African adventures continue in Kenya!

I arrived in Kenya on Wednesday afternoon, on the 13th of September and was met by my host Sarah Flowers. We drove through the city of Nairobi and I was taken aback by the beautiful treescapes which covered the city, not dissimilar to Central Park in New York.

After a full on two-weeks of non-stop meetings and visits, I had a quiet day planned for the Thursday and caught up on writing, emails and chatted with Sarah about her fascinating journey, growing up in Tanzania, studying in the UK and even completing her PHD within the forestry sector in none other than Aberdeen. She is now living in Thika, Kenya, where she has been for the past ten years, along with her husband Chris, who is the Managing Director of one of the biggest farming operations in Kenya, known as Kakuzi Farms PLC.

Sarah and Chris are wonderful hosts and have three very cuddly and naughty Labradors called Basil, Wallace, and Frank, so I am kept well entertained. One of the hardest things about travelling for many weeks is losing any form of daily routine, but staying here with Chris and Sarah, I have loved partaking in their 5pm walk every evening, where cold beers are cracked open, and they walk the dogs around their beautiful gardens.  Each time we take this walk, I am amazed by the changes in the trees, with the most beautiful jacaranda’s and bougainvillea’s you have ever seen, increasingly coming into bloom.

I’ve been learning a lot more about some of the indigenous trees here in Kenya but also about the eucalyptus plantations which surround the farm and supply timber for their impressive commercial forestry operation. It is amazing that eucalyptus trees can grow to maturity in lass than ten years - comparable to Sitka spruce plantations,  a fast growing conifer tree, native to the west coast of North America, which make up 50% of commercial plantations in the UK.

Both trees have sparked controversy amongst local populations in recent years who favour indigenous hardwood trees.  This has led to a conflict between between building on commercial forestry efforts and planting and protecting hardwoods. It is so interesting that our countries may be 6,000 miles apart but instances like this, highlight similar attitudes and conflicts.