For the third week of our holiday, Justin, Brigid, Sarah and I went to Uganda for a 7-day beginner white water kayak course on the Nile River. The kayak school is at Bujagali Falls, not far from the town of Jinja (about 2 ½ hours drive east of Kampala). They have an excellent set-up there, with a number of choices of accommodation and places to eat on site. We almost didn’t need to leave the place (except that we had stupidly forgotten to change any money at the airport and had no Ugandan currency - a major pain in the behind given none of our cards worked in the machines at Jinja… ah, traveller’s cheques…), it was that good. We quickly got into a routine, which involved a not-so-early brekky at the café next door to ... read more

Hi all! We’re now back in Kilifi after our big trip. I’m going to do as Brigid did and write a separate blog for each part of our trip (and backdate them, sorry). Justin and Whitley arrived in Kenya on September 4th - David drove me down to meet them in Mombasa on the newly done up Malindi-Mombasa road. Thanks to the road works (which happened as the President was due to visit Mombasa, apparently), it now takes less than an hour (instead of over 90 minutes) to get there, and it’s a much more pleasant trip. It made for an interesting introduction to Kenyan roads for our visitors though as David - who is usually the most conservative driver in the country - was excited by their new condition and took the opportunity to put ... read more

The wildebeest migration to Masai Mara is sometimes described as the eighth wonder of the world. We were lucky we had timed our trip to coincide with this event, as a wonder it certainly is! We flew into Masai Mara on Thursday morning in a 20-seater plane that flew low enough to allow us to see the thousands of animals that dotted the park. We were picked up at the airport by John, who was to be our driver for the next few days, and went on our first drive. The next couple of days were spent alternating between game drives and all-you-can-eat buffets at our lodge. There were wildebeest literally as far as the eye can see, usually with zebras (and sometimes giraffes) that also migrate with them. They are quite ugly creatures, with long ... read more

Hi dudes! We’ve really been living it up lately - have had another lovely weekend away, this time to Diani Beach and Shimba Hills on the south coast of Kenya. Had another early start on Friday morning, arriving at Mombasa airport in time to meet Rod’s flight from Nairobi. After picking him up, we headed further south via taxi, then the Likoni ferry (a large boat that crosses the stretch of water separating Mombasa from the mainland about every 15 minutes, ferrying cars, bikes and hundreds and hundreds of people at a time), then a matatu (a fairly full-on welcome to Kenya for Rod!), arriving in Diani Beach just before lunch. We stayed in a place called Diani Beachalets (pronounced beach-a-lets, not beach-chalet), which are quite run down - but still charming - cottages with a ... read more

Don't just stand there, bust a move! Africa » Kenya » Coast By Katherine HowellJuly 11th 2007Katherine HowellFor those of you who are not sick of photos of the kids, here are a few more. Brigid, Liam, dad and I went to the orphanage to watch a dance class there. This was a new thing for the kids - a woman Margaret knows volunteered to come and take a class. The dancing was hilarious - mainly because the kids (who speak very little english) didn't understand the instructions and kept mistaking the woman's gestures for dance moves. They can certainly move though - I'm sure they'll carve up d-floors in years to come! K x ... read more