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Leaving Harnas was tough. All the great friends I had made and the farm with it's lovely animals... I doughted that Kenya would be anywhere near as good! So my smile was hanging and my hopes were only just.
But luckely Kenya turned out to be very different and full of fun people. In Nairobi and stayed at a warm hostel owned by Kent, who from first minute "took me under his wing".
I went on a tour to Kibera, the slum area of Nairobi, where half of the city's population lives, a BIG contrast to the "perfect and rich world" I come from! I made you think! Think about how the peolple who lived there looked happy, despite their lack of water, fashion clothes, TV's etc. They took care off eachother and were very smily and welcoming.
I also visited a giraffe centre where Laura the giraffe kissed me and one of the worlds tallest giraffes, Jork, let us stand right next to his giant body (he was 6 meters tall!). Kent knew that centre (and the elephant orphand centre) personally and gave me/us the grand tour, with extra small stories and funny moments. The baby orphands were SOOO cute! You'e propably seend them on telly (there was a show from that centre), and seeing them being fed, play in the mud (it rained) and just enjoy life with their keepers, was a warming moment! Just being in Nairobi, a big city that is so different (the minbus taxis , "a Matatu" e.g. were an experience! Damn they are wild in cars, I'm surprised I'm still alive! :o)
Kenya was much cooler than Namibia and the rain season just started. So my rainjacket came in handy on the project.
The project was in Amboseli, near the boarder to Tanzania (20 km from the foot of Mount Kili - fantastic view!) Amboseli National Park is 20 km from the boarder and in between in community land where the Masai live. In Tanzania there is farmland the first 20 km and then another big park. The elephants walk between the two parks and do of course cross the community land, which is a problem (crops etc.) This area is called "a corridor". The UN has agreed to buy the corridor nd add it to the parks, so the elephants parths will remain and so they don't destroy people's land. But they need data - arguments to prove that it's neassesary. And that's where us volunteer come in! We drove around everyday , looking for elephant families. When we found one we would drive up close (4-5 meters) and take pictures, write down indentification info etc. It was awesome! This massive animals, just walking along, and you know that they can crush you car if they want - fantastic! I loved getting to know about the elephants, how they live, what they eat, how to tell the differences etc. and our guide/maneger, David, was great - he knew everything there was to know about Africa's nature!
We also visited Amboseli NP just for fun one day, and saw lions, one cheetah (which in VERY rare!) hippos, hyenas etc. Seeing them in the wild was wicked! Mindblowing!
So I loved it! It was good because it was so different from Namibia, so I couldn't compare it (only four volunteers, no warm water, lived in tents, worked in the wild etc.).
Now I'm back in Nairobi, soon going to Australia - I can't believe Africa's already over. I don't feel like going, and still I can't wait. But I'm coming back to the kontinent of carnivores - for sure!!!!
See ya down under.... Signe.
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