A New Job Along the Coast

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Well, my last week in Shimoni didn't get a blog because I didn't really do that much. I made some new forms for the upcoming expo, went on a few walks, and read at the Reef a lot. One of my walks was up the dirt road to a place called Magical Mwazaro. It's a beach with a beautiful hotel on it. I took lunch with me, and ate it there. I would recommend it to anyone travelling in the area. The weather has been getting hotter every day, so it's nice to be able to get away to a spot by the ocean with a breeze.

My last weekend in Shimoni I went up to Diani for a change of scenery. The most exciting thing that happened was a man proclaiming his love for me when I was trying to read on the beach. That type of thing happens a lot to white women in Kenya. A friend of mine from GVI got proposed to on a matatu once, and the guy said would 16 goats and 4 cows as a present to her father be enough? XD These guys are harmless, just a little annoying.

On Tuesday, my last night, we went to Abdul's for one last meal. I will definitely miss that when I'm away. I will be back though. Abdul's is one of the places I'm taking Liam to when he comes down.
On Wednesday I left for Vipingo. I left Shimoni at 6am, and after a minor stop to fix a deflated tire, we were off. The training officer was going up with me to see that I got settled in, and we were going to Mombasa with the staff doing the big 10 week shop for the new expo, which started on 2 October.

It was a fun time in Mombasa. To get to the city from the south you have to cross on the Likoni ferry, and depending on the amount of vehicles this can take a long time. When we arrived at the cue, the other staff saw that it would take hours to get across. Another girl and I had to get our visas renewed at the immigration building, so we all decided it would be faster if we walked across on the ferry. Someone came with us so we didn't get lost, and we were over in a very short while. The ferry is free for foot traffic, which is nice. We got a tuktuk (a small, 3 wheeled, covered, motorized vehicle) to the immigration building. We went to the wrong one first so we had to go down the road a bit. Getting the visa was a little strange. There didn't appear to be any line, just a bunch of people waiting. We were given a form to fill out, but no number, and told to wait until we were called. After about 25 minutes four of us got called over to a desk where we got new visas stamped.
That
process only took 5 minutes, and then we were out and hopping back in the car. We drove to the supermarket where the shop was taking place, I said goodbye to people, then the science officer and I met Douglas, the KESCOM rep that I'm going to be in communication with while I'm at Vipingo, and we got a matatu to get there. After 2 different matatu's we arrived, and we took some bodaboda's (motorbikes) down to the house of an English lady who I'll be working with while here. We got all the introductions done, and I met the guy who I'll be spending the most time helping, named Charles.

After getting settled into my house, I get my own room and I have a wonderful homestay family, Charles took us on a tour of the area, and the science offer left. I'm actually living in a town called Bureni, and Vipingo is down the road a bit. This area seems like it's wealthier then Shimoni is. There are more concrete houses then mud and stone, some people have cars, and the houses are much more spread out.

The days between then and now have consisted of lots of walking and meeting people. I've gotten up around 5am most mornings and gone jogging before it got hot, then showered, ate, and went to Charles house so we could start patrols. Vipingo has 3 different beaches that are patrolled in the mornings, and there are 20 nests at the moment. In the afternoons I've been taken around and introduced to lots of community members.

I've had all my meals cooked by my homestay family, and they've been delicious. Lots of stew, fish, rice, chapatis, and ugali, which is flour and water mixed to a paste. It's a staple in Kenyan cooking.

For most afternoons while I'm here I'll be going to the English ladies house and doing computer stuff like data entry and research. I'm still figuring out what I'll do on weekends.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to run this morning (Tuesday). I think running in hiking boots over hard dirt roads aggravated my Achilles heel, because it was sore yesterday. I'm going to rest it the next few days to see how it goes. If I can't run, at least I walk a lot here, and I may be given a bike to use, which would be a bonus.

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Photos

Beach Patrol
Walking along the beach in Vipingo looking for turtles.

The View
The view out of my office.

Turtles!
Some baby green turtles we released.

Comments

[Deirdre Richardson]

Great to see you
Talking to you on Skype was awesome, Orla. You look so good, the life is obviously agreeing with you. I can't believe we talked for so long. The area you are working in now looks lovely and I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay there. We are having a spot of nice weather here now too, finally, and we can see blue sky for a change. Off on a bike ride soon. Talk to you soon. Love Mum

[mary lou]

love from gramma
Im trying again. all is well here kathi had surgery to mend her carparl tunnel muscle. she is on 6 weeks leave. she and keith have gone to Seattle or a few days for show of Picasso art. Im doing o.k. life is the same here at good ole Menno Court. oh I just remember ed i bought anew 32 inch tv, it sure is nice your Dad too me to buy and hooked it up forme. I get DVD,s at the library so i,m busy watching a lot of mysterie and T.V. pardon my typing and grammer. I wanted to say helloand sendlots of love, great to hear things good there. We,ll all be so glad when you re home again. luv G.