We have left the villages and tribes behind and find ourselves driving through larger and larger towns. The industry here is flowers – and if you think that sounds pleasant, growing flowers for the floral trade, think again. In order to produce at scale for the European market, every effort is made to grow flowers better and faster. Herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, and any other means are used to keep up with the trade. Greenhouses line Lake Naivasha and its surrounds and the industry does employ many if mostly unskilled labor. Still, the flower trade is here to stay. Kenya does impress us in that it gets things done. There is industry. They aren’t trying to compete with China of course but they have jobs albeit without western-style regulations. They say it with flowers, you know.

On the lake it is cool and rainy, the small shelters are much appreciated. So is the endless stream of very hot water in the showers. We counted it out, 21 days without a hot shower, the last one was in Masindi Uganda. We usually managed something when we needed it but the luxury of these neat and clean showers is worth hanging around for three days – and it’s cheap here, $8pppd. There are lots of birds, hippos and monkeys for entertainment. No wifi – so posting will wait until Nairobi. There we can get laundry done. Maybe get a haircut. We will be styling – and just in time for our scheduled trip to Ethiopia to see the Afar Depression and the stone churches of Lalibela. We are leaving the Beagle in Kenya and taking a tour – looking forward to seeing how the tour operators do things. It will be a vacation.