Everything I know about Kenya ...

Now that the first rush of activity is subsiding (visas applied for, plane tickets book
ed etc), I can get down to the business of figuring out just where I am going.

Here's what I know about Kenya/Nairobi:
- it's on the east coast of Africa
- it was colonized by the British (they were the main ones, I'm sure there were others)
- Nairobi is a major United Nations centre
- Nairobi is in the centre of the country
- Kenya is not a great place if you're a vegetarian -- the diet is major carnivorous
- there are giraffes, elephants and lions there (though not in the middle of the city, one would hope)
- it's a major transportation hub in Africa -- but Air Canada doesn't fly there. So Sir Richard Branson is getting me there (Virgin Atlantic)
- I will be staying at either the Hotel La Mada or the Kenya Institute of Monetary Studies
- both places have a pool
- the temperature is around 20 degrees this time of year, so it will be nice but not hot

After doing a little bit of surfing, here's what I now know:
- Kenya has roughly the same population as Canada, but is about the size of .. (I'm guessing) New Brunswick ... (Kenya is 583,000 square kms, Canada is 9 MILLION)
- it's a nice time of the year to go .. not too hot, not too rainy
- main languages are English and Swahili

More later as I learn more ...

Last minute craziness

Well, this looks like the start of another whole travel journal section of my blog. (Blogs are great, BTW, for filling in large numbers of people who want to hear from you as your trip progresses. Saves sending out large numbers of emails. And being able to post pictures is a bonus).

Right now, it's 6:43 am and way too early.

It's been a crazy 18 hours. The conference I am going to is less than two weeks away. And Kenya is one of those countries which require a visa. And it takes 7 business days to process a visa app, not counting in-transit time to get the paperwork from point A to Point B.

So I am up getting the last bits of my application together and calling Fedex. Thank god the paperwork only has to go to Ottawa and not all the way to Nairobi.

So it was a whole day of scrambling, booking plane tickets, getting passport pictures, money order to pay for the visa, arranging expensive one day FedEx delivery on both ends ... I could have saved myself about 50 bucks if I had been able to get it all off yesterday but I couldn't. So it goes today, along with many prayers that it will get there and back in time.

Haven't even had a minute to think about the workshop I'm going to be doing -- fortunately I've done similar workshops before so it won't be a great deal of work to figure it out. Next week will be fine. Heck, I'll have seven hours at Heathrow while waiting to change planes to do it since I'm taking my laptop.

That reminds me of another thing to do ... check on the power standards so I can bring the right adapters.

Travel is fun .. travel is fun ... travel is fun .... I repeat to myself. Or, at least it will be when I'm more organized and less overwhelmed.

Nairobi Bound!

I am sitting here typing and burning off excess energy while I wait on hold to book my ticket to Nairobi.

I just found out today (!) that the Canada Council is funding my trip, which has to begin on September 26 (!!!). That's like ... the middle of next week.

My head is spinning .... I thought there was a chance my application would be approved but I never took it as a given. So I've been just going ahead doing my work as though I was going to be here in Hamilton in my little apartment for the forseeable future.

I have been invited to do a presentation on creative ways to present audio documentaries . The organization which invited me is the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (www.iawrt.org)

I am still waiting to see how much my ticket is going to cost ...

I am getting boggled. Happily boggled but I am hyperventilatng.

Update -- got a good price. I will be spending 7 hours at Heathrow while I make a connection, but it's good!

My Best Buddy Dave

I've wanted to write about Dave for a long time. But I didn't have a picture.

Today he sent me a long email and this picture from Hanoi. It was taken in the Marshall Islands where he was doing a story on the nuclear tests in the '40's.

Dave is off on a halfway around the world tour, doing stories as he goes. He's one of my all time favourite people and most wonderful of friends.

My first introduction to Dave was back at CFMU at McMaster University in Hamilton in 1992. Our surly engineer who came from an eastern bloc country and wasn't fond of peaceniks kicked a piece of dirt on the floor at the station and snarled "I see Kattenburg is back from Nicaragua and bringing his Commie dirt back with him". Somehow I knew I'd like this man. It was a good start to a wonderful friendship.

Dave came to McMaster in the late 60's. He was about to finish his doctorate in some kind of biological sciences. Then "IT" happened ... the thing that was to define most of his life and make him forget about being a scientist almost forever. That's when he met our mutual friend Lil, who asked the innocent question "would you like to be part of my radio show?". Well, that was it. Dave fell in love with radio.

Over the years he has produced many outstanding productions. And in 1998, he invited me to be part of his work. Since then, we have done 5 radio series together on issues of social justice and human rights. It was the beginning of a whole new area of inquiry in my life, and I am grateful that he opened those doors for me.

Working with Dave and being his friend has been one of the great joys of my life. He has challenged me, shared new ideas, hugged me, laughed with me, commiserated with me and has been there for me both professionally and personally every step of the way.

Hope you find many, many great things about the world to share with us, Dave. Love ya, miss ya. Come home soon .. but not too soon. There is still much to be discovered.