We started the adventure last Friday, September 2nd when Steve, Ellana, and I flew to Nairobi to pick up the group. We had a fabulous day exploring the city as we had not spent much time there previously. We enjoyed our time at the Village Mall that had everything from a gourmet meat and cheese shop to one of the largest toy stores I have ever seen. Nairobi is definitely an interesting place as it harbors one of the largest slum areas in the world but also has completely modern, upscale areas. I often have a difficult time wrapping my head around the enormous disparity between the rich and the poor in East Africa, and Nairobi is one of the places where that disparity is most evident.
We were very pleased that the group had no problems with their flights and arrived on time in Nairobi. Once they arrived at the hotel, we had a late dinner and enjoyed seeing everyone for the first time in months. Most of the group had been to either Uganda or Rwanda with Dr. Haglund (the head Neurosurgeon) in the past, but this was the first time for the Duke Neurosurgery program to be in Kenya and to not be going to a capital city. At dinner that night, we were all pleased to be sharing the hotel with the actress Olivia Wilde as she was sitting just a few tables away from us!
On Saturday morning we attempted to cram all of the luggage into the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital 25 seat bus. We had decided to drive back to Eldoret because we couldn't get enough plane tickets for the group, and we thought that it would be easier with all of the luggage. We had also been told that the trip would take around 4.5 to 6 hours at the most. In order to give the group a feel for the city, we took them to a giraffe sanctuary and had lunch at a beautiful restaurant in one of the suburbs outside of the city. Then we headed to Eldoret only to arrive about 7.5 hours later! An exhausted and hungry group sat down to dinner around 9 pm that night at one of our favorite spots, Mamma Mia.
On Sunday the group divided up so that one half could attend church and the other half started unpacking the 4 tons of supplies that had been shipped by DHL. Yes, everything made it to Eldoret! The total value of the supplies was about $400,000. The team set up the operating rooms and prepared for the first operations on Monday, and also saw patients that would be operated on through the course of the week. One of the more interesting cases was a young man who had been shot by a barbed arrow a day or two prior. The removal of the arrow was set for Monday morning.
On Sunday afternoon, we took the group to a restaurant at the top of the Rift Valley so that everyone could see some of the amazing views of Kenya. The restaurant is located in Iten, which is where many of Kenya's most talented long distance runners are trained because of the altitude and the incredible hills. We have learned that on important training days, the runners are driven down the bottom of one of the enormous hills twice a day, and they run up the marathon distance both times!
On Monday, the team held a teaching conference on neurological trauma for the doctors, residents, nurses, and medical students of MTRH, and as well as some visitors from Nairobi. Everything went well both at the conference and in the OR, as the team was able to remove the arrow successfully. After a long day, we ate dinner at an Indian restaurant and had a brief Kiswahili tutorial given by our teacher, Wycliff.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday pretty much followed in the same fashion with me taking many of the members on small excursions around Eldoret including numerous trips to Imani. I think that the Imani artisans enjoyed having many of the members tour their facility and do lots of shopping! The team ended the time in Eldoret with a wonderful celebratory dinner at the Eldoret country club on Thursday evening. We were treated to traditional Kenyan fare, lots of thank you speeches, some traditional Kenyan music and dancing, as well as amazing gifts. Duke Neurosurgery's contributions to MTRH will hopefully be treasured for many years to come, and I know the team members will always remember their time at the hospital .
At 6 am Friday morning, we set off for our safari to the Masai Mara. Although the trip took around 6 hours, the final two hours were on some of the worst roads I have ever traversed. I'm not sure how Ellana slept for about an hour, and we were extremely happy to finally arrive at our home for the next two nights. Steve and I weren't sure what to expect, but we were incredibly pleased with our accommodations at the Olasheiki Camp. Olasheiki is in the style of a tented camp that is very popular in the Masai Mara. The lodge was also entirely run by members of the Masai tribe who helped to guide us around the park. We were able to see cheetahs and lions on the brief 1.5 hour trip we took on Friday, and then saw numerous animals on our day-long drive on Saturday. Ellana's favorite were by far the giraffes or "twiga," which is the Kiswahili word that she uses for them.
Overall, I don't think we could have been any happier with what was accomplished by the Duke Neurosurgery group in Eldoret or by the fun times we were able to have with everyone in the Mara. And despite all of the hours in some sort of transportation, Ellana was absolutely amazing and has already become a seasoned traveler. Now we are just looking forward to my family members arriving in early October so we can see more "twiga" again soon!
Our Masai guides and the staff at Olasheiki
The bridge from the camp into the national park
Our beautiful breakfast area
Cell phones are everywhere!
Ellana and the "simba"
Ellana in search of "twiga"
Mara River
So glad she napped, but she would have loved the lion cubs!
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