So yet another week has passed and here I am in Nairobi once again.

This past weekend I ventured back to Chagaik with the help of Paul and Alison. They [the school] had said that the accommodation was now ready and they were expecting my return. I stayed for a night and gave it all the positive attitude that I could muster under the circumstances. I quickly realised however that it really wasn’t for me. Everything continued to change, and to cut a seriously long story short, I am now back in Nairobi safe and sound. I have had about 6 hours sleep in the past 48 hours so am completely kanckered.


Anyway, for now have decided to neglect the idea of researching other volunteering opportunities. It will take a long time to organise, and if it was a placement anywhere other than Runda it would be a logistical nightmare to try and organise transport to and fro etc SO have decided I’m going to travel and have a good barrel of fun instead! I think this is an awesome idea. No idea where, no idea what and no idea how much. But will be researching this week and feel much happier knowing that I will hopefully return to the UK now with extremely fond memories of Kenya and wherever else I drag my little tushi off to.

Hurray!


The bonus of being here in Kenya and realising that I now want to do travelling is…. Everything is cheaper!! You get resident’s rates, and because you’re organising without the aid of some overpaid fat man in England – the costs are cut further. (And this is just from looking in the window of the local travel agents…) To drive is cheaper than to fly (but that’s pretty obvious) and so what is 6/7 hours in a car if it saves some money to see more baby lions or whatever?! More updates on this when I know more.


My brief stay in Chagaik (for the second time round…) was more fruitful than the last however. My new good friend Faith (an english teacher at the school) showed me around and took me on a walk in the area etc etc Not only are the surroundings absolutely stunning (plush like looking out of Wendover woods in spring…but with MILES of bright green tea leaves and huge big trees) BUT I learned a little something about the tea process… You know that the leaves are ready to be picked when you look at a field of tea and see little dimples in the plants – almost like holes where the plant has failed. At this point (and I clearly came at the right time…) the tea plants grow hundreds of new shoots. The bits of the plant which pickers pick are the top three leaves. They are grown from one stem, and consist of three leaves – each slightly smaller than the other. These apparently are the only leaves to be picked. Pickers are paid by the kilo – their pickings are weighed at the end of each month and they are paid accordingly. Interesting stuff hey?


Kenyan tea (as I already knew) is made differently to the English ‘whack a bag in a mug’ concept. Instead, they heat lots of milk with some water, sugar and loose tea leaves in one pot and sieve it off when they want some. They leave the pot of tea brewing on a hot fire for hours (and it doesn’t taste as though it has been sat heating up for ages). It truly was the best cup of tea I will probably EVER have. Not only was it made from ground tea leaves from the field just opposite the school, the milk was freshly produced by the dozen cattle that are resident at the school.

An authentic cup of tea.


Now, speaking of authentic tea. Alison and Paul spent the night at the appropriately named ‘tea hotel’ in Kericho town. One might make the dangerous assumption that they might be catering for a clientele interested in sampling the local tea. However, ONE would be mistaken! The tea was rather disgusting apparently, and the food and accommodation not much more improved. I do get the impression they would have preferred coffee (which seems SCANDELOUS given the grief they give Alison’s mum for ordering coffee on their first and previous visit to the Tea hotel some time ago). Oh the hilarity! I think I’ll give staying at that one a miss….

Our first journey to Kericho saw us stop via Molo (which I have since discovered is the best place in the world to buy vegetables). This involved Alison winding down the window and dozens of women begging you to buy their potatoes, carrots (that are HUGE), peas, plums, cabbages (the size of a small bin) and so on. Strong accusations of 'you do not promote me my sisters' get flung through the window and having been in Kenya for only a few days I thought this was pretty intimidating...not scary at all they just want you to buy their veg, but intimidating all the same to have people smacking the window inches from your ears. ANYWAY on the way back through Molo to Kericho for the second time, I planned to get some veg thereto keep me going whilst at the school. And a sign of just how used to the culture I have become...what did Hannah do? I just hopped on out of the car and walked along the street trying to find the freshest looking veg! Managed to get a huge sack of potatoes, a gargantuan cabbage and a large bag of even larger carrots all for about £1.50. And to think that I was trying to haggle them down on that....surreal.

On our return from Chagaik/Kericho some 24 hours later, the car began to slow pretty quickly and we came to a grinding halt... A tyre had gone. The rubber had completely burnt out and it was so hot to the touch. SO Alison and Paul (who seem quite used to this occurance considering the state of the roads) worked like clockwork getting the jack out and putting the spare tyre on. We put a warning triangle about 8-10 metres from the car - but the drivers still came whizzing past at 80/100 kph leaving only a foot or two between them and Paul's back. We then ventured into Narok to try and find a replacement for a spare (considering the roads were only getting worse and we were 2 hours from Nairobi another wheel down would not be good...) And this place was selling second hand tyres and tried to sell Paul a pretty rotten looking tyre for 3,800 KSh (that's nearly forty quid...) anyway a guy came along and said he had a better tyre with a better price, which did indeed turn out tobe true.

It was at this time that I realised that I had got sunburn THROUGH the window of the car on the right side of my neck shoulders and arm. So annoying but there we go, with a tyre now fixed we were well on our way and arrived safely back in Nairobi whereupon I crashed out and had a well deserved kip...