Hangin' In Africa, Part 1 - by Craig Widness

Hangin' In Africa

By Craig Widness

Many of those who ran last winter's GRTC Freezaroo races will remember Craig Widness, although most of us only got a fleeting glimpse at him as he disappeared into the distance ahead (he finished third overall in the series). Craig is a fourth year medical student at the University of Rochester Medical School and he's currently doing an 8-week elective in Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases, volunteering to work in a hospital in Kenya.

I started my hospital elective this week after two weeks of travelling. It was a long beginning to the trip, which included two overnight flights with a 17 hour layover in London. I went into the city, but ended up falling asleep on a park bench near the Victoria and Albert museum. And that was before my time in the pub!

I flew into Mombasa from Nairobi and took a taxi to Kilifi and the hospital, where I dropped off some things, stayed the night, and intended to leave for Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. The next morning I took a matatu, which is about the size of a VW van, into Mombasa (about an hour) with 18-20 of my closest new African friends, as well as my pack. Once I got to Mombasa, I was informed there was no daily bus to Moshi, Tanzania. I could only get to Taveta on the Kenyan border that night on an overnight bus. Since it was my only real option, it was ok.

Most of the roads in Kenya are awful during the day, and the ride in the dark was jarring. I thought we would arrive in Taveta in the morning, but apparently that meant at 1:30 in the morning! So, as we pulled into the barely visible but clearly dusty town, I asked some locals if there were any clean, safe, nearby guesthouses. They replied, "oh no, it is too dangerous, we all spend the night on the bus." So, I spent the night on the bus. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't see the state of the bus in daylight until it was too late, as I was leaving in the morning, because it was old, shabby, and filthy. Ignorance is bliss. I got an inkling about its hygenic state when I found the lice crawling on my skin at 2 a.m. or so.

At dawn, about 6 a.m., they began unloading cargo from the bus. My pack was part of this cargo, so I jumped out to ensure it was not carted off with the other cargo. I was assured by a very drunk Kenyan that my bag was safe under his watch, and I can go back to bed. However, I was not assured and continued to watch for my bag from the bus.

At 7 a.m. I left the bus, and realized just how filthy my home for the past night was. What can you do? I then sought transport across the Kenyan border into Tanzania. There were no buses or taxis to be found. I thought maybe I could walk, but it turned out there are about 4 miles between the Kenyan and Tanzanian border offices. So, I travelled across the border into Tanzania on the back of a bicycle, powered by John. John was great, and we talked the entire time about US politics, Iraq stuff, and Kenyan politics. He made sure I did not get counterfeit Tanzanian money, and he roused the drunk Kenyan immigration official who was still in bed at 7:30 a.m. when he was supposed to be at his post, letting me out of the country.

So I got into Tanzania, and I took a matatu with 26 of my new best African friends the 30 minutes to Moshi. This is still my personal best for a matatu. My climb up Kilimanjaro started the next day. There were really very few problems on the climb. The altitude was difficult, especially since I've been 4 years at sea level (Craig is originally from Denver, Colorado - ed.), so I took it slowly. It is four days up to the summit, with the last day beginning at midnight to reach the summit at sunrise. That last night was done under the full moon, so I didn't even need a flashlight. Once I got above 5200 meters in elevation, the lack of oxygen really hit me, and I became very disoriented. It took most of what I had just to breathe deeply and follow my guide's footsteps. Unfortunately, the summit was covered in clouds, so my summit was windy, cold, and icy. There was about 50 feet of visibility at the top. However, the weather on the rest of the trip was great, so I have many great photos of the mountain, just few at the top.

After Kilimanjaro, it was on to safari. I took a four day safari through the national parks of Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro crater. They were all different and spectacular, with one constant: dust. We are nearing the end of the dry season, and it was incredibly dusty. It was amazing to see how much wildlife lives in an area that at the time is so arid. The quantity of wildlife was plentiful, but I was mildly disappointed with the number of species I saw. I didn't see any leopard or rhino, but there were plenty of elephant, zebra, and wildebeest. The highlight was at the end of my last day, in the Ngorongoro, where as we were taking the road to leave the park, a cheetah ran across the road in front of our vehicle and sat about 10 yards from the truck. It was a great way to end safari.

From there I took a bus to Nairobi, was nearly mugged during 10 minutes I was on the streets of Nairobi, and took an overnight train to Mombasa. I am about a week into my elective, and I am starting to get the lay of the land, so to speak. I really just follow others around, attend morning rounds, and examine interesting patients. I have seen a tremendous amount of malnutrition and malaria, with the occasional case of tuberculosis and HIV. The hospital conditions are much poorer than I had anticipated, but there is an intensive care ward specific for the research aspect that is better staffed personnel and equipment-wise.

I have taken this weekend off to rest, but there is plenty to do around here. I plan on becoming SCUBA certified and do some diving, and visit some of the more historically interesting surrounding communities, as well as work on my tan. I hope you are all well, and I will keep in touch during my time in Kenya. Have fun.