A few highlights

Mount Kenya

This weekend was so great.. We went to Mount Kenya.
The drive was really beautiful, the central highlands region is really picturesque.

On the way we stopped at Thompson Falls, this is what killed my legs, the walk was SO steep. But completely worth it, its really impossible to take a bad picture in this place.

Mount Kenya was also just incredible! We were lucky to see it, its usually covered in cloud and fog, but we saw it on the drive and it just looked like it was floating, because the middle was cut off by cloud. I need to go back to this place. We didnt enter the national park because we were told we wouldnt see anything that day (so saved around 55 euros :) ). But we were taken an a walking trail (which we werent meant to be on) and nearly got face to face with some angry sounding elephants, so had to make a swift exit! How exciting!!

On the journey we also were greeted by some pro-corruption policemen, asking our Kenyan friend in Kiswahili to ask us to pay them 3000 ksh (30 euros)! But she was strong and plain refused. We were lucky to just get away I think, but its all part of thee experience! As is getting stuck in the mud on the roads and having to push, and getting told off for taking pictures of people! (We didnt delete them though, we just SAID we did ;) ) Here I am driving through the Mt. Kenya reserve, check out the grip on the steering wheel!! I was in so much plain afterwards!

And finally we were in the farm of our friend here. That was incredible too (I need more words).. There we were eating pears from the tree, tomatoes, leaves from the tree and pieces of bark. I loved it :)


Here we are, the crazy trio who went in search of Mount Kenya and succeeded :)

Phones, matatus and biogas

I finally have a new phone!

Ok, well, i have been at Baraka for nearly a week now and it has been quite a nice experience so far. I have had the pleasure of taking the local transport known as Matatu where you are literally putting your life in the hands of the drivers. Usually its around an 8 seater, but because they need to make money, basically they will stop and let anyone on. I was on there yesterday and there were 16 of us sat on top of each other and the conductor was still looking to get more.. and it was incredibly hot on there too! And i don’t dare watch as they are driving, the roads are so narrow, so holey and so congested with people, donkeys, bikes, cars and trucks weaving in and out.. its best to sit, close your eyes and think of a happy place hah!

On Friday i saw just how sustainable this college is. Its fantastic actually and it can serve as a good example for the Kenyans. The biogas plant was the most interesting to me, they have 2 cows which are able to give enough gas for cooking for a family of 8, 3 meals a day. And then the manure left over is used as fertiliser which they use on their own crops. It was so cool to see. Then further down they have the human biogas.. which was weird to see at first but then when you realise how good it is, and the fact that there is virtually no smell, you forget just what is powering it! The canteen cooking area is also powered using biogas from the animals here.. (and some from the humans too)..
They really make use of everything here and there is very little waste.. they collect the rainwater, my hot water is from solar (which is instant as well!) and the food that we eat (well, the vegetables and milk and eggs) are from the campus.

I went into the city, Nakuru, yesterday and it was so so hot, finally a bit of vitamin D! Actually, having said that its even been warm here in Baraka.. i have just come from sunbathing on the grass outside. I have started to plan my upcoming trips too, im so excited to see animals not in the zoo!

Oh and yesterday, I saw the President. I was having lunch in a cafe and there were people on the streets the suddenly this huge convoy comes by, then a camera crew then a guy waving from his smart looking car.. me, clueless, didn’t know so had to ask what was happening, which was when i was told that the waving guy was the president!

In Molo

Internet is truly like gold dust here..

I arrived yesterday to Molo and to the college I am staying at here. Its beautiful, but in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. But there is no denying that the scenary is incredible!

Thing is... internet here is so hard to come by! And when you have it, iits very very slow and intermittent. Im back to the days of dial up!... actually, dial up minus the conenction ;) ok, I exaggerate, but its seriously that bad.

AND I am without phone too.. my phone decided to die and wont switch on. So I am hoping to go to Nakuru tomorrow to get a new one. I think I definitely need one here, although even signal up here is dodgy!

I have gone off meat and chicken too.. I think for the rest of my time here, I am going to eat as little as possible. Basically, I have seen how they buy the chicken, its live and they then kill it themselves. I have experienced this first hand.. and today we went shopping for a chicken and to see them tied up and trying to run away was so awful, I just cant eat it anymore.

On the plus side, I am in the middle of the main attractions here, so thats good for me. I will visit Mt. Kenya next weekend and a few weeks after that the Nakuru national park. Then I will make my plans for thee Masai Mara and lake Victoria too.

Counting down the days!....

World cup!

The place has gone football crazy! :) Kinda nice to be here during this!

Yesterday I went shopping in the supermarket and the range of things were crazy! it was like an American store. I decided to stock up on soups and hot chocolate (strawberry cadburys!) because its going to be cold (i cant say that enough.. im so British complaining about the temperature!).

And we went for dinner in the evening, it was really nice. We had roasted goat meat.. very tasty. But the meat here is very tough, i guess that comes from the lack of fat and load of walking the animals do.
Kenya is famous for its meat eating, apparently they serve crocodile, camel (i saw camel milk in the supermarket, was a bit tempted), buffalo and all other animal you can eat.. this I need to see! I guess I will go next time I am in Nairobi around August.

When I was walking home from the shopping place I got incredibly dirty, up to my knees I was covered in thick mud (it had been raining) but it was kinda cool!

I am hoping to visit Masai Mara, Lake Victoria, Mount Kenya and Kilamanjaro while I am here.. that is my mission before I leave (oh and a bit of project work if I find the time ;) )

First time below the equator!

It was a long journey, but I finally made it :)

I managed to take just 18kg with me, I think thats incredible! But then again, I have hardly any clothes with me.. But thats ok, I can buy some things here, I have been informed that it will be cold up in Molo, so I have to get some fleecy-esque jackets.

The first flight to Istanbul was ok, I must say, I dont feel too much for Turkish airlines.. (sorry). And i booked myself a window seat but when I got there a turkish guy and his mother were sat there and when I explained it was my seat they just asked me (without any shame) if I would mind sitting on the aisle. OK, why not.. but then I turn 15 mins later to find the mother had fallen asleep anyway, what a waste of a view! But there was a whole unoccupied row so I took it :)

The second flight was better, I was sat in a seat with crazy amount of legroom.. but next to this girl with the most incredibly smelly feet imaginable and the least ever regard for personal space.. ie. she thought it was ok to sleep ON me.. Oh, and IFE?! There was none, I didnt even bother to open the headphones because I didnt wanna have to watch on those lame-o overhead screen things. But it was a nightflight which was good, so I tried to sleep. It was weird though, everytime I looked out of the window it was just pitch black.. there were no towns or life it seemed.. amazing.

Today I am at Tangaza college and I will be in Nairobi until Sunday. I already have a new phone number for over here too :)

Oh and my worry of not eating enough? No chance.. ;)

The night before...

I am finally packed (I think).. How am I meant to go away from 3 months with a 20kg allowance? At least 17kg is just from things like toiletries (did I even spell that right?! My english is getting worse) and mosquito repellents (because they like me alot).

I hope I manage to get loads of nice pictures to post here and I hope I get a good internet connection too! I have no idea what to expect over there as there is nothing to read about it online or in the Lonely Planet either. Maybe this blog will be the first draft of a rough guide to Molo! ;)

Here I am desperately looking for the word "MOLO" in the guide!