19th September 2010
Woken this time by the sounds of the Local church, it's Sunday morning and the whole of Nekuru is in church singing and chanting at 5.30am. Well I guess it's time to get up, we have our last hot shower and make our way to buffet breakfast for our last real meal, at least for the next week. It's back to the orphanage by monoline (the bus we have our own seat on) and I sit next to an American who I begin chatting to. Turns out he is originally from Mobassa, the place we had talked about visiting on the weekend and he offers us a ride which will only take 7hrs instead of 12. Mobassa is well known for lush beaches and beautiful seafood, we have been told it's paradise and I consider his offer on the way to Nairobi. He offers us a lift back the orpahange, usually a 3hr drive on the Matatu instead by car and lunch in a town along the way. We accept and he kindly drives us back home.
We arrive back, the kids excited to see us and us to see them. We meet a few other German volunteers who have arrived back from Mobassa. Felix is planning his trip back to Mathini tomorrow to start the construction of the house they are building and we make plans to go with him and visit needy families in the community that surrounds Mathini.
We all get aquainted and have dinner together with the children, brush all their teeth, say their prayers and put them to bed. I realize how much I have missed the children and make the decision not to go to Mombassa, as our time here is limited.
As promised I give Saskia, one of the German volunteers a healing and make a list of supplies to take to Mathini tomorrow.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Day 7 It just gets better.......
18th September 2010
This place never stops, 24hrs a day NOISE people yelling, people partying and roadworks. So not much sleep for us and it's a big day ahead. We have breakfast and make our way downstairs to meet our driver, my sunglasses were not in there case I realise I had dreamt this last night they had been stolen and I was buying new ones, I knew then they were gone but everyone insisted I go upstairs and look. As I dreamt, no sunglasses anywhere they must have been stolen from my chest where they were tucked into my top. It's all good though we are about to see some amazing animals in their natural habitat and I'm sure the smile will be back on my face :-)
We then spend the next 6 hrs game driving around Lake Nekuru where we see monkey's, rhino's, buffalo, zebra's and pink flamingo's. The lake is so peaceful with the most amazing views I have ever seen from the lookout and below the mountains. We are blessed with the most beautiful day of sunshine, the air so crisp and a little mist lingers over the lake. I sat for a while soaking up the sun's rays and the surroundings, so greatful for this opportunity to connect with nature and mother earth.
On our way out we are stopped by another driver, our attention bought to the tree where a male lion stands proud, glaring at us we are so close we are able to see the reflection in his eyes. This is an unbelievable to our drive we leave excited to show the children our photo's and for our Safari at the end of our trip. I realise I miss the children and look forward to getting back to see them.
This place never stops, 24hrs a day NOISE people yelling, people partying and roadworks. So not much sleep for us and it's a big day ahead. We have breakfast and make our way downstairs to meet our driver, my sunglasses were not in there case I realise I had dreamt this last night they had been stolen and I was buying new ones, I knew then they were gone but everyone insisted I go upstairs and look. As I dreamt, no sunglasses anywhere they must have been stolen from my chest where they were tucked into my top. It's all good though we are about to see some amazing animals in their natural habitat and I'm sure the smile will be back on my face :-)
We then spend the next 6 hrs game driving around Lake Nekuru where we see monkey's, rhino's, buffalo, zebra's and pink flamingo's. The lake is so peaceful with the most amazing views I have ever seen from the lookout and below the mountains. We are blessed with the most beautiful day of sunshine, the air so crisp and a little mist lingers over the lake. I sat for a while soaking up the sun's rays and the surroundings, so greatful for this opportunity to connect with nature and mother earth.
On our way out we are stopped by another driver, our attention bought to the tree where a male lion stands proud, glaring at us we are so close we are able to see the reflection in his eyes. This is an unbelievable to our drive we leave excited to show the children our photo's and for our Safari at the end of our trip. I realise I miss the children and look forward to getting back to see them.
Day 6 Oh My God....I can't believe I saw a Zebra :-)
17th September 2010
I awaken once again to the sound of pigs and covered in red dirt. Today is an exciting day for us, there is a hot shower awaiting us at the end and we can hardly wait.
After breakfast and seeing the children off to school, we pack and set off to Lake Nekuru for the weekend. Lake Nekuru is famous for Pink Flamingo's and beautiful scenery. We catch the Matatu to Naorobi which takes us almost 3 hrs, a journey that should only take just over 1hr. Everything here happens in African time (very slow) so they stop for 15mins at a time and have a chat while you sit there patiently passing out with 25 people crammed into a bus that fits 14. We decide after this experience we would travel to Lake Nekuru by the monoline, which is the same as the Matatu but you purchase 1 seat you don't have to share.We are then pulled over and each of us searched before leaving Naorobi for weapons etc by the Police, then we are on our way and get comfortable for our 3hr trip.
And then....OH MY GOD I see 6 Zebras on the side of the road just grazing, I actually couldn't believe it, it was very unexpected. I turned to the others and said with excitement "Oh my God, We are actually in Africa!!" They were the most beautiful animals I had ever seen with my own eyes, I couldn't wait to see more at the park tomorrow. It began pouring with rain and the temperature dropped the view of the mountains and Lake Nekuru still breath taking, so misty and green.
We arrive at the hotel, anxious to know whether the hot water is working. Often we are disappointed alot of places aren't what they seem, the Lonley Planet sometimes tells lies.But we are lucky this time and you will be glad to know we have a long awaited "hot" shower before having a look around the town centre. Apparently Nekuru is the most up and coming cosmopolitan city in Kenya. As we are leaving a feeling of maybe we should keep our stuff with us and not in the hotel comes over me. So I keep my possessions close by and safe hoping this is just a feeling......
I purchase some beautifully hand painted cards off a local and a young begger about 17 asks me for money for food. I hand the money to the man selling me the cards and then Matthew does the same only for the begger to snatch the money from the man with the cards. I tell him it's not his and he needs to give it back, then a fight breaks out in the street and the money is returned to the man selling the cards. We make a break on our way to get money we are followed by the begger and warned by people on the street. Fortunately he is just a kid and has no weapons on him I figure since he didn't use them in the fight and after some time he appears to give up. This feeling still remains.....
We purchase some supplies from the supermarket and return to the hotel for dinner and an early night. We had earlier organised a driver for the National Park, an early morning game drive. Sweet dreams......or are they??
I awaken once again to the sound of pigs and covered in red dirt. Today is an exciting day for us, there is a hot shower awaiting us at the end and we can hardly wait.
After breakfast and seeing the children off to school, we pack and set off to Lake Nekuru for the weekend. Lake Nekuru is famous for Pink Flamingo's and beautiful scenery. We catch the Matatu to Naorobi which takes us almost 3 hrs, a journey that should only take just over 1hr. Everything here happens in African time (very slow) so they stop for 15mins at a time and have a chat while you sit there patiently passing out with 25 people crammed into a bus that fits 14. We decide after this experience we would travel to Lake Nekuru by the monoline, which is the same as the Matatu but you purchase 1 seat you don't have to share.We are then pulled over and each of us searched before leaving Naorobi for weapons etc by the Police, then we are on our way and get comfortable for our 3hr trip.
And then....OH MY GOD I see 6 Zebras on the side of the road just grazing, I actually couldn't believe it, it was very unexpected. I turned to the others and said with excitement "Oh my God, We are actually in Africa!!" They were the most beautiful animals I had ever seen with my own eyes, I couldn't wait to see more at the park tomorrow. It began pouring with rain and the temperature dropped the view of the mountains and Lake Nekuru still breath taking, so misty and green.
We arrive at the hotel, anxious to know whether the hot water is working. Often we are disappointed alot of places aren't what they seem, the Lonley Planet sometimes tells lies.But we are lucky this time and you will be glad to know we have a long awaited "hot" shower before having a look around the town centre. Apparently Nekuru is the most up and coming cosmopolitan city in Kenya. As we are leaving a feeling of maybe we should keep our stuff with us and not in the hotel comes over me. So I keep my possessions close by and safe hoping this is just a feeling......
I purchase some beautifully hand painted cards off a local and a young begger about 17 asks me for money for food. I hand the money to the man selling me the cards and then Matthew does the same only for the begger to snatch the money from the man with the cards. I tell him it's not his and he needs to give it back, then a fight breaks out in the street and the money is returned to the man selling the cards. We make a break on our way to get money we are followed by the begger and warned by people on the street. Fortunately he is just a kid and has no weapons on him I figure since he didn't use them in the fight and after some time he appears to give up. This feeling still remains.....
We purchase some supplies from the supermarket and return to the hotel for dinner and an early night. We had earlier organised a driver for the National Park, an early morning game drive. Sweet dreams......or are they??
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Day 5 Hanging out with the kids
16th September 2010
Morning!! 6am, late to bed and a not so great sleep. Have breakfast and help get the children ready for school we then plan our day and week to follow. Kally and I have decided we will spend the start of the day planning our visit to Mathini a place past volunteers found approx a few hours in travel mostly walking, where a family of 9 are live in a houe with no roof, the children have one shirt each and no food. We will sort through donations we have and take some to these people along with supplies.....rice and beans etc we will somehow carry. There is a mountain we need to climb so this will limit the amount of supplies we are able to take. We will try to arrange a donkey to take some of it part of the way and the rest of the way we will carry. This will be our hardest day yet.
The 2 American boys have started the project of building them a house and construction should be underway when we arrive. They have been waiting for the bricks to dry and everything seems to be going to plan.
Our day today also spent planning our trip to Lake Nakuru for some of our free time we have on the weekend. Can't wait to see the Flamingo's and we have heard from the others they have HOT showers. Very excited 5 days and still no shower :-(
Back to the Orphanage for dinner...rice, ugali and beans. Hang out & play with the children, feed them, say their prayers and sing songs, before the brushing teeth check list. The kids really make my day, they are just beautiful :-)
Morning!! 6am, late to bed and a not so great sleep. Have breakfast and help get the children ready for school we then plan our day and week to follow. Kally and I have decided we will spend the start of the day planning our visit to Mathini a place past volunteers found approx a few hours in travel mostly walking, where a family of 9 are live in a houe with no roof, the children have one shirt each and no food. We will sort through donations we have and take some to these people along with supplies.....rice and beans etc we will somehow carry. There is a mountain we need to climb so this will limit the amount of supplies we are able to take. We will try to arrange a donkey to take some of it part of the way and the rest of the way we will carry. This will be our hardest day yet.
The 2 American boys have started the project of building them a house and construction should be underway when we arrive. They have been waiting for the bricks to dry and everything seems to be going to plan.
Our day today also spent planning our trip to Lake Nakuru for some of our free time we have on the weekend. Can't wait to see the Flamingo's and we have heard from the others they have HOT showers. Very excited 5 days and still no shower :-(
Back to the Orphanage for dinner...rice, ugali and beans. Hang out & play with the children, feed them, say their prayers and sing songs, before the brushing teeth check list. The kids really make my day, they are just beautiful :-)
Day 4 Visiting the local school
I awake to the sounds of the squealing pigs, each morning this sound....my alarm! But this time it's different, one of our girls has given birth to 6 little piglets right outside our window. This is a happy event for the children in the orphanage, distracted from their normal morning routine of breakfast and getting ready for school.
When the children leave for school we prepare ourselves to visit another school nearby. When we arrive we sit and chat with the principle who's office consists of a desk in a small old tin shed a dirt covered notebook and a chair with a broken leg. He allocates us a classroom and we discuss what we will teach the children and he gives us exams to mark. The classrooms each a small tin shed consist of a couple of benches and a bench seat with the roof of the shed falling off and a blackboard with one peice of chalk. The children are happy, laughing and extremely excited to see the Mazungu's (white poeple). In this town and the surrounding one's we are the only white people, and to some of these children the first they have seen!! We spend time with them teaching them english and about our country, also learning from these beautiful children appreciation for the education we have received.
We then make our way to the nearest town with internet access to make contact with the rest of the world and our families and a shop with the luxury supplies of home, deodorant, soap, bread and the all important CHOCOLATE!!! Unfortunately you have to be lucky though as power supplies in Africa are limited and often have power cuts that last for hours. We meet up with some other volunteers at a restaurant owned by a British man, so it’s chillout time where the boys can have a well deserved local beer for $1 and we can use a “Real” lavatory J
I catch a motorcycle back to the Orphanage carrying 3 people to meet with Kally finally, a volunteer who has been on Safari for the last few days. Kally is from Alaska, we have been chatting for the last month leading up to our trip and are both excited to meet. She is the beautiful person I expected, we spend a few hours catching up on stories and amazing photo’s from her Safari. I also meet a few other volunteers who have been away Josh and Nate. At the orphanage now there is 3 Germans, 3 Americans, 2 Australians (that’s us) and Bristish guy. With no power at the orphanage we meet in darkness and use a torch to get more acquainted.
It's lights at 11pm for another big day tomorrow.......
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Day 3 Out in the Community
14th September 2010
After an hour trek, mountain and rock climbing we arrive at a local hut where we have bought back a 16 year old girl back to her family where she had ran away from a few days ago. She had been beaten by her grandmother who is an alcoholic, so we come to have a chat and see if we can come to an agreement with the family and the child. The girl hasn't spoken much since she arrived at the orphanage, sadness in her eyes...scared to go back and face the person who has harmed her. After numerous hours we pack a bag for her and return back to the orphanage unable to leave her there we couldn't guarentee she would be safe. She will stay at orphanage now until another suitable place is found for her.
I spend the rest of the day with the children, an orphan named Susan who has violent outbursts and moments of silence and sadness which last for hours. She has been raped by 4 different men whom her mother was married to, her story horrific and extremely sad. She enjoys the love and attention we give her :-)
And well dinner for us and the Orphans Ugali and beans...mmmmm!! And once again no shower, we only have a bucket and very little water supplies so bathing happens every few days and the toilet.....a hole in the ground............ahhhh the luxury's of life African style :-)
After an hour trek, mountain and rock climbing we arrive at a local hut where we have bought back a 16 year old girl back to her family where she had ran away from a few days ago. She had been beaten by her grandmother who is an alcoholic, so we come to have a chat and see if we can come to an agreement with the family and the child. The girl hasn't spoken much since she arrived at the orphanage, sadness in her eyes...scared to go back and face the person who has harmed her. After numerous hours we pack a bag for her and return back to the orphanage unable to leave her there we couldn't guarentee she would be safe. She will stay at orphanage now until another suitable place is found for her.
I spend the rest of the day with the children, an orphan named Susan who has violent outbursts and moments of silence and sadness which last for hours. She has been raped by 4 different men whom her mother was married to, her story horrific and extremely sad. She enjoys the love and attention we give her :-)
And well dinner for us and the Orphans Ugali and beans...mmmmm!! And once again no shower, we only have a bucket and very little water supplies so bathing happens every few days and the toilet.....a hole in the ground............ahhhh the luxury's of life African style :-)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Day 2 No More Airports Please.......
12th September 2010
Morning Johberg....Ok so who said Africa was Hot??!! Wearing winter clothes still we re pack, eat an amazing buffet breakfast and make our way to the airport to find out our flight has been cancelled :-( All good though just another 5hrs sitting in an airport, lol!! We arrive in Nairobi finally with our driver Stanley awaiting our arrival (the sweetest man in the world) and to our hotel Silver Springs for a well deserved sleep........Airports/Planes/Hotels and FOOD...thats us so far :-)
Morning Johberg....Ok so who said Africa was Hot??!! Wearing winter clothes still we re pack, eat an amazing buffet breakfast and make our way to the airport to find out our flight has been cancelled :-( All good though just another 5hrs sitting in an airport, lol!! We arrive in Nairobi finally with our driver Stanley awaiting our arrival (the sweetest man in the world) and to our hotel Silver Springs for a well deserved sleep........Airports/Planes/Hotels and FOOD...thats us so far :-)
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