An early start and we set off back up the dirt track towards Mombasa. The long dirt road, the dodgy main road and then a ferry trip back in to the city.

At one point we had a stop off at a resort. We drank smoothies, someone parachuted in and landed on the beach and a man was offering camel rides on the postcard perfect white sand. The change in surroundings from the roadside poverty to the beachside luxury was unbelievable.

When we eventually pulled over into the volunteer housing area and piled out of the van. The plan was to visit 2 schools and a community project. We met head teachers and community leaders. We walked through slums and were greeted my smiling children doing their best to swing off our arms, parents sat back watching and smiling. The slums always felt safe. At one point, Lou our guide was calling over to a kid in a field. Apparently he should have been in school; he came whooping and hollering round the corner, full of life with a huge axe in hand. He promised that would be in the next day and skipped off to re-join his much younger brother and sisters in the field.

The community projects were fun to visit, there was plenty of banter flying around and lots of learning being done. Math’s and English were at the top of the agenda in a huge shed/church/community center.

the great shed/church/community center

I woke up, had breakfast and took my Malaria tablet.
We met up at the gates of the complex, met up with the volunteers and headed to the pier where the boat picked us up. It was a very bright day and the open water smelled of salt, by 8.30 we where cruising along at great speed.
The team onboard was made up of a Spanish phd student – Sergie (he had spent time all over the world monitoring killer whales, dolphins and more), a few Europeans and an American. The captain was a local guy who new the waters and although it seemed like he was never paying attention he had an uncanny knack of spotting things way before any of the rest of us. Everyone was spread about the boat at specific look-out points and two guys recorded info. One of which had a GPS and was looking at the location of fishing boats, wildlife and tourist boats and the other was recording the behaviour of the wildlife. Every 20 minutes everyone rotated to the right to ensure they kept alert.

I was sat at the back of the boat and more along for the ride to see what happened rather than to be involved. No chance! Within minutes I was on my feet scouring the water – desperate to be the first to find a pod of dolphins.
First we saw a turtle, then a huge manta ray breached about 50 meters in front of us, it jumped clean out of the water! After about an hour we found a pod of dolphins (Captain spotted them) and for the next 6 hours we spent time with different groups ranging in size from 2 or 3 to about 10 animals. It was awesome. Numerous times they came in to within a few feet from our boat. They jumped, played, hunted, travelled and chilled. It was fantastic and I was really impressed with how close we got.

A week before a dead humpback had washed up on the reef and the team that was out on the boat approached to take samples. As one of the guys leant over the bow two tiger sharks started to take chunks out of the whale. A close shave and a great adrenaline rush for those guys! We saw a couple of sharks cruise by and the dolphins immediately disappeared, we found them 15 minutes late a good distance away.

The area that we where in was a marine park, fishing was banned within the perimeters and the tourist boats had a code of conduct that they were supposed to stick to. The volunteer boat was out to monitor this and to see the impact of the tourists on the dolphins behaviour. The program has been going for 6 years and they already have some great info – the plan is to complete a 10 year study and then present the findings to the Kenyan authorities who have requested the research. The idea being the sustainability of the industry (if the boats scare the dolphins off long term them obvious there is an issue!) and the protection of habitat.

Sergie and the rest of the guys where a pleasure to be around, their enthusiasm clearly shone through. We had a great lunch of coconut rice, boiled eggs and potato stew and caught the sun.

As we headed in after a chance to snorkel the reef I could have sworn I saw a whale! It was getting late though and we had little fuel left so we made for land rather than go back to investigate. I wished I could go out the next day.

We landed on the island beach and headed up to visit the village. We were told that this community was conservative Muslim, so that meant long trousers, covered shoulders and heads. The school was lots of fun and a group of giggling children kept asking for shampoo, they thought it was the funniest thing ever – we all walked away laughing. In the village it was clear to see that these people had even less than the people on the main land. I didn’t think that that was possible. One of the main issues that they face is that water runs out every year and then they have to bring it over by boat. This costs a fortune and there are plans for a new project to help collect more rainwater.

Back at the volunteer base we had a good look around, they had limited power and no running water, however they had lots more space and I loved it. Great views, a sea breeze – it was truly tropical, add to that the fact that the project is making a great difference to the lives of great people and you can see why people stay here.

That night we headed back out in to the bay to watch the sun go down then headed to bed. We were living in two different worlds, enjoying the beauty of the place and seeing how people can be global citizens and help each other.

(Source: smallerearth.co.uk)

After a hard days work in conservation AND working with children these guys take a well earned break.

The best choir ever!

I slept straight through and was up all excited for the day ahead. Breakfast was fruit and coffee, we met the team at the gates of the resort. I was assigned to the south forest group, apparently I look ‘big and strong’, hmmm, what would I be doing?
It took about 40 minutes to get to the edge of the forest, and then an hour and a half of climbing, crawling and walking to get to our destination. We saw a few monkeys and lots of different types of birds. Apparently there were lots of baboons in the area, none to be seen though.
It was getting hot and I was half way through my first litre of water by the time we took a brief break. One of the guys, Tom, a Canadian 19 yr old proudly sat sharpening his machete. Next was my turn, I worked hard on my blade, copying the other volunteers.
The plan was to cut a straight transect in to the forest for 90 meters. Then, at a later date a team would station themselves there to observe and record the wildlife activity.
After a few hours of hacking away (and at one point just missing my thigh!) we packed up and started with journey home. It was very hot and tough going. Then we got lost. As the forest was surrounded inland by the local village and by the beach on the coast we were never in danger – but it still stressed me out! Especially at one point when we had a break, got up, walked for 20 minutes then ended up in the same spot. I was disappointed in myself for not noticing that we had walked in a big circle.
Eventually the forest started to clear and we ended up in the outskirts of the village. I noticed a kid, about 14 yrs old was walking behind us. As he over took I said hello and we ended up chatting. The English premier league is very popular in Kenya. We talked about Rooney, Torres and other hero’s. The kids name was Husain and he plays for the Samba Boys every Saturday afternoon. At one point I asked him what the best part of living in the village, Shimoni, was. He looked at me as if I was a complete idiot. In hindsight – it was a bloody stupid question. The people had nothing. I quickly gave him a way out ‘the people, right?’ and he nodded.
We got to the centre of the village and the volunteers headed off to the house and I crossed through the town alone, towards the place I was stopping at. On the far side of the village, I heard a child shout ‘I said a boom chicka boom!’ and I nearly fell over. This is the start of a song that I learned 10 years earlier in the USA working at a summer camp, and have sung with children in the States nearly every summer since. I quickly fired the line back and enjoyed singing a silly song at the top of my lungs in the outskirts of the slum. With a huge smile on my face I headed back to shower. I wonder who taught those kids that song?
As soon as we got back one of the guys told me the next stop was a local school, the choir was warming up to sing for us. Brilliant. We arrived at the school at it was absolutely crazy. Children shot by at a million miles an hour, all kinds was going on, just like any playground anywhere in the world. There were quiet kids, sporty kids, older kids teasing each other and kids sat back watching. The big difference? The young kids wore rags and had bare feet, the playground was a big patch of mud and the classrooms were hollow.
The choir was taking shape, about 30 children gathered in the shade of a huge tree. One of the volunteers, an Irish guy was trying his best to regain order as he hung the words to the next song on one of the branches of the tree. ‘We are the World’ by Michael Jackson. The volunteer sang a line completely out of tune and asked the kids to repeat it. The next 20 min consisted of fits of laughter and awful singing from the volunteer at the front as the children looked on bewildered. The issue was not the children’s singing ability – in fact they repeated everything just as it was sang to them, rather the issue was the discrepancy between how the volunteer thought he sang and what came out of his mouth. The children actually repeated everything back to him exactly as he sang it, awfully!
Eventually the children dispersed and the head teacher called us in to his office. 10 of us gathered around a tiny desk and a huge pile of paper was plonked down in front of us. Covered in numbers. The head teacher stood back as proud as punch. Eventually it transpired that the numbers were exams results, and they were on the up and up. With the help of the volunteers everything was on the up and up.
In Kenya – school exams are in English. Lessons are generally taught in Swahili, hence there is a problem. School means at least one meal a day, a chance of a free school uniform (instead of the rags that the kids on the street had) and as the head teacher said ‘HOPE’. At 13 the children sit an exam, if they pass they can continue their education, if they fail, they are out. Therefore the work that the volunteers do is invaluable.
We headed to the gates and saw a teacher, sat in the middle of the playground reading with a child. 5 more lined up patiently. As each one finished his or her turn they scrambled off, and another one would join the line, unprompted. More volunteers would mean more kids reading, and eventually passing more exams. Even a 2 week volunteer experience can contribute to the development of the children.
That evening we headed off to ‘4 tables’ Abdullah’s restaurant. We had locally caught fish, coconut rice, cabbage and chapattis with our hands, it was the best meal I had had on the trip. The restaurant was in the middle of the village and the meal cost about £1.
What a great day.

(Source: smallerearth.co.uk)

road tripping in Kenya!

The next day I met the group of people that I was travelling with, a couple of Americans, Brits, a Swiss, Swede and a Dutch guy. We where all excited and enjoyed the hotels pools and bars in the glorious weather. The group was a well travelled one; every continent had been checked out – although this was all of our first time to Kenya.
At about mid day we climbed in to a small battered 9 seater Nissan van and head through the city. It was chaos. It seems that if you have your vehicle’s nose slightly in front you have the right of way. Through the tiny windows in our van people constantly offered us all kinds of stuff – coconuts, coke, cashew nuts and more. All the street venders had a great attitude and constantly mingled between the vehicles.
We tried a few places for diesel – 4th time lucky – apparently there was a shortage. Next we had to get a ferry, the inlet was narrow but as huge ships used it to access the port a bridge was out of the question. After queuing for a while our hot and sweaty van chugged aboard. All of the cars pulled up then hundreds of people crammed on and we made the 5 minute trip. The ladies all around us had bright and vibrant clothes on and looked great.
Heading up the ramp on the other side was madness; people, animals, lorries and huge hand pulled tailors had a steep bank to negotiate. Apparently 80’000 people cross the bridge each day. Armed security was all over the place, although most of them where asleep!
As we left the city limits life slowed down, there was less rubbish and fields began to appear. Children began to wave at our van, shouting ‘jambo!’ Swahili for hello.
On both sides of the road people set up businesses of all kinds, fixing bikes, cooking cobs of sweet corn and more. Everywhere we went the smell of burning wood was never far away. Town streets turned in to sugar cane fields, suddenly we where in the middle of nowhere. I was absolutely loving it.
At one point our van got pulled over by the police, they had all kinds of questions and were clearly after a bribe from the westerners in transit. As soon as it became obvious that one was not coming they shoed us away and we set off at great pace.
Everything in Kenya had the motto ‘poli poli’ (slowly, slowly) apart from the driving, which was mental. We paced an army checkpoint, on guy was swinging an AK47 around his finger. Somehow it did not go off!
We ducked off the main road, 25 minutes from Tanzania down a dirt road. The van slid and skidded all over the place through the red mud. Somehow we kept going over 30mph, ducking head on traffic and the walking people. School girls in head scarves and young lads kicking footballs flashed by the window as our rollercoaster ride took us further and further away from the main road.
Eventually the sun set and we pulled up in a slum, wound our way through and our driver, Drew, spoke to nearly everyone that we drove by. We came to a set of gates and pulled up in a simple, beautiful set of cottages. A world apart from the poverty 20 feet away.
We dumped our bags and set off straight in to the heart of the slum. Weary children constantly came and said a cheerful hello. Parents sat close by watching and each building was lit by a dim light from open charcoal fires. We went up and down, round and through the slum and ended up at the volunteer house, at the heart of the community. It felt safe, if not a little mind boggling.
The volunteers were busy making the evening meal, we had a look around and spoke to a few people. The accommodation was super basic, matching their close by neighbours. We received instructions to be up at 6.30am and were ushered back to the cottages to fall asleep.

Interested in the adventure? www.smallerearth.co.uk/programs/volunteering/country/kenya/

(Source: smallerearth.com)

5am start, why can I never go to bed early pre-flight? Very excited and Sophie drove me to the airport. First flight to Paris, not too bad – then off to Nairobi. 8 hours, luckily I got economy plus so I had plenty of room. Flying over Europe the sky was pretty clear – I spotted Naples and Mount Etna.
After a couple of hours I saw the African coast – a huge expanse of desert disappeared inland. We flew for hours and hours over the vast expanses of the Sahara, desolate and inaccessible. Later clouds formed blocking the view, I slept.
We touched down then got off the plane, in Africa! The airport was very busy, higgldy piggldy and people everywhere. I walked, absorbing. At one point I saw a sign – transfers to the left and transfers to the right, not very helpful!
Lots of people were praying, most shops were closed, there were lots of old people. I kept my head down and tried to walk through unnoticed. I’m 6’8’’ and very white, I must have been visible from miles away!
After crossing the street, dodging racing cars I found the domestic terminal and sat in the waiting room for my next flight. It was like an old bus station. The smoking area was accessed via the departure gate and next to the plane. On the TV the news was is English, talk about recent football elections and the invasion of Somalia.
Important looking people marched through the airport security, staff tried to challenge them but were ignored. Eventually we began to board, on the way to the plane a member of staff gave me a new boarding pass – seat 2c – Business Class – SCORE!
We had an Indian selection of treats as we flew and reached Mombasa in no time – the airport is almost identical to Suva, Fiji.
With 3 flights to Africa I suppose I should have expected my bags to have been lost, after not finding them I found a member of staff who filled in the relevant paperwork and sent me on my way. Gutted! I was tired, hungry and worried that I did not have my malaria tablets. Ah well.
I grabbed a taxi, as soon as we left the airport the road was in a terrible state! Huge holes and cars all over the place. It was about 1am by now and we drove through the city. I was excited about being ‘Under African Skies’, I absorbed all of the sounds, colours and smells. People on the street stood next to motorbikes – keen to get a passenger so they could earn a few shillings, a couple of bars were lively and trucks swerved all over the place.
Arriving eventually at the hotel I grabbed 2 bottles of water and a bottle of beer and headed to bed. My adventure had begun.

(Source: http)

Lots of books have arrived and I have started to learn all kinds about Kenya – its neighbouring countries and national parks.

From huge flat lands to mountain ranges, stories of dolphins and lions. I have spent a lot of time on the FCO website trying to figure out what is and what isn’t safe out there. At the minute I believe that the best advice is to stay away from the north and away from the poorest areas of Nairobi. That is a huge relief!

Mombasa is my destination and it is in the bottom right hand corner of Kenya. Right, I am off to play 5 – aside football.