Christmas greetings
to TEAA - with remarkable photos of a difficult time - arrived this
morning (December 16) from Mike Rainy, who as part of TEA's Wave 4B,
taught at Kagumo School in Kiganjo Kenya and stayed on as a rancher,
tourguide, environmentalist and friend to neighboring Maasai. He and
his wife of over four decades, Judy Rainy, live in the Kajiado
District of Kenya's Rift Valley Province, where they graciously hosted
TEAA-ers during the itinerant 2003 conference that took us from
Kampala via Kenya to Arusha. Here he recounts a year in their life.
Picking Up the Pieces
of the Ecosystem Crash of 2009
in the "Unmilkable" Hills of Central
Kajiado Kenya
Mike Rainy
MZEE SHILALO AND SOME OF THE SURVIVING SAIHWALS
SHARING A GLADE WITH GRANTIS
OUR CATTLE GOT THROUGH
THE DROUGHT ON
CHOPPED DE-PRICKLED CACTUS
WE HAVE HAD NEARLY 5" SINCE FIRST REAL RAIN IN MID-SEPTEMBER
NOW WE'RE BALMY AND GREEN AGAIN - CHRISTMAS SPRINGTIME!
WE ARE WELL OVER 8"
RAIN NOW FOR 2009.
AFTER A VERY POOR BEGINNING WE ARE ABOUT 42% 0F A NORMAL YEAR.
BECCA'S CAMP SITE
LOTS OF WILDFLOWERS STARTING TO PEEK THROUGH
WITH SOME HELP FROM THE
WORDENS
THE OLD KITCHEN WILL
BECOME A GUEST HOUSE
OUR OLD LIVING ROOM "PAVILLION" WILL NEED NEW THATCHING
GREAT TO SEE, HEAR AND SMELL LOTS OF MILLION-DOLLAR STORMS AGAIN!
OUR LIVING ROOM HAS BEEN
A COZY REFUGE.
THE HYBRID WIND AND SOLAR SYSTEM HAS WORKED REALLY WELL -
ALLOWING US TO BE IN EASY CONTACT VIA THE WEB.
THESE SAD DAYS ARE OVER
GUINEA FOWLS ALWAYS HAVE
AN ALTERNATIVE OPINION
THAN WHAT WE GET ON GOOGLE NEWS
WE CALL OUR LITTLE PATCH
OF AFRICA SIRATA SIRUWA -
GLADES OF ELAND - BUT THIS MORNING IT WAS ZEBRA
WE HAD PLENTY OF ZEBRA TOO
IN HEAVY MIST
IN THE HILLS JUST ABOVE THE HOUSE.
AND PLENTY OF ELAND TOO
SHARING THE HILLS
WITH OUR SMALLER MUCH YOUNGER HERD OF SAIHWAL CATTLE
DOMBEYA BLOOMED ON TIME AS IT DOES BEFORE THE RAINS
WE IMAGINED THAT MORE OF
OUR CATTLE MIGHT MAKE IT.
BY THIS TIME WE WERE LOSING ONE COW EVERY FOURTH DAY.
WE ALL WENT A LITTLE NUTTY HOPING AND PRAYING FOR RAIN
ONLY TO GET FEARSOME DUST INSTEAD
FOLLOWED BY EVEN DRIER SKYS
BUT JUDY AND I AND
EVERYONE NEAR US JUST HUNKERED DOWN
AS BEST WE COULD
EVEN IN THE WORST OF IT
THIS OLD No. 9 NEW CALEDONIAN WOOD STOVE
ROARED AWAY TO DROWN OUT THE HOWLING DROUGHT WINDS
AND KEPT US SMILING - WE TOASTED OUR 40TH AND 41ST
ANNIVERSARY
EACH AND EVERY DAY SINCE LAST FALL IN IRELAND
AND HAVE NO INTENTION
OF STOPPING
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
2009 HAS BEEN AN UNFORGETTABLE YEAR,
IT STARTED LOOKING REALLY BAD BY EARLY FEBRUARY, THEN EACH MONTH JUST GOT WORSE AND WORSE.
FIRST WE OPENED OUR FENCES TO LODOKELANI MAASAI NEIGHBOURS AND WHEN THAT SMALL RESERVE WAS EXHAUSTED WE FOLLOWED THE MAASAI WEST TO ERYAT AND BEYOND INTO THE CENTRAL RIFT. THE DRY DAYS JUST GOT LONGER AND DRIER AND DRIER.
FINALLY AT THE END OF JULY WE WALKED OUR SAIHWAL CATTLE BACK HOME. AT LEAST HERE WE COULD BURN THE PRICKLES OFF CACTUS AND ADD THEM CHOPPED TO HAY, DAIRY MEAL AND MOLASSES, AND WE COULD HAUL WATER AND HAVE ENOUGH HANDS TO RAISE THEM BACK TO THEIR FEET. AND WHEN THEY DIED THEY WOULD HAVE A LITTLE DIGNITY.
SOME DAYS THE SKIES SEEMED PROMISING, WE PRAYED FOR RAIN, THE DOMBEYA TREES FLOWERED, BUT ALL THAT ROLLED IN WAS ANOTHER DUST STORM.
FINALLY ON THE 18TH OF SEPTEMBER WE GOT OUR FIRST 1/3 INCH OF RAIN, EXACTLY A MONTH LATER WE GOT NEARLY AN INCH - WE DECIDED TO GO AHEAD WITH TRAVEL PLANS TO EGYPT'S WESTERN DESERT. WE HAD A GREAT TIME EVEN LOOKING FOR THE SHRUNKEN MEGALITHS OF NABTA PLAYA.
WE WERE BACK BY THE 7TH OF NOVEMBER. IT RAINED WELL AGAIN ON THE 17TH OF NOVEMBER AND WE WERE SOON GREEN ENOUGH TO STOP FEEDING HAY.
NOW WE HAVE HAD NEARLY 5 INCHES SINCE MID SEPTEMBER. OUR MUCH SMALLER AND YOUNGER HERD OF CATTLE ARE REGAINING CONDITION FAST. IN A NORMAL YEAR WE GET ABOUT 20" OF RAIN, BUT THIS YEAR UNTIL MID SEPTEMBER WE'D ONLY HAD 17% OF THAT AND 2008 WAS WAY BELOW AVERAGE TOO.
BUT REALLY NOW WE HAVE HAD AN EXCELLENT MONTH OF BALMY SPRING WEATHER, OUR HILLS ARE DELIGHTFULLY GREEN AND ON MOST DAYS WE COUNT ROUGHLY 200 WILD HERBIVORES USING THE HILLS TOO.
MELEPO HAS BOUNCED BACK REALLY QUICKLY. IN JANUARY OR FEBRUARY WE WILL RECEIVE "FERDY" NEARLY 2 YEAR OLD A SAIHWAL X BORAN BULL FROM ESTON WHITFIELD.
WE REALLY HOPE THAT THERE ARE OTHER LITTLE PATCHES OF RECOVERING VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE AND CATTLE IN THE DISTRICT. HUMPTY DUMPTY WILL BE PATCHED TOGETHER AGAIN!
OUR LAST LORRY LOADS OF SAFARI EQUIPMENT JUST LEFT OL KANJAU IN KIMANA ON THE EAST SIDE OF AMBOSELI THIS MORNING. SO IN A FEW HOURS THE BITS AND PIECES OF OUR OPERATION WILL BE BACK HOME TOO.
WE WILL GO BACK TO AMBOSELI ON THE 19TH AND 20TH ON OUR WAY TO JOIN JESSICA AND JEFF IN TSAVO WEST FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE COMING BACK TO THE WORDENS FOR CHRISTMAS. WE ARE PRETTY SURE THAT 2009 HAS BEEN HARD FOR NEARLY EVERY ONE WE KNOW TOO.
SO WE WISH YOU EVERY BLESSING AND STRENGTH IN THIS SEASON FOR A MUCH BETTER YEAR IN 2010.
VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
MUCH LOVE FROM MIKE AND JUDY
Mike Rainy
mikerainy@gmail.com