Saturday - Our Final Day in Kenya.

Well everyone, our final day has arrived in Kenya. It has been an amazing trip and we have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most generous and welcoming people on the planet. Yesterday (Friday), we said our farewells to the medical team and patients. Good riddance to the malaria-ridden mosquitoes!

Today (Saturday), we are planning to visit a nearby forest for some bird watching and squeeze in some last minute souvenir shopping as well. We'll be headed back to Narobi this evening.

Thanks to everyone for following the blog. See you soon! -- RY

Animals - The answers.

1. zebras
2. topi (antelope)
3. lion (cub)
4. hyena
5. hippopotamuses
6. giraffes
7. elephants
8. crocodile
9. cheetahs
10. impalas (antelope)

Masai Mara - Elephants!

The Masai Mara.

Because of the long weekend (Monday was Labor day here), we arranged for a trip to the Masai Mara, a wild game reserve in the southwestern region of Kenya which borders Tanzania. It was an awesome break from the madness of Kisumu. Here's a sampling of the little creatures we had the chance to observe in the wild.

Name that animal!

1. ________________________

2. ________________________

3. ________________________

4. ________________________

5. ________________________

6. ________________________

7. ________________________

8. ________________________

9. ________________________

10. ________________________

Meet the team.

Mary, IVUmed coordinator extraordinaire.

Hiep, a.k.a Bob, pediatric urologist and team leader from CH Boston.

Jean "the Machine", our PACU nurse from Charlotte, NC.

Hien, one spunky anesthesiologist from Vietnam.

Liz, the whiz OR nurse from CHB Waltham.

Marcie... what can I say but "Marcie, Marcie, Marcie!"

Kelly, our official team gopher and drafted intern from the CHB ER.

Jane "the Rock", our anesthesiologist from Nairobi.

Rich, the second pediatric urologist from CH Boston, and your official "non-official" blogger.

White Cap, the new official beer of IVUmed Team Kisumu 2011.

OR day number 2.

See what happens when the patients find out that I'm going to be their surgeon. Even the young ones say WTF!

Seriously, this little guy showed up this morning with his mother from another regional hospital. Apparently, they heard that the IVU team was in Kisumu and they sent him right over. He had a really large inguinal hernia. Not quite a hypospadias, but I was willing to fix his hernia and circumcise him as well... Sorry IVU.

white egg yolks?

Today started with a hearty breakfast which included fresh eggs with white egg yolks.White egg yolks... really freaky. Apparently, the chickens are somewhat malnourished and this represents a paucity of cholesterol. The next diet fad? Who knows.

Snapshots of the day:

P.S. I've asked my fellow team members to provide some good photos and commentaries for the blog. Please continue to encourage them to contribute something.

Town and Hospital.

Kisumu is definitely less congested than Nairobi. However, air pollution is definitely an issue here. Walking is quite popular amongst the locals. We're on our way to visit the Provincial Hospital.

This is the theatre area. We took a peek in the windows and they were getting things ready for us to start cases tomorrow. The suites have excellent ventilation and a view. For those anesthesiologists out there, we're going back to halothane days.

This little guy was one of my last patients today. As per usual, he was pissed at me after our visit. Fortunately, Kelly, Hien, and Mary were able to cheer him up. He'll be my first patient tomorrow in the OR.

Kenya Airways and the Hostess.

So, apparently Mary mentioned that this air hostess was extremely pissed at me. I was just trying to take a few photos. Yes, we were running late and had a gazillion pieces of luggage on top of that. She didn't like the idea of me trying to capture a Kodak moment while boarding. Then, they wanted to boot me off the plane because of an overbooking deal. It worked out because Bob did some sweet talking with the in flight stewardesses... they were ogleing his iPad2.

Arrived in Kisumu today.

It's been really crazy over the last 24 hours. Seven hour flight from Boston to Amsterdam and another 7-1/2 hours from Amsterdam to Nairobi. We cleared customs in less than an hour and got a few hours of sleep before off to Kisumu.