Snorkelling

Sunday 30.01.11

We woke up early to let the fundis in this morning, but then went back to sleep for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately, sleep ins aren’t that pleasant as it gets too hot too quickly, especially upstairs.  We had a cruisy morning at the house just blogging and catching up on some things and at 12pm Yasid turned up lovely and early with all of Tammi’s furniture!

It was a bit of a struggle getting it all upstairs, especially the bunk beds.  After disassembling everything then putting it back together it was finally done.  The bunks are incredibly solid, considering they seem to slant at a weird angle!  It is funny as even with the couch, it looks great but when you look closer the stitches are a bit odd and the fabric has been cut a bit roughly.  But considering the price, the time it took to prepare and the great first impression it makes - it’s a great couch!

Once everything was set up Yasin left, after inviting us for a lunch of the fish that he caught the night before!  It still surprises me how generous some people are, even though their religions clearly frown on the inclusion of others.  Sherif was even telling us he is happy to invite us to his home but apologised for not being able to shake his hands as it’s not appropriate in his religion.

We were planning to head snorkeling at White Sands this afternoon so had to decline Yasin’s offer of lunch, but maybe another time.  We headed straight into White Sands and had another lunch.  I had an amazing Thai green curry and it was literally the best curry I have ever had!  We then headed down to the beach to do some bargaining with the locals to find a cheap snorkeling trip.  Every time you ask someone’s name on the beach they all tell you they are called ‘captain’ something which is pretty funny.

As usual, I had about 4 people try to sell me marijuana and they are all genuinely shocked when I decline as to them there is no doubt that I am a rastafarian, just because of my hair, and therefore I must spend all my days smoking dope!  We found a nice couple of guys to take us snorkelling and we went out towards the reef where there is some amazing coral and even more beautiful fish.

The water was so warm, even out that far from the beach.  It also isn’t that deep and I could swim down to the bottom to get a closer look at times.  It was the most amazing experience and we saw starfish, long skinny fish called trumpet fish, zebra fish, tiny fluorescent blue fish, clam shells, sea urchins, an eel, sea cucumbers, fluorescent coral that looked like neon lights, some strange small swordfish and so many more things.  When we first got in we were given some bread and the fish were all around us trying to eat it.  I’m not sure that feeding them is the best thing to do but even that was a great experience.

The boat had a glass bottom and I could swim under the boat and Tammi got some photos of me from inside the boat!  There was another snorkeling group out there and also a scuba diving group too.  We swam right out from the boat and covered a large part of the reef, which is part of the National Marine Park.  Apparently next week, when the low tide begins, you can drive the boat right out to the far reef and it is out of water with sandbars and you can see some amazing wildlife.  I may even go back then, depending on what we are up to.

Anyway, the whole experience was amazing, and I thought I had seen nice fish in Australia but it was nothing like the number and colour here!  I am so glad I did it.  I also paid for Tammi to go as she was struggling with the decision as she needed money for the orphanage, and she wasn’t even sure she would enjoy it.  But she loved it and even got the hang of snorkeling and was so glad she went too.  In the end, at $30 each for 2 hours it was a great bargain!

The most annoying thing so far about Mombasa is not the heat, but the sun.  Ever since that first day in Nairobi that I got sunburnt, I have been covering myself in cream every time we are planning to go out in the sun.  Even though I am using SPF30+ I am still being painfully burnt.  It is a weird sunburn, as I don’t even turn that red (although it is a pretty bright pink) but it hurts almost instantly and aches for 2 day.  It is so different to back home!

We got home and it was great to see the furniture again!  I still don’t have a light in my room which is annoying but am making do with candles.  As I am typing this on the new sofa, we are watching about 40 ants run around in circles dying on the floor, thanks to an electric Mortein thing.  Take that evil ants!

Furniture shopping

Saturday 29.01.11

Today we were up early again so the fundis could begin work.  Then we headed straight into town as we had a lot of furniture shopping to do.  We first headed to Tusky’s as we thought it would be cheapest.  We had come across some very cheap furniture in Ukwala in Nairobi, but they don’t have Ukwala in Mombasa.  Unfortunately, Tusky’s seemed to cater only to the upper class and hence the furniture was very expensive.

We then decided to look at second hand furniture and called our new friend Yasin, the tuk tuk driver.  We had met him yesterday when he drove us to White Sands and he was very knowledgable of the area and had good english.  We asked if he would be interested in being hired for a few hours to drive us around to second hand furniture shops and he said he knew just the place.  He took us to his friend Sharif who dealt in second hand lounges but hand made new wooden beds.  He is a muslim and has a massive beard but made jokes about Osama Bin Laden and looking like a terrorist and told us not to be scared of him.  He was hilarious and had great great english and treated us very well.  The beds were great, of a good quality and price and Tammi was happy with both the double and the bunk set.

Then we were showed a second hand sofa set that had come in as a trade in and he said he could reupholster it in our chosen fabric.  Tammi chose a dark blue vinyl and Sharif organised that we could have the whole package including beds and sofa for about $650 which is remarkably cheap!  He then invited us inside for lunch with his wife which was very generous.  It was definitely an experience to dine in a muslim house in Mombasa, and also an honour to be invited in like that.  We left with assurances that the furniture would be delivered Sunday afternoon and also some quotes for cots that Tammi will need in the coming months.

Yasin then offered to take us cliff-top fishing with him.  He explained the amazing views and how they have to haul the fish up the cliffs once caught.  We were tempted to join him, until he explained that he would be gone the whole night.  Considering we were busy the next day we needed a lot of sleep so had to decline.  Also, I was thinking the whole situation just didn’t feel quite right so I’m glad we gave it a miss, just incase!

Once home we had pasta for dinner and the water and power has been turned on to the whole house which is amazing so we were able to see what we were doing and have a nice shower.  The only downside was that we still couldn’t use the kitchen as the light bulbs had blown, half of the taps and toilets didn’t work and the shower had no shower head.  But after what we had been living in the past two days even that was enough for us!

Welcome to Mombasa

Friday 28.01.11

Well, life in Mombasa is pretty different.  From what we can gather, when you ask for a price for a taxi or tuk tuk, they give you a pretty good deal which is nice.  The local boys sell FROZEN water which is such a treat.  Everywhere you go, you see gekkos and lizards running everywhere - and I mean everywhere, but more on that later.

It is so so, unbelievably hot here, especially inside without airconditioning.  A lot of the businesses have aircon and most of the houses, but Tammi is going without indefinitely - to save money.  Though I think she is going to have to give in sooner or later!  Being inside is so hot, especially upstairs.  We are constantly walking around covered in sweat, and feeling like our clothes are damp.  Trying to sleep is a bit tough too!

So as promised, the fundies (laborers) arrived this morning to begin work on the house.  The only problem was, they turned up at 6:30am so we had to get up to let them in to begin work - tired!!!  We headed early in to town to meet with Joseph the real estate agent dealing with the lease for Tammi’s house.  We met with the property management group and also the landlord briefly.  The landlord is a large, old Kenyan woman.  When it came time to sign the lease, she used a thumbprint instead of a signature.  What an interesting way to overcome the illiteracy problem in Kenya!  There were only a couple of things that needed amending on the lease and then Tammi was able to sign it off.

While we were at the office signing the lease and discussing it, it became obvious that the property manager, landlord and maybe even Joseph had no idea we were actually living at the property yet.  There seems to have been a bit of a breakdown in communication, and the fundis were definitely unaware that we were coming so we are living in a house in the middle of full renovations, moving room to room as they are painted!

There is still only power to the lounge room so we cooked a tuna bake on the floor there.  There is no water still so the poor toilets aren’t handling that so well - yuk!  And we are still trying to sponge bath ourselves.  There are ants everywhere and they crawl on the floors, walls, mosquito nets and on everything else too.  At first I was squashing them all, but now I just flick them out of the way.  At night, it appears that all the lizards make their way inside.  They crawl across the window sills and walls so we had to move the beds to the middle of the room away from the walls.

In the afternoon we decided to go to the beach.  Apparently it’s much nice to go to the resort beaches rather than the local beaches so we headed to White Sands beach resort.  It is pretty easy to blend in, though luckily we were both wearing dresses as otherwise we may have been a bit conspicuous in the old, dirty shorts and t-shirts that are our usual attire.  We ate lunch in the restaurant and then headed down to the beach where there are many REAL rastafarians!  They all want to talk to me and love my hair and ask to touch it!  We also enquired about snorkelling with the locals and also hotel staff.  It’s a decent price for the 2 hour trip so we may do it on the weekend.  The water was amazingly warm but very shallow so we didn’t stay in for long but it was lovely.

We then made our way back to the hotel pool which is amazing, and huge!  There is a poolside bar which is a bit of a novelty too.  A staff member in the pool approached me and I was beginning to get a bit worried, wondering if we had been caught out!  However, he was only interested in whether or not I wanted to join in a game of water polo.  There is nothing like a game of water polo to blend in with the guests so I happily joined them.  I played scorer and our team even won!

It was an amazing day and I can’t wait to go back for some snorkeling, and there are some great stalls on the beach with nice bags and kikois too.  Once home after an exhaustive day we made a tuna casserole bake with Melvin in the lounge room, as the kitchen still did not have power.

Mombasa!

Friday 27.01.11

Part 1

AARRRGGGHHHH!! 

THIS IS KENYA ALRIGHT!!

Okay, so Friday the 27th January 2011 is shaping out to be the worst day this year - and probably will be!  The day starts off fine, waking up at dawn to pack and meet Olympas for a walk down to Lake Nakuru National Park.  We climbed over the outer fence but stayed outside of the electric fence for obvious reasons!  We managed to see a buffalo quite close to the fence and other than that it was nice to just chill out with Olympus.  As much as a sucker he is for a good business deal, he is a great guy with great english and also a good sense of humour which I have discovered is not common in Kenya!

And then all hell broke loose.  The hire car, complete with driver, was due to arrive at 8:30am, but of course arrived at 10am, along with a second car full of company staff.  I am still unsure as to why they came to see us off!  Tammi and I had hired the largest car the company had, and of course they arrived with a smaller one.  At the time we decided to hire the car, we were under the impression that it would be only her and myself plus the driver and all of our luggage.  The Mel and Kim asked if they could come with us to Nairobi and catch the bus the rest of the way to Mombasa to make room for the extra things we were picking up in Nairobi.  Of course, we agreed, thinking there would be plenty of room in the large car we had booked.

This morning it quickly became clear that we were going to struggle to all fit - if at all!  After packing and repacking for half an hour we finally managed to get everyone in.  At this stage someone pointed out that the Mombasa bus was leaving from Nairobi in 2 hours, with Nairobi being two and a half hours drive.  So car full, we set off - me in front seat with a box and a bag at my feet, two bags on my lap and two more bags squeezed between me and the driver; Mel with Natalie on her knee and a bag at her feet; Kim with a bag at his feet and the biggest box ever on his knee; and Tammi squeezed in the middle with a bag on her lap and her head holding a bag from falling on top of her from the back.

After leaving Olympus’ place, we headed left into Nakuru, rather than right towards Nairobi.  At this point we became pretty annoyed, only to see that we were following the staff car that had arrived with our car.  We asked the driver what we were doing and he said we had to go to the office to discuss some things.  Of course we were not impressed as we were on a tight schedule.  Nevertheless, we proceeded without much say in the matter.  Once at the office the staff demanded we pay for the return fuel for the car from Mombasa, even though we had been assured upon booking that we would not need to do this.  Having little options at this stage we were forced to comply, which was probably the plan all along.  Of course wait until we are all in and out stuff is all packed!

Finally Nairobi bound at about 10:30am we soon realised we were in for a very hot, sticky, uncomfortable ride with a very inattentive driver!  About twenty minutes from Nairobi I got some sort of a pinched nerve or something in my back and could not sit still for more than ten seconds, cursing the rest of the trip!  After our driver ran into another car and got out to inspect the damage, I was about ready to get out and walk the rest of the way!

After a further half hour of traffic in one street alone, we arrive at the bus station.  Of course, just as we pull up the Mombasa bus is pulling out so we missed it by perhaps a minute or less.  After fifteen minutes of waiting around Mel and Kim manage to find another bus.  Without Mel and Kim in the car we now realise that the driver’s english is particularly BASIC!  We spend the next ten minutes trying to explain to the driver that we are free to go as the others are getting the bus, and finally think he has understood us when he starts the car and begins to move forward.  Then he turns off the car and it becomes apparent he was only moving to let a bus in.  After five more minutes and some rusty swahili “twende, twende!” meaning “go, go!” we are on our way.

We then pick up some random local it appears, whose purpose is to guide the driver around town, which of course we have to pay for!  We arrive at Khweza and pack the car with our remaining bags that we had left behind last week.  At this stage the car is literally overflowing and there is just enough room for one person in the back seat.  As Tammi and I pile in, we notice our guide has not yet left us and is also trying to climb in.  Apparently he is to direct us on to the Mombasa highway.  So Tammi and I climb in to the back seat, me on top of her in the fetal position, as there is bags on the floor so no room for legs!

After a remarkably uncomfortable ride, but somehow not as much as the trip from Nakuru, we let the man out and we are on our way.  Highway driving is even crazier than city driving and it is one constant battle for your lane of the road.  There is either an overtaking vehicle coming from the opposite direction in your lane or trucks trying to turn the one lane into two or three and drive and dive and overtake and slam on brakes all over the place.  And nothing is done gradually - cruising is at full speed right until you are about to run up the back of a truck, then the brakes are slammed on, then you creep out to see if any traffic is coming, slamming on the brakes again when there is.  When it’s finally clear you shoot past, only to slam on the brakes again when you are back in your lane.

In every small town or roadside village there are very sever rumble strips or speed bumps across the highway, one would assume with the aim of slowing down traffic, but apparently not!  As I am typing this we hit one doing 90km/h.  I am pretty sire that was an accident on the driver’s behalf, but you never know.  At this point, all the luggage you have tried so hard to pack in effectively, tumbles into your face, legs and onto your keyboard and it takes the next ten minutes to wriggle around in your seat trying to put everything back.

At one point we are pulled over the police for speeding, as far as we can make out from the mumbled swahili discussions.  The driver is finally let go from interrogation and we are on our way after paying a 500 shilling ($6.50) bribe and the next few minutes is spent listening to complaints about police corruption in Kenya.  Shortly after this, the driver starts yawning very obviously eery few minutes, asking “you know how to drive?”.  Not feeling comfortable enough to sleep due to the possibility that our driver will also fall asleep, I spend the next few hours looking at the beautiful scenery, which ranges from hills to mountains to swamps and forests and upside down trucks in ditches - and soon the coast!

We make a stop at one stage for a drink, only to be informed by the stall holders that there is no electricity and hence no cold drinks so I settle for a warm juice ewww!  As we are purchasing our drinks we realise we have not yet had lunch and should look for some food, only to see our driver wandering along the stalls.  Panicking that our car is unattended and unlocked with who knows how much cash, cameras and laptops onboard I rush to the vehicle expecting to find it safely locked and my overreaction embarrassing.  But of course, it is parked on the shoulder with street traders wandering around looking in the open windows contemplating what to steal first!  At this point the driver returns to the car, informing me that it will soon be my time to drive.

________

Part 2

As we near the end of our trip (or so the driver assures us for the tenth time “just one more hour, one more hour”) I have just about had enough!  About an hour ago we were run off the road thanks to a truck that was waaaaaay over-committed to a passing move and would not move out of our lane.  We ended up in the ditch at the weirdest angle and all I could think was to grab my laptop so when we rolled it didn’t fly everywhere and “did Tammi put her seatbelt on?”.

Somehow, possibly dust flying through the open windows, we have become so muddy and dusty that as I type my sweaty hands are leaving mud all over the keyboard - gross!  My face is so caked with dust that every time I wipe my eyes I spend the next ten minutes blinking furiously, trying to clear the dust.  I look like I have just walked out of a dust storm and my clothes are filthy!

Our driver keeps laughing at random english words he hears us saying and repeats only the strangest phrases that I am sure he would never have come across before, so he must be trying to remember them for later use or to tell friends!

Tammi has made a few phone calls in the last couple of hours and we have come to realise that we have no idea where her new house actually is, so that’s going to be difficult to explain to the driver when it comes time to drop us off.  We have also learnt that the house is actually not ready for tenants, despite repeated assurances that it was.  So to top off our awesomely awful day we are arriving at the house at about 10pm (provided we actually find it) with no mattresses, blankets or towels.  So we need to go straight down to the Nakumatt supermarket (if we can find a taxi) and buy that stuff plus some water.  Oh did I mention that the water, gas and electricity is not connected yet either?  So that means no shower, toilet, or Melvin for hot food either!

_____________

Part 3

We finally arrived at Mombasa and spent the next 40 minutes looking for the house as Tammi had only been there once, during day time.  We finally arrived at 11:30pm and of course the driver again tried to rip us off by charging more than we had agreed.  We quickly threw all our things inside, where there was power to the two central lounge rooms only.  We then headed into town on a motorbike to the Nakumatt 24 hour supermarket, which is conveniently a few minutes up the road.  We managed to get mattresses, mosquito nets, towels and some other necessities before heading home at 1am!  We set up our beds and had a sponge bath with bottled water from the shop - how wasteful!  But we were desperate and it was so refreshing, at least for the 2.15 seconds before I dried again.

It is unbelievably warm and humid here, and you can feel the salt on your skin.  It is sticky and yukky, but I will probably get used to it - hopefully!  It made for an uncomfortable sleep but at 2:30am I finally made it to bed!

Nakuru Day 3

Wednesday 26.01.11

This morning we had some more stuff to do, including Tammi’s dentist appointment.  But after hitting snooze on the alarm a few times we decided that could be skipped as we weren’t that confident that the dentist would even be there!

Today being Australia Day, we promised Martha we would find some Australian food in town and bring it with us to MIA to cook.  Unfortunately Ivan had a meeting in Nairobi and couldn’t join us which was a shame!  After an hour of searching the 4 supermarkets in town, we still hadn’t located any food uniquely Australian so decided to settle for good old mashed potatos and 2 minute noodles with tomato sauce and cheese! It was a pretty funny lunch but Australian nonetheless!  Martha thought it was hilarious!

Martha asked that I take a portrait photos of all the kids as they hadn’t had any done recently and they come in handy for sponsors, the website, school and Mary and the girls back in Australia.  After 2 hours I finally managed to chase up all 43 children (and 4 extras somehow!)  and get some lovely photos of them all.  Some of the kids were much harder to photograph than others and whatever I tried I could not get Purity, Laura or Chris to smile.  The others though were easy, saying “cheeeeeese!” as soon as I pointed the camera at them.  I’m looking forward to having a better look at the photos at home and editing them to see if there are any I might like to print.  I might even look at having some blown up in black and white for my lounge room wall, whenever I manage to get another house!

We had organised with Olympus to have an Australia Day celebration so Tammi and I bought some fireworks at the supermarket, which was an unexpected novelty!  We also got some red bulls as Olympus had never tried one and we figured that it was something every Aussie has done.  He was slightly disappointed when he didn’t grow wings!

We had a dinner of rice and beans and set off our fireworks outside.  We had purchased some ‘black widows’ having really no idea what they were but the instructions said to light fuse and throw immediately.  Upon opening the packet we could see no fuses but one end had some red stuff in the end, and the other was just gunpowder.  We took a punt and lit the red end, and fortunately we did not blow ourselves up!  After two of these Olympus suggested we stop, as he had some classy neighbours and he was worried they would report gunfire to the police!

Nakuru Day 2

Tuesday 25.01.11

This morning, after a freezing shower, I had some nice bread with butter for breakfast and then Olympus explained to me about the different animals that can be seen in the National Park from his front stairs with binoculars.  He pointed out the buffalo and also where the lions den is, although he has never seen a lion from his house.  I took over the binoculars and followed the tree line from the lions den and what did I see?!  A lion prowling through the grass after a herd of gazelle or similar animal.  By the time I had called Olympus excitedly and explained where I saw it, the lion had ducked down into the cover of the grass.

Finally Olympus spotted the lion and after initial disbelief he said “wow it’s not like a mzungu to break a record like that” which I thought was pretty funny.  Even later in the day he was still commenting at how surprised he was that someone had spotted a lion from that far.

Then Tammi and I headed into town to do some wholesale shopping at Gillani’s to get the orphanage up and running.  We got everything from baby powders, vaselines, biscuits, jams, butters, nappies, torches, batteries, candles, bowls, saucepan and much more all in bulk of at least 12 items and still it only came to $100!  Sometimes Kenya is just soooo cheap!

Then we caught a tuk tuk to Mission In Action finally.  The ride took nearly one hour, when it should usually be 20 or 30 minutes as we ran out of fuel 5 times and the driver had to keep push starting the tuk tuk, and after all that we even had to stop twice to refuel!

Martha and Ivan were so happy to see us, especially since I hadn’t been back for two years but Tammi had visited a fortnight ago with Tracy.  As most of the kids are at school now there are only 9 home during the day, so we said a quick hello and went upstairs to catch up with Ivan and Martha.  Damaris is still there too which was good to see and she is now the head carer.  We had a lovely lunch of mushrooms with spaghetti (soy) bolognaise.

By the time lunch was over the kids were all home from school so we headed downstairs to say hi.  They were of course so excited to have visitors as there aren’t any volunteers until mid February.  The kids have all grown so much since my last visit and have all picked up the concept that each of them has a few sponsors.  We walked around greeting everyone to cries of “are you my sponsor?” and “whose sponsor are you?” which was pretty funny!

Then I got to see Alex, who I actually am sponsoring, and he has grown so much.  He is walking and talking but was at first a little bit hesitant about approaching me but pretty soon would not leave my side.  He wanted hugs and to play ball.  Purity has grown too and has passed the stage of crying if she isn’t picked up.  It was great to see her wandering around independently on her own, and the other kids all take such good care of her.  She doesn’t talk much at all which is funny, but apparently she can!

Ivan took me over to Mission 2 or Mission In Action Nyota which is the other orphanage they took on when I was here last time.  It is still based out at Nyota but they have nearly finished building their new home out beside the new school so they will hopefully be moving in in about 3 months.

After promising the kids we would return tomorrow, we both squished onto the back of a motorbike out to the highway to catch a matatu back into town.  Once in town we met with Olympus and headed back to his place.  He prepared ugali for dinner which is a bit like damper with a spinach sauce and I am not a huge fan so I piked and stayed in our little hut and did some hand washing of my clothes and then went to bed.  It was well after midnight when Tammi got back to the room so I was glad I didn’t join them in the house for dinner!

Nakuru Day 1

Monday 24.01.11

We had a bit of a late start for Nakuru as we didn’t realise we had so much stuff.  It took a while to finish packing and convince the hotel staff to keep some of our luggage until Thursday when we will come through on our way to Mombasa to pick it all up.  Then we had a bit of trouble paying as none of our cards were accepted so we will pick up some cash and pay on Thursday.

This morning it was absolutely pouring with rain for the first time this year and the roads in and around town were flooded up to our ankles!  Fortunately we got a taxi from the front of the hotel to drop us straight at the matatu stage and hardly got wet at all!

Tammi and I sat at the front of the matatu on the bench seat along with the driver.  We were slightly terrified as these seats are referred to as the ‘death seats’ as matatu crashes are common, and the driver and any front passengers are usually killed.  Fortunately we survived with all of our limbs in tact, but it was a very squished ride!

We made it to Nakuru and met with Olympus, Tammi’s friend we were staying with.  He lives past Section 58, near Hyrax Hill and Naka on the highway just before town but before heading there we had a quick lunch at Gillani’s first.  They made great onion bajias and hopefully I can get back for some more!  Olympus’ place is a couple of hundred metres off the highway and right down on the flats near the border of Lake Nakuru National Park.  The view was amazing and we could see the lake and also roaming buffalo.  

At Olympus’ we also met up with Melanie, Aneisha’s sister from Mission In Action.  Melanie’s ten month old daughter Natalie and partner Kimani are moving to Mombasa also, where Melanie will become the Upinde Centre’s social worker.  They are also staying at Olympus’ until we head to Mombasa on Thursday.  As there is not enough room in the car though, they will get the bus there.

After unpacking we headed back to town for Tammi’s dentist appointment.  It was booked for 3pm but after an hour and a half of being told that the dentist was still at lunch, we gave up and made another appointment for Wednesday mornning, hopefully with better luck!

We then did a bit of browsing in the touristy market, the masai market and met Olympus there and went back to his place.  We had a very late 10pm dinner that was absolutely delicious!  It was rice with potato and tomato stew so it was worth the wait!  Finally after a big day we made it to bed.

Rest day!

Sunday 23.01.11

Today was a pretty quiet day, hanging around the hotel in the morning.  Tracey flew out to Egypt today for her “tourist time” there and she was pretty excited about it!  She is then heading off to Asia and Europe to do some more volunteering.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk to get out of the hotel, as we had nothing else planned and were getting a bit bored!  We went to the local supermarket and then the local markets across the road and Tammi bought some closed shoes as she hadn’t brought any to Kenya for her new life!

On the way back to the hotel I spoke to the salon that kept telling me they could tighten my dreads.  They quoted me $26 but I got them down to $18 and after about 45 minutes I had a very tight scalp and some neater looking dreads.  They were so excited to do mzungu dreads though, as they hadn’t before and had a lot of questions for me about how they were made.  They couldn’t believe they were natural, without any products at all!

We cooked our own dinner in our room with Melvin, our newly named oven.  We had soup and two minute noodles and they were very cheap!  We watched a movie and then headed to bed ready to leave for Nakuru tomorrow.  I am looking forward to seeing Martha, Ivan and the kids!

Sarit Centre & a day in the life of a Nairobian!

Saturday 22.01.11

I woke up early this morning which wasn’t surprising considering I slept so much last night.  I certainly feeling better, but very drained.  I headed upstairs, pretty excited to eat breakfast for the first time.  And of course, it was an hour late and by the time it came I was so tired I could hardly eat it!

After breakfast I had a one hour snooze and sorted out my photos, 200 so far after deleting all the ones I don’t want!  I also managed to get in some relaxing reading before heading to Sarit Centre for the afternoon.  It is one of the few indoor shopping malls in Nairobi and it is quite nice.  We went to the supermarket and found a whole heap of bargains for the orphanage, which is great as in Mombasa everything will be much more expensive to cater to the higher class and tourists there.  On the downside we now have to take the 20 baby bowls, sipper cups, spoons, jugs etc with us to Mombasa.

That was pretty much the extent of our day so I thought I would take the opportunity to paint a bit of a picture of what life is like in Nairobi:

“If you are visiting the hospital you want to try to do it in the middle of the day as any other time it is flat out.  There are about 12 floors in the hospital but everyone knows not to use the elevators as they can’t be trusted.  Even the dying, injured, and gravely ill patients use the stairs.  The stairway is an experience in itself!  The people file up and down in one constant stream but there is no expectation to stay on one side of the stairway or the other so it’s a constant battle of trying to read everybody else’s actions and trying not to crash into them.  Then you have to watch for the doctors and nurses that are running and need to try to overtake the slow people but can’t as the space is too narrow.  And after all this you have to avoid the sick people from falling into you, especially the ones with open and weeping sores!

Then leaving the hospital you either take a matatu, a taxi or a tuk tuk.  Tuk Tuks are by far the funnest, most cramped, quickest, but scariest!  They are basically a motorbike with a bench seat stuck on the back and a vinyl roof.  They weave through the traffic without slowing down and squeeze through the smallest of gaps.  It is perfectly acceptable to scrape rear view mirrors and hit pedestrians.  The aim of hitting pedestrians is to get them on the upper leg where it won’t hurt so much, nor unbalance them.  

Pedestrians are a different story altogether!  There are no pedestrian crossings or lights so it is a bit of free for all and a mad dash.  There is never a break in the traffic so all you can do is wait for a slow-looking vehicle to come along and madly dash in front of it.  Then you have to wait in the next lane for another slow vehicle and dart in front of that one and keep progressing along the 3 or 4 unofficial lanes of traffic to the other side.  But all the time keeping in mind that the lanes change and merge and veer constantly and without warning so you may think you are waiting between two lanes of traffic when suddenly you find you are stuck in the middle of one, and in the path of an oncoming bus.  Then it’s a mad sprint for the other side hoping that everyone will stop for you, or at least only hit you on the leg.

Then of course there are taxis, which are not too bad but the most expensive option.  Mind you, this is still only about $7 for a trip to most areas of Nairobi and only $20 to the airport which is a good half hour!  The only problem with taxis is that the drivers try and charge you twice as much from the start and it takes ten minutes of bargaining, refusing, and walking away to actually get a decent price!

Finally there is the matatu, a standard-sized van with up to 20 seats in it.  Even the aisles have fold up seats to maximise capacity.  The only problem being for the person sitting in one of these seats they have to sit up, fold away their seat to let a person pass then resume their seat and do it all over again.  At around 30c per trip they are by far the cheapest form of transport in Kenya!  There are so many matatus as it is the most common transport mode.  Rarely do they have their route number written on them so you have to run along beside one as they don’t stop to let people on or off, only slow down to ensure they don’t lose their place in the traffic.  While running you have to ask if they are going to where you want, and usually they say yes even if they aren’t so they can get your money!  If you believe that it is, you jump on board one at a time and hope that you can all get on before it speeds up again, or you fall over some roadside obstacle or into one of the giant fire pits that are along the length of the roads.”

Kibera Slums

Kibera resident

In the slum

Friday 21.01.11

After a very relaxing morning at the hotel we headed back to the shop we bought the oven from, only to be showed that actually it was working and we were ‘silly mzungus’ who didn’t know how to turn it on! Oops, slightly embarrassing!  But that’s a relief now that we don’t have to wait around for it to be fixed.

Then we headed back to the hospital to meet Joseph, our contact from Shape the Child Foundation in Kibera.  We were dropped at the border of the slums by a hospital driver, but there were 4 adults crammed into the tiny backseat of the car so it was a squishy, bumpy ride!  Kibera slums are actually the biggest in Africa, not just Kenya and are home to nearly one million people.  Most of the children are orphaned by AIDS and most of the families are made up of single mothers and up to 9 children.  These women are often abandoned by their husbands, who move on to another family when life gets to tough financially.  The women are then forced to allow other men into their beds for money to provide for the family, and this in turn produces more children, and some also take in orphaned children.

We were met by Francis another worker at the centre.  He works in the education sector while Joseph works in the Health area.  Francis and Joseph directed us to put our cameras away and secure our bags tightly and follow them quickly to the centre which is not far from the outskirts.  As we immediately crossed a dirty river, the stench was overpowering.  There is rotting rubbish and sewerage running through the river and alongside on the banks.  Children were even playing ball in the river.

The centre caters for 450 students of primary school age and they were all so excited to see us and laughed at our names when we introduced ourselves.  It is quite a good set up they have, especially considering it is in the middle of Kibera slums!  We were then offered the opportunity of being taken to the women’s project where 12 women are employed to make jewellery to sell in the markets.  The aim is to expand this and continue training other women to make a sustainable future for the women of Kibera.  This project is only very new and they are still in the process of training the original group.

Before leaving the education centre we were told to stay as a group, follow very closely, hold onto our bags and run when directed to.  It was a pretty daunting brief so we were expecting the worst but apart from the occasional “keep walking” and “increase your pace” we didn’t come across any hassles.  Joseph and Francis were explaining to us that thievery is rife amongst Kibera, especially from Mzungus.  Some of the residents trek the 7km into the city everyday in search of work, and have to walk the 7km home again when they have found none, so anything they can get their hands on to steal and trade or sell is worth it to them, often at any cost.

As we hurried our way through the winding paths, stepping over rubbish and sewerage we were constantly greeted by children yelling “hurryoo, hurryoo!” which is actually “how are you” but of course a bit gets lost in translation!  The expected reply is “fine, thanks” which makes them all start giggling and repeating “fine, fine!”.  It is pretty funny and to see them get so much joy out of a simple and brief conversation.  Another thing that fascinated the locals was my dreadlocks and everywhere I went I heard “mzungu dreads!” or “rastafarian!” and they would all be pointing at me with big smiles.

The women’s project was another small compound, similar to the education centre.  There were two ladies working at a table beading bags, bracelets, necklaces, rings, and more.  They informed us that one was the instructor and the other was learning.  It can take up to a week to make one bag even!  We met Mr Genesis here who had very good english, and he told us a bit about his life and how he had a mentor that had showed him the right way, and that he now hopes to do the same for other children in Kibera.

We were then accompanied out of the slum but the three men who at one stage had to chase a pestering local away.  The slum is actually huge and looking at it from above or in photos does not do it justice.  It took us 15 minutes of very quick walking, jumping, dodging and rushing to make it out of the slum to the matatu stage.  After a massive traffic jam we finally made it back to Nairobi and did some quick supermarket shopping.  In the supermarket I began to feel horrendously unwell, and had to grasp for a food shelf to stop myself from passing clean out!  This was inevitable really as I havn’t eaten very well since my arrival as I just havn’t been hungry!  We hurried through the rest of the shopping and stumbled along the streets to the tuk tuks.  By this stage I was not feeling well at all and made it back to our room where I slept for about an hour.

Upon waking again, I was also feeling quite nauseous which was a surprise as I thought it was merely a case of not eating enough, but the nausea was a sign that I had probably picked up a bug or something.  Tammi gave me two of her anti-nausea tablets and I snoozed again, skipping dinner.  But upon waking I knew that I felt no better and spent the next half hour in the bathroom.  Finally feeling somewhat better I managed to get some sleep for the night.

Hospital Day 3

Thursday 20.01.11

This morning we headed out to the hospital again to check on our friends.  We are getting much better at using matatus now so saving a lot of money which is great.  We stopped in town so I could go to the bank to get money out, this time with my passport!

At the hospital we headed to the ward with the three boys in one cot, and Damaris in the other one.  They were all so happy and cheery as usual so we left them and went to check on Martha and Zach and Lincoln.  Martha was asleep which is rare so I let her rest for the time being.  Lincoln was also very content as usual and Zach was being fed.  His oxygen mask had been removed but he was now receiving oxygen through a tube.

So far he had been on a level of 15 but they had dropped his oxygen supply to 4 which is a good sign that he is improving!  You can now see his face properly which is great, but it is also clear that his eyes aren’t the same.  One is bigger and higher that the other one but it could possibly be due to the mask pressing on his face.  Hopefully this will improve with time but it seems unlikely.  He is still cute regardless!  Unfortunately he does seem to be struggling to breathe, which is not surprising considering he has an naso-gastric tube in one nostril and an oxygen tube in the other!  He also seems to have a cold of some sort.

Tammi managed to read over Zach’s chart and we discovered his name is Angelo Gabriel, but it is unclear as to whether the hospital gave this to him or his family.  The chart also explained a lot about his condition.  He is estimated to have been born at the start of December and was abandoned at the hospital at one week old weighing 2.2kg.  He had pneumonia and within a few weeks developed malnutrition and his weight has dropped to what I would guess would be half of his previous weight.  Appalling really, as considering he is force fed through a naso-gastric tube this should really not happen.  Apparently he was also ‘exposed’ to HIV during his stay at the hospital and has since tested positive to the disease.  It is unclear how this happened or whether he already had it from birth, but even so it makes me so angry that they can let this happen.

I changed Lincoln as he had fallen out of his nappy and it had worked his way up his back and covered him in poo!  The nurse handed him to me while he was still covered in it and she changed the bed sheets.  Here’s hoping I didn’t catch anything from getting poo all over me! Martha awoke shortly after our arrival and she was trying to tear her clothes off as usual.  She looks os uncomfortable in clothes.  She was sobbing after a rough physio session so I fed her porridge then held her as she continued to sob until she fell asleep.  It’s very hard to hold a heavy two year old child that has no control of it’s head as she has never developed the muscular function required after spending her life in bed.  She is only comfortable over your shoulder but her head keeps falling off as she isn’t strong enough to  hold it up.  Then as soon as you put her down in her cot she cries again.  Today I figured out that if I stroked her feet she just smiled and fell asleep so easily!  Such a simple thing to do but it brings so much benefit to her!

We caught a taxi from the hospital into town and had the funniest driver ever.  He wouldn’t stop talking in his broken english and explaining to us his version of life in Kenya so we were entertained for the whole trip.  We arrived back at Khweza and chilled out for a bit.  Then we headed to the furniture shop on the corner and Tammi found a small combination oven and stovetop for $130.  We bargained the guy down to $90 and Tammi bought it to take down to Mombasa for her new house, as we figured we would never find one that cheap again.  Unfortunately when we got it back to the hotel room we figured out the oven didn’t work.  So we will take it back tomorrow and see if they can fix it.  It just appears to be the heating element so hopefully it won’t be a tough fix.  Even if we had to pay a bit the cost would still be worth it!

I had a beautiful dinner of sweet potato soup, the best so far at Khweza, in fact my whole time in Kenya so far!  After some blogging and facebooking and a bit of chatting and planning for tomorrow, I headed to bed for a big day tomorrow visiting an education centre at Kubira slums, the biggest slums in Kenya.  I am thinking it will definitely be an interesting day!

Animal orphanage & giraffe centre

Wednesday 19.01.11

This morning we headed out into town to go to the bank.  My credit card of course does not work in any ATM, which is what happened last time so i have to withdraw over the counter.  Though I didn’t bring my passport so will have to come back tomorrow.  We are getting pretty good at using matatus though which is a lot cheaper than taxis and also more fun!  It does take much longer and its pretty hot and sticky crammed in with 15 other people!

The traffic in Nairobi is well and truly crazy, and even though they have traffic lights i have never seen one person obey them.  We often get a tuk tuk back to our hotel and usually it’s the same driver.  He has definitely got a death-wish!  He weaves through traffic where there is no space, brushing rear-view mirrors with trucks, and jumps onto sidewalks and over median strips!  It’s a very freaky ride but so far we haven’t tipped over.

The weather is not too bad in Nairobi, where it’s usually a steady 27 degrees.  I didn’t get sunburnt at all last time I was here so I didn’t think too much about that today, but more on that later!  We caught a matatu out to the animal orphanage which is basically a glorified zoo.  It’s quite nice though and there are also a lot of wild monkeys and baboons around as the national park is next door.

A man tried to get us to pay to go in to pat the cheetahs which we were quite keen to do but he said that the price was $US500 but of course would let us have it for a ‘cheaper’ yet equally exorbitant price.  He talked up the danger that the cage keepers were in by letting us in, as it was forbidden and would cost them their job if caught.  Of course we weren’t fooled and tried to bargain with the guy but he was a bit dodgy so we left without continuing to haggle much further.  A bit of a shame but as it turned out it was lucky we didn’t spend the money as we were running low and needed it for the rest of the day.

As we left the animal orphanage, we were surrounded by about ten wild baboons.  They were quite playful especially the younger ones.  Suddenly a massive one came darting out of the forest, and made a beeline for us.  It tried to have a bit of a go at Tammi, with its arms raised and everything! It jumped back and forward at her and I think it was actually going to attack had a man not come running with a rock and yelling at the thing.  Poor Tammi was a little freaked out, as were Tracey and I!

We then jumped on another matatu to the giraffe center, which was a long way off the main road.  Fortunately, there were motorbikes standing by and we were able to be driven to the centre.  The place itself is pretty small, but of course the giraffes have a massive enclosure.  They roam around in what is pretty much wild.  It’s a natural habitat that has just had fences built around it.  There are nine giraffes but two or three are particularly friendly and hang around the viewing platform.  We got to feed the giraffes some little pellets and you can pat their necks too.

Their saliva gets all over your hand but apparently they are one of the few animals that have antiseptic saliva and no bacteria or germs can survive in their mouths.  So after hearing this, the guide managed to convince me to ‘kiss’ a giraffe!  I held a large pellet in my mouth and the giraffe reached down and took it from my lips!  So gross but definitely an experience and if you let go of the pellet at the right time you actually don’t get all that wet!

There was a great gift shop at the giraffe centre with some very unique things we hadn’t seen before but we were well and truly out of cash so we are hoping we can come back later and buy a few things.  It was also pretty cheap as far as souvenirs go, especially at tourist places.  So we jumped back on the motorbikes and then caught a couple of matatus back into town.

As we were walking through town trying to find a tuk tuk, we passed a medical supply store.  We have been trying to find a new oxygen mask for Gabriel who is now named Zach.  As there was another Gabriel it was a bit confusing and we don’t actually think that was his name anyway as the nurses weren’t sure.  Plus Zach is much more fitting, as we took it from little Zacheus in the bible.  We bought two premature sized oxygen masks and they will definitely fit him much better and hopefully help with the callouses he is getting from the oversized mask he currently has.

Once home I realised just how sunburnt I had been today.  I hadn’t really thought we would be outside all day, so only put cream on my face which was a fortunate move!  Tammi was pretty burnt also, and she had some moisturiser which helped but it was an uncomfortable night’s sleep with aching shoulders and back.

Nairobi Giraffe Center - big kisses!

Hospital Day 2

Little Lincoln with his new name :D

Tuesday 18.01.11

This morning we spent a bit of time chilling out, and I definitely needed it after not stopping since I left Melbourne.  I got some things done on the internet and then we had lunch at Khweza before heading in to the Hospital again for the afternoon shift.  We jumped into the ward with Lucky, Angle, Emboso, Damaris and Alvin.

The first thing we noticed was that Alvin was in such a good mood, and even smiling when spoken to.  Even though this is a good thing, it probably means he didn’t have his physio this morning.  Emboso’s fever appeared to have gone and she was much happier, giggling and blowing bubbles all afternoon.  Lucky and Angel were also their usual cheery selves and it appeared that Angel’s wound behind her ear had some cream on it which is great.  It does appear to be getting worse though so it will be good to keep an eye on it as the week progresses.

Damaris was quite sleepy today though he did wake up for a hug.  Next to Damaris is another baby called Gabriel who apparently has a mother but she doesn’t want to visit much, and hasn’t since we have been in.  It looks as thoughhe may well end up abandoned also, as he is so unwell.  Nobody is sure of what he has as they don’t run tests like they would in Australia, they just try to figure it out by observation.  One nurse said there was talk of sickle-cell but even that doesn’t seem to cover all his symptoms.  Poor Gabriel sobs quietly nearly the whole day and you can tell by the look on his face that he is in constant, immense pain.  He is fed with a naso-gatric tube and cries when you touch him or feed him and screams when you change him.  It’s so awful that nothing can be done to ease his pain.  Hopefully he will get better soon and his mother can take him home, but whatever he has it does look as though he might be in for the long haul.

Once they were all fed I headed over to the other ward to check on Martha.  She was in the middle of some painful physio, that looked a lot like karate.  They were chopping up and down on all of her limbs, and while I’m sure it is beneficial poor Martha was crying.  While they finished up I went to check on Gabriel.  He was swaddled in six blankets and looked worse than ever but the second I picked him he opened his eyes for the first time and gave a little cry.  I was so excited as that meant he was definitely improving!  He grizzled a little until he got comfy in my arms and then he just stared at me for the next half hour.  He was even turning his head to follow noises and moving his eyes around.  It just goes to show that a bit of affection can go a long way towards a child’s recovery.

We changed Gabriel’s nappy and blankets as they were all soiled through and then he settled down for a sleep.  The little boy in the cot next to Alvin was again so happy and content.  He loves just watching what is going on around him so I propped him up on some blankets so he could see better.  We still can’t get a name from the nurses, so I’m just going to call him Lincoln for now.  Once he was settled I headed over to Martha who had finished her physio.

Martha was lying in her cot naked, and with no nappy.  As soon as I put one on her she screamed and kicked.  She does not like having any clothes on at all.  I picked her up and she immediately calmed down and gave me that beautiful smile.  As I held her over my shoulder she went straight to sleep, but continued to sob the whole time.  It sounds like she is in pain, or possibly dreaming but it is very sad to listen to.  Once asleep I laid her back in her cot and she slept soundly.

We caught a very busy matatu back to Khweza after a bit of supermarket shoping.  Once back at the hotel I crashed after my big day.  My back was sore from carrying Martha who is surprisingly heavy and I was pretty exhausted after my big week.  I skipped dinner as I wasn’t feeling too well and headed straight for bed at 7pm for a good night’s sleep.

Hospital

Tiny Gabriel, quite sick :(

Monday 17.01.11

We met Tracey upstairs for an 8am breakfast and shortly after headed out to the Hospital to volunteer for the day.  We took a bus from Khweza into the city, then a tuk tuk out to the hospital.  It’s a pretty bumpy ride, and the driver took us to the wrong hospital first which he was not impressed with.  We headed straight up to the children’s wards on level 3 and jumped straight in to helping with the abandoned babies.  First I met Tammi’s little battler who we found out is named Gabriel.  He is a month old and still the size of a prem baby.  He has an naso-gastric tube for feeding and an IV port in a vein in his head.  He is also on oxygen 24/7 and the mask covers his whole face, giving him sore eyes as it pushes on them.  He really is a sight the poor thing and does not look very well at all.  Tammi says he was breathing better than the day before so that’s good news but even still the nurses aren’t sure if he will make it through each night.  Tammi hopes that he will be well enough for her to take in when the Upinde Centre is up and running shortly.

Next to Gabriel is another boy, who appears to be a month or two old.  He seems pretty healthy at this stage but the longer they stay in the hospital the more likely they pick something up.  This is how Gabriel got so sick, from something he caught at the hospital.  It’s a shame they have this other boy sharing the same cot as Gabriel, but hopefully he is strong enough not to contract anything.

In the other corner of the room in a cot all by herself was two year old Martha.  They think she has cerebral palsy, but if she does it is very mild.  She moves freely and loves kicking her clothes and diaper off in her cot.  In the whole morning I didn’t see any doctors or nurses engaging with Martha at all, probably because she is not sick but lives there because nobody else will take her.  She definitely has a physical disability of some sort but it’s hard to tell whether part of it is a result of being ignored in a cot without human contact all her life.  The second I reached down and touched her head she smiled and giggled so much.  It was as though she hadn’t been touched in ages.  It appeared that Martha had some sort of intellectual impairment, but again I wonder how different she would be if she was taken out of her cot and talked to even once a day.

I tried to find a nurse to ask if I could get her out of bed for a while but I couldn’t find one so decided to just do it.  The second I picked her up she was so excited and couldn’t stop laughing.  She was very heavy so we found a seat.  I just held her for about half an hour and she laughed the whole time, while kicking her arms and legs around.  Then I took her for a walk around her room and eventually she fell asleep and I put her back in her cot.  It would be great if I could find a wheelchair or carry her out to the garden but I don’t think the nurses will be very keen to approve that.  I will see how i get on with the nurses and maybe ask if I can one day this week.

Then we headed over to one of the other wards, where 7 year old Alvin lives.  He has a very severe case of cerebral palsy and hasn’t left his cot since he was abandoned there at birth.  Sometimes I can’t understand why they can’t put him in a wheelchair and take him for a walk.  Though he can’t really sit as his body is stuck in the flat position he lies in bed all day.  The doctor does about ten minutes of physio every morning but poor Alvin cries through the whole thing.  He only weighs 9kg and is fed through a naso-gastric tube also.  Even if they put another baby in the cot with him for an hour a day I am sure he would love the company!

In the cot next to Alvin are three abandoned babies.  Angel is lovely but she has an infection behind her ear which looks quite nasty.  Hopefully they are treating it but it didn’t seem that they were. It wasn’t cleaned or dressed during the day at all.  Next to her is Rambosa, who had a nasty fever when we arrived.  She spent most of the day crying but after a cold bath and being held she finally settled down and her fever began to drop.  The third baby in the cot is Lucky, who has 6 and a half fingers and seven toes!  At first though i hardly noticed, and his toes are all perfect.  He has half a second thumb on each hand and is the biggest thumb-sucker I have ever seen!  He is a very happy baby and very content with his friends in his cot.

In another cot is Damaris, who is a boy but most likely named after his mum.  He is tiny probably only a month old but seemingly quite healthy.  We spent most of the day in these wards but did briefly visit two others where 10 year old Steven is bed ridden.  He has been left in the hospital so long now he doesn’t even respond to talking and just stares blankly.  It is so sad to see the kids neglected like this.  There was a wheelchair beside his bed though, so hopefully that means he is getting out for walks occasionally.  There was another girl who would be about 4 or 6 who was blind.  She couldn’t walk as she has never had the opportunity.  She also appeared to have an intellectual disability too, but again I wonder if this is a result of circumstances.  Spending time with the children is so sad, and it is very hard to accept that there is so little we can do to help them, but spend quality time with them and at least make one day in there lives more exciting, and let them know love briefly.

We had lunch in the tuck shop which is pretty low on choice so we had a drink box and a pack of crisps and biscuits.  Shortly after, we had to leave as the Hospital Choir came in for rehearsal.  They are actually very good and it was quite a show they put on for us!  We finished up at the hospital at about 4pm and caught a taxi to the cinemas.  Catching taxis is such a drama as you have to barter with the drivers for an acceptable fare as they want to charge double for mzungus.  We had dinner at the mall from a mexican place, and the vege tacos were quite nice.  Then we went and saw Tron in 3D for about $AU6 which is so much cheaper than Australia!  Then we caught a taxi home and I headed straght for bedm absolutely exhausted and ready for another day at the hospital tomorrow.

Nairobi arrival

Sunday 16.01.11

The next morning we left early to drive through The Pearl which is named after its shape from aerial viewing, and has all been developed in the last 4 years.  It is a section of reclaimed land with apartment buildings and hotels and then more types of accommodation.  It is going to be used for the 2022 Soccer World Cup.  Most of the Pearl is not open yet but it is gloriously showy, and exquisite.  It reminds me of Sentosa in Singapore.  The amount of buildings in the Pearl is amazing.  They are also intricate in their designs and patterns.  We also drove past the car dealers, Maseratti, Ferrari, and Mercedes and i took some photos for James!  The whole of The Pearl just appears to be for the richest of the rich and is immaculately kept and maintained.  

Everywhere I went I kept thinking James would love it here for the amazing architecture and cars.  All of the cars appear to be only a few years old, and many still have the import stickers on them and the plastic on the leather seats.  After driving around a bit more we headed out to the airport where I was met at the car by a porter who loaded my bags and wheeled them inside, for a cost of 20 Riyals (about $AUD7), and apparently i didn’t have a choice as to whether I wanted his assistance or not!  The process of immigration was remarkably efficient and i had my bags and passport checked and myself checked-in under ten minutes.  Take that Melbourne airport and your one hour queue!

After a short wait at the gate, the bus arrived to take us to the plane.  It was a much smaller plane than the flight from Melbourne and there were only about 30 people on board, and I was the only white person!  The others were Indians, Arabs or Kenyans.  Well TIA, as they say!  Much to my delight I managed to get a whole row to myself, allowing me to stretch and walk as often as I liked.  I was also able to spread out all over the place which was great!  Unfortunately though, they didn’t have personal TVs so I spent the flight reading and snoozing.  Frustratingly, there was a man with incredibly bad breath somewhere in my vicinity and I had to spend the majority of my time with a blanket over my face! Refreshingly though, the flight was only a short 5 hours this time.

Getting through Visa Control and Customs was a breeze compared to last time!  And the Visa fee had halved from $US50 to $US25 which was nice.  Although considering the Australian dollar is trading equal to the US dollar at the moment it’s even cheaper again.  The Kenyan Shilling has lost a bit of value since I was here in 2009, so it’s definitely going to be a cheaper trip.  Previously, 100KSH was about $AU2 but now it’s only $AU1.37 which probably is a reflection of the US dollar not doing so well at the moment.

I met Tammi at the airport and we jumped in a taxi and headed to our hotel, Khweza.  It’s pretty nice and Tammi gets a big discount for advertising on her website.  Once I had settled into our room I met Tracey, from the US, a volunteer with To Kenya Forever who is also staying at the hotel.  Then we headed up to the roof top restaurant for a late dinner.  It’s a pretty funny restaurant with not much to choose from but my pasta with vegetable stew was actually pretty decent!  There is also a nice view of the city.  There don’t seem to be many mzungus staying at Khweza, and the few that are aren’t that keen to chat much.

Even though the temperature drops a fair bit at night, it’s still pretty warm in the rooms so we keep the fan running all night.  This plays havoc with the mosquito nets over the beds but being so tired it hardly bothered me and I was asleep in minutes.  The mosquitos aren’t that bad though there are a few but Nairobi doesn’t have any recorded cases of Malaria so there isn’t much need to worry about them too much.