As Kenya only gives you a 3 month visa, you have to somehow extend if
you want to stay longer. For most tourists, the simple thing is to
leave East Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania don't count as
leaving Kenya as far as visas are concerned) and then return. This is
simple enough as there are amazing things to see in Zambia, Botswana,
Namibia, Congo, etc. However, when you are working here, that's a bit
difficult. The traditional thing was to go to Nairobi to the
immigration office, a process that was difficult, took forever, and was
full of bureaucratic bs. But recently, Mpala has found a "friendly" in
Nyeri who makes visa extensions quite painless and quick. I had gone
before with Kirsten and Laura, and it was very easy for them. I was
expecting similar ease when Elisha and I drove to Nyeri. We had a bit
more trouble, but not much. I still had about 10 days left on my visa,
so they told me to come back when I just had a couple days to go.
Problem is, it's an over 2 hour drive to go there, so we argued that
they should be able to just give it to me now. We argued back and forth
for a bit, with them spouting out some crazy prices (15,000ksh, nearly
$200), but eventually I ended up with a visa extension good until mid
November for free and a submitted application for my alien registration
card for 2,000ksh (25 bucks) as well as black fingers from a whole lot
of fingerprinting. If I am able to get that card, it is super helpful.
For example, the main parks here cost US 80 to 90 dollars, but with
that card, I am technically a resident, so the price would be 1000ksh
(just over 10 bucks). It also give you discounts at hotels (resident
rates). But even the fingerprinted application card is useful. At the
giraffe park in Nairobi, Elisha had to pay 1000ksh, but I only had to
pay 200ksh.
Since we were down in the "city" it was a
shopping day. We first stopped at the equator market (curio shops) so
that we could get some gifts for family members. We then went to this
open air market called Matumbo. This is one of the places in Kenya
where the huge shipments of non-purchased salvation army and thrift
store good are dumped by the dumptruck load. You can get all sorts of
things, for example t-shirts ranging from 50 cents to $1. But it's just
this giant market full of all the unwanted things from thrift stores in
the States and Europe. It was basically Elisha's heaven. She was so
upset she hadn't heard about this earlier. We've seen some pretty sweet
things in Kenya, but I think this might have been her favorite
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| Field assistant Zachary and me |
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| Mount Kenya |
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| Rejected clothes in America and Europe are loved here. Matumbo Market |
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| Elisha's Heaven |
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| Dr. Brett from CSU had the women at the women's village learn how to make beaded bracelets in the design of the Colorado Flag. My favorite Kenyan bracelet thus far! |
1 comment:
I may have to return to Kenya just for that open market;)
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