Blogs from Africa - page 2987

Singing, dancing, music, junk food, face paints and drink and the after school computer class became Athis’s 12th bday party!!! Athi's an absolute delight and he so enjoyed the party. He carried the birthday card we made for him round all the time. After singing happy birthday he stood up and did a little speech in which he thanked us for organising it and thanked everyone for coming as if we had arranged a huge event and people had travelled for miles to come. We have found a cab driver that is willing to drive into Kayamandi after dark and have decided to make the most of it. More jenga bombs and shisha…I'd love to enrol as a student at Stellenbosch Uni. All the unis here are Afrikaans or English which is such ashame for the ... read more

In the first week at Andavadoake we were invited to a Fumba (celebration) at a local village. Two women had recently recovered from severe illness and this called for much rum, dancing, music and merriment.... read more

Hello all! This week has not been as productive as previous weeks due to Kenyan efficiency coming into play to cancel a few of the project days I was meant to go along to. Having then lost the will, I went on the internet to search for hiking trips to Mont Blanc. I then calmed down again and did some work and it is nearly the end of the week! Part of my early depression came from the news that it is the 'short rains' on Kilimanjaro so I will not be able to go, which annoyed me rather (think of the orphans Hywel, think of the orphans..).Never mind, I have some other plans brewing and also next week we are planning a trip into Uganda to visit the source of the nile so that should ... read more

First thing this morning I got in touch with insurance to use the roadside assistance plan for towing the car. Then I called the Toyota dealership. It all went pretty smoothly, despite delay from the poor tow truck driver going to the wrong address at first. Last night the alarm wouldn’t turn on; this morning it wouldn’t turn off. The car screamed all the way to the Toyota place, just like a kid who doesn’t want Mom to remove the splinter that is causing the pain. The dealership gave us a ride back to the Centre, and we settled into feeling stranded. The cellphone has terrible reception here. There is one place in the parking lot where I can usually maintain calls, and today it is raining. The internet has been down more often than up, ... read more

I spent the last 2 weeks of my trip in Zanzibar. Mostly as a guest of the president’s son, but that’s a whole other story and probably not as exciting as it sounds. Stone Town, is as you would expect, a winding maze of whitewashed streets full of women swathed in black robes and bright kanga head scarves, along with men in square hats pushing bikes. As the women saunter through the narrow streets you can’t help but be mesmerized by what you can see - just their alluring eyes peeking out through the black hijab. However it’s also a place full of honeymoon couples and groups of Italian tourists emjoying the luxury of 5 star hotels. Out of Africa indeed. I’ve been on the back of a pharmacists’put-putting piki piki as it swerves through narrow ... read more