Charlene Chen spent 2010 traveling around East Africa, working for non-profits in Tanzania and Kenya. Some of her adventures included scuba diving with whale sharks in Tanzania, attending a music festival in Zanzibar, hiking and beach trips around Kenya, climbing Mt. Kenya, competing in a camel derby, and visiting Rwanda and the Seychelles. She currently lives and works in Nairobi as a Product Manager for KickStart, designing financial and ICT services to help small farmers.

1. 2010: A Year (Mostly) in East Africa
Charlene Chen

2. January: Whale Sharks and Scuba Diving
on Mafia Island
 Swimming with whale sharks (about 30 ft. long!) was definitely
one of my top 5 life experiences.
 Despite being sharks, they do not eat people, just little fishes.

3. February: Sauti za Busara in Zanzibar
 Zanzibar is like heaven on earth – turquoise waters, white sandy
beaches, romantic dhows, and intricate wood carvings.
 Sauti za Busara is one of the biggest music festivals in East
Africa.

4. February: Departure from Dar es Salaam
 In mid-February, I completed 5 months of working for TechnoServe,
during which I managed the pilot of a web- and mobile-based system
for ginners to communicate with cotton farmers.
 Just like the sunset sail on the Charles when I left Boston, I organized a
sunset dhow cruise for one last hoorah with my Dar friends.

5. Feb/Mar: SF, LA, Austin, Boston, & Miami!

6. New Job at KickStart
 In early April, through serendipity, I
landed my dream job at KickStart, a
non-profit whose mission is to alleviate
poverty by designing and selling tools
such as irrigation pumps that empower
small-scale farmers to increase their
income by as great as 10x in one year.
 I am the Product Manager –
Services, responsible for
designing and implementing
financial and ICT services that
complement and accelerate the
sale of our irrigation pumps.

7. Life in Nairobi
 Nairobi is the most
cosmopolitan African city
I’ve lived in, complete with
great restaurants, including
shockingly good sushi!
 The weather is temperate
year-round, reminiscent of
the Bay Area.
 Nairobi isn’t nearly as
dangerous as its reputation,
but the traffic is horrendous
and there’s quite a bit of
pollution.

8. Hiking in Kenya
Mt. Longonot
Hell’s Gate National Park
Mt. Suswa

9. Beaching in Kenya
Shela Beach (near Lamu)
Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in
Tiwi Beach

10. July: Visited the Seychelles
 An archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean, northeast of
Madagascar, where they speak French and the food has a Creole
kick.
 Thanks to my friend Jessica, I spent a luxurious 4 days at the Four
Seasons Resort – gorgeous white sands, sunset yoga…

11. August: Competed in a Camel Derby
 I’ve only ridden a camel once in my life, but thought it would be a
unique life experience to race one in the Maralal Camel Derby 10K
Amateur Race (yes, there are professional racers!)
 My camel was quite resistant and insisted on running off the road
into thorny branches. I managed to finish middle of the pack,
relatively unscathed, but rather sore.

12. July: Safari’d in Masai Mara
 Although there are a dozen amazing national parks in Kenya, Masai
Mara is the most famous, particularly for the Great Migration.
 Essentially the same land as the Serengeti (but across the Tanzanian
border), we saw many giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants, and more!

13. August: Climbed Mt. Kenya
 2nd highest peak in Africa – I climbed to the top of Point
Lenana (16,355 ft).
 I found it to be even more beautiful than Mt. Kilimanjaro,
which I climbed last Christmas.

14. November: Visited Rwanda
 Nicknamed the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” Rwanda is a luscious, green,
incredibly clean country with some of the best roads in East Africa.
 Highlights included hiking in the Parc National des Volcans, walking
around Lake Kivu, and visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

15. December: There’s no place like home…
 Although I love living in Kenya, the best part of coming home is
being reunited with my family, especially my 5 adorable nephews and
nieces:

16. Best wishes for a Happy 2011!