I have about a million and a half photos of lions, plus all the elephants, giraffes and the occassional leopard and cheetah (standard stuff different day right! lol) so there are loads to show when I get back but most importantly, what have I been up to??

well, masai mara was just like it should have been… all sweeping plains and loads of animals. pity about the dozen vans that we all travel with, the animals are properly terrorised or simply tame but that really cant be helped.

i prefered lake naivaisha really, it felt more like ours. the camp was (very literally) ours alone and we had a great view over the entire lake. And being low season, everywhere we  went we were pretty much on our own.  There was cycling through Hells Gate (something I always wanted to do when I was here). If you can imagine cycling around a national park with the occassional zebra, luxury goat (sorry gazelle or impala) or even baboons coming across your path… jaw dropping to say the least. and then canyoning through a massive gorge and getting soaked in hot springs and then washed in a cold waterfall before climbing a hilltop to see an amzing view of the entire park!

And that was only one day…

I got to show off my cooking skills over the fire and made (yum) chocolate pancakes (sorry crepes lol) as well as an OMG-hot curry. I think I have forgotten what taste is because it was like an explosion in my mouth from what i know was just a normal curry… but OMG was it great just to have some flavour again!

So now I am back in Nairobi, properly spoilt and missing the taste of food. Tomorrow I am back to the orphanage and i know i will miss the hot showers and toilet but i can do 2 more weeks… i cant believe that is all i have left! 2 more week and then back to reality! Ahh! whatever am i going to do…

so thats it for now… there is loads more to tell but it will have to wait until next time…!

The plan for the next week is to visit Masai Mara and then off to Lake Nakuru to see more animals… so dependent on how whirlwind we want to be, will depend on how much we actually see but im not too fussed… just excited that i have a ‘visitor’ coming! lol… photos to be posted on facebook in two weeks! dont you hate the suspense! I am really stoked though – should be a blast.

Meanwhile, what has been  happening?? well i thought that it was muddy before but the rainy season has truly kicked in and the orphanage and all the surrounding area is now covered in a thick layer of slippery mud! Riding a boda-boda through the mud is a fun experience although it tests your agility at leaping from a cycle when the mud gets too deep and slippery and you slide into the bushes! so far i have managed to leap from teh bike before we’ve hit the ground… but i am sure my time will come!

We have  finished plastering the girls dormitories and painted them so they have now officially moved in! the boys rooms will be completed fully by the time i return from my safari which means we can start a playroom for all their toys iin their old room… this will help a lot because right now it takes about 30secs not even for toys to be ruined (as you can imagine).

I can not believe that my time is nearly up here! less then 4 weeks to go (and with 10 days travelling around) that leaves me less than 3 weeks  at the orphanage

So for all of you in London, I will see you mid-Dec (im there for a few days) and for everyone in oz, i will see you in the new year when Im back from Vietnam!

Chat to you soon

We visited three local schools and met teachers and the orphans we sponsor.  The schools (although poor) are lovely! the first is on the top of a hill surrounded by green and with an amzing 360 degree view as far as you can see. The others were set in valleys with a cool breeze.

But it was so exciting to ride to other places and so real work.  Despite the neardeath expereince (of nearly going head over the handlebars down a rocky incline) its was fantastic. (I tell you there is nothing else to remind you that you are alive when the road in front of you suddenly dips down from being a steady incline to being a huge drop on rocks and boulders!!) he i really did think i was goign to go over the handlebars and smash my head but somehow i managed to keep on the bike and stay upright although i did squeal a bit and all but what an adrenaline rush!!

today I am heading  to the rift valley for somemore of the same field work.  I think it is good to have an understanding of how schools and different areas work, and I am enjoying myself… photos to go onto facebook soon!!

I stayed with Geoffrey (who runs the orphanage) and his family the last few days which was lovely! Just to use a western toilet, and have a HOT shower… I swear I almost died. It was wierd watching TV let alone using a light switch rather than having to use a torch!

To be back in civilisation… I had almost forgotten what it was like…!

Im back in the sticks tomorrow but I am looking forward to it… its so calm out there… but the little luxury of the last few days has been great!

ButI have a plan! Every morning i get up when the kids go to school (6.30) and go for a bike ride.  The orphanage have a mountain bike they are happy for me to borrow and I ride for about 30 mins around the town.  Its great fun! the mornings are really cool and the roads are like proper trails and tehre are dips and bumps, serioulsy it is more like mountain bike riding than anything else!

I love it! i am going to slowly increase the gears and try to go a bigger distance but this is only my first week and so far its great.  (although my legs are still getting used to it, lol!) the first mrning, my legs nearly went from under me when i hopped off lol!

But I am hoping that this is going to burn some of those carbs off…or at least stop my pants from bursting!!

The money that I brought with me is being used to finish the plastering and painting of the dorms for the girls and boys. What we have all decided is that the remainder of that money and the money from the new volunteers be used to bring electricity onto the site (even if it is not used for a lot, at least it will be there), and to construct new bathrooms and a kitchen. The reason behind this, is because if we bring in more children (even if they are sponsored) at the moment we are unable to look after them properly. At the moment, we have one toilet (which is fine for the 8 kids and us) but if we have 10 more kids, which is the plan, this would need to be increased. Also, we have a small kitchen with room for one fire and little storage.

We have agreed that we need to build a proper kitchen with dining room attached so that more people can be feed and then eat in a nice environment (right now we all crowd into a tiny room lit by a kerosene lamp).

There is so much infrastructure that need to be introduced before the children arrive. Plus, we have so many more volunteers coming that we also need to look after.

it is going to be a busy few months!

The buses here (matatus) are small vans that can legally carry 11 people (I know this becasuse it says on teh side). Everytime I have been in one, it has been overfull but no so bad right, afterall this is how they make their living. today there was 17 people, plus the driver, plus 2 kids, plus a baby and the money collecter (who rides in teh back)…

I was sitting in the row behind the driver and was crammed between 2 women, with the kids and a guy against the window and teh money collecter sprawled across us while hlding the sliding door shut! and on the highway travelling about 80km!

we were stopped by teh police (who reguarly carry out checks for registration adn make sure all the buses are well maintained) and did they say anything??

No, not even a smile at us crammed in like little sardines! And did I mention the BO?? wow, in a closed environment too, lol!

And you thought the underground was crowded! try one of these things lol! but really it was hilarious, after all what else is there to do??

More funny stories soon!

xox

But the air is fresh and you just put up with the fact everywhere is muddy…

So what have I been up to?? Well on Sunday I went to Church.. a real African, gospel singing  and dancing church! It was really great, not that I understood what was being said but I had the general gist of it.

Also on Sunday, we went to the open market which is like any other market with food and everythign else being sold, except there are just loads of kenyans around as opposed to other people… the food is so cheap tho! I cant believe it, I should stop doing the conversion into pounds but it is habit and it just makes my head swim… with teh money i spend on coffee alone each week, I could live out here like a queen!!

Sunday is also chapati day, so we spent the rest of the day making the flour (good stress release if you ever wondered – punching dough that hard). And thehn the rains started… not really so bad considering we were in the warm kitchen and it was dark… in fact the rain sounded quite nice, except the roof started leaking!

which was hilarious because there were 5 of us in tehis tiny kitchen trying to get tins for the incoming RAIN, Haron was desperately trying to fix the roof and all the finished chapatis were soaked so dinner was a bit late that day! And dont forget there is only the light of the fire to help us!!

Then there was yesterday (Monday)… because of teh rain, we decided that it was the best time to plantour crop of spinach. We have a second plot nearby with rich black soil, great for planting. So my day was spent getting muddy and dirty planting all these seedlings… it was fun though. Never thought I would find gardening             fun. What was most surprising was how sticky the earthy is… it just clings to everything… by the end of it, my feeet (because I was barefoot while planting) felt like I was carrying a small field with me…)

But I tell you, there is nothing like taking 8 kids to the outdoor toilet (shed with a hole in it) in the dark and rain… the screaming and laughing!!

Then it is time to start preparing lunch. The staple diet here is rice and potatoes (yes my favourite… lol) They will have to roll me out of here when I leave but I am slowing adapting to this carb-rich diet (although I think I will never want another potato again).

The afternoons are usually about relaxing in the warm sun. I usually study Kikuru (the local language) and swahili with the help of Caroline (our cook). It is slowly improving with her help, and the children.

The biggest adjustment is to the sense of time. Everything is so relaxed here, even work is done so slowly. Meals are cooked over an hour period, and pulling water is something we all do together.

That is something I will definitely miss – the taste of fresh water from a well. It is so fresh and clean, better than any bottled or purified water I have ever tasted.

The children here are lovely, in fact everyone is. The looks on people’s faces when they see me is surprise followed by the shock of me greeting them in Kikuru. I visited the local schools and I was swarmed by a hundred or more children all wanting to see me and talk to me, and then touch my hair and skin. Their curiosity is amazing.

Since I arrived in Kenya, I have not seen a single white person so I think I must be something of an abnormality, especially since I am catching local transport and speaking their language.

Anyways, hope all is well in civilisation – I am back to the village now..ciao for now!