Joel in Kenya

The three day safari which is organised by changing worlds was highly anticipated, as the other volunteers who had already gone said it was the highlight of their gap year! I have always wanted to do a safari, and finally my time had come! After buying a plethora of snacks for the very long journey, Steph and myself took a matatu to Nairobi (at an ungodly hour of 6am). It was a long, cramped journey which was made considerably easier by Ellie’s iPod. Thank you Ellie! Once we had arrived in Nairobi we had a bit of a hassle trying to find our driver Richard... This was kind of my fault because I made us get out at the wrong stop! Woops... :p Still it was nice sitting with Steph on the pavement, chatting and watching the Nairobi bustle. Anyway we finally found him and we were reintroduced to the brand new volunteers who had landed in Nairobi a few days ago. I had met both Beth and David on the pre departure course, so it was nice to get chatting again and share our pearls of wisdom on living in Kenya ;p I was also pleasantly surprised by the vehicle which had nice comfortable seats and a lift up roof for the safari! Very fancy.. I felt like royalty We drove for quite a while into a small town, whose name I can’t recall. It was here that we met up with Karanja, Mary and a few of their friends/relatives. After shaking off a very enthusiastic salesman and sorting out our luggage, we set off again now with a crowded vehicle... There was one young lady who fell asleep for the whole safari, taking up the best spot! Honestly.. :p The journey to the Maasai Mara national park seemed to take for ever... The monotony of the journey only broken by a quick lunch break, a few giraffes and some spectacular scenery! It was close to sundown when we finally arrived at our campsite. The rooms were not good. They were a weird combination of concrete and canvas, but the main problem was not the toilet which wouldn’t flush, nor was it the lack of toilet roll or a toilet door, it was the bugs. There were so many massive critters which were everywhere. They all seemed to have a penchant for my bed too! We quickly set off for an evening drive though, so I didn’t get a chance to enjoy my new accommodation... :p I was so surprised when we entered the park, because we were immediately greeted by a whole host of animals. I think it was a generally agreed that the zebras were especially cool After a bit we saw a cluster of vehicles around this one area which means that something very interesting is there. Annoyingly though we didn’t go there straight away so when we finally got there the cheetah had hidden itself in the grass. It is pretty much impossible to spot a cheetah if he decides to hide! We were just about to start off again when the heavens opened... It was rain like I have never seen before, and with no warning! Very quickly the dirt tracks were turned into rivers and we couldn’t see more than a few metres. It was then very much to my suprise that we spotted something really amazing! It was the biggest pride of lions Karanja has ever seen, feasting on some poor animal. It was quite a sight with the pouring rain, feral growls accompanied by the sound of tearing meat and thunderclaps. The rain brought some spectacular shots, like a male lion shaking its mane, showering droplets... This was definitely one of the many highlights of the safari drive! At one point we were convinced a massive fight was about to break out as this massive male was prowling around the kill looking hungry. Unfortunately for us he was actually part of the pride, so he joined the feast without incident... Once we had seen enough (and taken literally hundreds of photos) we headed back to the campsite, a bit bedraggled but exhilarated nevertheless! The food that night was very tasty I just wish that Nancy cooked those dishes instead of goddamn spaghetti every night!!! :P Our night’s sleep was not quite so brilliant, what with the aforementioned bugs and the generator next door... Still I’m young... I don’t really need sleep... :p The next day after an equally good breakfast we set off on our all day safari drive. It was brilliant and I was surprised how much we saw so early on! I won’t recount every encounter, but here are a few! We ran into buffalo quite early on, and immediately I was taken aback by their obvious size, power and danger! Buffalo are the most dangerous animals in the park, due to their ferocity and size! They look like giant bulls on steroids... who are all in a bad mood! What made me laugh though are the fearless little birds which perch on the buffalo picking off all the ticks. After we drove away Karanja told us how he was chased by a buffalo once, which rammed the vehicle leaving a colossal dent... Thanks for telling us now Karanja... xD We also in that day came crazily close to two elephants! It was kind of my fault because I was egging Richard to drive us closer.. but I wasn’t expecting to get within 3-4 metres of them!!! Very scary indeed, although they paid us absolutely no attention unlike the buffalo which gave me the evils! We also saw a cheetah (finally) which got me excited until the cheetah just decided to take a nap... We saw so many lions as well! Literally everywhere! My favourite (and most scary) encounter was when we came across a mother and her cub napping on a knoll. We got within 1 metre of the mother at eye level too! This turned out to be a bad move because she let out this threatening growl and made to stand up. If she had decided to leap, she would have quite easily taken one of us out... Apparently this was the only time Richard has ever been scared doing a safari... woops! Great photos though The day ended with us having spotted three out of the big five, having missed out on the rhino and the leopard. We had however snuck across the border into Tanzania quickly, seen a massive croc, saw a load of hippos at the wildebeest migration crossing and a massive lizard about a metre long along with many other things! It was a good day Before going to the campsite we were taken to a Maasai village where we got a guided tour, danced with the Maasai men and I wore a hat made out of a lions mane! This was such a great experience even if the entrance fee was Ksh1000! The dancing was especially fun, which involved a hypnotic humming punctuated by all the men jumping straight up. When I joined in they all gasped and muttered amongst themselves. Not quite understanding what was happening I was challenged by one man as to who could jump the highest. Apparently I can jump very high because I beat him by quite a margin. The chiefs son then pulled me aside and, shaking my hand, said ‘You are a strong man Joel. You will win many women here..’ xD Maybe I’ll move.. ;p We were also taught to make fire using just sticks! David and myself actually made fire faster then the Maasai men! Who knows, maybe I have Maasai blood in me from some distant ancestors! xD The houses they live in are incredible! They take four months to make out of sticks and dung, and the women have to make them whilst the men hunt. They are tiny and are pretty much pitch black inside. I was here I was told that the boys to move into adulthood by spending 4 years living in the wilderness, where they learn all about surviving using just their surroundings. This all culminates in killing a male lion with only a spear and a knife! Having met many lions I have no idea how they don’t all die... As a trophy they take the mane and make a hat out of it! After all this they are finally allowed back into the village. Seriously mental... Anyway after a tour of their crazily overpriced market we went back to our campsite. We were greeted by Karanja holding a goat (an actual goat this time) ready for slaughter. It was a lot less clean this time, and the poor goat took a while to fully die... This had something to do with the fact the knife was blunt! Grr.. We watched it being butchered and David and Beth ate raw kidney, like the Maasai men do.... Errrgh! After spotting a weird organ we learned it was the gall bladder. Deciding it was a good idea to play catch with it we started throwing this weird sack of fluid around. Part of the fun was we weren’t sure who it would burst on! xD After a while I threw it at David who in trying to catch it managed to rip a massive hole in his shorts! To put the cherry on top the gall bladder burst leaving him soaked in god knows what! Heehee :D That night was very fun, what with the excellent food and a few Tusker beers from Karanja. Mary tried to sew up David’s shorts, but she was a bit inebriated at the time so they broke soon after. Unfortunately my night was not brilliant, so when we woke up at around 6am for a morning game drive we were all a bit sleep deprived :s We drove for hours that day trying to find something new and finally we were rewarded. I have absolutely no idea how Richard spotted it but we finally saw our rhino in the bushes. Again I urged Richard to get closer, so we inched our way forward to get a closer look. Not before long a whole carmarda of vehicles joined us, causing the rhino to retreat. All the vehicles save us chased after it. Richard, being far cannier, drove around running parallel to the rhino, finally intercepting it in a clearing. It was quite a sight. I was reminded of a massive tank, because the skin of a rhino looks like armour. The power and danger of this beast was unmistakeable. It looked right at us with its mean little eyes and we were all exhilarated and terrified at the same time. Amazing hardly does this justice, but it was amazing! Probably the highlight of the safari :D It was funny as the day progressed we got so used to seeing giraffes, elephants, lions, buffalo and all the other animals, that we became rather blasé about them all. However looking back we saw some amazing things that day. Unfortunately no leopard though... Oh well there’s always Lake Nakuru national park which is apparently a hotspot for leopards! After all this excitement the journey back home was mind numbingly boring. I got the worst seat as well, which exacerbated by car sickness. It was then with a bit of relief that we reached the small town where Karanja’s car was parked. Here we dropped off Karanja, Mary and their friends and we headed for Lake Naivasha, so David and Beth could do the usual tour. After this and a few more photos we finally headed for Nakuru. By this time it was dark and when we arrived at our respective houses I’m sure I wasn’t the only person to be relieved! Still it was a brilliant experience and I’m very envious of Ellie who gets to do it all again soon with her boyfriend who is coming out! I’ve already told her though that if she sees a leopard I will kill her... ;p

So now to more recent news.. Well David and Beth have settled in nicely. In fact I went swimming with them the other day which was great fun. Annoyingly though the vast majority of Kenyans CAN NOT swim and if you are near their attempts you will get drenched. This was the fate of my lovely book, my magazine, my bag, my clothes... and me. Grrrr... On a different note we were shown round another placement which looks promising. It’s a walk in clinic with plenty of different jobs to do! I would quite like to do some manual labour for them actually, along with David, but that has yet to be finalised. Emily has recovered from her illness, but has passed it on to me It’s fine though because it’s just a cold. Emily had it bad due to accompanying severe bronchitis, which I hopefully won’t get! Oh and we get new volunteers soon Kristian, (Emily’s boyfriend) India, (Emily’s friend) and Kelly who I have yet to meet! I’ve spoken to both Kristian and India who both seem very nice, so I can’t wait to extend our little (or large now) family!

Emily, Ellie, myself and Leah all climbed the Meningai crater just yesterday! It was great fun, apart from how we got charged an initial Ksh600 just because we are white. Corruption and racial discrimination are rife in this country. Usually it’s quite easy to ignore or circumvent, but this was outrageous! Eventually with the help of our Kenyan sis Leah, we got the price down to Ksh150. Still 3x the price that a black man would pay, but hey... Karanja was useless in this situation, saying we should just pay the Ksh600. I’m so glad Leah was there to help
Right that’s about it! I think that 2300 words is about enough! xD

Love you all!
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

I realise that a lot of time has passed since my last blog! It’s just so difficult to keep track of time here... I can’t believe that I have been here for so long already; it feels like I have been here for a few weeks at most! Anyhow I will devote this blog to the past five days as they have been by far the most exciting!
It was quite weird how quickly the whole plan to climb Mt Kenya coalesced, once I had the phone number off a previous volunteer who had found a good guide the whole thing took only a few days to organise. For a time it was uncertain whether any of us could do it, as the initial quoted price was $600! Through our new contact we managed to reduce this to $300 all inclusive for a 4 day hike. This was ideal for me, as it allowed for a £20 buffer to cover unseen costs within my monthly budget. It was also within the budget of Emily, which meant that our group consisted of myself, Emily and Rachel. For a time it looked like we would be joined by Leanne, but unfortunately due to a mixture of constraints it was not to be... In order to iron out all the little details, Josphat our guide came to Nakuru to meet with us. This was quite calming for us as it is a little difficult trusting someone who is about to receive about 1/5th of my savings when you have never met him!! Instantly I was impressed with his organisation, honesty and enthusiasm. Once this was all over we agreed to come down to Nanyuki on Wednesday, so that we could start climbing on Thursday. Time dragged in between that meeting and Wednesday... I was so excited about doing this, and wonderfully oblivious of the challenges I was to face! On Wednesday, after some last minute packing we set off to Nanyuki on a Matatu, having been told by Kevin (my Kenyan brother) that the journey was 2 hours max. It was 3 long, painful hours, and consequently we kept Josphat waiting for us.. :s Once we arrived there was quite a struggle getting out of the Matatu stand which is the worst place to be with rucksacks on. You just get pulled to different matatu’s by some insistent Kenyan who presumes that you want to go to Nairobi! It is really really annoying.. Thankfully we met Josphat pretty quickly and were shown quickly to our very nice accommodation. This was not included in the price, but at Ksh800 for B&B and a double bed en-suite room, you really can’t complain. Thank you Josphat for getting that deal! After settling in we were taken to Josphat’s own home for dinner. This is actually quite a big honour, as his house was smaller than my dressing room at home! The food was really good too, so we were actually quite touched by his generosity. It also really opened my eyes to how lucky my host family is... I had never really appreciated this before as my host family’s home is still basic in comparison to my home in England. We are so blinded in England, and even now having experienced life below the poverty line, I still have very little cognition of what a truly basic life in Kenya is like. Anyhow I digress... After getting a taxi paid for by Josphat back to our accommodation we went to bed in good spirits. Waking up at a reasonable time we had a very tasty breakfast and paid Josphat in full.. a total of Ksh74500! That is the kind of money that Kenyans would kill for :s I really didn’t like handing over so much cash, but hey... These experiences don’t come free. About ½ hour later we were picked up in our matatu and taken to the Sirimon Mt Kenya national park gate. I can’t express how excited we were when we got the first glance at the snow capped peak. It was so exhilarating to think we would be at the top in all but a few days :D I think that the pictures we took kind of show just how excited we were at this prospect! After checking into the park, paying the ridiculous fee of $150 dollars per head, we set off with our backpacks fully stocked with all the essential gear. I was surprised actually how steep that first day was. I was 9k up at 25% hill, but in all honesty I did not find this bit particularly challenging. I was a little concerned that Rachel was finding this quite an effort, but I had not yet found out the extent of her determination! We had a rather tasty lunch with plenty of peanut butter. Actually once we got to the lodge where we were to be staying I was feeling fairly refreshed by the walk rather than tired. This did cause a few problems, as I could not consequently sleep... at all! It’s actually amazing the endorphin rush we all got once we arrived at the lodge. The views were amazing; we were already 3 times as high as Snowdon! That coupled with brilliant food, great company and a spectacular sunset I was feeling like I was on top of the world already! We all woke up a bit groggy, none of us slept much for some reason. That grogginess was soon dispelled with copious amounts of tea, pancakes and much much more! I’m not joking we dined like royalty! I just felt a bit sorry for the man carrying all the food, cause we only ate about half of what was cooked...
We set off the next day in high spirits, unknowing that today would be quite a tough day! The initial part was fine, and we made good speed. After a few kilometres however, we starting climbing over a few valleys as we made our way around the mountainside. The second valley was very steep, and on the way up Rachel in particular was suffering. Yet we pressed on and eventually made our way up to the top of the valley side. It was here that we got our first view of Point Lenana. It actually didn’t look nearly as high as Bation and Nelion, but this was actually a trick of perspective. I actually found it massively uplifting to see our goal, and after a few well deserved biscuits everyone was raring to go! The next part of the journey was not too bad, as we were following a valley up towards our campsite. The pace was correspondingly brisk, which was a bit unfortunate as although I did not want to admit it, I was developing quite a bad headache which is a sign of altitude sickness... When we stopped for lunch (which smelled so bad) I got really excited when I saw this small rodent, thinking it was my first hyrax spotting! Unfortunately it turned out just to be a mouse... A cheeky one as well! It actually crawled into my lunch bag to look for scraps! After a few more hours of walking we had one final steep hill to challenge before our campsite. This was especially difficult for Rachel, who was struggling to catch her breath. She however would not be denied, and showed some seriously impressive determination. We finally got to camp and I saw my first hyrax! It was so cool and a lot bigger than I had thought! It was like an oversized guinea pig, and so I immediately liked it. I thought of taking one home for my mum who is obsessed with guinea pigs. This rock hyrax could definitely take on a fox! Shipton camp was just as nice as Old Moses camp; it’s in the shadow of Point Lenana, Bation and Nelion. The views of our climb tomorrow were very daunting; I just wish my camera could capture what it was like! The food was up to its usual standard of excellence, I swear we hired a Michelin star chef! The night though was not as great as one might hope... I just could not get to sleep, partly due to the loud and annoying mice! Emily had a few difficulties too, as she was convinced a mouse got into her sleeping bag. It might have done as well, because when I turned it upside down, I heard squeaking and something scampering away! After this Emily refused to get back in it, so I gave her my sleeping bag and braved the mouse infested sleeping bag... :p We had to get up for 2am, so I ended up going 62 hours with only a few hours sleep. This made the whole climb a lot harder... Oh well... Anyhow at 3:15 after nothing but a cup of tea, we set off in the pitch black as so to summit for sunrise. Going was tough, but good. We were going at Rachel’s pace and this was fine for me By this time my headache was gone, but was replaced with some rather nasty gut problems. A few immodium later and I continued, feeling pretty ill. I found out later that day it was the tea which caused all the problems. This was unfortunate as I was having about 5 cups a day! Meh... Anyway, after a while of some very steep scrambling up to the summit, a bit of sunlight started to illuminate the scenery. It was quite astonishing, and actually was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen! The only downside was that it dimmed the view of the incredible night sky. When I say incredible, it trumped everything I’ve seen before, except the Portuguese night sky many years ago... At this time we were so close to the summit! When the sun peeked over the horizon we were only 50m from the summit. These were a difficult 50m though. The path turned into rock climbing with sheer drops for hundreds of metres either side. Emily had a bit of a panic at this point, but we all still continued. We were very high, and were all feeling the effects of the altitude. It became a real challenge to catch my breath! When we finally reached the top I was so elated. It was one of the best feelings.. I really can’t do it justice! The views were stunning too... Happy times It was a bit weird leaving the peak though, as we were all exhausted but still had 18k and 2000m to descend! We didn’t even have the excitement of summiting or getting home to urge us on! The descent was even harder than the ascent, we all got some serious blisters... After trekking a total of 8k we had breakfast. I reckon we should have had lunchbefore summiting, because trekking 8k, ascending 1000m and descending the same amount on an empty stomach was not very fun... Breakfast was soo good after all this, but I had another cup of tea. I figured out what was to blame for my stomach after this. Oh well, I learnt after this. It just made the rest of the day a little uncomfortable. Thankfully the rest of the day actually flew by. The going was not too bad, as we were following a valley down. About halfway through the day the Scottish weather set in and we were treated to annoying drizzle. This made the going a bit treacherous, but a very tasty lunch made up for it xD However after the lunch the going got very tough. It was pretty steeply downhill and the terrain was like steps, which puts quite a strain on your muscles. Apparently the Naro Moru route (the one we descended down) is the hardest for this very reason. Given that we had trekked about 18k by this time, going was slow and tiring. Arriving at the campsite was a blessed relief...That day definitely had been harder than any DofE day I had ever done! Especially with such little sleep previously... Camping was great fun though, and I actually slept really well The next day was a lot easier for us. It was only 9k on a decent path going gently downhill. In fact the greatest trouble we got was from the monkeys at breakfast time! Keeping them away from our fantastic breakfast was a full time job xD This day flew by and before we knew it we had arrived at Naro Moru gate..  It was here that Jackson, Rachel’s trustworthy stick from day 1, was laid to rest. This was a sad time for us all :p Actually it was quite sad... I had really enjoyed our expedition and now it was over. I have to say our guide, cook and porter dood was fantastic! We tipped them each about Ksh1500 but they deserved so much more... As it turned out Josphat had made a miscalculation with the price so he didn’t even make a profit from the venture. I felt so bad when I learned this, but we were right up against our budget already. After many handshakes and goodbyes we boarded the already crammed matatu back home. It was so uncomfortable, I couldn’t move my legs for 3 hours! We all got pretty bad cramp and so were relieved to get out and back home. Kevin had even cooked us pancakes :D Gotta love him...
So that about sums up my trip to Mt Kenya! Next up, a trip to Kinangop tomorrow, where we will see the rural village side of Kenya :D I can’t wait, although I feel that I have already experienced the highlight of my trip! I hope to be proven wrong though...

I love you guys! Hope all is well in England
Love Joel

P.S The photos are on the blog photo gallery, so check them out

I may have nerves of steel and an unshakeable disposition, but the ride to Kisumu in the Matatu was absolutely terrifying! ;p I chose the front seat which was a blessing and a curse. The blessing was the open window and extra leg room. The curse was the fact that I could see all he blind overtaking going on! There was one point I really was worried for my life!!! Oh well... It was nice to get to our good accommodation and relax in a local restaurant with excellent food and an awesome smoothie! Kisumu was a bit of a surprise for us all actually! We were expecting this touristy, bustling city which would live up to the statistic of Kisumu being the 3rd largest city in Kenya. This however was a complete misconception. Despite Kisumu's proximity to the famous Lake Victoria, it often felt that we were the only tourists there! Despite this we still managed to have a great time treating ourselves! It felt really great to get some proper food into ourselves :D I’m a bit gutted I didn’t have fish in Kisumu though... It’s just it was so expensive there because all the fish is exported elsewhere!! Still the pizzas were seriously good! xD The first day in Kisumu we spent eating, relaxing and exploring the area. This was all very well, but the group was a bit unadventurous, choosing to eat supper in the same place where we had lunch! They even went back the next day for supper!!! I had a nice time exploring the famous Kisumu market, even if it was just soaking up the atmosphere whilst Emily and Ellie went clothes shopping! xD Come nightfall we still had a great time as well! We had a roof party! :O Well seeming as we were the only ones there it was more of a roof gathering but hey! :p The next day we set out for Hippo point where (after a torturously bumpy Tuk-Tuk ride) we promptly hired a boat for 3 hours and set out onto Lake Victoria. We thought it all very fun, until the engine broke... Not the best start.. However after a brief lesson of how to use a choke, we were once again powering our way through the thick weeds that choke much of Lake Victoria. At first we only saw the local fishermen, who waded in up to their necks dragging their massive catches back to land. Despite the bilharzia which is a real threat in the lake, they took no protection, often wearing nothing but a loin-cloth. Once we were further into the lake, we started to see more of the incredible wildlife of Lake Victoria. I especially liked the beautiful kingfishers which hover about 10ft above the lake, and then dive with the utmost grace and accuracy, to snap a fish out of the water. The hippos were pretty exciting too! The guides called then closer with an incredibly realistic impression, so we got to see them close up! I wish I had seen them fight though.. Apparently the ferocity and power is quite a site! After a few hours we had seen all there was to see, but it was still nice to just chill on the boat, and enjoy the scenery Just a shame the seats were so uncomfortable! I swear I have lost feeling in my buttocks from that trip and subsequent journeys on my bike!! ;p After this we went back and chilled, before a bit more clothes shopping with the girls. At first I found all this shopping a bit exasperating, but after a bit I just started to enjoy meeting the stall vendors and all the other characters! We then met the others who had stayed at the hotel and went out to eat. Some people went back to the aforementioned restaurant, but I really wanted a bit of variation, so me and a few others went in search of another place to eat. In the end we went to the Laughing Buddha just across the road. Unfortunately they were carpeting the place at the time, so we ate our meal accompanied by the smell of solvents... :s Still once we moved into the bar upstairs, it was a lot more pleasant and I had a great time. I did however get a glimpse of the kind of creepy bar behaviour which does unfortunately go on.. A man bought me a drink, which had me wary, then he asked for my email. I did not comply obviously, but it was a bit of an eye opener! Then two men came up to the girls and me, offering us an opened bottle of spirits which was apparently "his own recipe". I'm sure.. He then started to harass the girls, but thankfully they left pretty quickly. :s I know this sounds bad, but that kind of attention is inevitable being white. Even so we left shortly after all this! We were greeted in the street by the most impressive thunder storm I have ever witnessed! Monsoon rains and constant lightning overhead! It was really incredible, and we got to enjoy it from the balcony adjoining my room, whilst listening to tinny, cheesy music The next day some of us including me set off back to Nakuru. I would have stayed if I hadn't already have spent so much! The journey back was just as terrifying, but at least our driver wasn't quite as crazy as the last! It was good to get back mind.. I found it was really difficult to do what I wanted to do with the whole group of girls. Being outnumbered 11 to 1 means you are very rarely listened too, and this did put a bit of a downer on the trip. I think the key is to go in smaller groups even though I enjoy everyone’s company..

Once back in Nakuru, normality settled in pretty quickly. I'm trying to keep expenditures to a minimum.. I've already spent £160 this month! Unfortunately my medical placement is pretty much nonexistent at the moment.. We actually have to pay to volunteer!!! Mary (Karanja's wife) is looking into it for us though Mind you I had to employ a bit of first aid yesterday, because a man collapsed in front of the supermarket. I checked his pulse, his response to pain stimuli, and put him in the recovery position. I reckon it was one of three things. Either he was having an epileptic fit, or he was hypoglycaemic or he had overdosed. Personally I think the latter to be true.. It is an uncomfortable truth here that drug abuse happens far too frequently. Walking through the streets you are bound to find a boy with a bottle of glue actually glued under his nose.. It is quite disturbing.. Anyway I tried to contact the emergency services, but their line was engaged. I then went to find some policemen I had spotted earlier, who were useless and did nothing. It was all very humbling as I realise that despite my self proclaimed expertise in the field of medicine, I was just as useless as any other bystander.. Still I did all I could and I guess that is what is important.

Teaching is going well, as is cycling! I am really enjoying my time here, even if this past week has not been great. Apparently the 3rd week (i.e. this week) is a bad one for homesickness, and I would probably agree with that.. Still I have so much to look forward too! We plan to climb the Meningai crater within the next few weeks, and go to Mombasa in April, and climb Mt Kenya! I am not short of exciting things to look forward too I really am having the time of my life out here and even when I'm having a bad day I don't forget

I think that's it for me today This is only a tiny portion of what has happened to me.. but I've been sat here for at least 2 hours writing this!
I love you all lots.. and I hope that you are missing me ;p

Love Joel

So I have finally landed in Kenya. It is really very surreal being here, and knowing that this will be my home for the next 5 months! Actually I still can't get my head round it! But then again these few days have not been indicative of what my stay in Kenya will be like. The whole ethos of Kenyan lifestyle is "pole pole" which just means slowly. Even in the streets people take their time when walking, stop to chat, shake hands and just generally socialise! My first few days have though just flown by. We landed in Nairobi 45 minutes earlier than expected, which was a bit of a blessing for me! (The flight itself was mind numbingly boring as I had managed to pick the only seat which had a broken TV) Anyway we passed through passport control easily enough and was soon waiting for Karanja. This was a bit nerve wracking as we had forgotten to email david confirming that Karanja would be there!! Thankfully he was there and we were soon loaded into the car. Actually there was a bit of an incident with loading the car, as Steph’s bag was taken by a 'helpful' man and put in the car. We thought this was very kind... until he started demanding money!! Karanja just told him to shut up and go away.. It was however a good lesson, as being a mzungu, or white person, you are prey to all the opportunists out there looking to rip you off! Once we arrived at our hotel, Karanja did something a little unexpected.. He just left us saying he would pick us up around 12pm! This meant we had like 5 hours to kill!! We were both exhausted and planned on sleeping.. but it is pretty impossible to get some resting sleep in 28 degrees, especially when you are all buzzed up from the adrenaline! So we just sat and talked for ages, until Karanja finally came to pick us up He drove us around Nairobi, which is quite terrifying when you aren't used to the crazy bustle of Kenyan streets! On the way we tried to figure out how old Karanja was (he claims hes 67 which is a blatant lie). I even resorted to blackmail, but he is for some reason very unwilling to tell us xD Oh well... He drove us to the giraffe sanctuary, which in all honesty was not all that amazing.. Sure the giraffes are nice but its so much more exciting to see them in the wild (which I have now!). Then we went to have a drink and Karanja gave us the sex, drugs and rock and roll talk.. Needless to say I am hardly at risk from all that stuff :p After some more sightseeing we headed back to the hostel.. I have to say though, by this time our body clocks were completely thrown.. It had actually felt like we had spent two days in Nairobi, because of the long flight and the 'sleep' we had already had! That didnt stop us collapsing as soon as we had got into our rooms! I actually got into my pyjamas, but steph collapsed, head buried in her pillow, no mosquito net on and fully clothed!!

The next day Steph and I headed to Nakuru passing through some really interesting places like Naivasha! I won’t go into details as this blog is already going to be too long! We were however caught out at the rift valley viewpoint where we both ended up spending quadruple the value of stuff we really didn’t want... Steph spent 2000ksh on a soap dish!! Its probably worth about 500.... oh well.. :p We arrived in Nakuru and pretty quickly were assimilated into the family. Emily and Ellie are lovely as is Nancy my host and the rest of the Kenyan family! We all get on so well.. I definitely feel like i hit the house jackpot!! Unfortunately the next day Emily and Ellie were taken off to the Masai Mara, but all was well as Kat and Sarah who have been here for 4 months already, showed Steph and me around  Nakuru is a pretty amazing place.. At first I was a bit worried I wouldn’t like it, but in all honesty ive fallen in love with the crazy ramshackle place.. It has so much energy! I absolutely loved the Masai market in Nakuru! As soon as we came near it we were introduced to all the sellers who, despite an ulterior motive, are mostly great people! I especially like Stephen who sold me a really nice ebony giraffe for only 300 bob! His original asking price was 1200 though xD After all this excitement we went ack to karanjas and just chilled with Kat and Sarah. I tried sugarcane, which is like chewing a tree. I think I’ll only be doing that the once xD

The next few days just flew by.. I had one day where I was quite homesick, but that was because I woke up and I was the only person in the house as the girls were still at the masai mara.. but a cup of tea later and some plans with steph quickly sorted that out  It was a bit of a relief when Ellie and Emily came back though xD It was mice to have some mzungu company, especially as Emily and I have quite similar tastes in films! Bring on the crazy cheap pirate DVD’s! During these few days we were taken to the orphanages were I fell in love with a little boy called Kevin. He’s three, and is as cheeky as they get! I seem to be his second favourite mzungu though (Kat’s first) so im happy! Both Steph and myself have decieded to help out at Jaami orphanage, as St Annes just doesnt need us! But in all honesty i don’t spend much time there as i mostly teach at the moment. The next day we were shown round Kagoto primary school and Baraka primary school. Both were quite an experience, Kagoto being the most intense! We arrived in the kids break so instantly I found myself shaking hands with the WHOLE school! All 1500 of them xD Every time we entered a classroom the kids would burst into song, using their desks as drums. It was quite incredible.. but... intense! However despite this Ive ended up teaching at Baraka with Steph and Ellie who switched from Kagoto as so to get more lessons. In all honesty I really had no choice as everyone else is at Kagoto. Anyway I love Baraka, the kids are so much more controlled and there is a lot less corporal punishment. Im currently teaching science, English and PE. My first science lesson was awful cause I had no idea i would be teaching! Oh well... the next one went really well xD Oh and PE was so much fun!!!
In other breaking news I now have a bike! :D It is a pile of garbage, despite looking very snazzy.. However it does the job and it was cheap so I cant complain :D I reckon that I can do a some rides on it, in fact I will be more limited by the heat than the bike.. Cycling to school though is quite terrifying, and surprisingly difficult due to the high altitude, tricky off-roading and a rather challenging hill  Its so nice though to have the freedom of a bike.. It was only when I rode it that I realised how much I had missed cycling in such a short space of time! I can’t attach the pedals though.. that would be suicidal :p

Today Steph and I went to visit lake Bogoria! It was really amazing driving through Kenya as you saw a completely different side to the country. You also saw the extent of the drought which is crippling Kenyan communities at the moment.. Unfortunately this and the few touristy things we did, were unable to fully justify the horrible journey back. We were dehydrated, dripping in sweat, and i got mild heatstroke and car sickness...  Still I’m glad that I went, there were a lot of interesting things that I saw. I also managed to work out why water spins clockwise down a drain in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern! The wonders of precession... I wish I understood it better though.. where’s Matthew when you need him! xD Anyway I’m back home now and am watching Die Hard 2 with Emily and Kevin (my Kenyan brother).
That’s all for now.. Sorry it took so long to put up! I have been rather busy.. Love you all lots :D

Ok, so there is approximately 20 hours to go before departure, and it would be a little misleading if I said I wasn't nervous.. It almost feels like the start of a roller-coaster ride, where you are strapped in and you can't help but be scared even though you know it will be amazing! The excitement, anticipation and tonsillitis will make it difficult to sleep tonight!! Unfortunately I really haven't packed yet, so it will be a nice early start for me, so that everything is ready in time.. I have a suspicion though that my parents are more worried than I am.. although I guess that's understandable. I know that I can take care of myself but I guess that my parents won't know until it happens

It's nice to know though that I'll be travelling with a companion, Stephanie, and that when we get to Kenya, we are shown the ropes by the rest of Changing Worlds already out there It is funny how I have only met the Changing Worlds crew twice at the most, but they already feel a bit like an extended family! I guess that's because I have been checking their blogs pretty religiously and we are all so excited! :p

I've managed to get most of my goodbyes in.. Just the other day I visited my grandparents, and it was such a pleasure to share my excitement about Kenya.. And today I got about 4 phonecalls (one from my brother :O... ;p) all wishing me well! I have the nicest family xD There are a few more goodbyes to do, which shall be attended to tomorrow.. Not sure they would appreciate a phonecall at 11pm! :p

On a less happy note, I have had a few issues at the moment with finance.. I thought I had everything perfectly planned out.. (I had made a spreadsheet and everything!) But WHSmiths decided that they would underpay me by about £700.. Not cool.. Anyway I phoned them up and they are paying me an extra £170, but it still is not exactly what I was hoping for.. Thankfully that coupled with a tax rebate, and I'll be alright.. although I'm still pretty miffed.. :s Oh well..

Right, I better go to bed.. After all tomorrow I am travelling 4,228 miles.. xD
WOO! I'll blog every week or so in Kenya! Talk soon