Problems with Primates

Well, in my (nearly) 6 years in Kenya, I’ve had 2 monkeys in my car on 2 separate occasions, stealing sweets and crisps; I’ve had a picnic lunch swiped by 2 baboons; I’ve had to keep my windows closed over the hottest time of the year because of a Sykes monkey in the neighbourhood; and I’ve had a male baboon in my car (via the sunroof), and then take off with my cool bag. At one self-catering place on the coast, we were hounded by monkeys, one of which came in down the stairs, via the balcony, and was discovered on the dining table ready to tuck into my toast and marmite (of all the cheek!). This last weekend, however, was the first time that I’ve been robbed inside my dwelling place by a primate. I was enjoying a long relaxing weekend at the coast, following the completion of our accounting year end. Whilst in my hotel room checking out what was on TV, having just come back up from the pool / beach area, I heard a noise behind me and discovered a monkey there! What’s more, he’d already swiped a recently-opened packet of peanut brittle from the counter just beside me. On my shrieks of discovery, he ran out through the French windows, and then proceeded to tear into the packet before my very eyes. There was a ‘friend’ with him, perched on a nearby chair, but ‘friend’ was to get none of it. And all I could do was stand and watch (with the French windows now closed) while he made his way through this unexpected treat. We’re told not to feed the monkeys at such places, but 9 times out of 10, they seem to be well able to feed themselves!!!

Kenya's Hopes for the US Elections

“US Poll: Why the world backs Obama” was the headline in today’s Daily Nation, one of Kenya’s major newspapers. According to the report, Barack Obama is the world’s choice for the next President of the United States. That’s certainly been the feeling here in Kenya the entire election campaign, though very little has been mentioned about his policies, or where he stands on today’s current issues. He is Kenyan (or at least his father was), and therefore the country, it seems, is with him. A number of matatus have had his picture emblazoned across their rear window; I’ve overheard a father in a supermarket teaching his toddler to say, “Obama”; I’ve seen people wearing “Support Obama” T-shirts…. You’d think the election was here! Within African culture, people look after their own. It would appear that such expectations extend to those brought up in the US and Indonesia by an American mother and grandparents. There have been forecasts in the media over the last year of Kenya’s fortunes being on the rise should Obama be elected. In Sunday’s Nation, a number of people being interviewed anticipated tourism increasing due to people flocking to Kenya to trace Obama’s roots (not that he ever lived here!). His Kenyan branch of his family is clearly behind him: “Senator Barrack Obama’s relatives have congregated at Nyangoma Kogelo village and will remain together until after Tuesday’s US presidential elections. They have set aside a bull to slaughter in celebration should the Illinois senator, whose father was Kenyan, win.” Whichever way the election goes, I can’t help thinking that many Kenyans are going to be disappointed. I guess though that it’s taken the focus off last year’s controversial elections here for a while.

Oranges and Lemons

Oranges are orange, lemons are yellow, limes are green….. right? Well, they were all the timne that I was living in the UK. Here in Kenya however, things are a bit different. Oranges can be green as well as orange; lemons are more often green than yellow unless they’re imported; and limes can be both green and yellow! You’d think that after nearly 6 years living here I’d know the difference, but there are times that I still have to ask, or make mistakes as in the other week when I cut a small green fruit to extract lemon juice for a couscous salad, only to discover that it was orange on the inside – it was in fact a tangerine! (To illustrate this dilemma visually, the picture above is of (from left to right) an orange, a lime, a lemon, a lime.)