CWB Kenya Day 9

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Day 9 (Sunday) -

CWB Team Kenya woke this morning anticipating the opportunity to leave Nairobi behind them and head for the hills. Naturally it was no surprise to find the rain had poured down for most of the night and that sleep had been a precious commodity! A tired and not entirely well team waved goodbye to the Jupiter Guest Resort, but not before bidding farewell to Claire, who flew back to England later that evening. It was sad to see her go (especially for Neil - ED). She had brought much to the team, not least her rapidly developed interest in Premiership football and Tusker beer. It hadn't taken long for her to be become one of the first to the bar and to stay up to watch the end of the matches - way after some of the older members of the party had retired to bed! We all offered advice for her forthcoming wedding, and I feel sure that the toast will probably be made in African beer straight from the bottle. Claire - we all miss you ... standards have dropped since you left!!!

We were not unhappy, however, to be leaving the madness and dangers of Nairobi behind us but the trip up-country was not without incident. We were treated to traffic delays resulting from a variety of wildlife. Indeed, we can now all say that we have seen a genuine zebra crossing! As for the team, the trip was comfortable with only a few managing to sleep through the views of wildlife and sheer drops as we climbed the side of the Rift Valley.

On arrival at Nakuru, we said another farewell - this time to our driver, Peter, who had somehow managed to drive through Nairobi for a week and not hit a single vehicle or pedestrian, whilst keeping to the road for most of the time. (In comparison to other drivers, he used the pavement relatively infrequently!) We were only a little concerned, when stopped at a roadside police check (one of many), as it was established that Peter did not appear to have the right license to drive a minibus. Sitting stuck at the side of the road, miles from anywhere whilst Peter entered into a heated discussion with a stick-waving policeman seemed to fit rather well with our previous experiences.

The Rift Valley Sports Club welcomed us and offers a curious colonial atmosphere, which includes fines for mobile phones ringing in the gentlemen-only bar and a special chair brought to the table for hats that may not be worn inside. Rules are, of course, to be broken....! Some people are always difficult to please - complaints about generators firing up all night, noisy night-clubs that go on until 5am and towels that probably would have been used by Queen Victoria had she visited her colony seem quite minor to the Project Leader, who is comfortably situated on the second floor of the main building! Gin and tonic, anyone??

MD

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