Kenya

Kenya

You see, I am going to Tanzania this coming weekend (April 13th). I will be visiting Tanzania, where some of the oldest human remains in the world have been found. It is believed that early humans hung out and evolved here in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley. In the 1950s and 60s anthropologists Louis, Mary, and Richard Leakey discovered fossil remains at the Olduvai Gorge and since then several others have been found in Northern Kenya and Ethiopia. Here’s an awesome picture of the Ngorongoro Crater, near the gorge:

A quick look at wikipedia confirms that the crater is pretty freakin’ awesome as well:

… the world’s largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. The Crater, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago …

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Books, Kenya, The Farm

I started a very small farm at my house in Kenya because I was excited about being more self-sustained and also because I plan to use what I learn when I get back to the United States. I know vegetables aren’t by any means expensive here in Tala, but it’s the principle of the matter! A bonus is being able to control the inputs to my little ecosystem; which means all my crops will be “organic.” Well, I was pretty excited about my endeavors until I came across a passage in Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce. On page 20:

All present agriculture, whether it is slash-and-burn or sod-breaking, involves the reversion of a climax system to a pioneering one.

“Holy shit,” I thought, “he’s right.” Here’s an excerpt from earlier in the paragraph giving some background:

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Food, Kenya

From now on I’m going to be roasting MASSIVE amounts of peanuts! They are so freakin’ cheap, delicious, and nutritious that it’s a no-brainer. Do you want to know what the secret is? PILI PILI (pepper)! Oh, and salt of course. They’re just as delicious as potato chips but way more natural and as a bonus they’re homemade. Just say, “No!” to preservatives!

I buy the raw nuts from the market and then roast them by the cup every few days. It takes about an hour once I’ve diced the peppers, added the oil to the pot, and stirred on and off heat to keep them from burning. I let them cool a bit and finish cooking when I notice they start getting dry and crunchy (you have to taste them every few minutes to know!). Half a kilogram is about 45 shillings, which is almost enough to last a whole week. I might buy one kilogram and then roast a whole bunch and take them as a treat to the staff room, because they are really hurting for some variety in the food in there!

Tomorrow’s a big market day so just know that while you’re sleeping in America I will be wheeling, dealing, and then ROASTING! I know it’s no substitute for leafy greens, Sara, so I’ll keep forcing myself to eat those every once in a while too!

Adios!