Protectors of the Forest

Finally, after months and months of planning, Nate and I got time to make the journey to Mau forest. Nate's movie, Togetherness Supreme is in post, and we have been scheduling pick-ups with the DOP who could only be available for 7 days. In the middle of all that planning, somehow Nate forgot the Mau forest visit... We set off from Nairobi at 1 pm on Saturday, knowing very well that we would be in Nakuru by 3, meet the Ogiek People's Development Program rep, visit the forest and come back. Barely 20 minutes out of Nairobi, Nate noticed that the car was smoking so mush so, he could not see behind him. We pulled to the shoulder, (if you know Kenyan roads, you will know this does not exist).The bonnet was now smoking too. He pulled up the hood...more smoke.
Quick calculations, and I managed to get about 60 litres of water, which we used to cool off the engine. ALL of it! He then checks the water, and finds it empty. Another 10 litres, and he realises that he is watering the road instead of the radiator. After close inspection, Nate discovers a huge slit on the back of the hosepipe that runs from the radiator to the engine. I will not get into the mechanics of it, but basically, the engine was not being cooled. A 'helpful' dude came along and offered to help us by patching up the hole. We foolishly agreed. Meanwhile, Nate was to walk to the gas station, about 1km away to get more oil. While there, the gas attendant questioned him about his car, he explained, and they gave him someone to come back with. He turned out to be of great help since the first 'helpful' dude had the crazy idea of mending the hole with cobblers glue!

Although, we had to take a matatu to the shop where we were to buy the replacement hosepipe. Almost 2 hours later, we were back on the road. It was pretty obvious by now that we were not going to make it to Nakuru and back. Kiplangat, the ODPD's rep, was still patiently waiting for us. We agreed to meet the following morning at 7.30 am at his office. Too early for a Sunday, but he had to be back in Nakuru by 1pm to make sure that the memos they were preparing for the Members of Parliament in regards to their eviction reached Nairobi in time. He even helped us book a room at Merica Hotel.


Nate faithfully set his alarm for 6.30am, I did not set mine.

Sometime in the morning, in between sleep and awake, I wondered how long the night was. Nate woke up and went to the bathroom, which made me open my eyes. I noticed that was incredibly bright outside for 6.30 am. I checked the time. It is 8.45 am! the alarm did not go off...we over slept! I frantically call Kiplangat, who is very understanding...but not before telling us that he had cancelled when we did not turn up... We literally grab our breakfast, pack it and head to their office. Finally, we are on the road. Later, we would meet the chief, who wanted Nate's camera as a gift. Took a while to explain that it took Nathan a trip to the US to get it and its the only one he had... 3-4 hours later, we had covered the Mau forest, or what is left of it, and were on our way back. We were trying to hurry back as we had to be on location the following day for pick ups. We got home at around 6pm, only to realise that we did not have our bedroom keys, and the spare ones were inside the bedroom. I did not understand how he could have left them in the hotel room in Nakuru.

How and why did he remove them from his pockets?? We thought about breaking down the door, but decided against it. We even thought about driving back to Nakuru...We drove around the neighbourhood looking for locksmiths, Googled them...nothing. It was 6pm on a Sunday, which locksmith in his right mind would be in the workshop / office? We drove to Kibera, talked to a guy who assured us that he knew how to open the lock. 20 minutes later and very bad body odour, the door was still locked. I had called the apartment's caretaker, who had come with a bunch of keys that did not work. I had implored him to call the guys who installed the locks to come and check if there was anything they could do. About an hour later, one of the installers came by and less than 5 minutes later, the door swung open. The hotel was helpful enough to send the keys.

Even after all that drama, nothing could dampen my spirits. It was the journey that marked my first step to making this project a reality, a step that took forever to take. Now I am accountable to the lovely people I met in Mau forest. Now I HAVE to do this!