Kenya: It was an unconventional celebration for an unconventional Nobel laureate. Within minutes of being named the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathia rolled up her sleeves, took off her jewellery and got down on hands and knees to plant an indigenous Kenya sapling in the grounds of the hotel where she was hosting a press conference.
But then Prof Maathia, Kenya's leading environmentalist, made her name planting millions of trees to tackle deforestation in Africa.
The Nobel committee said the 64-year-old, who is Kenya's deputy environment minister, was an inspiration to all Africans struggling for democracy and peace.
Professor Maathia said she would use the €1.12 million prize money to strengthen her campaign to save Africa's forests.
"I have never seen so much money in my life," she said, during a tearful interview in her home town Nyeri, nestling in the shadow of Mount Kenya.
"I was overwhelmed and very excited. This is the epitome. It cannot get any better than this - maybe in heaven."
Prof Maathai entered the world of environmental activism in 1977 founding The Green Belt Movement to plant tens of millions of trees across Africa.
It rapidly grew to include work on preserving biodiversity and promoting women's rights and she became a prominent opponent of Kenya's single party state as she attempted to halt widespread forest clearances.
She reached the peak of popular attention - and gained a reputation as a blunt-speaking anti-establishment figure - in 1989 by fighting government plans to build a 60-storey office block in Uhuru Park, central Nairobi, which was to include a 60 ft statue of President Daniel Arap Moi. Prof Maathai had the last laugh when international backers got cold feet.
She was arrested several times for her trouble and on one occasion was beaten unconscious by police.
Two years ago, she was elected to parliament as the Moi regime was ejected from office. She was immediately appointed assistant minister for environment, natural resources and wildlife.
However, fears that she was to become a part of a cosy new political establishment appear unfounded.
Earlier this year she sparked controversy by claiming that HIV and AIDS were biological weapons manufactured by the developed world to exterminate the black population in developing countries.
And yesterday, after being showered with praise by government colleagues, the assistant minister said she would consider resigning her post unless further forest clearances stopped.
"I would rather give up my seat than see our forests destroyed," she said.
After sinking her arms deep into the earth to plant a Nandi Flame sapling, she explained her disbelief at becoming the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize.
"I was shaking and crying and I looked at the mountain - this mountain that has inspired me for many years. I particularly liked the fact that the news reached me here in Nyeri, at home in front of Mount Kenya," said Prof Maathai.