So… it has been a while since my last and first only blog! But I hope you understand that I have been having far too much fun to be sitting in an internet café writing to you lot!! In fact I keep asking myself why I didn’t do this years ago?
I am now in Malawi at the Lake, it is absolutely beautiful! But I am feeling a little sensitive today after a very lively fancy dress party last night! Unfortunately you will have to wait till I am back in the UK for photos as the internet is so slow I would be here all day trying to get them on line.
I guess I should explain how it was that I ended up spending the whole of January lying on a beach by day and partying all night in Zanzibar instead of working in Kenya…
The election in Kenya was on the 28th December and everyone was talking about it! On the west in Kisumu there could be only 1 winner, Reila! But as we went into the 29th Dec and there was still no announcement about who had won there was unrest in the City. The orphanage where I was living was right next to a slum area of the town and we sat on the balcony all day watching people walk into town to loot. It was unbelievable the things they were coming back with, from tin roofs to sofas, and I kid you not when I tell you there was one man with a coffin strapped on the back of his bike. As the day went on we could feel the atmosphere become more charged but I felt safe in the orphanage with the big gates and wall with the Masi guards. We were next to the local police station as well but the 3 police man decided it would be safe to get out of uniform! As it got dark everything seemed to get back to normal until about 9pm. Which is when there was a mass march from the slum area into town, again we sat on the balcony watching it all go on… that was until the gun fire started!! It was unbelievable; I don’t think I have ever been so scared. The masi guards on the gates that were meant to be protecting us had decided it would be a good day to get drunk, so when the people were going past they opened the gates to the orphanage!! All the workers in the orphanage were screaming for them to shut the gates but didn’t dare go downstairs! The rioters really weren’t interested in us though so they just walked on by! I think it was about 12pm that night that I decided I should think about leaving Kenya! We drove to the airport at 4am, not completely sure what we would find on the roads or even if we would get through as the people had blocked a lot of the roads. Once we got to the airport with all the locals who could afford flights out of the country we had another battle on our hands! One minute we had a flight, the next minute a local would come in and hand a wad of cash over and all of a sudden the flight was full and we didn’t have a seat!! But we managed to get on a plane at 1.30pm in the afternoon to Nairobi. When we got to Nairobi we went to the travel agents to see what flights we could get, it was touch and go whether I was coming home or not! But managed to get a reasonable flight to Dar in Tanzania so off we went!
Dar is a crazy place, really hot and busy! The first night I was there I hated it but now I have spent some more time there I actually really like it and am already planning on coming back to spend some time working there (Hope your sitting down Dad!). But as it was New Year and we didn’t really have anything to do we decided to get the ferry across to Zanzibar… best thing we could have ever done!! It is so beautiful, just paradise, the weather is great and the people are so welcoming! It has got to go down as one of the best New Years Eve ever, at the bar all night drinking and dancing around a huge bonfire!! We were just planning on spending a couple of nights in Zanzibar but we managed to stretch it out to just over a week!! This is when my American friends Judy and Bennett flew home so I went back to Dar and did some teaching in a school, which was a crazy experience. My first day the head master took me to a class of 6 8 year olds and told me they have 45 minutes of science, maths, English and art, did I have any questions!?!?! I quickly borrowed some text books from the school and wrote some lesson plans! I had some fun with the kids, not sure how much I actually taught them in the week I was there but it was definitely fun!! I met some really nice people there too, 1 girl was from Loughborough!
After a week of working in Dar I thought it was time for a break and headed back to Zanzibar where I stayed for the rest of January until my overland tour started in Arusha, Tanzania. I know I should be ashamed of myself but you only live once!!
So far the tour is going really well, there are 21 of us and it is a great group even though I think it could get a little like big brother after 43 days! It took a while to get used to living in a tent and being dirty all the time but I am at peace with it now!! A bit of dirt never hurt anyone!!
Time is flying and I can not believe I will be home in 5 weeks! I’ll see how many blogs I can fit in between now and then!! I am off horse riding in the bush now and then we go in Lake Malawi with the horses… not sure how that works but I’ll let you know!!
Take care xxx