i write to you from libya.. at least, the libya room at the naivasha lakeside tourist lodge. this is my seciond time i've visited this little kikuyu town. however, for all its braggings, the only view i'm seeing out of my window is the italian highway.. a stretch of creviced roadway built by italian pows.

alas, the dirve down to naivahsa wasn't exacatly memorable. steve, brooke, mwambi and i left after dark, so i couldn't see anything outside of the window. nairobi's slums disappear at night, a if they never existed at all.

even though i havne't been delegated many responisbilites at this conference, i feel like i am under pressure to do well. after all, i am attending with three of the most fascinating men i've ever encountered. steve, the director of khrc, has a riotous sense of humor and a very bizarre effect.. ojiambo is the sexiest man over 40 that i've ever seen, and probably the most intriguing and charasimatic, and mwambi is dope as all hell. we chatted about popular movements, guerilla warfare and "the establishment" today over dinner. unforuntnately, i was tired like nobody's business and zones out/nodded off repeatedly.

alas.. lala salaama (good night)

i scaled a portion of mount kenya today. the trail was beautiful, and quite quite steep. at the highest point i reached, 3,300 meters up (11,000 feet), you could see out for miles and miles. seated there on a rock, i felt like i was on top of the world. however, right now my legs and back are hurting like nobody's business.

a kikuyu man named castro was my tour guide, i found him to be very itriguing. a graduate of the outdoor expedition school (noels?), he had scaled the summit of kenya again and again over the past 13 years. in addition, he has taken groups up to mount kilimanjaro in tanzania.

i have developed a new fascination with the outdoors. when i gaze out across kenya, or even when i think about it, i feel happy. i feel alive.