Marie-Alice D'Aoust: Diversity and Eco-Culture in Nairobi, Kenya

Marie-Alice interned at the International Commission of Jurists in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Kenya is everything I was expecting it to be. Roommates and colleagues are helpful, welcoming, warm. Nairobi is bustling, busy, dusty. The country is lush, green, full of wild animals. A magic moment: spotting a family of wild giraffes in the distance, just there, nibbling, chilling.

Kenya is a country with a lot of biodiversity. Even living in Nairobi, I benefit from nature. An hour drive outside town brings me to the savannah. A large National Park hosts a myriad of birds and animals right next to the city, with orphanages for elephants and giraffes, and conservation parks. I knew Kenya was a great place for safaris and enjoying wildlife, but I had no clue there were so many different places we could visit and so many different types of scenery.

On my first weekend here, a fellow intern from Nairobi took us with her father on a road trip to the Rift Valley to see the beautiful Kenyan countryside--so different from the city. We talked a lot about Kenyan culture and politics. We went on a boat tour that took us to a water forest of dead trees full of ominous birds and hippos, and to a green island full of zebras and wildebeests grazing peacefully.

My second weekend was spent exploring the Naivasha area. After a full week in Nairobi, it felt good to be away from the city. A bike tour of Hell’s Gate National Park showed us the land that inspired the Lion Kind scenery, with its hellish cliffs and gorges, and large green spaces full of wild animals. The following day, we climbed Mount Longonot, a volcano that has been extinct for over 100 years. We hiked all around the crater ridge, which goes up and down around the crater for 7 km. The hike was steep and long (way more than what we had bargained for), but the view was amazing throughout and the experience extremely rewarding.

As a human, student, traveller, and social justice advocate, I am ultimately the most interested in those swift glimpses into alternate worlds one can discern when undergoing novel experiences. My so far brief experience of Kenyan wildlife has allowed me to gain new insight on the kinds of relationships that can exist between plant life, animal life, human individuals, and national institutions. Meanwhile I am also slowly discovering what these relationships mean to the people who were born and raised within them, adding an extra cultural layer to this slice of human life.