From Marja: I know it's been about a week since we left Africa but I'm pretty sure that I can remember the highlights and that Shell will add to the posts or correct me if I go wrong. We arrived in Nairobi after a fairly good flight from Rome via Zurich. From the moment of clearing customs in Nairobi I loved the place. Everyone was happy and wanting to help you without having intentions of stealing anything from you. This was a bit hard to come to terms with at first as Rome and Naples taught me to watch my stuff [View Full Entry]

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Jambo !! (hello in Swahali) How amazing. I can't believe how much I have seen here in just a week. It is sooo sooo much to take in. The people, the culture, the landscape, and of course the ANIMALS. It is my last day in the Masai Mara today. How depressing! Would really luv to stay a bit longer and maybe cross over to Tanzania for a day or so.. but not part of the plan. However, a few interesting things I did see... well there is a disaster here in Kenya, there has been no rain for so long, they [View Full Entry]

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In Nairobi - more to come..... [View Full Entry]

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Hi all! I'm currently in our local internet storage unit. We've been working at the primary school in Kasigau for two weeks now and I'm just getting settled in. It's a whole new experience being in the vast minority, the kids take great enjoyment from shouting "Jambo" at us constantly (slang for hello). The weather has been rainy the past couple days, but today we woke up to a beautiful blue sky, scorching heat, and an explosion of green. All my clothes are orange now from the dirt, and we have to do all our everyday tasks by hand and from [View Full Entry]

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Sorry it has taken me so long to blog again. I always seem to do this when I travel --- I’ll write a lot about my experiences at first and then get completely tied up in wherever I am and forget to keep people at home informed about what I’m doing as soon as I get settled. For a really short account of what I’ve been doing since I last blogged (because this is a ridiculously long entry): I went to Tanzania, pet a cheetah, held a newborn lamb (eee!), started volunteering at the only library in Kibera (Africa’s largest slum), [View Full Entry]

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The next leg of my roadtrip is taking me to Africa! Wowsers... I am excited and scared and nervous and sad and happy and everything! Its crazy how many feelings become part of a roadtrip!! hehehe. I have some packing to do and then I will be out of the country Saturday. First stop is Nairobi for a week-long safari at Masai Mara National Reserve. I've been wanting to do this trip for a few years now, well, since my last one I guess. I never wanted to do Africa by myself... and lucky for me (and them) haha, my mama [View Full Entry]

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Nairobi…the New York City of Africa. I left Mwanza last Saturday and arrived in Nairobi at 11am. On my flight I sat next to a very nice Canadian man who had been working in Mwanza but lived in Nairobi. He filled me in on his family and work, a good connection to have. When I arrived in Nairobi, I was amazed at how posh the airport was. I slipped through customs easily and retrieved my bags. I was greeted by a taxi driver that had befriended Jackie who picked me up and took me to where they were staying. As we [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone, There was an error in a small part of our blog system and I was only now alerted to it. It seems that there were about 20 email addresses that were "stuck" int he sytem and those individuals did not get "subscribed" to our service and were not receiving the regular posts I have been making. My sincerest apologies for this. If you have been receiving posts then please disregard this. However, if you haev received nothing then this will be your first notice and you can go to the site and read all of the posts that [View Full Entry]

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One More Day of Hard Work I slept in this morning. I needed it, so I skipped breakfast and stayed in bed until 10:30 am. More cmoputer work, a little bt of a lunch, and I am off for more meetings. I meet with Rahul first and we finish up our bills and accounts, as well as discuss a few last minute final arrangement for our volunteer program. Next, I am off to see Rajinger again, along with Azim, our lawyer in Nairobi. I had some last questions for clarification on some of our work together and he was able to [View Full Entry]

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The Saga Continues I am up again early today. I met with Rahul in the morning, as well as his father Rajinder Kapila. Rahul is our Land Operator in Kenya and books all of our ground items like hotels, vans, etc. He is very savvy, extremely knowledgeable, and very concerned about making everything work well for us including security. Rajinder, his father, is a semi-retired lawyer in Nairobi with a 50 year reputation in practice. We are using his firm and he has some very good lawyers who are now working for us in making sure our requirements for working in [View Full Entry]

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