Africa Days 10 and 11

Sep. 15 was a long travel day from Tarangarie NP to Nairobi, the road was under construction so we were frequently traveling on dusty dirt detours. Since we had already birded on the way west we made very few stops. This is a very dry area of Tanzania and Kenya, and over grazing by the local tribes people is very evident. This is an area where many people still live the Masai herding culture. But occasionally I saw a traditionally blanket-dressed Masai teenager talking to another teen in jeans and T-shirt. Another time I saw a young Masai herder, tending cattle as has been done for 100's of years, but also talking on his cell phone. So times are changing.
Most of the people here are, of course poor, but there was not any sense of people going hungry or any evidence of intense begging.
We also traveled through Arusha, a bustling city of about 1 million. Here well dressed middle class men and women intermix with traditional tribes people and the young in their jeans and T-shirt/sweatshirt. Huge numbers of 14 passenger vans dart in and out of traffic to pick folks and take them a few miles or to outlying villages.
Although it was a hazy day and somewhat cloudy. North of Arusha we saw my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro! All I could see was the west flank, which had substantial snow visible. The rest of the mountain was lost in the clouds.
With the long drive Sep 15, I only saw 1 new trip bird among the 63 different species we saw. Today I saw 21 new species among the 94 specie seen.
We limited our stops so we would reach Nairobi before rush hour. Nairobi is a hub for manufacturing and assembly of things for Africa, it has the feel of a city growing very fast. Nairobi numbers over 7 million people, and although many live in small shanty homes, huge numbers of folks are well to do middle class, as evidenced by all the locals driving their own cars. This is somewhat surprising because the Kenya government imposes an import duty of 100% (for the smallest cars) to 250% for all wheel drive/jeep like cars. Thus a car like a small Toyota will cost $30K, and a new 4 wheel jeep, which is essential in the more remote areas, can cost $150K. Traffic jams lock up the streets for hours, new buildings are being built all over the city and major new highways are being constructed to ease the flow of cars and those ubiquitous 14 seat vans.
Pedestrians are everywhere, filling the sidewalks, walking down the median of highways, and crossing roads randomly and not at crosswalks. People will suddenly cross anywhere not just city streets but even 4 lane highways, with apparent reckless abandon.
Thursday we left Nairobi and headed north and west to Lake Nakuru, a vast alkaline lake in the great Rift Valley. As we left Nairobi, climbing from 5000 to 8000 feet the land got wetter and cooler. For the first time we saw green crops of corn, sugar cane, and other vegetables. Every bit of level ground seemed to be used for crops or grazing.
After a few hours of driving, with a few stops for birding, we reached the edge ofd the Rift Valley and looked down 2000 feet to rift valley floo,r or across 12 to 20 miles to the other side. This rift is continuing to grow wider and deeper as East Africa, from Djibuti to Tanzania, moves east while the rest of Africa remains stationery.