New Horizons
As I started my Journey to Kenya where my Borlaug-Ruan international Internship would take place my nerves were overshadowing my excitement. Kenya is not my first time traveling international however I was not away from my family for two months or had a big responsibility for a research paper. Instead of enjoying the internship experience I was more concerned with finding a research topic as soon as possible and begin collecting data.
As Morgan (Another Borlaug- Ruan Intern) and I experienced our first full day in ICIPE (Nairobi) we became more conscious of the task given to us. In our first week in ICIPE (Nairobi) the employees were very busy with the Chemical Ecology Conference. They were hosting scientist, professors and students from all over the world. Morgan and I saw an opportunity to explore the city and experience some of the culture .With three days free and little to no time to spare we headed to the travel agency on ICIPEs campus. The agent then arranged our schedules so we could experience what we wanted before we headed to Western Kenya.
Exploring New Horizons in Nairobi
The first day out of the ICIPE’s campus we traveled to see Arboretum Park and the Karura Forest. The drive was about an hour long just to go ten miles towards the city of Nairobi. The traffic was so congested where I could touch the buses as we slowly pass them by or if we came to a complete stop in the middle of the streets. It was definitely something I never experienced in the state of Iowa.
When our driver got to our destinations we walked towards the parks not knowing what adventures awaits. While hiking hours on these trails we got to experience angry monkeys chasing us as we are laughing out in fear. Along seeing the beautiful vegetation and waterfalls. We also expanded our knowledge on how religious people are in Kenya as they pray and chant in groups in the park. By the end of the day we were happy with our accomplishments and prepared ourselves for the long day tomorrow.
We entered the Nairobi National Park at 6am so we could see the animals when they were the most active. Our driver was very detailed when identifying animals and giving us the basic knowledge. For the five hours driving around in a big Safari van we got to see hippos, wild buffalo, giraffes, zebras, baboons, lions and so many more animal and bird species.
Our last destination was the David Sheldrick Rhino and Elephant Orphanage where Morgan I had an up close experience with baby elephants. Each elephant had their own story of how they were found before adopted into the orphanage. Many baby elephants were starving the time they were found and their mothers were dead or nowhere to be found. This orphanage teaches these elephants to live on their own so when they are three years old they have the opportunity to join a wild herd in a conservation to live a ordinary life.
As Morgan and I spent these short days in Nairobi, we came to understand that our time here was just more then a research paper, but to explore our horizons in Kenya and the agriculture industry.
