Muga, thats a greeting in Kimeru the local dialect/language for Meru. My time in Kenya is nearly up and there is only 2 working weeks left. This means I will be joining you all in England soon and you can grill me about everything you have read in person, and the stuff I have ommitted. But there are blogs to be written in the meantime, including this one so I will crack on.

If I remember correctly I may have mentioned something about a dowry agreement last week. Well this happened last saturday, shortly after I wrote the blog and the bad news is that I still have not found out how much a young Kenyan lady is worth. You see, what happened was we (our side of the family, representing the groom) turned out in force, everyone from parents to sisters in law to cousins thrice removed were there in their Sunday best. We were greeted at the Bride's family's home by a similar sized dynasty and were ushered under a marquee where we were sat. There was then a collossal amount of eating and a few speeches (in Kimeru) and then every member of each family took it in turns to stand and introduce themselves and their respective role in the family, including us (family friend, staying with brother of groom if you were wondering). Then a couple of key members of each family retired inside to broker a deal which the groom must pay for the bride. It was at this point that we slinked off to see our other uncle's home. I doubt they would have announced the sum anyway, but I will keep on trying to find out.

So from there we went to visit our uncle Patrick at his home. Now I do not wish to sound like a snobby, priveliged westerner so I will just go over the facts. Now bear in mind that he has a wife and 3 month old son, his home was off a small courtyard and consisted of one room perhaps 15 ft by 12 ft, no larger, they use a communal toilet and 'facilities' with 7 or 8 other homes and the cooking is done on a charcoal stove outside. Also consider that both parents worked before the baby and are fairly well off by local standards, so this is the equivalent of a young professional, starter home. Inside is cosy and comfortable however, and they have managed to do a lot with the space they have. Patrick tells us that they are looking for a new place but it is very hard in Meru, despite being a property agent. We semi-seriously asked what they would like their son to grow up and do and his wife (Patricia. No, seriously) made us laugh when she quick as a flash jokingly responded 'Obama 2'.

Sunday was spent largely in leisure at the local swimming pool, partly larking about, partly sun bathing. On Monday we were back in the forest and had a fair old trek on our hands into the middle of the forest where seedlings from the nursery had been planted before our arrival in a clearing caused by logging. Here, it was our job to weed around the seedlings and keep them in good health. Most of the seedlings were still fairly small having been planted in November or March before the rainy seasons and were planted in straight lines to give the forest that unique, manmade feeling. This job occupied us on Tuesday as well. On Wednesday and Thursday, we were back down at the Forestry deparment HQ and were working with the Pangas (Machetes) again. This time we were clearing a patch of sparse woodland of all the tall weeds and bushes and scubs etc to make room for campsite and picnic area. The principle behind this is that it will bring in tourists and thus more money to be put into sustaining the forest and back into the community. I have to be honest, although I quite enjoyed the work itself, I was a bit cynical of the project. I am just not sure who is going to camp there, and if anyone plans on having a picnic in the forest, surely they would want to do it somewhere in the middle as part of a walk, in a nicer setting than by the edge of a dusty road, with tractors and jeeps going past. There isn't really a whole lot of tourist attractions nearby either (I am assuming that they are aiming at tourists rather than Kenyan's), except maybe to do a forest walk and see an Elephant but that only takes half a day and we are in Kenya, so any tourist will probably be going on safari anyway where there are more elephants to be seen closer up. It is too far away from Mount Kenya to bring people in because of that and is not near enough to Meru National Park or any other Safari place to bring in people either, so I just don't see who is going to pay to camp there or why. At best there may be passers through from Nairobi to Mount Kenya, but even then the campsite will be competing with the several hotels in Meru. And at any rate the weeds will have grown back and need clearing again in a fortnight. But who am I to question the decisions of the bosses eh? I am sure they have a solidly constructed plan and target clientele.

So anyway, back to the work. We were clearing the area for the campsite/picnic area on Wednesday and Thursday and made good progress. So on Friday, After our weekly meeting we went down to the nursery at the church and did a spot of weeding and watering. The pots were looking a bit worse for wear and in need of a good weeding. In the Afternoon we were allowed to indulge in a spot of cultural/community activities as it just so happened that the Safari Rally was in Meru and pretty much the whole town was out to watch anyway. The race itself was on Saturday but Friday was the beginning where all the cars are shown off and the drivers etc introduced and they all drive off, one by one to the showground and starting point, ready for the next day. There was an unbelievable buzz and hype around the place, with thousands of people thronging the streets and bizarre entertainment (4 people dressed in old army uniforms and silver helmets doing a weird comedy show/dance). There was a real sense of event in th town, as I assume that this was probably the biggest sporting event or otherwise to be held in Meru for quite some time. I am speaking literally when I say that the whole town turned out. We somehow managed to gain backstage access with our VIP status/white skin which we exploited happily and got ourselves a nice view of all the cars and the starting point. We were able to talk to the drivers at times when they were around the cars, so I thought I would try out my budding journalist qualities by interviewing one of them. As one of the starting drivers was fumbling with his car I swooped in and said 'you gonna win then?' 'hopefully' he replied, 'confident eh? Good stuff' I said. How much do you think the BBC will buy a copy for? Remember, you heard it here first folks. The excitement climaxed as the cars strolled up one by one to the starting point and were introduced over the loud speaker before revving their cars into an asthma attack and zooming off in a fit of cheering and exhaust fumes. After the last car had sped off, the crowd dispersed quickly and we went home.

So thats just about my week. I hope you are all having a fun summer with plenty of barbeques and plenty of England winning the Ashes. So long.