So a few days after my last post, it was Dan's time to fly home along with the two volunteers we've been travelling with since we got to Kenya - Jessica and Jared. This was the weekend of the 12th-14th. We were initially intending on visiting Hell's Gate National Park on the Saturday but we couldn't find anyone that knew exactly how to get there, and we decided not to go because unless we were sure of how to get there and back, it would take more than a day. That wasn't an option, so we opted to stay in Nairobi for the weekend until everyone caught their flights. We all went souvenir shopping on Saturday in central Nairobi, and started at the Masaai Market. This place is quite the experience. Set in a parking lot, this large open air market has almost every square inch covered by vendors selling their wares, most of them sitting on the ground. These people love to bargain, and you will rarely ever get a fair price here as so many tourists pass through, but it's worth the experience anyway. Jared and Jess were smart enough to bring items to barter, however, and got a few nice things just by trading pens, shirts and I think Jess even traded a flashlight for something haha. I got suckered into buying two tall skinny masks here, though I did get the price down to something approaching reasonable. I bought a lot of stuff in other shops with very fair and set prices, however, and shipped most of it home. We may have an African themed basement once we renovate it with all the stuff I bought as well as souvenirs my dad already has from his jobs in Africa.
I took my first bus ride alone to Mombasa on Sunday night, which was kinda sad, but I'm glad that I had friends with me for the first month to adjust to the life here. I feel I can survive on my own for a couple weeks until they send the promised 4 new volunteers to Ukunda, which I also refer to as my home on the coast...or my home away from home :)
I went back to the children's centre on Tuesday of last week and brought the kids 30 plates which I had bought the day before. They were extremely happy to have them and started yelling out the colours of the plates in class as the teacher pulled them out. Many of the kids got the colours wrong the first couple of tries, but the older ones helped them out and they got it right after a few times. I'm pretty sure the porridge we made here was contaminated, and I was quite sick the same night. I didn't eat much the next day but it improved on Thursday..so I thought nothing was wrong. When I again felt terrible on Friday, I went to the local clinic hoping that it was nothing serious. I seem to have a bacterial infection in my stomach which I have been given antibiotics for, but it's been so annoying. I haven't done much for the past week and haven't been back to work since last Tuesday. I'm feeling better and better though and I think I'll be ok to go back to work tomorrow.
That's all for now :)
Cheers
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Long overdue update
Wow, time has been flying by and I've been doing so much travelling around in the past two weeks I think it's beginning to wear on me. I've spent more than 3 whole days in the past week just in transit on a bus or train. I am also keeping a written travel journal which will contain a bit more detail on my toughts etc than this blog, because it's hard to repeat my experiences 2 or three times over various mediums (email, blog, journal). So if this blog doesn't satisfy you, then I may be kind enough to let you read the journal when I get home :)
Also a quick note about pictures. If I find myself with a lot of time on my hands and a decent connection I will try my best to upload pictures, but as it stands, it takes wayy too long to post even one picture (15-20 minutes) and it could get very expensive. That's just one of the luxuries that I've become used to back home. More striking is the horrible effort the government here makes at providing basic services to its people. The power goes out at LEAST once a day, and sometimes 3 or 4 times. Water is rationed all over the country and not even the wealthier residents get a constant flow of water. Here in Ukunda at my homestay, I've never actually seen the taps function. Our family and our neighbours buy barrels of water at 10ksh each.
So my aforementioned trip has gone very well, but there was a little hiccup at the beginning that has been a hassle for two weeks now. I lost my wallet on the train into Nairobi, and had to bug my friends at the bank quite a few times to get emergency money, but I'm hoping my new visa has finally arrived in Nairobi today. Other than that, the safari in the Masaai Mara was great, and we got to see every single animal the park has to offer (with the exception of the endangered black rhino). We even saw a leopard sleeping in a tree, and our guide told us there was a 3-5% chance of even seeing a leopard in the park since they're mainly nocturnal. Some local Masaai people came by our camp one night and showed us a traditional dance, and also let us join in for a bit. It involves a lot of jumping up and down and and groaning noises, kind of scary at first...We hung out in Nairobi for a few days after this, and took a bus up to Uganda with 5 other volunteers. I only spent three days in Uganda, but wow what a beautiful country, the people there are so polite and welcoming to tourists. Went white water rafting on the Nile on Saturday, which was soooo awesome and equally as intense...sitting in the front of the raft and staring down a class 5 rapid, knowing that I was about to barrel into it was quite a rush. I also got to bungee jump over the river back at the lodge..what an experience, but so short lived. I definitely recommend Adrift river base near Jinja (the town in Uganda) for any thrill seeker.
We got back to Ukunda this week and got right back to work. We planted 4 banana trees within the school grounds, as well as many flowers and trees along the school's perimiter. We also put in a passion fruit tree and sugarcane plant. Just about all the fertile ground in the school yard has now been plowed and has various food growing within. Beans, tomatos, skooma (like spinach), and maize make up for most of it.
Well, the cyber here is getting quite expensive, so that's all for now, more updates to come of course, hope everyone is well at home :)
Merci pour les beaux messages encourageants mes chères tantes, and glad to see you're keeping up with my blog Khalidah.
Cheers
Also a quick note about pictures. If I find myself with a lot of time on my hands and a decent connection I will try my best to upload pictures, but as it stands, it takes wayy too long to post even one picture (15-20 minutes) and it could get very expensive. That's just one of the luxuries that I've become used to back home. More striking is the horrible effort the government here makes at providing basic services to its people. The power goes out at LEAST once a day, and sometimes 3 or 4 times. Water is rationed all over the country and not even the wealthier residents get a constant flow of water. Here in Ukunda at my homestay, I've never actually seen the taps function. Our family and our neighbours buy barrels of water at 10ksh each.
So my aforementioned trip has gone very well, but there was a little hiccup at the beginning that has been a hassle for two weeks now. I lost my wallet on the train into Nairobi, and had to bug my friends at the bank quite a few times to get emergency money, but I'm hoping my new visa has finally arrived in Nairobi today. Other than that, the safari in the Masaai Mara was great, and we got to see every single animal the park has to offer (with the exception of the endangered black rhino). We even saw a leopard sleeping in a tree, and our guide told us there was a 3-5% chance of even seeing a leopard in the park since they're mainly nocturnal. Some local Masaai people came by our camp one night and showed us a traditional dance, and also let us join in for a bit. It involves a lot of jumping up and down and and groaning noises, kind of scary at first...We hung out in Nairobi for a few days after this, and took a bus up to Uganda with 5 other volunteers. I only spent three days in Uganda, but wow what a beautiful country, the people there are so polite and welcoming to tourists. Went white water rafting on the Nile on Saturday, which was soooo awesome and equally as intense...sitting in the front of the raft and staring down a class 5 rapid, knowing that I was about to barrel into it was quite a rush. I also got to bungee jump over the river back at the lodge..what an experience, but so short lived. I definitely recommend Adrift river base near Jinja (the town in Uganda) for any thrill seeker.
We got back to Ukunda this week and got right back to work. We planted 4 banana trees within the school grounds, as well as many flowers and trees along the school's perimiter. We also put in a passion fruit tree and sugarcane plant. Just about all the fertile ground in the school yard has now been plowed and has various food growing within. Beans, tomatos, skooma (like spinach), and maize make up for most of it.
Well, the cyber here is getting quite expensive, so that's all for now, more updates to come of course, hope everyone is well at home :)
Merci pour les beaux messages encourageants mes chères tantes, and glad to see you're keeping up with my blog Khalidah.
Cheers
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