Laughing Away in Kakamega

We went hiking and camping in Kakamega National Park last weekend. Kakamega is the last bit of rainforest left in Kenya. It's well known for lush vegetation, several breeds of monkeys and some of the world's largest snakes.

I used to associate Kakamega with one of public health's great, albeit flawed, community-based health interventions. You can read about that intervention here. It's a story about hope, derailed.

Thankfully, Kakamega has now taken on a new meaning. That Saturday night, sitting around a fire with Nat, Darryn, Cat, James and Bethany was pure fun. Between Bethany's storytelling, James' wit and Darryn's scotch ... I bellylaughed for about 15 hours and slept for maybe 3. I forgot how much I love laughing. Hopkins kinda beat it out of me.

This is Udo's, the campground where we stayed. That little hut is where we slept:

We cooked in another hut. Darryn and Nat did the grilling. Bethany, James and I took care of the drinking.
Then we went for a sunrise hike in the rainforest. Normally I hate sunrise events, but this one was fun as I had stayed awake laughing all night:

We were all pretty dead when we reached the high point to watch the sun burn the clouds off the rainforest canopy (left to right, Cat, Darryn, Patrick our guide, Bethany, James):

The view:
Life is sweet.

xo

Shannon