Anyone not seen me in my pjs tonight?!

One of the first things pointed out to me when I arrived in Kenya was the security buttons. Each house has them, usually in every room and once pressed they summon armed guards within minutes. Tonight was the first time I pressed it….. this is probably my most promptly written blog post-not sure sleep will come very easily to me tonight…..

Just to give you some background on my house here: the windows all have metal bars on them, the doors all individually lock, and I have a metal barred door that separates the bedrooms from the living space that is padlocked each night. The house is very secure!! Can I just add that it is also a lovely house, I have made it sound like a prison, it isn’t, it is the sweetest thing, just very secure!

Well, lying in bed tonight (on Halloween I might just add) I heard noises….kept saying to myself, “If I hear it again I will press the button….” But I didn’t, I waited, listening intently getting more and more freaked and coming up with more elaborate scenarios of what was causing the strange noises. Eventually I convinced myself that someone had amazingly managed to open the windows and squeeze through the bars and was wandering round my living room (probably gutted that there is so little of any value to steal, trunk excluded!). I pressed the alarm then rang the askaris (the guards on campus) for them to be alerted too, but they very conveniently hadn’t charged their phones (this recurring issue will be addressed first thing tomorrow so I hear). I then rang Simon, my current favourite neighbour. Poor Simon, 11.30pm on a Sunday night….he thought it was a prank call as I was whispering and crying, trying not to alert my intruders that I was awake and had raised the alarm. Once I had convinced him that I wasn’t joking (seriously, just because I like to be silly and often do joke, where is the faith?!) he came round. I was so frightened, and the 30 seconds it took for him to get to me felt like a lot longer…it is amazing how imagination runs away with you! Having to unlock so much doesn’t aid speediness! I had so many scenarios of poor Simon being slain! He kindly and calmly took me for a lil walk to put my mind at ease….I was feeling very foolish as we wandered round the back of the house and all was silent…until we got to my veranda and there was an askari sitting happily in my chair! He had knocked the bars a few times accidentally and coupled with general animal noises as well as having a tin roof-anything falling on it can make quite a sound-had played havoc with my imagination! Simon and I were then met by armed security guards running over to check out the area in response to me pressing the alarm, a bit embarrassing really, but then at least there had been someone outside my house making the noises! We are strongly encouraged to always press the alarm if we are scared, but it is hard to do, as you don’t want to cause a fuss or cry wolf. Def got more confidence to press it again now, and more faith in the security as they were so fast tonight. Also got massive respect for Simon’s bravery and patience! Bet he loves the arrival of 3 girls on campus-we have replaced 3 guys-he hasn’t been called out before!

Simon offered me whiskey as a calming night cap….we wandered back to his house, and to my delight he had run out of tonic….but he did have chocolate! What a good friend!

I am now sitting in my house with: all the lights on, a slight sugar rush from the chocolate, freshly manicured nails and blaring boy band tunes (the least scary music!), waiting for the adrenaline to subside and tiredness to return! Gotta love the African adventures!

Amboseli-first ever camping safari!!

For half term my friend Hannah and I decided to go on a little adventure to Amboseli. Hannah had bought a car a week earlier, so after lots of scrounging for camping equipment we packed up the car and off we set. I sensibly took only camping clothes-heels and make up stayed behind....so how on earth did the car look like this-a 3 day camping trip for two people?!

We set off on various roads, guided by a map scribbled out by a friend, which contained just 4 turnings....amazingly we arrived safely!  Our journey wasn't without adventure though....going to the toilet was one.... after several hours on the road, it was time for a toilet break, by toilet I mean tree.....well, that would be fair enough if the trees weren't incredibly thin and sparse en route. We drove on. Bumpy roads-didn't help! Eventually a sort of bank appeared that we thought could work. Getting up the sandy bank without fits of giggles was a feat in itself, which was rewarded by a load of thorns. Hannah, the experienced camper went first and was soon back in the car, scratch free. I made the mistake of not only scratching my hands and legs badly, but looking around to see lots of Maasai tribal people around, watching.... Let's just say I ran down pretty fast and we speedily drove off. 

Amboseli is beautiful. Kilimanjaro is visible and it is very open terrain so easy to see the animals. I got to see my first elephant and hippo in the wild!!

Kilimanjaro in the background!

So cool, hippos at last!!

It was lush driving around and spotting hyenas, lions, giraffe....there were so many animals, it was brill! My fav pic had to be zebras, find them fascinating.

Zebra bottoms!

I don’t think Hannah realised just how inexperienced I was when it came to camping, but she patiently took it in her stride, and together we managed to put up our tent, and it stayed! Was a very proud achievement! Not sure I will ever become a seasoned camper, but was fun!

Starting out on our morning game drive

Kenyan roads

Had a great few days in Amboseli, lots of fun, and cool to navigate there using a map drawn by a friend-it involved 4 turns-yet took 7 hours, amazing!!! Gotta love the Kenyan road system. Will explain all about the first camping safari (first time camping in 17 years!!) soon, but thought I should elaborate about the roads and explain how confusion may arise when it comes to what off road actually means!!

Here is quite a typical road:

Notice the crazy lane system, it is pretty much a free for all, especially if you are a matatu driver or have serious Kenyan attitude (it develops pretty fast so I hear)!!

So, you can understand my surprise when we were driving back from Amboseli and this road looked like this: 

It was amazing to see lines on the road!! And it was so smooth, could actually listen to music without it being on LOUD!!! What a beauty!!

The Vixen has arrived!

So, after quite a few years.....I am back on the road (well kinda, got sort insurance yet!). My car arrived today, she is lush, such a cutie, and a lot sportier than I remembered-it has been 5 weeks since I bought her!

She is called The Vixen, or Vixie, as I got a lil confused by her being a Vits, and thought she was a Vix, anyway, it suits her!! First time driving an automatic today (around the car park), it's weird!!

Off to Amboseli tomorrow for a lil safari adventure...hoping to see elephants and maybe even a leopard.... apparently it's a great place for spotting the Big Five, so fingers crossed!

Monkey bars have a whole new meaning

Can't believe how animaly this blog is!!

This week has been good, though there have been a few surprises...trying to be less jumpy. Got out of the shower a few days ago to hear a massive crash, looked into my living room to find a giant monkey sitting on the fireplace. I shrieked!!!! Such a random sight. It jumped across the worktops and squeezed through the grates on my kitchen window-was worried it'd get stuck!! Did not want to have to push a fat monkey's bottom through the bars on my window! Ran outside after it to find my neighbours with catapults and doubled over with giggles at the ridiculousness of the situation. The monkey had done the rounds of the houses. What joy!!

Last night I saw a giant spider and a gecko as I got into bed....can't say I slept very easily! Generally my house is, well, was gonna say animal free, but that isn't true-the chickens kept wandering in today, and the warthogs have got as far as the veranda...

A warthog eating the chicken food outside my neighbour's house

On Friday evening, I went on a little game drive in the National Park opposite the school. Saw a lion about 5m from the car, was amazing!

The game park is so cool. It is the only game park in a city, so you can sky scrapers in the background!

It's a lush way to spend a Friday afternoon unwinding!

Today shall be called Trunk day!!

Well, after rather frequently tracking my trunk after its customs clearance on Sunday evening, excitement levels have been high, and today was the expected day for delivery, but this is Kenya.... Still, when I wrote the date on the board today, I added: - trunk day?! Fortunately by half past ten the question mark had been rubbed off, it had arrived!!! The kids were as excited as I was, and there were lots of shrieks! One teacher came in to ask what was going on as she thought someone was in pain! Sadly at break time though I couldn't find it! Was so gutted, and came plodding back to class when someone recommended the bursar's office.....I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to see it, all covered in torn fragile tape, and looking, well, quite a sorry sight really!!!

It looks so teeny here...oh the anticipation!!

Two kind guards carried it home for me,

Massively over exposed, but oh, the excitement of it finally coming home!! It was an incredibly hot and bright day today too!

and my house girl watched as I happily unpacked/threw things out of it, each with more delight and excitement!

The celebrations continue tonight with the official trunk party! It is good to be reunited!

My kids were adorable....on Wednesday I entered my classroom to see ribbons, flowers, cakes, party poppers and streamers, and party we did!!

Birds, bribes and bumps!

Well, yesterday was an interesting one involving lots of newbies! I went out for the day with a friend, and as we were driving along we were hailed down by the police. Always a pleasure! Don't worry was all I was told! Hmmm… What followed was a rather long conversation in Swahili, then the police man getting into the car.....a little drive, then us pulling over, and more Swahili, before the policeman turned and asked me if I understood the language. I sat there silently, before my friend prompted me to speak hehe I just didn't know what the right thing to do was! Hehe looking back, responding to a police officer is always a good idea, and generlaly the right one no matter which situation or country! I told him that I spoke about 5 words, and was then worried that he would test me, so was desperately practicing them in my head! After a few more minutes of Swahili, there was a little money exchange, and the policeman jumped out of the car and happily waved us goodbye.....no trip to the police station as threatened, and no repercussions. So, I witnessed my first bribe….was kinda sad as well as random, though good to see how the system works!

Well, finally on our way, we headed to an ostrich farm just outside of Nairobi, where we ordered some ostrich steak. I had actual butterflies-have been looking forward to tasting it since abandoning my vegetarianism (can hardly remember what that was like btw!) Ostrich was absolutely delicious, less chicken-like than others had described, but then isn’t everything?! Was a little put off by a lil after lunch wander round the farm to then see loads of ostrich. They are massive; some of them were abut 10 feet tall. I politely declined an offer to ride one (did enjoy giggling at others riding round on them)-thought that it was a bit unfair to clamber onto one when I still had fellow ostrich in my tummy!

Instead of driving back along the main route, we went off road. It was so much fun!! I drove quite a bit of the way-my first time driving off road, and there were def a few hairy moments as we had to cross rivers and avoid boulders, but was brilliant! Loved it! My Kenyan friend got a lil offended when I excitedly exclaimed that it was my first time driving off road when I left the tyre tracks, and went across a field. “Hannah, we have been off road for the last hour!” To be completely honest, and those with experience of Kenyan roads will understand this, some of the roads in the city are mere tyre tracks, and are incredibly bumpy and boulder filled too, so it was difficult to know what the real term 'off road' meant! It was great driving a big 4x4, was my second time and I have more seriously thought of getting one, but think a small city car is better for now. I still anxiously and excitedly await getting my car (gotta love Kenyan bureaucracy….3 weeks down, how many more to go is anyone’s guess!) though my new car is about as opposite to a big 4x4 as you can get out here! The lil thing, affectionately nicknamed Vixen (she is a Vits) will NOT be going off road, I am worried enough about how she will cope maneuvering the roads and potholes of the city! Can't wait to get her though.