail wasn’t quite sufficient to resolve the tennis courts, pool, volleyball court, rock climbing wall, and the other luxurious amenities!

At ILRI I was involved with the Shockmouse, Paramouse, Bigmouse, and C57lite projects. Not only did the projects have cool names, but through them I learned a great deal and got experience that I never could have hoped for back home. I found that one of the greatest things about working on trypanotolerance whilst in Africa is the heightened feeling of relevance and urgency for the work that we’re doing. Jessica and I had many opportunities to travel through the rural regions of Kenya in the beat-up ‘92 Suzuki 4x4 that we bought shortly after arrival in Nairobi, where it was easy to see firsthand just how vital livestock is to the people here.

Perhaps one of the greatest aspects of working here at ILRI was the people that I got to work and interact with every day. I was surprised – and very happy – to find that at the bench I was working primarily with local Kenyans. There’s no better to way to learn about a culture than to interact with the locals on a regular basis; you learn and experience things that most tourists visiting a country will never have the chance to appreciate. On top of the rich experience with locals, there are visiting scientists from all around the globe working at the facility, which makes for an incredibly diverse experience. At any given dinner out with friends there are often up to ten countries represented, usually from up to five different continents. This diversity is something which I particularly enjoyed while at ILRI, and one of the things I’ll miss the most when I return to Canada.

Life in Nairobi has been not without its drawbacks. In the time that we’ve been here two colleagues have had their vehicles carjacked or stolen by thugs, we’ve been bribed twice by local police, and an astounding number of western tourists have been killed in either car accidents or carjackings no more than 15 km away. Night time excursions for dinner or entertainment have to be weighed against the probability of carjackings, which spike every now and again, and are often made in convoy for safety reasons. These facts produce a certain amount of unease when outside the compound, which for a new visitor can take a while to get used to.

Outside of Nairobi things become much safer – aside from the highways – and I would say that 99% percent of the Kenya’s natural treasures lie outside of its capital city. During our six months here we’ve been on self-guided safaris to several of Kenya’s national parks, and we’ve enjoyed them tremendously. We’ve had incredible encounters with white rhinos along the shores of Lake Nakuru, we’ve marveled at massive groups of elephants in the shadow of Kilimanjaro in Amboseli national park, seen the rare black serval cat in the high plateau of the Aberdares, and watched the sunset on the gorge of Hell’s Gate national park. We’ve also made trips down to Tanzania and to Madagascar; both of which were incredible experiences.

Overall, the experience I’ve had in Kenya these six months has certainly exceeded my expectations, both professionally and personally. There are some unfortunate truths about life in Nairobi, but the cons are made up for by the pros. I’ve met incredible people, seen incredible wildlife and geography, and have no doubt that I will return one day soon.

-Matt Pope