July 31st

Matt, Annabelle, Kirsty, and I are all getting along really well. We’ve been through so much drama, that we have really already pulled together and become friends.

Today, we woke up at 8:00, and tried to take a shower in a pot of water that our cook had boiled for us. It is a bit too challenging trying to wash your hair from a bowl of water! We got ready and ate a light breakfast, and then the principle of the school came to collect us. Our school is about 2 miles away from the office, so we drove there the first morning.

I was pretty impressed with the whole set up, but it was still very heart wrenching and upsetting to see. At the school, they also have an orphanage that house 226 kids. Most of their parents died of AIDS. We toured the orphanage and it was very clean, but sparse. You could really tell that they were doing the best with what they had been given.

As we toured the school, all of the children ran up and stared at us. They were so sweet! They all wanted to shake our hands, and said “Welcome” and “Thank you” to us. You could tell that they were happy children, but looking at them I wished we could do more to help. They were all wearing very old clothes with huge holes in them. Some of them had shoes, but many of the shoes were ripped up and their toes (or sometimes whole feet were sticky out of them). They were just playing in the dirt lot in front of the school. The only toys I saw were a bunch of plastic shopping bags bunched into an ball and tied together with string to make a soccer ball, a kite also composed of old plastic garbage and some sticks, and 2 plastic buckets that they were using as bongos.

We hung out with the kids for a while, but didn’t get to spend too much time at the school. After about 2 hours, Benta (one of the leaders of LDK) took us into town to do some grocery shopping. It was fun to look around Nakuru! It definitely looks a lot safer and cleaner than Nairobi (however, there is garbage and stuff on the shoulders of most of the roads).

We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out at our house, and making a teaching plan with the principle.

July 30th

We spent the morning hanging out at Nigel’s house. He was helping us arrange transportation, but said that we were definitely welcome to stay for as long as we wanted. (He seemed a bit lonely, and really enjoyed having people around to talk to.) In the morning, Annabelle and I went for a walk near Nigel’s lake. We were looking at the hippos and flamingos, when we saw a giraffe in the distance. The giraffe kept walking closer and closer to us. It was so cool to watch it run. They look like they are running in slow motion, and just look like such bizarre creatures. The giraffe ended up passing about 30 feet in front of us. It was a very cool morning!

I spent a lot of time playing with Nigel’s 3-year-old daughter, and then we were treated to another great feast. He had about 4 of his house staff in the kitchen preparing a breakfast of fruit, yogurt, cereal, eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast. The cook came out and asked each of us what we would like and how we wanted it prepared. (I could definitely get used to having a fulltime cook, housekeeper, and driver.) Nigel told us that he only makes about $40,000 USD a year from his safari company, but he is sure able to live in style with his money.

After breakfast we found out that the orphanage that some people were volunteering at had sent a van to pick us up. The poor man from the orphanage had to drive 8 hours each way to get them and bring them there. He was kind enough to drop us off at Nakuru (where 4 of us were volunteering) on the way out. So, he came at about 2:00 to collect us all.

The ride was incredibly rough, but we got to do a little more animal spotting on the way. We saw a buffalo (which is 1 of the big 5), some zebra, giraffes, monkeys, and baboons.

We got to Nakuru, but realized that nobody had an address for our school. (On the website they only list a PO box.) We were frantically calling them, but since it was Sunday there was no one in the office. The day before, we had over heard some giving directions to our original driver and I was able to remember 2 words: “Racetrack” and “St Joseph’s”. Luckily our driver was from Nakuru, and when I said those 2 words he told me he knew of the area. So off we went. After asking a few locals we found the office of LDK (our volunteer organization).

Unfortunately, the drama doesn’t end there. The gate to the complex was locked and the place was empty. The only phone number we had for them was the office landline. We were basically screwed again, and the other people driving in our van still had about a 5 hour ride to go. The driver spoke to some locals and found the principle’s cell number. He showed up shortly after that.

The school and our housing are awesome! These people are actually organized and know what’s going on. They were just as frustrated and confused by Benson as we were, so I definitely don’t blame them for anything that has gone wrong so far.

We are staying in the office complex. It sort of looks like a small motel. The office is in 2 parts of it and we stay in the other half. There are 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen with a refrigerator, stove and oven, and a living room. We have electricity and running water (only cold water, but you can’t be too picky), and we also have access to the Internet anytime we want in the office. (The Internet is incredibly slow and frustrating.) We also have 2 women come to our house everyday to cook and clean for us. The school employees them and we just buy the food. (Of course we will give them each a nice tip when we leave.) But the whole thing is about 100 times better than I would have imagined!

July 29th

What an insane day! After I finished writing my last blog everything went crazy. (As a little background information: The volunteer program is being organized by a woman called Ali, who is in England and Benson a Kenyan man, who is a bit strange. In the beginning Benson seemed like a great guy, but now everybody has changed their minds about that.)
So, anyways on the morning of the 29th we were supposed to check out of our hotel rooms at 11:00am and leave immediately by private vans to go to our schools. Since this is Africa, none of us really planned to be on the road until after 12:00. So 11:00 rolls around and no vans come. Not a big surprise. Some people in my group called Benson, and he told us that he needed to charge us 40,000 shillings (about $600 USD) to take us to our schools. Everyone freaked out, because we were supposed to have free transport and the price was ridiculous. (It seems that Benson is only doing this whole volunteer thing to exploit us and make money off us.)
Matt and I decided to go to tourist information to find out about cheaper transport. A man there told us we could hire a private car for about half the price Benson was trying to charge us. We decided to see what was happening before we booked it, since we didn’t even really know where the school was or what was going on.
At about 12:30 Benson and 1 van pulled up to the hotel. 1/2 of the volunteers were supposed to go with him and they negotiated a slightly cheaper price with him. Benson told us another van would be there shortly for my group and me. So off they went stranding us at the Hilton. Of course no other vans showed up for us, so we had no idea what to do.
We started calling all of the contacts we had (Ali- the head of the program, Sharon and William- some Kenyan friends, and even Nigel- the person who was supposed to lead our safari at the end of the program). Nobody really knew what to do with us. We decided to check back into the hotel, because it didn’t look like we would be leaving that day. About 10 minutes after we checked in Nigel called and told us we had to check out right away, because Ali’s credit card was maxed out and we would have to pay if we wanted to stay at the hotel. Needless to say were all frazzled. Our plans changed about 100 times, but in the end Nigel paid for a van to come and pick us up.
So, we ended up spending the night at Nigel’s house in Navisha. Nigel isn’t even a part of the volunteer program. He was just nice enough to pay for a van to drive us to his house, and let us sleep in his daughter’s room.
His house turned out to be amazing! It is located right on a lake and you can see hippos, giraffes, flamingos, and zebras right off his porch. (He said at night lions sometimes come right up to his house.) He was a fabulous host, and had his cook make us a big fest of pasta, salad, cheesecake etc. when we arrived.
We spent the evening hanging out and unwinding after the horrible, drama filled day.

Nairobi – July 28th

Well, as you all know I made it safe and sound to Kenya. I got settled into my hotel room at the Hilton, and I met up with the group of volunteers. (Sam (a fellow volunteered)called my room write after I did my last post, so that eased a lot of my anxious feelings.)

Anyways, I met up with the whole group for breakfast at the hotel. Everyone is very nice. It seems like a great group of people, too bad I’ll really only get to spend time with 3 of them (since the others will be volunteering in other cities). There are 2 Canadians, 2 Austrailans, 3 Americans, and 7 English people. I am going to be living with Annabelle and Matt in Nakuru. I spent most of the day with those two and they seem really cool, so I’m very relieved!

Anyways, after a yummy buffet breakfast at the hotel we went across the street to where the volunteer headquarters are located. (We are sort of working for KPDP, Kenya Program for Disabled People. They basically try to get fair treatment for disabled people, get them wheelchairs etc, and teach them. The man running the organization (Benson)is very passoniate about the his work!) Benson is also very protective of us, which I know my mom will be relieved about! He is personally going to all of the schools checking, everything out, and driving us around town. He really feels responsible for us, and is sort of like having an over protective parent.

We didn’t find out too many specifics about the teaching job, so we are still pretty clueless. (Hopefully, they’ll be able to give us some instructons and directions at the school.) Anyways, after the meeting at Benson’s office, Matt, Christine, and I went out for lunch. We wanted to try some Swahili food and we ended up finding an African buffet. They food was pretty good. I just ate some vegtables, weird green mashed potatoes, rice, and the stable food- maize meal. (I really hope they have more than just that maize meal stuff at our school. It’s basically ground corn with all of the flavor taken out. It looks sort of like starchy dense bread. It’s not terrible, but it has no flavor.) I wasn’t daring enough to take any meat, and I’m really glad about that. Matt took some and it turned out to be goat stomach and intenstines! YUCK! (I’ve basically been a vegetarian since I’ve been in Africa, and it might stay like that. One of the girls at my school actually is a vegetarian, so it might not be that hard to stay away from the mystery meat.)

After lunch, I just hung out at the hotel and used the gym, steamroom, and sauna. (Not exactly what I imagined Africa to be like, but I’ll be roughing it soon enough.) Annabell, Matt, Kristy, and I ate dinner at the bar in the hotel and than we had a fun night out. (I know Mom, I’m not allowed to leave the hotel after dark, but I was with other people.)

Early that day, we saw an ad in the newspaper for a Ja Rule concert that was happening that night at Carnivore (a popular restraunt). So the 4 of us decided we really had to go. It was a really random fun thing to do. (Who goes to Africa to see a rap concert?) After dinner, the 4 of us took a taxi to the concert. At first we were alittle bit scared of pickpockets and things, but it was actually a really fun atmosphere. All of the Kenyans were really into the music, singing along, and dancing. (We of course looked like idiots dancing next to them, since they all seemed to have such good rythm.) But we had a fabulous time, and nothing remotely scary happened.

So, it was a great first day in Kenya. Today we are driving out to our schools, so I’ll soon see where I’ll be living for the next month.

Flights and Arrival

I made it to Africa!  Yeah!  There were a few bumps along the way but everything turned out fine.

My flights went very well.  I got an aisle seat on both my flight to Amsterdam and the second flight to Nairobi.  Both planes had the cool personal tv’s and they actually had some pretty good meals too.  (I was quite shocked!  I had a vegetarian curry and a different meal of naan flatbread with a chicken curry inside.  How did I get so lucky as to have 2 Indian meals in 1 day?)

Anyways, once I arrived in Nairobi and got my bags I had a mini panic attack.  One of the organizers of the volunteer program was supposed to met me at the airport, but nobody was there.  I walked back in forth searching for my name on one of those little placards about 10 times.  Then luckily I saw a man wearing a Hilton uniform.  He tried to help me by calling the volunteer guys cell phone a few times, but there was no answer. 

I asked him if he could check and make sure I had reservations at the Hilton.  He got a print out of the names, and luckily I was on the list.  So, in the end he got a taxi for me and everything turned out fine.  (Hopefully these volunteer people will be more organized in the future though.)

I haven’t seen much of Africa yet, but so far I’ve noticed how nice and helpful the people seem.  When we pulled up to the hotel 1 guy opened the door, one guy opened the trunk, and one guy took my bags.  The Hilton is pretty nice and it seems like there are 100’s of friendly workers in immaculate uniforms waiting to help.  (There was even someone posted at the door of the internet place, so I wouldn’t have to strain myself by opening the door.) 

Well, I’ve only been in Kenya for about 1 hour, so I don’t really have anything interesting to report.

My Africa Adventure Begins Today!

I’m so excited!  I am leaving at 3:10pm today for Africa.  I will be there until November 15, so for about 3 & 1/2 months.  Yeah!  Here is my itinerary for the trip:

July 26th-August 30th: Volunteer Teaching at an elementary school in Nakuru, Kenya.  (I will be doing a few days of training in Nairobi at the beginning.)

August 31st-September 2nd: I have a few days to hang out in the Nairobi area waiting for my safari to begin.

September 3rd- 4th: Travel in Kenya.  Seeing Lake Nakuru.

September 5th- 17th: Go to Uganda. Do a gorilla trek in either Uganda or Rwanda, spend about 3 days at Lake Bunyonyi, see Queen Elizabeth National Park, go to the equator, and hang out in Kampala.

September 18th- 23rd: Back to Kenya.  Visit  a farm, see Lake Naivasha, Hells Gate National Park, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Rift Valley, and 1 more night in Nairobi.

September 24th- October 5th: Tanzania. Snake Park, Masai Museum, camel trek, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, see Mt Kilimanjaro, 4 days in Zanzibar, and Mikumi National Park.

October 6th- October 11th: Malawia.  Beach hopping around Lake Malawi, Kande Beach Resort, and Lilongwe

October 12th- 19th: Zambia. South Luangwa Valley, go to the capital Lusaka, 3 day house boat cruise around Lake Kariba, and Livingstone.

October 20th-22nd:  Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls

October 23rd- 28th: Botswana. Chobe River, Chobe National Park, salt pans of Maun, Okavango Delta.

October 29th- November 10th: Namibia. Etosha National Park, cheetah sanctuary, engravings at Twyfelfontein, seal colony at Cape Cross, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Fish River Canyon, and Orange River.

November 11th-15th: South Africa. Stellenbosch, wine tour, and finish in Cape Town. 

Exciting Minnesota

I’m starting to freak out a bit about my upcoming trip to Africa!  It seems like there are so many things to do and way too many things to buy.  Plus most people that hear I’m going to Africa, immediately want to tell me how dangerous it is and about all the diseases I might get.  That really calms my nerves!

Anyways, my life is picking up a tiny bit in MN.  My grandparents are letting me use there car.  So I have a bit of freedom now, and I’m really appreciating it.  I also got a job. (I know I’m leaving in less than 4 weeks, but I was really bored sitting around the house and I need a bit of spending money in Africa.)  I’m now a food demonstrator (sample girl) at Sam’s Club.  I’ve only worked a couple of days so far, but the jobs not that bad.  When you’re handing out free food everyone likes you.  My coworkers are all 80+ year old great grandmas.  They are nice ladies, but it’s sort of weird just talking and hanging out with old people.

My aunt got married last week, so I got to see some of my extended family.  And I’m going up to St. Cloud to visit my friend, Amanda, for the 4th of July.  So far it’s been a nice relaxing break in MN.