First blog entry

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Right where to begin....I have been here only four days and there is already so much to talk about!!
Having arrived on thursday afternoon after travelling for around 24hours with changes and delays we finally got to the camp that we are staying at for the first 10 days. There are around 30 of us on the camp from England, Holland and Australia but everybody is really nice and already feels like we have known each other for ages. We were picked up from the airport in a safari style truck with no windows or doors all open...at first this was quite daunting but everybody we passed just stops whatever they are doing to say hello especially the children they love to chase the truck waving which is really sweet!

When we got to the camp which is really high in the hillside called Mukurumuji we were shown to our huts. The huts or houses as they see them are made of mud walls and thatched roofs, we do have a toilet and shower inside it but only freezing cold water. We have a small mattress covered with a mosquito net. On the first night we couldn't sleep very well especially those of us who are scared of spiders and kept thinking we would wake up with one next to our faces....BUT you will all be glad to know I am actually beginning to face my fear now I have seen a few spiders and have actually been able to contain my scream and just let them walk past me woohooo!! Where the camp is situated we have wild elephants, monkeys and tortoises all around us, so at night we have to light a bonfire to keep them out of camp but it is amazing just watching them whilst we eat dinner! Oh and we have 3 courses a day all of which are delicious the food is great!!

On friday we were given a brief talk and tour of the area and we started our project work. This includes building a house for a widower and building toilet blocks at the local school. To get to the project we have to walk 25minutes 4 times a day up very big hills but nobody is complaining because we are all going to come back super fit! On the tour we visited the children who all welcome you with great smiles...they love having visitors! the kidergarten children 3/4year olds sang for us and chanted some of the English they had learnt this brought a real tear to our eyes! The education here is free for primary level but not secondary so sometimes you see grown adults in classes with 5 year olds.

On the same day we went back to camp for lunch and then a group of the girls including me played football against the girls team at the school and the boys did the same. None of the children wore shoes but they were still very aggressive and passionate about winning which they did beat us 2-1!! After that flocks of children crowded us amazed by our cameras wanting to get in pictures and take pictures and I ended up playing with around 30 children who only had a ball made from plastic bags. We played 'hot potato', 'duck duck goose' and even did the oke coke which they loved it was SUCH A GOOD AFTERNOON!! when it was time to go home they all hugged and thanked me it's so amazing how happy they can be from little things.

On Saturday we went into Mombassa and visited the local zoo. At the zoo the animals run quite freely and we got to feed Monkeys and Giraffes. In the evening we all booked a hotel near to the Diani beach and we all went out to a bar which is full of tourists. The hotel had mould on the walls but it actually felt like luxury having a bed! I am now back at the Diani beach in the cyber cafe. The beach is out of this world...it is like paradise, white sand and clear blue oceans! AMAZING!! so for now I am going back to sunbathe and have a Camel ride for 2 pounds! Everything here is very cheap! Missing you all but I will be in touch again soon!! Do not want to come back to reality! xxxx

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Comments

[kelly]

Hi Claire, it all sounds amazing!! Glad you are enjoying it. You seem very busy. haha i laughed at the spider bit! love u lots.xx

[Kirsty]

Hi Claire! Great to read your blog, am so pleased you're having such a wonderful time! It sounds amazing. You've already experienced so much and you've only been there a few days. I really can not believe you're getting over your fear of spiders! I never thought that would happen and I will miss the screams from your classroom! I am trying to convince Will that I need a holiday in Kenya for some 'spider therapy'! He's not convinced and thinks the volume of the screams will simply increase with bigger spiders that have the potential to be poisonous!! He may be right there...I think you're very brave!! Pleased to hear you're putting your Hokey Cokey skills to good use and I laughed out loud when I read you'd been playing Duck, Duck, Goose - it reminded me of someone's little accident on the field!! I hope you enjoyed your camel ride, I'm looking forward to your next update! Take good care of yourself xxxx

[Jadey]

Wow!
Wow claire sounds amazingggg!! i soo need to do this one year!! cant wait till ur back! hav an amazing time!! Xx