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Thanks for all the messages - it's great to read them!
CLARE:
Written Sunday 1st March at Watamu on the coast.
I can't quite believe that we could have done all we have in a 2 week holiday! How is that 2 weeks ago we were doing a final pack, taking photos at the Uplands door and heading for Heathrow. It seems a world away. Lance had even forgotten the name of Red Peppers!
Our pause at the coast has been good for recouping. The end of what would normally be a 2 week holiday has given us time to reflect and everyone has missed home, especially Tom. With time on their hands the boys are devouring books and homework and perfecting their dives.
Anyway - some reflections on Kenya so far ...
Magic moment: Ronnie (our lovely driver / guide to the Mara - felt like a real friend after 4 days and we hope to see him again before we leave) finding us two regal and relaxed male lions. Batleur eagles whirling on the air currents overhead and the classic vastness of the African plains broken by single acacia trees. And shortly afterwards coming across a large pride of lions who had worn the grass away in a recent buffalo kill and were slumped in the shade after a good feed.
Sense of humour failure moment: The zips on Ben and my tent in the Mara breaking on the day when a leopard had been spotted behind the toilet block. We ended up all in one tent, Tom & I sharing a bed, listening to the laugh of hyenas!
Joys: Finding our old home in Langata, outside Nairobi. The stable door and eucalyptus trees just the same, and Smiley, our driver, enjoying the moment as much as I did!
Donning snorkels and masks and hanging in the warm water of the reef at Watamu and watching a myriad of colourful sea life. I could have stayed there for hours.
Seeing all that life has to offer in the tatty corrugated iron shacks that make up the small villages ... 'Blissful Hair & Beauty', 'Great Blessings Library', 'Hotels', Hardware Stores, Groceries, Clinics, and endless top up mobile phone signs.
Sadness: The ocean of plastic bags that announces the arrival of each settlement.
The (self imposed, I'm sure) sense of threat that comes from reading too much about trouble in Kenya, the heightened security in the homes and the all too evident wildlife makes it hard to completely relax.
Missing NME, Cassia's new hair colour, the everyday faces of home.
The mosquitos! They prevent us having an evening out in the warm air, enjoying the smell of frangipani and a glass of wine by the pool! And the bites itch like hell!
Update: Thursday 5th March
After a bumpy propeller plane ride and another long and dusty journey we have arrived at Kembu - a large dairy and racehorse farm north of Nakuru in the cooler, more fertile uplands. The boys have fallen in love with the Great Dane guard dog Obelix and his companion, a sausage dog called Tinga, we have distant views of the Rift Valley over fields of cows - it's a bit like a dry and dusty Wiltshire. Here to get a bit more of a sense of the community and it already feels like home. We've met the local deputy head and looked round the school, and had a toddler's morning with the local ex-pat wives ... how the 2 sides live!
By the way - the reason for the old news and haphazard blogs is that internet access is very tricky! We had an agonisingly frustrating time in the Cyber Cafe in Njoro (we didn't know ... but Kenya internet was down altogether!) and it took over an hour to send 2 emails using Kembu's mobile connection ... so until we are in high tech Asia contact will be sporadic ... sorry!
LANCE: (Written a week or so ago!)
From the claustrophobia of Cairo to the vast skies and wildlife of the Masai Mara and then to the tropical beaches of the Indian Ocean, it's hard to believe we've done so much in so little time. We were celebrating Tom's birthday at Red Peppers in freezing Teddington only 2 weeks ago.
Journeys have been as fascinating as the destinations. We've driven through vast Kenyan farmlands on roads that were almost impassable (and breaking down in the middle of the Rift Valley!)...experienced an overnight train ride from Nairobi to Mombasa right out of a 1950s colonial film set...and raced through towns and villages in taxis driven by frustrated rally drivers (if we come to a sticky end on this trip, this is how it will happen).
Roadside "shops" cater for much the same as western culture. From Butchery to Gynaecology, from Pubs to Aromatherapy, the shop fronts look very much the same as each other - a shed with no door and a hand painted sign on top. These areas outside the cities look shockingly poor so tourists like us are seen as a major selling opportunity. Haven't yet found a way of refusing advances - the word "no" has no effect and feels really awkward when you know that tourist money can actually improve someone's quality of life.
We've been fortunate to meet good people along the way however, particularly Ronnie our Safari guide - someone you'd always want on your side, particularly in a city like Nairobi (another great place being choked by traffic!).
Animals in the kitchen so far include bats, lizards, cats, ants the size of small dogs, monkeys and zebra (though zebra may have been a dream caused by the onset of malaria - the mosquitos are eating us alive!)
Despite revelling in all we've done so far, the boys are showing an unexpectedpassion for their school work - now there' a turn-up for the books.
TOM: We went for a walk on the farm with Obelix and Tinga Tinga. They look hilarious together as Obelix is a huge Great Dane and Tinga is a small sausage do.
BEN: Thank you for the messages. Tomorrow we're going to be painting a large map of Africa on the outside wall of the local primary school. I'm going to have lessons there too. I've played the piano in the big house at the farm and Tom and I helped Kai and Lorin cut down a tree with a machete.
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