Lake Naivasha

After the Maasai Mara we came to Lake Naivasha, a beautiful but overexploited lake that is just west of Nairobi. We stayed at a beautiful campsite/yellow acacia tree grove right on the shores of the lake and we could hear hippopotamuses snorting throughout the day. The campsite was called Camp Carnelleys and I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Kenya. Not only was the site idyllic, it had running water, great hot showers, and, best of all, an awesome restaurant/bar. We all decided to forego the camp food for one night (though it is absolutely delicious and healthy!!) to enjoy some food at the bar, including camembert, caramelized onion, and pancetta turnovers, samosas, delicious tacos with perfect guacamole, and perfect, fresh cheeseburgers with good cheese. I also loved the way that the bar was decorated- it had very low, lounge-type couches with huge, oversized pillows in mismatched, brightly coloured, print cottons.

While at Naivasha we learned about the ecology of Kenya’s lakes including Naivasha, but my favourite thing was learning about the ornamental flower industry in Naivasha and then visiting one such factory. The flower factories are huge complexes in which they grow, harvest, and package flowers to be exported the next day to Amsterdam to be distributed throughout the European market. We learned and read about the terrible conditions and labour practices in the factories- forced overtime, firing or overworking pregnant women, poor safety standards, and sexual abuse of women workers by male supervisors who held the keys to promotion and more benefits. Don’t be too discouraged though- the situation has improved somewhat due to European consumer pressure. We visited the factory and it didn’t appear all that bad on the surface- the factory was full of natural light and breezy. Upon closer scrutiny, this varnish started to crack. People weren’t wearing protective gloves- it slowed down their work and they were paid on a per stem basis. When asked about maternity leave, employees were only allowed three months, not four months as is Kenyan law (still not great- I know).  We took everything our peppy tour guide said with an sizeable grain of salt as she reported some wholly implausible things like only ten people per year quit, and people are never fired. She also said that the factory had good relations with the Maasai pastoralist which is also highly unlikely since the factory’s presence cuts off the Maasai’s access to the lake which is crucial for their cattle’s livelihood. The whole visit reminded me of my dad- I know he would have loved to be there at the factory drilling our tour guide with tough questions, and getting mildly outraged about the lack of adherence to labour laws.

Off to Nguruman next, which is in the Southern Rift Valley and is supposed to be extremely hot! Wish me luck!

We stopped at a lookout on an escarpment on the side of the Great Rift Valley on the way to Nguruman. The view was absolutely breathtaking!