Coming to an end.. LAST WEEK!

HI guys

Well it's finally come.. my last week of volunteering, then off travelling the land until 13th, then off to Bangkok then back home to Australia. I would say it has gone fast, but surprisingly it hasn't. Everything's been at a cruisy kenyan pace, and gotten in to a bit of a routine here, working in the mornings/early arvos and exploring Mombasa the rest of the day. Honestly (I can't believe i'm saying this) but i'm looking forward to going back to a paying job, lots of veges and salads, and most of all my friends and family. I will miss the people i've formed bonds with here, and i'm sure i'll see them again one day. It's funny how many people ask me when i'm coming back, like what month.. or early next year? I have to tell them it cost thousands of dollars to come here, and as much as i'm a whitie, I just don't have that kind of money lying around. I know it is a compliment though, they want me to come back :)

Things I did on the weekend:

• Met up with a lady who runs an orphanage near Nyali Beach. Basically, Ashleigh came over to do a volunteering placement in an ophanage. She met these kids who were suposed to be looked after in a home but were been treated horribly (little food, dirty drinking water and were basically being prostituted out to men by their carer). She got a kenyan lawyer and tried to get the kids moved. The only way they could move them is if Ashleigh organised a new place for them to live in, so she did just that. She looks after other kids too and babies, and a child with cerebal palsy, about 25 kids in total. To say Ashleigh is amazing is an understatement. She does pretty much everything herself, and has a house lady to help cook and clean. She does all the fundraising herself too, as she gets little help from the government. Anyway moving on, I met her and we took all the kids down to the beach for a couple of hours. Even just getting the kids there is crazy! Walking for about 40 minutes carring crying babies (and the cerebal palsy child) and yelling at kids to stay off the road, we finally got there. Most of the kids ran straight in the water  but I stayed with the others to build sandcastles.  Then a man with a camel came past and Ashleigh arranged for all the kids to have a ride. They LOVED it! Got lots of photos and videos from the day. Just in that time is enough for you to fall in love with those kids. Each one has gone through heartache and trauma but they still manage to laugh and smile. It got dark quickly so I arranged for all the kids to get a taxi-ride back to the house. I will try to ee them again before I go, give them togs and goggles and teach them a bit of swimming.
• Went to awesome gospel church again Sunday morning (7 in the morning, after a late night out, the church is that awesome) then got my hair braided african-style! Took about 5 hours, see pic below.. It's kinda cool but feels weird like you have rope on your head. Once I got all finish I had a bad thought..how the heck am I gonna swim every day with this?? The chlorine is going to destroy it. So I've decided to peeve off the fashion gods and wear a awful looking shower cap. Yes, the frilly kind is all I could find. But I intend on keeping my hair when I get back to Oz, so I shall sacrifice looking cool for one week. 

PLAN THIS WEEK: Do as much swim teaching as I possibly can for as many people as I can reach. Get last minute gifts from the disabled peoples workshops in Bombololu (they make cool stuff) and keep taking photos of the locals. Sometimes I just wonder around the villages and take photos of people deep-frying fish on the streets or men who sell blocks of sugarcane that you chew on (it's really good for you, not like crystalised sugar). I always ask them before I take the photo, to show respect. I have come across some kenyans who refuse to let me photograph them unless I give them money. Firstly I was offended (friggin everyone want my money!) but then I realise that they are just trying to get through the day and provide for their families.

OK have to go, man is kicking me out of cyber cafe (it's nearly dinner time).

Keep safe all, and remember to wash your hands first! (National handwashing campaign this week)

Ciao,
Bethy

Idiots Guide to Kenyan Food

Hi all! I have to apologise for my last post. I just read it and man, was I being negative...I promise it won't happen again. I've come to realise that every experience I have here is teaching me a lesson, so I should just accept it, move on and be happy! On that note, I did have an attempted mugging the other day. Well, second attempt (a few weeks ago a man grabbed my bag strap walking past but I was all tangled in it so he let go and ran off). So this time I was sitting in a hot smelly matatu and I opened the window a little to let the air in, only about a handspands width. I'm always cautious of people walking towards the window (even if they're just crossing the road) and if I see them in the corner of my eye i'll turn away from the window just in case. In this instance I was texting on my phone, foolishly now come to think of it, when I saw a man walking towards the window. I automatically turned inward and he went past the back of the bus. Suddenly I felt fingers scratching my neck and a hand from outside trying to grab my necklace (my 'lucky' seven-ring necklace!) It got caught in my hair, he pulled for a bit and I banged my head on the window, heard a snap, then the man ran off. I screamed like a crazy person and everyone turned around and looked at me. I was grabbing my throat and someone must've thought I was choking and rushed over to help the poor crazy white lady. I explained what happened and a man helped me find parts of my necklace still stuck in my hair. I found 6 of the lucky 7 rings. That's gonna be a hell of a pub story next time someone says 'oh, thats a nice necklace'. I have to see the bright side of this, and realise that it could've been a lot worse, I guess those lucky rings really did work. 
I've been hanging out with my friend Caroline some days after work. She is the headmaster of one of the schools I teach. Caroline and I were preparing for this awesome Swimming Gala for her school and I made up certificates and prizes and we did a few race rehearsals and the kids were all pumped, but on the day half the parents said they didn't want their kids in it because it was Ramadan (muslim holy month) and the kids were fasting and swimming would make them tired. So unfortunately they will be doing it next term after I'm gone. Oh well, i've been working a lot with the frightened swimmers, trying to get them confident enough to swim across the poolfor the Gala in a months time. That makes me happy.
My new favourite place on a hot day in 'Basa is a small ice-cream shop in town called Ooh! and omg their icecreams just ooze goodness. I sit in their airconditioning and close my eyes and savour the ancient flavours of cappuchino, cookies and cream, and mango sorbet. Then I open my eyes and get a fright due to the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and for a second I think I have found my twin in Mombasa but it's just me.

I thought I'd put a few pics of the main types of swahili food I eat here. Please note that I have procured a bit of african lady-lumps due to this food, so if you do try it, eat in moderation! 

Ugali and Sukuma Wiki
Ugali is a kind of sticky maize cake that you eat with most meals (lots of labourers eat it in the morning as it fills you up till lunchtime!) The sukuma is a shreaded boiled spinach combined with garlic, onions, oil and tomato. You grab a bit of ugali, push a bit of sukuma onto it and eat. We eat this most nights in the house along with a beef, chicken or beans dish.

Coconut Beans and Chappati
I love coconut beans! the milk from shreaded coconut is stirred into the beans and eaten with chappati, a baked (slightly oiled) flat bread, sometimes with rice. Delish!

Wild Rice Pilau
Quick and easy and fills you up (what am I saying, all kenyan food fills you up!), most people put different spices, oils, tomatos, onions and chopped up beef into it.

Beef Stew and Ugali
The lady of the house cooks a mean beef stew here! Takes an hour or two, but so much flavour and the meat keeps it juices. Eat with Ugali or rice.

Now not many people eat dessert over here, but they drink. After dinner you drink a soda, or local Tusker beer, or I tend to like like Redds cider on a night out! For breakfast most people like to eat mandazi with a cup of tea (mandazi is a hollow fried bread which you can eat plain or stuff sweet beans into it). I usually go into town early in the morning before swimming starts, grab one and sit down with some highland tea and read a book/newspaper. Great way to start the day.

I think i've become a bit of a new age hippy here. Read a book called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and i'm not a great fan of the actual book, but a few things in there have really grabbed my attention. Simple stuff, like our mind has the potential to just cut feelings off quickly. For example, the necklace incident. I was shocked and scared and angry at first, but then I thought of my family and how my sister makes me laugh and all those bad things just stop. I have the option to keep feeling those bad things, or I can choose to learn from mistakes and think good things. I know, new age hippy stuff eah!

Anyway, this blog is getting off track. After weeks of buying tables that keep floating in the pool instead of sinking, I have finally created a table platform that works! It's taken a while, researching tables and finding one in Mombasa where everything is word of mouth, drilling holes and packing stones into the plastic table legs, we're there. It's to help the little kids learn to swim small distances in the pool. I will put photos of the table 'in action' this week.

Ok i'm heading off to go to a cultural village today and check out some authentic african drums, also help my friend Ashleigh take her orphanage children to the beach. Hope you have a great day!

From B-dizzle

Please feed my fish while i'm gone :)

Just found out if you click your mouse cursor over the koi fish above, you can feed them. Thanks for the tip dad, don't want them dying on me!

Don't know why but I haven't had the best week. And i've promised to be honest in this blog, so I will tell you the following things:

• I know it's a stupid thing to think (seeing I am living in another country) but I can't stand it when kenyan people start talking english to me (everyone speaks english here) and then turn to everyone else at the table and start having a 20 minute conversation in fast swahili. It just makes me feel silly because I don't understand what they're saying  (I can understand words but not a whole conversation) and you feel a bit left out. I can't help but think they're saying things about me. I don't think they mean to do it, so I should just harden up a bit and learn more swahili words..
• I know not all kenyans are like this, but a lot of people expect me to pay for things, just because i'm white. Buy this lunch, bus ticket, drinks, taxi. People see mzungu lady and just think I have a money tree growing in my aussie backyard! I try to explain to people i'm volunteering, that i'm currently unemployed and using my very minimal savings just to treat myself every now and then, but they just think i'm a rich woman. Take the other night for example. A friend that studies at the local college has been saying we should go out for dinner one night. We finally set a date and meet in town. She decides to bring along a few friends, which is all cool with me, and we set out to a funky swahili restaurant in the heart of the city. After drinks and big meals of biriyani piled on plates, they all say "Thank you Beth, that was really nice". And my heart sinks. They want me to pay for the bill. I don't want to be rude to them and say "Hold on a minute, you pay for YOUR meals!", I don't know what kind of customs they have here. So I pull out all my notes and don't have enough to pay for the whole meal (I didn't think I would be paying for 4 people!). The girls take out a few coins from their pockets and I realise they never intended on paying for anything all night. I felt really crappy and used and had to go get some more money out. I don't think I will be friends with people anymore who just expect me to pay for everything. I'm not a sugar-mummy!

• Ok, so enough wingeing from me. In the wise words of another friend, for every bad person who exploits your good nature, there is a kind person willing to let you into their home and give everything they have to you. And that is so true.

• I went to church this morning with my kenyan friend Tonny. Wow what a place! A giant church with big windows filled with coloured lead light, so when the sun shines through the windows it feels like you're inside a rainbow. They had a full african band with drums and shakers and guitars, and even though the whole service was in swahili, I really liked it. Everyone gets involved and claps, sways and waves their hands in the air. At the same time, I felt really guilty as I haven't been to church in a long time. I think it's a good place to clear your head. I'm going again next Sunday (i'll be on time next week;  my dear friend made us 30 mins late for today's service, but it still went on for 1 1/2 hrs!)
• There's rumors of another bomb threat over the month of Ramadan, so security has been beefed up another notch. Got to admit I was a bit weary about going to church with 250-300 other people but they have two security check-points to get into the actual church and a great big paddock around it, so there's no way someones sneaking in. Going to lay off going out to pubs for now, just to be safe. I may go a bit wild on my last night though!

My time here is coming to an end soon, well 3 weeks, so I thought i'd mention a few things i'm going to miss about this place:
* The funky summer music that plays from giant speakers at the swimming pool (western and african songs)
* Muslim kids that kiss you on the cheek or hand
* Calls for prayer from the local mosque (reminds me of my sisters crazy made-up singing when we were kids)
* Watching the sun rise every morning on the bus trip to the pool
* My little 8yr old friend Joy who loves dancing and singing to pop songs and ads on the tv
* The smell of buttery corn cobs being grilled in street stalls (for some reason smells like peanut butter)
* Big-eyed babies wrapped in their mum's kangas
* The cruisy kenyan way of life (people never mind if you're 15-20 mins late!)
* The vanilla pastries from the local bakery, and most of all people-watching. Looking out the bus windows, there's always something being sold, being cooked, or being carried on the dirt streets. The way the ladies gracefully sweep the ground with long reeds bound together, with one arm resting on their lower back, sometimes with a baby attached to them. Men don't use lawn mowers here! They 'mow' by making long sweeping cuts into the grass with a hooked knife on the end of a long pole, and in the boiling heat.

Ok, enough for today. I will finish with a few photos i've taken. I've put a bunch of fresh ones on HERE, feel free to have a squiz!

Mum eat yer heart out! I know you love shell collecting but I think you would've had a heart attack seeing this beach..shells for miles I tell ya!

Traditional swahili family dinner with Peter, Tonny and his family (you can tell who is the lady of the house!)

The little monkeys at school, just about to get their togs on. They are hilarious!

Peace and love to all, and special love going out to Rob and his family (very sorry to hear about your mum..thinking about you over here)

Bethy xo

I'm worth 1 camel, 5 goats and a few crates of chickens

Keeping things brief today, what a weekend!

• Friday:
  Went to Wasini Island for a day trip. The island is just off Shimoni, about 2 hrs from Mombasa. I heard the snorkelling was out of this world so my volunteer coordinator hooked me up with this company that does boat trips where you go swimming with the dolphins, have a sweet seafood lunch on the dhow boat and go snorkelling. Well I got the food and the snorkelling but not a dolphin in sight. Not even a glimpse of a fin or dolphin blow-off bubbles. The boat boys said they were dolphin researchers and knew where they all hung out, maybe they were chilling down in Zanzibar? I know I would. They also said we could go walk on the actual island, but being Kenya with no real sense of how long an actual day lasts, we ran out of time and had to get back to the bus. Anyway, bought a $15 underwater camera, once I develop the pics they'll be straight on here. I met some young German girls who were in 'Basa for a week, one of them took photos of me trying to be an underwater mermaid, I'm sure its gonna look hideous.
• Saturday
  Don't usually work on Saturday, but promised one of the coaches that I would help with his classes. One of the mothers asked me how long I have been teaching swimming, and I told her 10 months, she was a bit shocked. She said most coaches here have been teaching for at least 5-10 years and they don't improve the kids as much as I do. I thought that was nice. I just try my hardest, remember all the things i've learnt from my mentor Tracey (in Brissy) and make the kids feel good about swimming. Even the kids who struggle, it's important to praise them for just trying.
  

  

  Modeling my new african dress at Caroline's place before going out to the club..fun fun!

  
  Met Lisa and Leonie, the German girls, at lunch as I had promised them we'd go out to the markets and find some funky african fabric to make into scarves and wraps. My gosh, I didn't realise how much fuss us 3 white ladies would cause. I got a little protective of my new friends, and had a few arguments with bus drivers and shop owners who demanded 3-4 times the price than usual. I bought some cool dresses and some kikoys, big cotton pieces that you use for a towel or beach wrap, or a scarf when it's a bit chilly. It was a fun day but very tired by the end of it. But no rest for Bethy! My friend Caroline (one of the school principals) met me in town to go to a club for some dancing. But when we went through and the security guard frisked me, I asked Caroline if all the clubs are like that. "Oh, this club got bombed earlier in the year so they like to be safe". Wow. From then on, any time I heard a car alarm or saw someone looking suspicious I got anxious. But just like lightening, its very rare for the same place to be struck twice, and therefore had a great time. African ladies really know how to shake their moneymakers! The Bella Vista Club was pretty cool, good music, lots of 90's classics. Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls people.

• Sunday
  I learned a lot of new rules today. First, if someone asks to come with you to the supermarket and you say yes, sure you can come with me, you are obliged to pay for their bus ticket and offer to buy them something to eat. That took a little getting used to, but it is their custom and I have to respect that. It is a little awkard though when you don't know about this custom and two people are waiting for you to pay their bus ticket and buy them a snack. Also, I learned that when you are doing washing, you do not, I repeat DO NOT let your undies hang out to dry where people can see. Mrs Carey was quite embarassed about my undergarments and I had to take them down and put them on a special line behind the toilet block. I wasn't very embarassed though, they are nice lookin undies.
  Lesson Two: White women are in demand as wives. I was invited to my new kenyan friend's place for dinner (refer to previous post, Peter is the little boy I met when jogging in a village). Very nice people. A bit too nice. They had future plans for me, and proceeded to explain how a marriage dowry works. Aparently I am worth 1 camel, 5 goats and a few crates of chickens and ducks. I'm still not sure if they were joking, but Tony's mother kept saying I would make a very nice daughter-in-law. These Kenyans don't wait around! The family is so lovely though. We had a traditional family dinner accompanied by watching dramatic spanish soap operas on their fuzzy little tv. It was a great night.

Ok, done for today. I'm now off to teach some swimming for the rest of the day and keep practising my swahili conversation skills with the kids. As long as they don't teach me any more naughty words (when I don't realise they are naughty words and proceed to try them out on the coaches who laugh at me)

Keep safe you good people,
Beth

It's raining mainly on these Kenyan plains..

Before I start, if you want to get updates when I write a new post, become a follower on the tab to your right!

I had one of those days yesterday where it felt like I didn't solidly achieve anything but I did a hell of a lot.

• Went to Milele Beach to help Burhani Playgroup/Kindy with their beach day. The only reason i'm helping is because only 1 of the 10 teachers knows how to swim and i'm worried there will be a mass of little toddlers with floaties floating all the way to Australia. Horribly raining but they still want to go ahead. You know that kids who find their fun beach day is being postponed, they spontaneously combust. I arrive at the beach, school decides that they'll go another day now. When it's nice and sunny.
• I take a matatu to the school instead. No schools expected in today due to the rain. I don't want to sit around and wait all day, so I go to the mall and get $15 mani/pedi combo. I nearly kicked the nice man who scrubbed my feet... it was nice though.
• Bought a few things in town...A sturdy plastic table to put in the pool so the little ones can learn a bit better. It's not heavy enough so one of the workshop boys at the school has offered to screw weights to the legs. I'm also going to purchase a very large rubber tube and attach rope around the outside so children can hold on and take a breather in the middle of the pool. I try to remember what it was like learning how to swim and I remember the pool being very big in my little eyes, so hopefully this will help. Also bought a ring binder, lots of paper and dividers and i've started a Swimming Bible. All bits of info on how to teach swimming, what not to do, how to save someone if they are in trouble, little  things that can help fellow/future coaches. Gotta leave my legacy right!
• Very tired when I got home so had a nap. Woke up feeling guilty about eating fish and chips earlier in the day, so went for my daily/sporadic jog. A little boy started trying to race me so we raced for a while and I got too tired. I then tripped on a rock and old men sitting on the street-side laughed at me. I stopped to see the beautiful glowing red orb of a sunset that I saw between the fields. And then that little boy, now called Peter, jumped out of the bushes and scared the crap out of me (it didn't help that I had a mugging-dream the other night). He took me to his house to show me his chickens. His dad bought me a fanta and when I asked him why he freely let me into his home even though I was a stranger, he said 'doesnt matter where you're from we're all brothers and sisters'. Its nearly made me cry, how honest the words were that came from a 6 year olds mouth. I want to take that home with me. It makes me want to meet my neighbours and pool customers and start opening up to people. I've tried and it's not easy, but every time you open up and just say hi (or Jambo!) it does make you feel good.

Random memory from the other day: Listening to Heartlines by Florence + The Machine (awesome african drum beats) while running and jumping waves along the high-tide beach and getting seaweed stuck between my toes and feeling free to sing and make a fool of myself. What a great feeling.

Speak soon,
Love to all
-B

Half-way line crossed..

Hi guys

Just a quick update today. I've got some more photos developed, feel free to check them out at HERE. I've put a few of my favourites below:

This is all the eqipment the people of Brisbane/Gold Coast gave to me before I left. I can safely say that all of it is going to good use..and i've had to break up a few fights for the goggles and boards! Special thanks to the Bluefit swimming pools who donated most of it :)

Me in the middle of teaching a class of kids how to kick. Its like conducting an orchestra I tell ya! Some days those kids come bounding in and its only you there to teach them, and you know you're in for a big ride, but it makes it all worthwhile when they leave with big smiles on their faces.

Took a walk into a nearby village and these kids were trying out their english on me. Very cute.

So, nearly over the bout of malaria. I miss swimming, even though it's only been 3 days. It's been 30 days since I arrived in Mombasa now, sometimes feels like i've been here for months. I'm a bit homesick. Usually i'm tougher than this but it is a bit hard travelling on your own out here. There are certain places you visit and wish your family/boyfriend/best friend was with you to experience it. But those times will come one day. For now I have my photos to share and my new Kenyan friends to keep me company!

Because I felt a bit better yesterday and I hate wasting precious weekend holiday time,I took a day-trip to Diani Beach (the beach resort mecca) to have some reading time and relax a bit. Got up and had breakfast, packed my day bag and caught a matatu to the Ferry. That place is interesting, pretty much full of matatus and people carrying sacks, or babies, or both. Getting to Likoni via the ferry only took 15 minutes, then took a matatu to Ukunda/Diani and then another matatu to the actual beach. It kinda feels like an adventure just getting there and i'm proud to be a solo woman who doesn't need a tour package to get where she wants to go. Stopped at the supermarket and got supplies (blackcurrant juice, chocolate croissant, gingernut biscuits and banana) then headed to the beach.  Quite a creepy narrow access path to the actual beach, felt like someone was gonna jump out of the bushes and mug me of my croissant! Had a wander, got harassed by beach boys. You have to be firm but polite "Thank you but I just want to be alone. I don't need your company. Now scram". They don't like hearing no though.
When I decided to gatecrash a resort and buy some lunch I got completely lost and ended up wandering down a dusty street in the boiling heat. Then someone pointed me towards a place called Swahili's with giant iron gates out the front. My gosh that place is insane. It has these massive white arabian archways and sparkling blue pools that are level with the floor. Everything is white-washed and minimal furniture. Next to the sprawling hotel pool is the beach which is covered in drying purple seaweed and small reef rock pools. I got a spot with a sweet view and ordered a seafood pizza, a few sprites and chocolate icecream. Cost me all-up about $12. Total bargain I tell you. Some of the waiters at these 'up-market' joints are cheeky though. Once you give them the money for the bill and wait around for the change, they sometimes take up to an hour to give it back to you, hoping you have just forgotten. The bus drivers do that too. You just can't take any crap from them.
The actual beach is exquisite. The sand is so smooth it's like velvet touching your toes, and the rock pools hold little tide fish and ghost-like crabs, and funky-shelled hermit crabs that crawl along the seaweed.


Take care everyone, and I hope the weather is getting warmer wherever you are and you're getting ready for the Olympic Games..can't wait!

Kwaheri,
Beth

I've got WHAT??!

So, for the last week or two i've been getting headaches, stomach pains and feeling run-down, which I thought was just due to the hours in the pool and the carb-loaded kenyan food. Alas, yesterday I couldn't get in the water without feeling like spewing over the little kiddies, so went back to the house to rest. As i'm living with a doctor and his family now (Njery's new house was a little crowded), he told me to come to his clinic and get checked out. One minute I was getting blood tests, next he was telling me I had malaria and needed to get treatment asap. I don't know about you guys but I thought malaria was when you were on deaths doorstep with a fever, chills and various liquids coming out of various orifices. So when he told me I had it, I was very surprised and a little scared. I had been taking my weekly anti-malaria tablets so not sure how I got it. Apparently there are different strains of the parasite and the one I got (from those damn mozzies at night) isn't the severe brain-infected one. So lucky for that. So with a butt-full of needle jabs and enough pills to start up a pharmecutical business, I'm at home today resting and hopefully i'll be back to normal on Monday.

My new homestay
I miss living with Njery and the kids a lot, but I like the Carey's house. I have a room (and ensuite) to myself and there is running water and electricity. First night I got eaten alive by mozzies, even through the mosquito bed net. I think they had been previously trapped in the net from the last guest, now the hungry suckers were eager to feast on me. All night long. Mary the housekeeper is delightful and the three children are great to hang with. They have a tv, and we watch Eva Luna (a spanish soap opera with english dubbing) which is hilarious, as well as Tusker Fame 5, a reality show which is a cross between Big Brother and Australian Idol.

Swimming-project recap:
The time is going by so fast. I'm working on a Teaching Folder for the coaches and future volunteers to use, with information on the schools, coaches, tips on how to teach the large groups, and how to teach the various strokes. I am also looking around for a sturdy fibre-glass/plastic table, which combined with lead or concrete weights would make a decent platform for the little kids to stand on in the water. I think it would make teaching without arm-floaties more effective too. I also grabbed an un-used plastic pipe from around the pool and used it to teach kicking to 4-5 children at a time in the water (they hold on and I support them while they kick accross the pool). It works pretty well.

Valuable Lessons I've Learned From This Project So Far:

• How to take a group of 40 screaming kids and not stress. If you take away the impossible task of teaching every child individually and do lots of group exercises makes it easier. Make swimming fun, not a chore.
  
• How to get past language barriers. Simplifying lessons into actions they can see, and rewarding their good efforts and behaviour (I use the 'thumbs-up" a lot!).
  
• Communicating with the people around you, like the teachers and coaches and lifeguards. Sometimes you need to be the organiser if no-one else is going to do it. If everyone knows what is happening and there is a plan, things go so much smoother.
  
• Realising that people have different styles of teaching. Just because it isn't 'your way' doesn't mean it is bad. Except for throwing little children into the pool and telling them to kick kick. That's just never good. Will explain that interesting story later.
  
• Even if I get through to just one child and i've helped them to love swimming, i've done something. I can't keep thinking I have to turn every kenyan child into an olympic swimmer! Just give them the skills to be safe!
  

Ok, going to lie down now and read a book (I do that A LOT over here..)

Cheers,
Beth

Safari Part Deux

Hello fellow cyber dwellers,

I know I only posted the other day, but there's so much good stuff to say about Kenya, and it is raining outside so just hanging at a cyber cafe until it dries up. Done a little play-by-play of the safari I took on the weekend, hope you enjoy it :)

5.00am Got picked up by taxi driver who dropped me in town. Bit too early for matatu. Met the other safari-ers and headed out to Tsavo West, a two hour drive from Mombasa. Met an old german couple and some UK newlyweds who were pretty awesome. Just kind of eloped with their parents in tow, had masai warriors, african drums, chants, the lot. Then went snorkelling straight after the ceremony! I like their style, none of their friends are going to have wedding photos on deserted islands off the african coast..
8.30 Had a cuppa at designated souvinier shop (hate those places, everythings overpriced and feel like you have to buy something just to be polite because you're in the wop-wops).
10.00 Went for first game drive at Tsavo West National Park. These are the following myths I would like to clear up:


WHAT I EXPECTED:                                     
 Was concerned about the appropriate footwear I had to bring..comfy sandals or trekking boots? 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
I could be wearing 6 inch stilletto heels and it wouldn't have made a difference..in the van the whole time. Then I realised that at no point on the safari were we allowed to exit the vehicle to take photos on the ground. We would be eaten.


WHAT I EXPECTED:                                     
 I would see animals up-close and in plain view. I would be able to see the gleaming of lions teeth

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
Only in the movies. It takes a team effort to spot anything and even then it's usually 500m away and camouflaged in grass/trees/dense foliage. David Attenborough, you must have no life.


WHAT I EXPECTED:                                     
I could impress my friends with photos of  the Big Five (Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard and Lion)

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
Its all 'right place at the right time' kind of luck. And the more game drives you do the more chances you have. All the van drivers carry radios so they can tell eachother where a cute leopard family of four may     be eating.


WHAT I EXPECTED:                                     
Actual elephant ear holes are behind those big flappy things.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
Not correct. In front of the big flaps! Makes sense though, our ear holes aren't behind our flaps.


WHAT I EXPECTED:                                     
All animals go to sleep at night have happy little tiger snoozes.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
And you're wrong again. They constantly eat, drink, mate, chat to their friends. Elephants & zebras were coming to the watering hole near the hotel restaurant at all hours and making lots of damn noise. Some people went on the night game-drive to spot lions who do most of their dining-out at night.

Carrying on..


1pm  Had lunch at a funky restaurant what was situated right in front of a massive watering hole where groups of male buffalos would drink and poop and lie in their own mixture.
2.30pm   Did another game drive. Very exciting, saw a whole herd of elephants chilling in the swamp, and there were quite a few babies in the mix too. Saw some cheetahs which hadn't been spotted by any groups in a few weeks. Pretty cool.
5.30pm   Finally got to the Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge where I stayed overnight and for some reason got all emotional and nearly started blubbering at the room boy. I think it was a combination of seeing amazing animals out in the wild, headache from all the squinting, seeing my room that was on stilts and had zebras and elephants roaming past my window, and realising I had my own shower. First proper shower in 3 weeks that wasn't freezing cold and from a bucket. That would make anyone start crying happy tears.

The Lodge:
Never seen anything like this before, about 50 cylinder-shaped units sitting high on stilts in the middle of the sprawling plains of Tsavo East. About a kilometer away are the hills of Tsavo which show off a brilliant purple sunset. They've constructed a water hole about 2 metres away from the lounging deck where you can sit and have a cuppa. It's what comes to the watering hole that makes it famous. Herds and herds of big beautiful grey African elephants. All different sizes, they come right up to the deck. Each one sticks their trunk in the water and makes a slurping noise that sounds like bathroom pipes, lifts their head and throws their trunk to their mouths to drink. I like the way they sway into eachother with their dusty wrinkly bodies and the noises they make every now and then that give you a hell of a fright!A deep yelp that sounds like someones groaning through a megaphone. Each herd of elephants takes a turn at the hole for about 20 minutes, then makes way for the next herd. I could watch them all day.

Woke up early and did a game drive before breakfast. Seeing the sun rise over the savannah watching grazing zebras and gazelles is pretty damn cool. And I ate like a ravenous heyena at breakfast. Stuffed some danish pastries into my bag which came in handy later when feeding the Sterling birds. Then the baboons came along and threatened to jump the van window for said pastry so we had to leave. Did another game drive before heading home again. If you do happen to go to Africa and don't have a lot of time, a 2-day 1-night package should give you a decent injection of safari that will leave you high for days. Can't praise it enough.

Ok, enough for today, racking up a bill at the cafe (i'm now their favourite customer!)

Take care all, and remember monkeys are not as friendly as the ones in the movies.

-Beth
                                                                              

'Bout time for an update!

Hi guys

LOTS of things to catch you up on. First thing i'll let you know is Mombasa is a safe place to be once again. There was a grenade attack in a local bar near the bridge last Sunday, and it scared a few people. I was at a small local bar with a friend when it happened (we were about 2-3km's from the attack). I didn't realised what had happened until I got back at the house at 10.30pm and Njery was freaking out a bit (mainly because I caught a matatu and NIGHT when I was TIPSY, naughty Bethy.). I felt a bit stupid, I really shouldn't have been out drinking with the current situation, but just wanted to have a good time. Ok, learnt my lesson. I have decided from now on (until I leave) not to go to busy places after dark even if it is a small pub, it's just not worth the risk. As it has now been a week since the attack, things have settled down a lot, but the security around busy Mombasa remains top priority.

As my body clock has decided it would be great for Beth to wake a 5am every day now, even on the weekends, I decided to go for a jog the other morning and it was pretty fun. I was expecting the locals to look at me funny (Is she running from something? A lion? Trying to catch a matatu?) but as I plodded along, dodging puddles and big rocks, passing small goat farms, everything fell on the wayside and I began to enjoy myself. The next morning however, I was a sore siezed-up mess! Where is Emma Lagan the miracle masseuse when you need her??

Had to drag a child from the pool the other day. After a short lesson with her, she was confident enough to swim without her arm floaties. A bit too confident though, and got stuck in the middle of the pool while I was teaching some other children. She looked panicked and I quickly swam across the pool and heaved her out by her tog straps. Poor thing was shocked and spluttering. After she calmed down, I took her hand and led her in to the water again. It is so important to get a child back in the water as soon as they have a fright, or else fear sets in the brain and it will be the first thing they think of the next time they go to the pool. The little tike was a happy little swimmer again in no time.

I've noticed that i'm starting to get more time on my hands when not volunteering. I've visited all the touristy landmarks now and hanging out at the mall has lost its appeal.  I don't want to stop learning and exploring. My worst fear is that i'll end up hanging at the mall every day drinking lates and glancing around at the other white tourists, who to me look like they're higher and mightier than anyone outside of the tiny Cafesserie Cafe fences. No more days lounging around at the beach. I want to learn something new! I thought about getting kitesurfing lessons (its about $300 for a beginner course) but I keep remembering all the horror storied Chris Vale used to tell me about people being lifted up and thrown into concrete walls, and I change my mind. Maybe cooking classes, or write a novel? I'm leaning towards scuba diving. It's been something i've wanted to do for a while but have been too scared. The idea that you're trapped 10 metres underwater if your equipment malfunctions gives me the jeebies. But I shall face my fears..I SHALL SCUBA-DIVE! I'll let you know how that adventure goes..

I met some real friendly girls that are currently studying Food and Beverage at the school i'm volunteering at (just a recap, i'm working at the Mombasa Technical Institute, where several different schools come to use the 25 metre pool on campus, and i'm there to teach swimming to the school children and also any adults around the area who want to learn. Also teaching the swimming coaches how to coach better). Anyway, these girls invited me to the try some of their food at the mock-restaurant they have set up - 3 courses for 160ksh ($1.50 in AUS!). It was quite an experience, and I was stuffed by the end of it. One thing Kenyans know how to do real well is cooking and eating. Funny enough, i've felt really guilty about my diet here. I'm torn between trying to experience real Kenyan food and trying not to get a spare tyre! I've been swimming twice a day 5 times a week and also doing push-ups and jogging. I know I can always go back to eating healthy again when I get back to Australia, I just want to minimise the hard work.

Safari time!!
I went on a quick 2-day safari to Tsavo East and West on Friday. Was one of the most amazing experiences i've had here so far. It needs a blog in itself! Did 2 game drives each day, and stayed overnight at Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge. Seriously if you ever come to Kenya you HAVE to put this place on your list. I've got more photos to come, but here are some of my favourites:

That's enough photos of wild animals for one day. Still have to develop the old vintage camera, which has photos of random Mombasa and safari snaps on it. Missing my friends and family more every day, 6 weeks to go before I get back to my normal life!


Important tip of the today: TUK-TUKS. When taking a tuk-tuk for transport, whether it be in asia or africa, it really helps to be floppy. Don't fight the bumps and pot-holes, it just gives you a headache and a bad back!



Over and out,
Beth