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Published: July 22nd 2010
Zebra
In Tsavo East NP.With only 2 more days remaining of my time in Mombasa, I have been trying to fit as much in as possible!
After my last blog entry, my hosts took me out to the cinema, and we saw a Bollywood film called "I Hate Luv Stories". It was very different to the type of films I am used to watching, but I really enjoyed it.
Bright and early the next morning, I met up with some other volunteers and a family on holiday to go on safari. We travelled west towards Nairobi, and then entered Tsavo East National Park. Our guide (Patrick) told us, once we had entered the park, that it may be up to 50km before we saw any animals. However, about 2 minutes later we saw a herd of elephants grazing about 50m from the track! Patrick told us lots of interesting facts about these fascinating creatures, including that they will carry out abortions if they know that there is not enough food available for the baby to survive. We then saw some zebra that were incredibly close to our van. The patterns on them were amazing! During the rest of our morning game drive we
Elephants
A herd of elephants enjoying a watering hole. saw ostriches, warthogs, antelopes, gazelle and buffalo. There were also lots more elephants to be seen, and we watched some drinking and washing at a watering hole metres away from us. However, the most exciting thing we saw that morning was a lioness with four cubs hunting buffalo. She crossed the track right in front of our van, and we watched her stalk her prey in the cover of the bush. It was very surreal.
We were then taken to our lodge for lunch. We had expected a relatively low standard of accomodation, but it was actually pretty luxurious! We had four-poster beds in our room, and the food was delicious! In the afternoon we went out for another game drive, the highlight of which was being chased by four angry bull elephants! It was a bit scary at the time, but hilarious afterwards. We also saw jackals, mongoose, owls and lots of interesting birds. We headed back to the lodge as the sun set, and it was a beautiful and dramatic sight. There was a watering hole just outside the lodge dining areas, and we watched buffalo, elephants and birds visit during dinner.
It was very exciting
Elephants
Brothers play-fighting. the next morning to have a hot shower - I haven't had one since I left the UK! We watched the sun rise during breakfast, which was another great spectacle. On our morning game drive we saw a sleeping lion, guinea fowl, and a giraffe that was right beside the road. After this we left the park, and headed further west to Amboseli National Park. It was much flatter than Tsavo, and had salty, white soil. There were lots of dust clouds, like tornadoes, that could be seen. Mount Kilimanjaro is right beside the park, but it was shrouded in cloud when we arrived. We saw wildebeest on our way to the campsite we were staying at. Again, it was a lot better than expected, with double beds and hot showers in the tents! After lunch, we visited a Maasai village. It seemed like it had been put on for tourists, but I enjoyed seeing their way of life. When we arrived, the villagers came out to dance for us, doing lots of jumping. We joined in, which was fun. Inside the village, we were shown how to make fire and went inside a house. We were then taken to
Sunset
The sunset behind some wildebeest. a "market", where stallholders tried to charge us ridiculous amounts for their wares.
As we left the village, we suddenly saw the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. The mountain is huge! I couldn't believe that I was going to attempt to ascend it. On the game drive we saw lots of the animals that we had already seen, and also pink flamingos, hyenas and hippos. It was very exciting. We drove back as the sun set, and it was even more amazing than the one from the previous night. Back at camp, we had a quick dip in the swimming pool. It was dark and freezing cold, but the sky was full of stars, which was beautiful. After dinner, we were treated to another performance of Maasai dancing, around a bonfire.
We had a short game drive before leaving the park in the morning, but didn't see many animals. The journey back to Mombasa was very long, and we had a few stops for visits to "curio" shops, and for lunch.
On Monday, a volunteer friend and I went on a trip to Wasini Island, south of Mombasa. On the way, our minibus was stopped at a police
Sunrise
The view at breakfast. checkpoint. However, a 100Ksh tip from our driver ensured that we were immediately allowed to continue! According to people I have spoken to, this corruption is quite common here. At the coast, we boarded a dhow (an Arabic boat previously used to transport slaves to Zanzibar) which took us along the coastline to try and spot dolphins. Unfortunately, we didn't see any but our surroundings were beautiful and it was very tranquil. We then put down anchor just offshore of Wasini and did some snorkelling. It was a great experience, and the coral reef and fish living in it were fascinating to look at. We then went onto the island, and had lunch. I tried crab for the first time, and quite liked it. I had a claw and it was funny trying to smash it open and scrape out the meat. We were served lots of other dishes, and it was a very filling meal!
In the afternoon we were taken for a tour of the island's village, which had about 1500 inhabitants. It didn't have electricity, but had a lot of ingenious methods of water collection. We saw a coral garden, with pillars of coral that are
Giraffe
Right behind our van! still a natural work-in-progress. Our guide then took us to a different area to snorkel, which was just as beautiful but had very different coral and fish. It was another great day.
I had an early start the next day to go to a different hospital, in the town of Kalolen. The journey took about 1 1/2 hours, and it was a very bumpy road. To get to the hospital (St Luke's) from the bus stop, I had to get a boda-boda (motorbike). I had never been on one before, so it was really fun, but I had to ask the driver to go polepole - slowly! I was given a tour of the hospital, and then went to the CCC clinic which is for HIV patients. A doctor there told me some very interesting things about the disease and its treatment. I then went to MCH (mother and child health), where a talk was being given on family planning. It was a bizarre concept to most of the women there. I then spent some more time in CCC, and saw a girl whose heart could be seen beating through her chest. The doctor thought that it could be
Sandstorm
One of the many dust clouds. a diaphragmatic hernia. I then visited the maternity ward and arrived about 1 minute before a woman started giving birth. It was one of the weirdest things I have every seen, but it was amazing to see the newborn baby.
On my second day at St Luke's I went with some nurses and pharmacists, and a clinician to a satellite clinic about 45 minutes away from Kaloleni. I sat in on the clinician's consultations and got involved with prescribing and lab requests. When we returned to St Luke's, I went to the outpatients department, and took vital signs. I also saw lots of injections and the removal of some stitches. I also had a look in the lab, and it was interesting to compare it to the one in Bomu. Back in Mombasa, I went out with some volunteers to a pub that was having a karaoke night. There were some fantastic singers, and some that were not! I did a duet with a friend, and it was a really funny experience.
I was surprisingly awake this morning, and went back to outpatients at the hospital. I saw stitches being removed from various wounds, injections and the changing
Wildebeest
In Amboseli NP. of dressings. I removed a dressing from a boy's wounded toe, cleaned and applied another dressing and bandage. He was writhing on the bed the whole time, which made things a bit more complicated! A woman with leprosy came in with damaged toes from infected blisters, and no feeling in her feet, and there was also a patient that had lots of pus squeezed from his foot. I went to a local cafe for lunch, and managed a basic conversation in Swahili with the owner, which was very satisfying. I then went to the CCC pharmacy, and helped prescribe ARVs. I learnt a lot. A clinician in outpatients was very happy to have me see his consultations, and I saw patients with malaria, a canula inserted into a child's hand, and a pregnant woman who was starting to go into labour. I was sad to leave in the evening, as it was my last day of volunteering.
I recieved some letters and cards from my family and grandparents today, which I really enjoyed reading. I have really enjoyed my time here, and although I miss my family, I haven't felt homesick.
I'm going to be sad to leave
Kibo Camp
Our luxurious tent in Amboseli. Mombasa, but am looking forward to the next part of my adventure!
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Enid
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Amazing Tales
What a fantastic time you are having Heather! So varied with safari and hospital experiences! So Kili is awesome eh? Good treking!