Africa cont'd

Just wanted to jot a few more things before dinner. The group I am traveling with is a mix of 16 people. We have about 8 people from australia, 2 from england, 1 from germany, 1 from switzerland and 1 from poland. Ironically, there is one other american, named Sue, who is from San Francisco and lives specifically in Russian Hill where I lived a few years ago. It is a truly fun group. At least one time a day there is a search for more beer supplies, and casual beer drinking sometimes begins around noon. Everyone actually gets along rather well, and many of the people are hilarious. Certainly helps pass the time. We have been starting our days waking up between 4am (not real common) to 6am, but usually around 530 or so. My daily sleep intake is around 5-6hrs, so there are times I am quite tired, but there are so many things going on, it is doable. The first day we headed northwest to Nakuru National Park traveling in our truck which carrys all of our supplies-tables, chairs, utensils, tents, pads, food, etc. Most of this is either under the truck or on top and the main cabin has seats for all, with a little library in the back for reused books. We have nice large windows which we can pull down when we need a little breeze or to take pictures. The ride can be a little bumpy because the roads here are a little sketchy and Africa has a deep love for speed bumps. Sometimes you can be on a main highway and a speed bump will occur out of nowhere. Mostly they exist because Africa has a high rate of trucks turning over, in fact we had a slight detour due to a fuel truck on its side with fuel leaking all over the road. The Nakuru np was amazing. Essentially on our first day we saw hundreds of zebra, water buffalo, giraffes, a few rhinos, antelope, warthogs, and a couple of lions. All in all, not bad for a first day. I was floored and have already taken probably a thousand pictures. At night time, we all have a few jobs. I share the tent/sleeping pad removal from the top of the truck, which is probably the most potentially dangerous job since we are about 15-20 feet in the air walking on the roof. So far, no falls. We then set up camp and start assisting a little in food preparation. Patrick, the chef does most of the work and is rather a good cook. Never have problems chowing down. Usually it's a pasta or stirfry at night, some sausages and cereal for breakfast and sandwiches or salad for lunch. The next day, we headed out to Eldoret where we visited the Kariandusi school which receives financial assistance from Dragoman, our travel group. Must say, it was quite amazing. It was k-8, and the kids were dressed in basically homemade outfits with many of them with holes or sewn up parts. We visited several classrooms where the children would ask us questions or sing songs in either english or kiswahili. We also had to introduce ourselves and say where we were from. I always mentionned that I was from the US, and that my president was Barack Obama, which always received lots of applause since his father was from Kenya. There is certainly an extremely high level of pride. The kids just loved having us there and were constantly asking to get their picture taken. It was certainly an eye opening experience and made us appreciate what we have. On the way to camp we hit a little snag in the trip as our truck had a major brake malfunction. It was then necessary for us to pull all our stuff off the truck and be carted off into small vans to a campsite nearby, much closer than orginally planned. Luckily we had a campsite with adequate beer supplies and were able to upgrade to small cabins. Our adventure continued the next day onto Kibale National forest after passing into Uganda, where we would have the opportunity to trek chimpanzees. This was indeed a treat. We were in the jungle hiking for about 45 minutes where we came upon a group of about 10 chimpanzees up in a large tree having their morning breakfast, leaping from branch to branch and occasionally tossing used branches down. We also had to dodge a small rain/urine burst from one of the chimps. We watched for about an hour and then suddenly 3 chimps dropped onto the jungle floor where we then followed them through the bush for about 40 minutes where they would occasionally stop to munch on things. It was quite amazing to be that close and able to watch this animals so similar to ourselves. A little fast forward to yesterday which was friday the 29th. We continued our travels through Uganda pasing the equator for the second time. By the way, Kenya's weather was quite comfortable, high 70's to low 80's and with a breeze. Uganda on the other hand was much more what I expected, 80's and humid, much more like a jungle. Oooops, have to go, they are calling me for dinner. I'll add some soon, hopefully. Take care.

Africa/everything and so much more.

Let me first say "holy moly!!!!!!". Africa is living up to all my expectations and more. My estimation of getting internet is true. it's not that there's no internet, it's just with our itinerary, there's just no way to stop for it. I will have to now try and summarize over a weeks of adventure on a rather crappy keyboard. forgive my lack of capital letters at times, because that button is especially bad. After many, many hours of flying and being a zombie at the amsterdam airport, i arrived in nairobi to spend about 2 days with my friend wambu's family. she is from kenya and her family lives on the outskirts of nairobi. Forgive me wambu, because i can't quite remember your family's kikuyu names (her tribe) so i will refer to them as their relation to you. Essentially, i was treated to a wonderful kenyan experience by her family and especially her brother who showed me around. I was overfed cuisine such as beef stirfry, beans, rice, fruit. I have managed to probably gain weight so far. We perused a fruit market where one of the woman wanted me to take her back to the us. mangos, bananas, passionfruit, bananas, potatoes, etc abound. The market was in a small town close to their home, and i felt part rock star/ part leper as i walked around the streets as the only "mizungu" or white person. A term that is more observation then insult. People tend to stare or wave, but all very friendly. Most kenyans speak both english and kiswahili and also there native language, so looking around is not as foreign as one would think because many things are in english. we also went to a really western mall where our car was searched for bombs. ever since the embassy bombing in 1998, security around anything that might have tourists, is really high. That being said, i must say that i have felt very secure while i have been here. For dinner on friday, i was treated to roasted goat. Wish i could remember the names of these things, but don't have my notes. we went to a outside restaurant and picked a piece of goat which they proceeded to cut to size right in front of us. then after a variety of kenyan beers (tasker, white cap, pilsner- strangely enough, i can remember the names of beer) which were all very good, we chowed down on the roasted meat which is chopped in small pieces and eaten with your hands with a little salt, some ugali which is a rice or maize based dish similar to polenta or a dry cream of wheat. there was also a spinach based/rice dish that was very good. By the way, my friend wambu's family is incredible. all very nice and friendly. her sister showed me around their home which is a modest home with a few goats/pigs/cows in a jungle like environment with beautiful views from a hill top. we checked out the rock quarry which they used to mine gems, but now cut out rock for building homes. no electric tools here, folks. everything is mallets/chisels and manpower. so amazing how easy we have things. Finally on saturday night, i was taken to a music/dance club where we listened to live Kikuyu music and i danced with her sister, sister in law and brother. Believe it or not, though i think they were being polite, i danced well for a "mizungu" and had the kikuyu rhythm in my bones. i think it was all the kenyan beer. the music itself reminded me a little of caribbean/reggae music. it was good fun. then we proceeded to a more modern club listening to modern music like hip hop/rock, etc. it felt surreal to be listening to Green Day who is from berkeley, ca when i was on the other side of the world/hemisphere. On sunday, met up with the tour group at 6am which is a typical start for us. the group is led by olly and izzie both young brits around 26 who have an insane amount of responsibility leading us around the country, fixing the truck, haggling with vendors, trying to avoid international incidents. our cook who is much much more than that is Patrick, who is actually a local guy who makes us great grub and provides us with many a laugh. of note, because i may have to stop soon, last night while we were doing some safari stuff he was at camp where he was fixing dinner and was approached first by a wart hog and then soon after by 3 lions. he was only about 50 feet away where the lions decided to plop down for 30minutes and rest after an unsuccesful attempt to get the warthog. When we came back about 5 minutes after they left, he had two large kitchen knives in his hands and jumped on the bus in pure terror. He was fine but we were all a little shaken up, but with all the noise we make and the presence of our big ol truck, the lions were not going to come back. We were however visited by a family of hippos at around 10pm under a full moon. someone saw them when they were brushing their teeth and we cautiously watched them from about 70 feet away as they casually munched on grass. it was a truly special experience. By the way, we are currently in Kabale, uganda. Uganda is a lush, beautiful country. I will have to pop off soon, because we are off to drive again, but will try to type more tonight. love all of you. this is a trip of a lifetime and i recommend each and everyone to experience africa.

Planning Stages

Well, the clock is ticking. So many months, so much planning, so much money, so much stress. Now it's right around the corner and I can't even believe it. This will be an adventure of a lifetime and I look forward to what I will see, the people I will meet and the things I will learn about myself and the world. I am at the end stages. I have sublet my room, paid all my fees, bought all my stuff, and pretty much packed everything (wow is that bag heavy, maybe one less pair of underwear). Just a few more things to do, days to work, goodbyes, celebration, bug proof my clothing with poison, charge all my batteries and shave my head (well maybe not all of it). Then it's off to the airport on the 20th for over 3 months of adventure. More about what the journey entails, later. This is my blog test run. I thank Lisa Hartmayer for the suggestion and if you are offended or bored by the blog, you have her to blame, he he!!! More later.