Tuesday 21st November

Landed in Nairobi. Flight left the UK at 10.05am and we arrived at around 9.30pm Kenyan time. They are around 3 hours ahead. There were 3 other people on our flight who were part of the Oasis Overland Truck Trip so we were met with a taxi and taken to the Silver Springs Hotel. They drive on the left hand side of the road which I was quite surprised about. The hotel was ok - we were staying the new part which was hilarious - the guy who took us to our room couldn't find it - hee hee. Then when we got inside the plaster was nearly still wet on the walls and in the bathroom.

Wednesday 22nd November

At breakfast we met with the rest of the group. There are 17 of us as passengers plus the tour leader Kate (English), and the driver, Jason (Kiwi).

We set off shortly after our briefing and stocked up on supplies in the supermarket then headed off to our first campsite called Fishermans campsite at Naivasha. There were lots of monkeys in the trees of differing types. When they got up enough confidence they would let you feed them too. The lake is huge - bigger than Bewl Water (tee hee) and it's beautiful.

We were on cook group the first night we got there - we have to cook in teams of 3 and we made the first meal - baked potato with a range of sauces. We also prepared breakfast the next morning.

Thursday 23rd November

We went on Safari! We got in two long fibreglass boats and motored along the lakes edge, the guide pointed out birds and other wildlife to us and we passed right by a group of hippos. Around 18 of them all huddled together in the water. At the campsite they've put up a small electric fence which comes on at night to stop them wandering into the camp. Also we've been told not to go down to the water at night as they can be aggressive if you frighten them and if you come between them and the water.

It's been a really interesting experience so far - we're camping every night which is great fun - we cook around a large fire and everything! The roads are hilarious - so bumpy. We're in a big yellow truck called Gunga travelling around - when I get to a better internet cafe I'll upload some photo's but this one is just too slow.

Anyway, back to the safari, we landed at the other edge of the lake around an hour later and went on a walking safari -we saw giraffes (yes my first giraffe in the wild and he was beautiful), monkeys, zebras, elan (like a type of deer) and dung beetles - very funny little things! After returning to the other side of the lake, some of the group went to Elsamere which is where Joy Adams brought up Elsa, the lion cub.

Kate and I chose to walk back to the campsite through the village. The people are so poor. There is a lot of geothermal activity here and most of the electricity is hydro-electric. They have brought teams of geologists and other educated people to work here so they live in a gated community on one side of the road while the villagers live in squallor on the other side. They are in tin huts made of corrugated iron. The place is so muddy. But then again they are very happy people. The children are lovely and want to say hello to you and the adults we saw dancing in a field clearly practising for something. One of them was banging a drum and the rest were in rows just dancing in formation.They are also major exporters of roses here and there are loads of massive greenhouses.

Friday 24th November

We set off to Naiberi camp at Eldoret. Some of the campsites are quite basic and others very luxurious - I've only managed to have one hot shower since arriving but that's ok. Eldoret was luxurious and the place with the hot shower.

The place we are in at the moment (Jinja in Uganda) has cold showers but where there should be a back wall, instead it's completely open so you're in a 2 sided cubicle but you look out onto a huge fast flowing river - it's beautiful. So you're showering looking out at the rapids and the lush green countryside. Amazing - and because it's quite warm it doesn't matter that the shower is cold.

The children here are stunning - as you drive past they get so excited they shout and jump and dance around at having seen a bunch of white people! In Kenya they shout 'Jambo' at you which means Hello. You can get quite a lot of hassle in some of the towns from people trying to sell you things but in others it's not too bad.

We're going to see the gorillas in a couple of days. That will be truly amazing. Before we broke camp today our tour leader scooped up our leftover food from the night before and the breakfast, putting it in plastic bags and gave it to the local people at the campsite. a very humbling experience since we were about to throw it away.

We head off in the truck today and KT Tunstall is playing 'Find Yourself' on the speakers - that's what this year is all about.

We crossed the border yesterday into Uganda which was an interesting experience. You have to haggle with the men at the border to change money - am getting wise to their little tricks about how they drop a decimal place if you aren't careful or try to not give you enough money so you need to always count it and check. There were young boys there selling soda for us 2000 ugandan shilling - around $1. Got chatting with them and gave them a football that I'd brought with me as they were kicking around a makeshift ball made of plastic bags.

Tomorrow we'll be volunteering at the school - apparently we're painting. Should be good fun.

Sunday 26th November 

We had a free day before volunteering. Ventured into Jinja town centre - the ride getting there was hilarious - we caught a boda boda, which is a moped. The road was made of mud and they fitted me and Kate on the back - needless to say when he got to the first hill we had to get off and walk as he couldn't get up the hill with us on it. This caused much hilarity amongst the locals.

Thursday 27th November

We visited an Aids orphans pre-school. They were between 4 and 5 years old and had lost one or both parents to Aids. This was in Bujagali. The children were so excited to see us, the come up and hang off every limb. They were beautiful. They sang for us too and asked us to sing a song so we did Old Macdonald had a farm using the animals they would find locally. It was quite a humbling experience.

We then went to another school with older children and spent the rest of the day painting the outside walls. The children are quite shy and they would come up to us and hold their pencils out so we would put paint on them to colour them. The girls were also putting the paint on their nails and toe-nails!
Tuesday 28th November - we moved on again and were on the road for 12 hours. It gave me a long time to read the Lonely Planet guide book about Africa. The African name for white people is Mzungu which means to wander around aimlessly like a mad person. I think they do think we're mad sometimes. Got some great facts though - Lake Victoria which we're on our way to is the source of the Nile. This is the longest river in the world. The lake is so massive that it crosses the Ugandan, Tanzanian and Kenyan borders. It's also one of the deepest lakes in the world.

However, on a more sombre note, I was staggered to read that 1 in 3 adults in East Africa has Aids and more than 30 million people in Africa are infected with HIV.

Wednesday 29th November

We had a free day today so we wandered around Bunyonyi which is in the middle of the countryside. Got talking to some boys from the local school who were around 15. One of them was called Martin in English or Akankwasa in his language. He like his friends had a tragic story to tell - his father worked in the nearest town as a chef and was hit by a car last year, got sick and died as they couldn't afford a doctor. Hi Mum works the land as it is customary with African women. They grow banana and sweet potato. She also weaves baskets and hats and takes them to the local fair to sell.

He has 4 other siblings and here they have to pay to go to secondary school in Africa. It's 90,000 shillings a term - around 30 pounds. Sometimes his mum can't afford to send him to school or his sister. It was a real insight into how they view us - we have shoes and TV's and layers of clothes. They think we're all really rich and in relative terms we are.

But not to end on a sad note, one of the girls on the trip has a phobia of fish - she can't even eat them! Never heard of that before.