I checked out of my hotel early this morning and we made our way back out of the city into the Central Highlands toward the Aberdare range. It is beautiful, lush green mountainous country that is predominantly known for producing tea. It is also home to my host’s tribe, the Kikuyu, which is the largest tribe in Kenya and known for producing many of the top entrepreneurs and finance specialists in Kenya. If the name sounds suspiciously Scottish to you, you would be correct. During the colonial times the Scots (my roots, though I am not too proud of their behavior overall in Kenya), were drawn to this area as it is made up of a series of steep ridges and valleys, each valley containing a pristine river, that reminded them of home. Consequently, we end up with one of the strangest non sequiturs of my trip: our destination is one of the world’s hotspots for trout fishing in the world. We headed for Aberdare Cottages, which our host, Zach, built from scratch on his family farm and turned into a beautiful resort featured on international news (CNN and Nat Geo) as a fly fishing paradise. Built naturally on a hillside around a river with local materials and labor, it is a beautiful place where the fresh air reminds me of my time in Northern Maine and the sounds of the waterfalls running through the property and the river below just put you at ease after the hectic time in Nairobi.

On top of that, Zach is an amazing person and a phenomenal story teller with a mission of environmental sustainability and community support that is inspiring and visionary. Everything consumed on his property is either grown on his farm or brought in by local farmers. In addition he is on the board of the girls school that we visited (more on that later) and worked to create a large library for the community that he is working towards growing into an independent, full service, community center for the local population. He has invested much of his time making direct improvements as well as working tirelessly through the layers of bureaucracy and corruption of the local and county governments to insure that promised funding goes directly into the projects and communities where it is promised and needed. To listen to him for even just a minute (and believe me, when he gets going you will need a LOT more than a minute ;)), you are instantly inspired by his passion and dedication as well as hopeful for the development of the region and the people moving forward.

After settling in, we took a quick tour of the library space where both children and adults come, especially in the afternoons to read and relax. I am hopeful that our group can bring some books, puzzles, and other supplies with us to donate when we come.

We then headed to the community girls school. Just as in previous school visits, everyone was so gracious, they took us to a small building with a meeting space where they had prepared a lunch of sandwiches, bananas, oranges, arrowroot, and tea. It was very formal and we met the head teacher and the leader of the school board, made formal introductions and explained our backgrounds and purpose for visiting. The head teacher, Miss Gertrude, explained the challenges they face receiving the promised funding from the education ministry and then they arranged for me to visit a form 4 (the oldest students) class. They were eager for me to work with the girls and mentioned on several occasions the stigma girls experience around math and science. It was my fault, but a bit unexpectedly, I ended up with the puzzles out and teaching again, but it was probably the most rewarding of my school visits. They were so enthusiastic, genuine, curious, and eager to learn, and the pride they showed when they would call me over to watch their solution was inspiring. At the end, one of the girls was designated to stand and formally thank me for coming and (I’m paraphrasing a bit here) showing them that math can be interesting and fun. We decided to leave half the puzzles with them and I look forward to the opportunity to have our students come and visit as well. Again, out of privacy concerns, I am resisting the temptation to share the fantastic pictures I have of a roomful of 36 girls intently working on their solutions. I couldn’t resist the mural they had on one wall that had math at the center of their focus!!

Later, we went to a tea factory, which is a central part of the local economy. Climate change is starting to reduce the output, so Zach and others are working to help diversify the crops that farmers plant. They are also helping to make the production process more sustainable and keep the control and profits in the local community. We had an amazing tour by a young woman who taught us more about the tea making process than I thought possible. They produce a specially certified tea called “Orthodox”, doing such things as rolling the leaves instead of chopping them, as part of an intensive process that produces a higher quality tea. After the tour we tasted most of the different types, with the precision you would expect at a wine tasting event. The owner stopped by and my host, Paul, was amazed to find out it was a childhood friend of his!

We returned to the cottages to grab some equipment and then went down to the river for what this place is best know, to learn how to fly fish. It was fun to try, the air was fresh and clean and very much reminded me of the time we have spent in the Maine North Woods. However, none of us caught anything. In our defense, the serious fisher that was visiting from Texas didn’t catch anything in the spot where we fished either. When he moved up river later that afternoon, he brought back four trout! Zach has a local guide, John, who is extremely knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the sport and got us started. I also learned that the neighborhood in Nairobi where I had my cooking class is one of the best known production centers for fly tying! After a lovely meal around an open fire, we settled into our cottages to a great night of sleep with goats bleating across the valley and the relaxing sound of the waterfalls on the property creating an idyllic atmosphere.