So since I last updated on here we have been up to so much here in Kenyahhh! After our lovely weekend in Nyahururu, we had a busy week of work on the conservancy and managed to get lots of building done on our game hide and we also got cracking with the giraffe monitoring project. We basically sit in the jeep, drive around, find giraffes and collect photos and information on each one, its really good and I'd like to think I'm becoming a bit of an expert on how to identify the sex of a giraffe, the length of its tail and whether it is an adult or a juvenile! Next week (during our last week ARGHHH!) we're going to be writing up a report on our findings aswell as doing some habitat assessment around the conservancy that will be used by the conservancy as part of their research, it will definitely be a relief once thats over and done with! We've been spending a lot of time with Dominic and Mike, our two Kenyan guides on the conservancy who have been looking after us really well, Dom helps us with the hide building, he is literally the most enthusiastic man I've ever met, but he really is so lovely and he's ALWAYS happy, I never see him not smiling! Mike helps us with the giraffe monitoring, he is a ranger on the conservancy so he really knows his stuff, I'm definitely going to miss them when we have to leave Soysamsbu next week (where has the time gone really?! We've been here 3 weeks already!!) However, I will definitely miss Charles Macharia (MASH as we call him) the most! He's our main AV guide and I'm not sure if I've mentioned him before but if I have hes worth another mention. He's with us on our weekend in Nakuru this weekend, he really is the most lovely man and he really looks after us so well, I don't want to have to say goodbye to him, he has the biggest most cutest cheesest grin ever! So last week, we went to Gilgil (a nearby town) to go to a Children's home/orphanage and we also went again this week because we loved it so much! The first time that we went all the children at the orphanage (young and old!) did a performance for us that they were supposed to be performing to visitors later that day, they did hiphop and R N B dancing aswell as reading poems and singing, I was so impressed with how talented they all are, I joined in with a lot of the dancing and they taught me their rountines which was really good fun! I was also pleasantly surprised by the lifestyle that the kids who live at the orphanage have, they are really well looked after, are fed properly and wear really nice clothes! We got given ugali and cabbage for lunch (an african favourite), not mine particularly though! We also went to visit some hot springs near to the conservancy but they were a big let down, they were not hot at all!!
Last weekend, we had in my opinion what was our best weekend yet, we spent it in the brilliant capital city of Nairobi, and we stayed in a place called Milimani backpackers which was really good! We spent the whole of easter weekend there so everywhere was really busy and bustling! On friday night, we went to this bar called Black Diamond where there were a lot of mzungus and it was really good fun! We also got the chance to do lots of shopping at all the markets in Nairobi, I spent far too much but bought some nice clothes which I definitely need! We also went to the famous Massai market where everyone bought lots of souvenirs for friends and family. We also took a very cultural trip to the cinema to see Just Go With It! On saturday night, we went to carnivore!! I was literally in heaven, it was so expensive but definitely worth it, its in the top 50 best restaurants in the world, the 2nd best in Kenya and it lived up to its name! I have never eaten so much meat in my whole life, I felt so sick afterwards, you have a flag in the middle of your table that you keep up and as long as you have it up the waiters will keep coming and coming with these huge skewers full with every type of meat possibly, and you eat and eat and eat until you literally can't eat anything else! We ate all the usual meats (lamb, beef, pork, turkey, chicken, sausages, ribs) and then some more exotic but not so nice meat (crocodile, ostrich meat balls, ox tails, ox hearts, liver, camel) They also bring side orders along with all these meat so you can imagine how sick I was feeling afterwards but it was sooo good, I would go back anyday!! So that was our weekend in Nairobi, one to remember!
So this week we went to the orphanage again, and played lots of games with all the little kids which they really seemed to enjoy, and did some more dancing again with some of the kids I danced with last time. Then, the older boys did an acrobatics show for us which was so impressive, they really are so strong! After going to the orphanage yesterday morning, we then we to a restaurant to watch the royal wedding on television, afterall we couldn't miss it! We then went to another restaurant for tea to a Nyama Choma where I ate so much chicken and beef along with chips and Kienjei (don't know how you spell it!) So this was yesterday, we had a really good day, and we drove back in the dark through the conservancy expecting a quite and early night only to come back to find our kitchen tent had been totally trashed by baboons. We found a whole in the top of the tent where they must have got in, literally all the food had been stolen or eaten, they ate all our eggs including the shells, all the chairs were all over the floor as well as all the trunks containing our food, cutlery and plates, literally it looked like a bomb site, we couldn't believe it but I couldn't help laughing at the same time! The place absolutely stunk, there must have been loads of them as there was baboon poo everywhere and one of them had even decided to have a poo in the bowl of vegetable stew...lovely! They managed to break a lot of things, and it took us so long to clean and tidy everything up, they had also emptied the whole bin aswell as all the rubbish over by the fire, thankfully its the weekend so we can buy more food for next week now but lets just hope they don't come again!! As I said we're in Nakuru this weekend, well just for tonight, just going to look round some markets now, do some supermarket shopping to buy some snacks for free travel!! I can't belive we start free travel next week, I am so excited! We've got it all planned out now, slight change of plan now though, I'm no longer trekking kili as it's far too expensive so instead the rest of us are travelling down the Kenyan coast, which I'm sure will be amazing and at least I'll get a better tan! This time in a week I will be bungee jumping, white water rafting, quad biking and jet boating in uganda down the nile.... cannot wait!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Goodbye Olerai... Hello Soysambu!
So here we are, we are into our third and final project, it really is hard to believe! The last 2 projects have gone so fast so I hope this one isn't the same, time is absolutely flying by, but we've been doing so much it's hard to even remember it all so sorry if I forgot to mention something!
We left our last project in the beautiful Massai Mara last weekend where we lived in mud thatched huts in Olerai farm. After the first two weeks at Olerai being fairly unsuccessful in terms of project work due to very heavy rain, our final 2 weeks were a lot better! It didn't rain as much so the car didn't get stuck so we managed to drive to the school and really get stuck into all our project work. We finished our teaching at the primary school fairly early on as all the kids are going on holiday for Easter, I really enjoyed teaching science to standard 7, it was slightly daunting first of all doing it by myself but I really tried to make their lessons exciting and fun and it really seemed to pay off as they were all very quiet to begin with, but then they really seemed to understand it all which was why it was such a rewarding experience! It was a bad idea bringing lots of sweets in though on the last day as I was bombarded with hundreds of kids wanting more as we left the school (word had obviously got around) but I didn't have enough for everyone! :( The kids also started their exams at school so we did some invigilating which was VERY boring!
The best part of my last 2 weeks there was being able to get involved in the Emarti Health Clinic and help out on a couple of outreach programmes, it was such an amazing experience, definitely one that I won't have again for a long time and I learnt so much in terms of the medical side of the work done by all the employees there but also how different the medical system is in Kenya to how it is in the UK. They have much fewer resources and technology than we do yet they still cope very well and they manage to deliver very good healthcare. The diseases and conditions present in Africa are also much more numerous and widespread, HIV/AIDS and Malaria are by far the biggest problem in Kenya right now. It was great getting to know all the different workers at the clinic and just talking to them about their jobs, I got to sit in on the consultations with patients after which the clinical officer would explain the patients situation to me and how he would go about diagnosing and treating that condition, so it was an extremely valuable experience which will definitely help in my medical career. I got to meet some of the outpatients on the wards and also on the maternity wards. As I mentioned, I got to go on 2 outreach programmes where myself and the nursing officer in charge went off on a motorbike carrying all the equipment we would need to small local villages who do not have any other access to healthcare. One day, we went to a small little village called Lele where we went to deliver immunisations for polio and rubella to small babies. Their mothers brought them to the local town hall and the nurse would administer the immunisation, it made me so happy to see this and the babies were so cute! We did the same on other day to another village!
I have to give the supa mara cafe a mention here also, where we had our lunch everyday! Beatris, Fanis and John were so lovely, we had the best lunches ever there (especially the chapatis and potato bhajias) I would look forward to lunch everyday just to see Fanis' smiling face!
As well as doing lots of painting at a nearby school (we made the whole school bright blue and orange!) we also got to do a bit of work on the farm, we did some weighing of the cattle which is an experience I will never forget. The boys had to hit them with sticks to round them up into a pen so that they could go through one at a time to be weighed, it was quite hard work because all the cows would start trying to go in at once, and we had to go chasing after a few after they escaped!
We had a couple of really nice farewell ceremonies aswell, one evening the farm owner came round for dinner and these massai men came and did a massai dance for us, it was really nice surprise, they were so good and they jumped so high!! The day after this was my birthday and I had a really good day! We went to the mara safari club which is a very posh hotel about 20 minutes away, we spent the day there and the weather was gorgeous so we just relaxed by the pool, swam, sunbathed and ate and drank a lot. Later on, we went to the pub on the farm and had a really good time just socialising with the locals, it was a really good day! Our other farewell was at a school called Laila, we all got turned into locals by being given massai jewellery and headbands and the dancing they did for us was fantastic!
There was so much more that we did during out time in Olerai but if I was to list it all, I would be here all day! It was very sad when we had to leave on the 8th, I didn't fell ready to leave as it definitely didn't feel like we had been there a month, I'm gonna miss filomon, charles mbaabu, beatris, fanis, john, ronkoe and everyone that we've met in Olerai, oh and all the farm workers who we've grown close to when playing volleyball (jimmy, matelong, david etc...) I have to give ronkoe a quick mention actually, he was the headteacher of the local school we worked at and he has to be possibly the coolest headteacher I've ever met, he was so enthusiastic and funny, he just isn't what you expect a headteacher to be like, but he will be greatly missed! Our car which has broken down so many times during Olerai also decides to break down when we are on our way to Nairobi for our change over weekend, so Charles decides to ditch it and we get a matatu there instead!
It was really great to catch up with the other groups at the change over weekend, although one of the boys in my group Finn got really sick with food poisoning and ended up in hospital friday night, thankfully he's much better now but him and Rob had to come to Soysambu two days later because he was too ill to travel! But we had a really chilled out weekend which was really good!
So now we are onto our third and final project, I cannot actually believe it, where has the time gone? We left Nairobi last sunday for Soysambu conservancy where we are to spend the next month, its in western Kenya in the great rift valley and is set around lake elementaita which is absolutely beautiful! Its the largest breeding ground for pelicans so there is so many around along with lots of other animals and wildlife!
We had a drive round the conservancy with our new guide Charles (Mash) - who is lovely by the way! - he never stops smiling! We now have a brand new vehicle a land rover, thank god, i was so sick of pushing the land cruiser at olerai! It's a proper safari jeep so it will be really good for all the game drives! We saw zebras, waterbucks, baboons, jackalls and there are sooo many buffalo around, its quite scary getting so close to them in the car! We've also seen quite a few giraffes but I think we're going to be sick of them by the end of the month after doing 3 weeks of giraffe monitoring for our conservation project. We're staying in a small campsite camping in the African bush along with our 2 rangers, Mike and Dominic who are also lovely! We're in 2 tents of 4 which are quite cosy and comfortable! I am also VERY scared as there is a leopard around our campsite that comes most nights so I only get up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night if I have to because I am scared of getting eaten by it!
I am so looking forward to the project work here, we're doing hide building and giraffe monitoring, both of which are going to be great! The conservancy is home to an endangered species of Giraffe(Rothchild's), so one of our projects is to monitor them, track them with a GPS and identify them so the researchers here can keep an eye on their numbers. We're also working on the 5th game hide in the conservancy, it involves lots of slave labour but its really good fun! They are basically huts that are camoflaged and people can sit in them and view the wildlife! The one we're working on is an underground one so you will be able to view the game from ground level! The other day when we got to work we had to chase a huge herd of buffalo with the car because they were right next to the hide, quite scary! The car also decided to not start the other day when we were right in the middle of herd of buffalo, they all looked pretty angry aswell and we were told they could easily overturn our car if they wanted to... ARGHHH!! We've still got 3 weeks here, and I cannot wait, I think we're really going to be able to get stuck in doing lots of different things around the conservancy and really make a difference, we even did some community work the other day doing a "highway beautification" road clean up with all the local school kids which was good fun!
This weekend we're currently staying in a small village called Nyahururu, right near to the beautiful waterfalls called Thompsons Falls which is where we have been today! It was absolutely stunning on a lovely sunny day, and it was definitely an adventure climbing down there and also scrambling around on the rocks next to the waterfall, I'm surprised we didn't have any injuries! We stayed at a very dodgy campsite last night, it was so creepy because there was no one else staying there and there was this guy called Geoffrey who was also creepy as he followed us to town then wouldnt leave us alone! So we're staying in a much nicer hotel tonight and going to a nice restaurant for tea!
Next weekend, for easter weekend, we're going to some hot springs then spending it in Nairobi, we're going to go to the famous Carnivore restaurant ( the best place to eat in Kenya!) I cannot wait. The weekend after that, we're going to the 4th largest city in Kenya called Nakuru, Mash is going to come with us so that will be good!
And then we're onto free travel, which means only 3 weeks left I cannot believe it, we're all starting to plan exactly what we're going to do on it now because we really want to make the most of it! The plan at the minute is to go to uganda first of all to do white water rafting, bungee jumping, jet boating and quad biking, then to trek kilimanjaro in tanzania, then go chill on the beach in zanzibar, then if we have time I would love to go back to Msambweni and Diani beach but we will see because time is going to go so fast. And then the 3 groups will meet up again for one last time to do the 3 day safari at the end and then it will be home time!! Anyway have to go carry on enjoying myself! Kwaheri!
We left our last project in the beautiful Massai Mara last weekend where we lived in mud thatched huts in Olerai farm. After the first two weeks at Olerai being fairly unsuccessful in terms of project work due to very heavy rain, our final 2 weeks were a lot better! It didn't rain as much so the car didn't get stuck so we managed to drive to the school and really get stuck into all our project work. We finished our teaching at the primary school fairly early on as all the kids are going on holiday for Easter, I really enjoyed teaching science to standard 7, it was slightly daunting first of all doing it by myself but I really tried to make their lessons exciting and fun and it really seemed to pay off as they were all very quiet to begin with, but then they really seemed to understand it all which was why it was such a rewarding experience! It was a bad idea bringing lots of sweets in though on the last day as I was bombarded with hundreds of kids wanting more as we left the school (word had obviously got around) but I didn't have enough for everyone! :( The kids also started their exams at school so we did some invigilating which was VERY boring!
The best part of my last 2 weeks there was being able to get involved in the Emarti Health Clinic and help out on a couple of outreach programmes, it was such an amazing experience, definitely one that I won't have again for a long time and I learnt so much in terms of the medical side of the work done by all the employees there but also how different the medical system is in Kenya to how it is in the UK. They have much fewer resources and technology than we do yet they still cope very well and they manage to deliver very good healthcare. The diseases and conditions present in Africa are also much more numerous and widespread, HIV/AIDS and Malaria are by far the biggest problem in Kenya right now. It was great getting to know all the different workers at the clinic and just talking to them about their jobs, I got to sit in on the consultations with patients after which the clinical officer would explain the patients situation to me and how he would go about diagnosing and treating that condition, so it was an extremely valuable experience which will definitely help in my medical career. I got to meet some of the outpatients on the wards and also on the maternity wards. As I mentioned, I got to go on 2 outreach programmes where myself and the nursing officer in charge went off on a motorbike carrying all the equipment we would need to small local villages who do not have any other access to healthcare. One day, we went to a small little village called Lele where we went to deliver immunisations for polio and rubella to small babies. Their mothers brought them to the local town hall and the nurse would administer the immunisation, it made me so happy to see this and the babies were so cute! We did the same on other day to another village!
I have to give the supa mara cafe a mention here also, where we had our lunch everyday! Beatris, Fanis and John were so lovely, we had the best lunches ever there (especially the chapatis and potato bhajias) I would look forward to lunch everyday just to see Fanis' smiling face!
As well as doing lots of painting at a nearby school (we made the whole school bright blue and orange!) we also got to do a bit of work on the farm, we did some weighing of the cattle which is an experience I will never forget. The boys had to hit them with sticks to round them up into a pen so that they could go through one at a time to be weighed, it was quite hard work because all the cows would start trying to go in at once, and we had to go chasing after a few after they escaped!
We had a couple of really nice farewell ceremonies aswell, one evening the farm owner came round for dinner and these massai men came and did a massai dance for us, it was really nice surprise, they were so good and they jumped so high!! The day after this was my birthday and I had a really good day! We went to the mara safari club which is a very posh hotel about 20 minutes away, we spent the day there and the weather was gorgeous so we just relaxed by the pool, swam, sunbathed and ate and drank a lot. Later on, we went to the pub on the farm and had a really good time just socialising with the locals, it was a really good day! Our other farewell was at a school called Laila, we all got turned into locals by being given massai jewellery and headbands and the dancing they did for us was fantastic!
There was so much more that we did during out time in Olerai but if I was to list it all, I would be here all day! It was very sad when we had to leave on the 8th, I didn't fell ready to leave as it definitely didn't feel like we had been there a month, I'm gonna miss filomon, charles mbaabu, beatris, fanis, john, ronkoe and everyone that we've met in Olerai, oh and all the farm workers who we've grown close to when playing volleyball (jimmy, matelong, david etc...) I have to give ronkoe a quick mention actually, he was the headteacher of the local school we worked at and he has to be possibly the coolest headteacher I've ever met, he was so enthusiastic and funny, he just isn't what you expect a headteacher to be like, but he will be greatly missed! Our car which has broken down so many times during Olerai also decides to break down when we are on our way to Nairobi for our change over weekend, so Charles decides to ditch it and we get a matatu there instead!
It was really great to catch up with the other groups at the change over weekend, although one of the boys in my group Finn got really sick with food poisoning and ended up in hospital friday night, thankfully he's much better now but him and Rob had to come to Soysambu two days later because he was too ill to travel! But we had a really chilled out weekend which was really good!
So now we are onto our third and final project, I cannot actually believe it, where has the time gone? We left Nairobi last sunday for Soysambu conservancy where we are to spend the next month, its in western Kenya in the great rift valley and is set around lake elementaita which is absolutely beautiful! Its the largest breeding ground for pelicans so there is so many around along with lots of other animals and wildlife!
We had a drive round the conservancy with our new guide Charles (Mash) - who is lovely by the way! - he never stops smiling! We now have a brand new vehicle a land rover, thank god, i was so sick of pushing the land cruiser at olerai! It's a proper safari jeep so it will be really good for all the game drives! We saw zebras, waterbucks, baboons, jackalls and there are sooo many buffalo around, its quite scary getting so close to them in the car! We've also seen quite a few giraffes but I think we're going to be sick of them by the end of the month after doing 3 weeks of giraffe monitoring for our conservation project. We're staying in a small campsite camping in the African bush along with our 2 rangers, Mike and Dominic who are also lovely! We're in 2 tents of 4 which are quite cosy and comfortable! I am also VERY scared as there is a leopard around our campsite that comes most nights so I only get up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night if I have to because I am scared of getting eaten by it!
I am so looking forward to the project work here, we're doing hide building and giraffe monitoring, both of which are going to be great! The conservancy is home to an endangered species of Giraffe(Rothchild's), so one of our projects is to monitor them, track them with a GPS and identify them so the researchers here can keep an eye on their numbers. We're also working on the 5th game hide in the conservancy, it involves lots of slave labour but its really good fun! They are basically huts that are camoflaged and people can sit in them and view the wildlife! The one we're working on is an underground one so you will be able to view the game from ground level! The other day when we got to work we had to chase a huge herd of buffalo with the car because they were right next to the hide, quite scary! The car also decided to not start the other day when we were right in the middle of herd of buffalo, they all looked pretty angry aswell and we were told they could easily overturn our car if they wanted to... ARGHHH!! We've still got 3 weeks here, and I cannot wait, I think we're really going to be able to get stuck in doing lots of different things around the conservancy and really make a difference, we even did some community work the other day doing a "highway beautification" road clean up with all the local school kids which was good fun!
This weekend we're currently staying in a small village called Nyahururu, right near to the beautiful waterfalls called Thompsons Falls which is where we have been today! It was absolutely stunning on a lovely sunny day, and it was definitely an adventure climbing down there and also scrambling around on the rocks next to the waterfall, I'm surprised we didn't have any injuries! We stayed at a very dodgy campsite last night, it was so creepy because there was no one else staying there and there was this guy called Geoffrey who was also creepy as he followed us to town then wouldnt leave us alone! So we're staying in a much nicer hotel tonight and going to a nice restaurant for tea!
Next weekend, for easter weekend, we're going to some hot springs then spending it in Nairobi, we're going to go to the famous Carnivore restaurant ( the best place to eat in Kenya!) I cannot wait. The weekend after that, we're going to the 4th largest city in Kenya called Nakuru, Mash is going to come with us so that will be good!
And then we're onto free travel, which means only 3 weeks left I cannot believe it, we're all starting to plan exactly what we're going to do on it now because we really want to make the most of it! The plan at the minute is to go to uganda first of all to do white water rafting, bungee jumping, jet boating and quad biking, then to trek kilimanjaro in tanzania, then go chill on the beach in zanzibar, then if we have time I would love to go back to Msambweni and Diani beach but we will see because time is going to go so fast. And then the 3 groups will meet up again for one last time to do the 3 day safari at the end and then it will be home time!! Anyway have to go carry on enjoying myself! Kwaheri!
Saturday, 26 March 2011
6 down, 10 to go...
We are now into our 6th week in Kenya! We have spent the past 2 weeks in the beautiful massai mara land where we are living in the middle of nowhere in mud thatched houses on Olerai farm! We have done soo much and lot has happened since my last post so I've got a lot to write, I could be here all day!
Our last week on the coast at Msambweni was fantastic, we all couldn't actually believe how quickly our time there flew by! We all really got stuck into project work as we had a lot to do in a short space of time to make sure we got our classroom finished on time! But we did it and we were all so proud of the result and the kids were so happy with it! We painted a large mural on the wall of the staffroom block at the primary school which was 9 different flags from different continents, I didn't think it would look as good as it did, thankfully some of us are more artistic than others (me)! We also spent our final week doing the finishing touches to the classroom to make sure it was completely finished so the children could begin using it as soon as we left! On our final day at work, the children performed dances and songs in a leaving ceremony for us, they were really good, i really love the african music and dancing, they were obviously really appreciative of our help which made all the hard work worthwhile! Also, I performed the streetwise routine I had been teaching the dance class for the past couple of weeks and I was so impressed with how well they had learnt it, it went down a success, we performed it to Five's Song "If Ya Gonna Get Down". During my dance classes, the kids also taught me some african dancing which is very different to the dancing I know but I enjoyed it! After our first performance of the dance, we had to do it again for the opening ceremony of the classroom, the kids were so excited about it, and they really picked it up so well, I hope they continue to dance in the future. I was really quite sad when we had to say goodbye to Msambweni Primary school, the teachers, the classrooms, the builders we'd been working with and most importantly the kids! On wednesday of our last week, Vicky, Jenny and I had a really good day in Mombasa with one of Samson's friends called Becky, we went out for lunch and she took us to some markets to do some clothes shopping as I was rapidly running out of clothes after lots had gone missing, we had such good fun, I bought lots and barely spent a penny, each t-shirt was 30 shillings which is about 25p... bargain!! We had a really good day anyway! On our last night, we had a huuuuuuge feast with everyone we knew from the village and then we headed down to the beach for the last time for a bonfire which was really good fun, we played lots of stupid games around the fire and we just chilled and listened to and watched african singing and dancing. There is a boy called Fundi who lives in the village very near to our house who came down to the beach with us, he is the funniest dancer I have ever met in my life, he actually made my night! We had such a good laugh dancing with him, I'm going to miss him!! I'm also going to really miss Ali a little boy from the primary school who I've got to know really well, he's been writing me love letters and songs and making me rings! However it was time to move on, we said our goodbyes the next morning to Auntie and Siti who had been looking after us at the house, doing our washing and cooking for us and we said goodbye to the house we had called home for the past month and set off on the journey to Mombasa, where we then caught a coach to Nairobi! It was a nightmare journey, it took more than 8 hours on the coach so we were travelling altogether that day for more than 12 hours! Worse still, there was no air conditioning on the coach so it was unbareably hot! When we arrived in Nairobi, we were taken straight away to Karen (where the AV office is in Nairobi) to Ndiyo Campsite where we were met by the rest of the AV's who have been doing the other projects, they had arrived in Nairobi earlier that day so they had been waiting for us! It was really good to catch up with them all as we hadn't seen them since the induction course in Navaisha, and we got to find out more about the other projects that we would be doign which was really useful! That night, we went out to simba saloon, an african night club next to the famous carnivore restaurant which was a really good night, slept in tents!
We were up early the next morning and we had a very tearful goodbye with Samson who had been our group leader in Msambweni for the past month, he had been our best friend and we were all sad that we wouldn't be with him anymore but he had to take the next group to Msambweni! So our next project is in the Massai Mara at Olerai Farm so this is where we are now! It was a very bumpy journey to get there, and I loved it from the minute I arrived, we even saw some zebras! We spent our first weekend getting to know the place, exploring and meeting the workers of the farm!! Everyone was so welcoming and I am really excited about how different this project is going to be to Msambweni! We had a bit of a chaotic night on one of our first nights at Olerai, we were eating dinner and suddenly realised there was smoke coming from round the corner where the kitchen was, we ran round and the thatched roof of the kitchen had caught fire from a pressure lamp placed underneath it, we didn't think it was bad to begin with but it started getting worse and worse, we spent the next hour running with huge bottles of water to throw on the roof to out, at one point we thought the roof was going to fall in but we managed to put it out with the help of Tarquinn (the farm owner) and our sheer determination and strength, it was so scary at the time, but its something we can laugh about now, it was certainly a team building exercise, we're just glad it wasn't our bedrooms! So the project work here has been good, we are teaching at Emarti Primary School every morning, some are teaching maths and English but I am teaching Science to Standard 7 which I am really enjoying. From there, we go to work at the secondary school where we are doing building work on the admin block, we are also going to be doing some painting in another primary school and we are doing a bit of work at a tree nursery on the farm. Every day we have lunch at the Supa Mara Cafe, in Emarti Village, it is a very small and simply little cafe but its really cosy, Beatris the cook always cooks delicious food for us so we sit and eat and eat and eat and watch tv at the same time! Then in the afternoon, we go back and do some more work when we can be bothered (joke!) The past week of the project hasn't been as successful as we hoped due to the weather, its the rainy season in Kenya now so it absolutely poured it down for 2 days running so there was no way Charles Mbaabu (our kenya guide in Olerai) could drive us anywhere because it was so wet and muddy the car could not move anywhere, we tried to drive places a couple of times, but the car would get stuck so we all have to get out to push it and we end up getting covered in mud as a result...not very much fun!! but its all part of the experience, TIA as they say, we still managed to keep ourselves preoccupied however when we were stranded at the campsite, ive been eating so much here I have put on tonnes of weight so a couple of the girls and I have decided to do running around the cricket pitch that is next to our campsite, other than that we sit around and do nothing!!
So I'm currently writing this from Narok, the massai maras only town which is still a 2 hour drive from where we are living, we've had a really good weekend so far, we went to klub mahogany last night and experienced a proper kenyan night out which was certainly interesting, its good to see a bit of civilisation after being in the middle of nowhere for two weeks! We're staying in a nice hotel called the seasons, it's so good to be able to sleep in proper beds for 2 nights!! Anyway we're hoping the last 2 weeks left of this project will be more successful if the weather decides to be nice to us so we can manage to get our teaching and our building work done, we're also planning on hopefully doing a game drive at some point which should be good!
It's my 19th birthday a week today, I think we're planning on going to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club hotel for the day which is about a 20 minute drive from Olerai farm, so we're just going to chill out by the pool there for the day with some cocktails which will be nice!!
Will update in 2 weeks time!
Our last week on the coast at Msambweni was fantastic, we all couldn't actually believe how quickly our time there flew by! We all really got stuck into project work as we had a lot to do in a short space of time to make sure we got our classroom finished on time! But we did it and we were all so proud of the result and the kids were so happy with it! We painted a large mural on the wall of the staffroom block at the primary school which was 9 different flags from different continents, I didn't think it would look as good as it did, thankfully some of us are more artistic than others (me)! We also spent our final week doing the finishing touches to the classroom to make sure it was completely finished so the children could begin using it as soon as we left! On our final day at work, the children performed dances and songs in a leaving ceremony for us, they were really good, i really love the african music and dancing, they were obviously really appreciative of our help which made all the hard work worthwhile! Also, I performed the streetwise routine I had been teaching the dance class for the past couple of weeks and I was so impressed with how well they had learnt it, it went down a success, we performed it to Five's Song "If Ya Gonna Get Down". During my dance classes, the kids also taught me some african dancing which is very different to the dancing I know but I enjoyed it! After our first performance of the dance, we had to do it again for the opening ceremony of the classroom, the kids were so excited about it, and they really picked it up so well, I hope they continue to dance in the future. I was really quite sad when we had to say goodbye to Msambweni Primary school, the teachers, the classrooms, the builders we'd been working with and most importantly the kids! On wednesday of our last week, Vicky, Jenny and I had a really good day in Mombasa with one of Samson's friends called Becky, we went out for lunch and she took us to some markets to do some clothes shopping as I was rapidly running out of clothes after lots had gone missing, we had such good fun, I bought lots and barely spent a penny, each t-shirt was 30 shillings which is about 25p... bargain!! We had a really good day anyway! On our last night, we had a huuuuuuge feast with everyone we knew from the village and then we headed down to the beach for the last time for a bonfire which was really good fun, we played lots of stupid games around the fire and we just chilled and listened to and watched african singing and dancing. There is a boy called Fundi who lives in the village very near to our house who came down to the beach with us, he is the funniest dancer I have ever met in my life, he actually made my night! We had such a good laugh dancing with him, I'm going to miss him!! I'm also going to really miss Ali a little boy from the primary school who I've got to know really well, he's been writing me love letters and songs and making me rings! However it was time to move on, we said our goodbyes the next morning to Auntie and Siti who had been looking after us at the house, doing our washing and cooking for us and we said goodbye to the house we had called home for the past month and set off on the journey to Mombasa, where we then caught a coach to Nairobi! It was a nightmare journey, it took more than 8 hours on the coach so we were travelling altogether that day for more than 12 hours! Worse still, there was no air conditioning on the coach so it was unbareably hot! When we arrived in Nairobi, we were taken straight away to Karen (where the AV office is in Nairobi) to Ndiyo Campsite where we were met by the rest of the AV's who have been doing the other projects, they had arrived in Nairobi earlier that day so they had been waiting for us! It was really good to catch up with them all as we hadn't seen them since the induction course in Navaisha, and we got to find out more about the other projects that we would be doign which was really useful! That night, we went out to simba saloon, an african night club next to the famous carnivore restaurant which was a really good night, slept in tents!
We were up early the next morning and we had a very tearful goodbye with Samson who had been our group leader in Msambweni for the past month, he had been our best friend and we were all sad that we wouldn't be with him anymore but he had to take the next group to Msambweni! So our next project is in the Massai Mara at Olerai Farm so this is where we are now! It was a very bumpy journey to get there, and I loved it from the minute I arrived, we even saw some zebras! We spent our first weekend getting to know the place, exploring and meeting the workers of the farm!! Everyone was so welcoming and I am really excited about how different this project is going to be to Msambweni! We had a bit of a chaotic night on one of our first nights at Olerai, we were eating dinner and suddenly realised there was smoke coming from round the corner where the kitchen was, we ran round and the thatched roof of the kitchen had caught fire from a pressure lamp placed underneath it, we didn't think it was bad to begin with but it started getting worse and worse, we spent the next hour running with huge bottles of water to throw on the roof to out, at one point we thought the roof was going to fall in but we managed to put it out with the help of Tarquinn (the farm owner) and our sheer determination and strength, it was so scary at the time, but its something we can laugh about now, it was certainly a team building exercise, we're just glad it wasn't our bedrooms! So the project work here has been good, we are teaching at Emarti Primary School every morning, some are teaching maths and English but I am teaching Science to Standard 7 which I am really enjoying. From there, we go to work at the secondary school where we are doing building work on the admin block, we are also going to be doing some painting in another primary school and we are doing a bit of work at a tree nursery on the farm. Every day we have lunch at the Supa Mara Cafe, in Emarti Village, it is a very small and simply little cafe but its really cosy, Beatris the cook always cooks delicious food for us so we sit and eat and eat and eat and watch tv at the same time! Then in the afternoon, we go back and do some more work when we can be bothered (joke!) The past week of the project hasn't been as successful as we hoped due to the weather, its the rainy season in Kenya now so it absolutely poured it down for 2 days running so there was no way Charles Mbaabu (our kenya guide in Olerai) could drive us anywhere because it was so wet and muddy the car could not move anywhere, we tried to drive places a couple of times, but the car would get stuck so we all have to get out to push it and we end up getting covered in mud as a result...not very much fun!! but its all part of the experience, TIA as they say, we still managed to keep ourselves preoccupied however when we were stranded at the campsite, ive been eating so much here I have put on tonnes of weight so a couple of the girls and I have decided to do running around the cricket pitch that is next to our campsite, other than that we sit around and do nothing!!
So I'm currently writing this from Narok, the massai maras only town which is still a 2 hour drive from where we are living, we've had a really good weekend so far, we went to klub mahogany last night and experienced a proper kenyan night out which was certainly interesting, its good to see a bit of civilisation after being in the middle of nowhere for two weeks! We're staying in a nice hotel called the seasons, it's so good to be able to sleep in proper beds for 2 nights!! Anyway we're hoping the last 2 weeks left of this project will be more successful if the weather decides to be nice to us so we can manage to get our teaching and our building work done, we're also planning on hopefully doing a game drive at some point which should be good!
It's my 19th birthday a week today, I think we're planning on going to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club hotel for the day which is about a 20 minute drive from Olerai farm, so we're just going to chill out by the pool there for the day with some cocktails which will be nice!!
Will update in 2 weeks time!
Monday, 7 March 2011
4 weeks in!
I cannot actually believe it, we have already been in Kenya for 1 month! It has absolutely flown by, it definitely doesn't feel like we've been here this long! Still having the time of my life, loving every single minute of my time out here! Im currently sat in our house at Msambweni with only 3 days left here feeling quite sad that on friday we will have to leave all the children who we have grown so close to! Working at Msambweni Primary School has been amazingg, although our time here has gone so quickly, we have managed to get so much done and I feel like we've really made a difference, we've just got 3 days left to finish off the work that still needs to be done, which is quite a lot but I'm sure we will manage it!! I haven't done an update in a couple of weeks so I will briefly go through what we've been up to since I last posted...
Ali and I have been teaching one particular class at the primary school quite a few times now, we've been teaching them mainly maths but some english, and I didn't think I'd enjoy teaching them so much, it is a challenge at some times as some pupils don't understand but it is such a rewarding experience when the kids come up to you at the end of the lesson to thankyou and when they actually understand it! I'm very impressed with how well they all speak English, and how fascinated by us but how grateful they are that we are hear to help them. Aside from the teaching, I've been doing a dance class for the past week which has been so much fun, they've been teaching me some african dances whilst I've taught them a street routine which they have picked up so well, they were so excited and happy, it really made it all worthwhile, they are so good we are performing it to the whole school this week before we leave... which will be slightly scary.
So the past couple of weeks has been lots of hands on work, we finished off the plastering off our classroom, starting whitewashing all the walls, painting the classroom sky blue and lime green (which looks awesome) digging holes and planting lots of trees (very hard work!!) Normally, we only work until about 11 in the morning because its so hot so we spend the rest of our days chilling and relaxing and swimming on the gorgeous which is a 2 minute walk away. We've also been on some horrendous bike rides and some better bike rides, we've been to watch the kids in their sports day playing football and winning!! It just really feels like home here, I don't think any of us want to leave!! As well as working hard at work, we've also had a couple of really good weekends that I want to mention since I last posted. Last weekend, we went to mombasa, spent far too much money on eating out and matatus(local transport), we had some really nice meals, which makes a change to the food we eat everyday at the house, we spent the whole day saturday at mombasa waterpark which was such good fun, everyone got really burnt, it was so sunny, we went bowling aswell, got stuck in mombasa on sunday because the matatu driver had an accident.
This weekend has also been really good, we went to the popular tourist resort of Diani Beach where there were lots of mzungus (white people), the beach was so nice so we spent a lot of time there, then we went to the famous forty theives beach bar and friday night, we all had such a good time, Finn got bitten by a cat on our way out!! It could only happen to Finn, hes already got electrocuted and stung by a jellyfish!! After some really good weekends, we always looked forward to coming "home" to Msambweni!!
I'm also really loving the food out here, on our break times at work we have Mandazis which are just small snacks, but they are really nice, I also love the chapatis, but I'm getting a bit sick of rice, we eat it alllll the time!! Another reason I don't want to finish this project is because of Samson, I don't know how we're going to manage without him, he's like our best friends, hes one of us, although I won't miss him being on the phone all day!!
Anyway my time has run out on the computer, so will update as soon as I can!!
Ali and I have been teaching one particular class at the primary school quite a few times now, we've been teaching them mainly maths but some english, and I didn't think I'd enjoy teaching them so much, it is a challenge at some times as some pupils don't understand but it is such a rewarding experience when the kids come up to you at the end of the lesson to thankyou and when they actually understand it! I'm very impressed with how well they all speak English, and how fascinated by us but how grateful they are that we are hear to help them. Aside from the teaching, I've been doing a dance class for the past week which has been so much fun, they've been teaching me some african dances whilst I've taught them a street routine which they have picked up so well, they were so excited and happy, it really made it all worthwhile, they are so good we are performing it to the whole school this week before we leave... which will be slightly scary.
So the past couple of weeks has been lots of hands on work, we finished off the plastering off our classroom, starting whitewashing all the walls, painting the classroom sky blue and lime green (which looks awesome) digging holes and planting lots of trees (very hard work!!) Normally, we only work until about 11 in the morning because its so hot so we spend the rest of our days chilling and relaxing and swimming on the gorgeous which is a 2 minute walk away. We've also been on some horrendous bike rides and some better bike rides, we've been to watch the kids in their sports day playing football and winning!! It just really feels like home here, I don't think any of us want to leave!! As well as working hard at work, we've also had a couple of really good weekends that I want to mention since I last posted. Last weekend, we went to mombasa, spent far too much money on eating out and matatus(local transport), we had some really nice meals, which makes a change to the food we eat everyday at the house, we spent the whole day saturday at mombasa waterpark which was such good fun, everyone got really burnt, it was so sunny, we went bowling aswell, got stuck in mombasa on sunday because the matatu driver had an accident.
This weekend has also been really good, we went to the popular tourist resort of Diani Beach where there were lots of mzungus (white people), the beach was so nice so we spent a lot of time there, then we went to the famous forty theives beach bar and friday night, we all had such a good time, Finn got bitten by a cat on our way out!! It could only happen to Finn, hes already got electrocuted and stung by a jellyfish!! After some really good weekends, we always looked forward to coming "home" to Msambweni!!
I'm also really loving the food out here, on our break times at work we have Mandazis which are just small snacks, but they are really nice, I also love the chapatis, but I'm getting a bit sick of rice, we eat it alllll the time!! Another reason I don't want to finish this project is because of Samson, I don't know how we're going to manage without him, he's like our best friends, hes one of us, although I won't miss him being on the phone all day!!
Anyway my time has run out on the computer, so will update as soon as I can!!
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Jambo from Kenya!
After 15 days in Kenya, I have finally managed to get access to internet, so there's a lot I have to catch up with! We are currently staying in a lovely coastal village called Msambweni where we will be for the next month, we are currently working in the local primary school, doing construction and renovation work in one of the classrooms, along with teaching and other jobs. We are living in a lovely little house which has become a home to us, we have already become really close to the family living with us and to all the kids who go to the primary school and from the village.
Anyway enough of that, I need to update you on what we've been up to so far so I will start from the beggining...
So we landed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi early morning on the 8th February after an awful flight with no sleep. The 23 of us on our trip were taken by minibus to a town called Karen where Nigel Smith the AV kenyan rep lives. We were then taken to Lake Navaisha where we would be staying at the Fish Eagle Inn for the next 3 nights to do our orientation course which was really useful, we learnt all about Kenya's culture and customs and we were taught some basic swahili. It was great getting to know everyone in the group! The food was lovely, and so was the weather, we spent a lot of the days sat around the pool relaxing which was really nice!
We then split off into our groups of 8. Our first project is down on the coast in Msambweni so we had to get an overnight sleeper train from Nairobi to Mombasa which was a living hell, the bedrooms were cramped, stuffy, uncomfortable, you could barely move anywhere, the food we got for dinner and breakfast was awful, but apart from all that it wasn't too bad, it took us 14 hours on the train altogether so I was glad when we finally arrived in Mombasa. We were then taken by a matatu for a couple of hours to the village of Msambweni which feels like home to me now, we were welcomed from the very beggining. As soon as we pulled up at our house for the next month, the kids were there to greet us, they were so excited that we were there! We have a gorgeous beach which is only a 2 minute walk away from our house which is stunning so we went for a swim basically straight away with all the kids and I think we have done every day since we arrived here.
So we started on our project on the Monday and we all really got stuck in, making cement and plastering a blackboard, which turned out to be a lot of fun! It was very hardwork but fun and rewarding when you can see the results of what you've done. We spent the next week doing very much the same, we planted some trees around the school (which were then eaten by the goats!), and we did some teaching of English, Maths and Science which I really enjoyed, so we've got lots more planned for the next few weeks, I can't wait! We had out first free weeekend also so we decided to go a little further down the coast to a slightly more touristy village called Shimoni, we did a snorkelling trip which was really good fun, we saw some dolphins, the sea was so rough though.. it made me really ill! It was so hot and sunny everyone got really burnt so we've all agreed to stay out of the sun for the next few days. We even went to Wasini Island to see the work that previous AV's have done there. We went to a lovely bar for some chips and drinks, I've even found a love for tusker beer! Overall, it was a really good weekend. Oh and I forget to mention one thing... Samson! Our Kenyan guide, there are no words to describe him, hes actually awesome and has really helped us to settle into Kenyan life and really emerse ourselves into the culture here, he is so funny and we've had such a good laugh with him!
So before I begin to go on a bit, I will finish there, we have got another week of hard work on our project but this weekend we're going to Mombasa to the waterpark which should be really good, I can't wait! Really missing everyone at home but having the time of my life, will post again very soon hopefully!
Anyway enough of that, I need to update you on what we've been up to so far so I will start from the beggining...
So we landed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi early morning on the 8th February after an awful flight with no sleep. The 23 of us on our trip were taken by minibus to a town called Karen where Nigel Smith the AV kenyan rep lives. We were then taken to Lake Navaisha where we would be staying at the Fish Eagle Inn for the next 3 nights to do our orientation course which was really useful, we learnt all about Kenya's culture and customs and we were taught some basic swahili. It was great getting to know everyone in the group! The food was lovely, and so was the weather, we spent a lot of the days sat around the pool relaxing which was really nice!
We then split off into our groups of 8. Our first project is down on the coast in Msambweni so we had to get an overnight sleeper train from Nairobi to Mombasa which was a living hell, the bedrooms were cramped, stuffy, uncomfortable, you could barely move anywhere, the food we got for dinner and breakfast was awful, but apart from all that it wasn't too bad, it took us 14 hours on the train altogether so I was glad when we finally arrived in Mombasa. We were then taken by a matatu for a couple of hours to the village of Msambweni which feels like home to me now, we were welcomed from the very beggining. As soon as we pulled up at our house for the next month, the kids were there to greet us, they were so excited that we were there! We have a gorgeous beach which is only a 2 minute walk away from our house which is stunning so we went for a swim basically straight away with all the kids and I think we have done every day since we arrived here.
So we started on our project on the Monday and we all really got stuck in, making cement and plastering a blackboard, which turned out to be a lot of fun! It was very hardwork but fun and rewarding when you can see the results of what you've done. We spent the next week doing very much the same, we planted some trees around the school (which were then eaten by the goats!), and we did some teaching of English, Maths and Science which I really enjoyed, so we've got lots more planned for the next few weeks, I can't wait! We had out first free weeekend also so we decided to go a little further down the coast to a slightly more touristy village called Shimoni, we did a snorkelling trip which was really good fun, we saw some dolphins, the sea was so rough though.. it made me really ill! It was so hot and sunny everyone got really burnt so we've all agreed to stay out of the sun for the next few days. We even went to Wasini Island to see the work that previous AV's have done there. We went to a lovely bar for some chips and drinks, I've even found a love for tusker beer! Overall, it was a really good weekend. Oh and I forget to mention one thing... Samson! Our Kenyan guide, there are no words to describe him, hes actually awesome and has really helped us to settle into Kenyan life and really emerse ourselves into the culture here, he is so funny and we've had such a good laugh with him!
So before I begin to go on a bit, I will finish there, we have got another week of hard work on our project but this weekend we're going to Mombasa to the waterpark which should be really good, I can't wait! Really missing everyone at home but having the time of my life, will post again very soon hopefully!
Sunday, 6 February 2011
So much to do, so little time...
It is now the day before I set off down to London Heathrow to catch the 8 1/2 hour flight to Nairobi. I am feeling excited but very nervous at the same time, but I am starting to stress out slightly as I've got so much to do, and I am really worried I am going to forget something, so it's going to be a mad rush to get everything sorted today! I have managed to fit everything in my bag though, and it doesn't actually weigh that much which I was very surprised about! I will next post when I arrive in Kenya! :)
Friday, 4 February 2011
3 days to go...
Jambo!
Well this is my first blog post, but there's not much I can really say as I'm still in England, it's horrible weather outside, pouring it down, but I don't mind because in 4 days time I will be in Kenya!
I have been planning and organizing for this trip for a year and a half now, so it's hard to believe that I'm actually going on Monday (7th Feb) , and I can't even begin to describe just how excited I am about what lies ahead. This volunteering project is going to be a once in a lifetime experience, I don't think I'm ever going to want to come home, but maybe after 4 months I will want to! I cannot wait to really get stuck in Kenyan life, and its hard to believe that its almost here!
Well this is my first blog post, but there's not much I can really say as I'm still in England, it's horrible weather outside, pouring it down, but I don't mind because in 4 days time I will be in Kenya!
I have been planning and organizing for this trip for a year and a half now, so it's hard to believe that I'm actually going on Monday (7th Feb) , and I can't even begin to describe just how excited I am about what lies ahead. This volunteering project is going to be a once in a lifetime experience, I don't think I'm ever going to want to come home, but maybe after 4 months I will want to! I cannot wait to really get stuck in Kenyan life, and its hard to believe that its almost here!
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