West Breeze Hotel Nairobi

... fun with my Canadian VSO housemate and workmate, going on trips and travels with work, celebrations with VSOs, surprising and random events (such as watching Russian ballet, dancing at work, walking up mountains), 'adopting’ a puppy, going on safari, the excitement of cooking a good lasagne or brownies for friends!

However there have also been very low points, such as the sadness of leaving home, feeling homesick, saying goodbye to close ...

... of us (..and that we better brush up on our spelling!).

7 Nov 2009

Our first full day in Africa in a warm and sunny Nairobi, and we are still alive and Luc hasn't caught Malaria yet!! Much to her surprise!

We ventured into the curio market in the City centre and stuck out like sore thumbs and got swamped with new friends offering us "The best deals" and "special African price"
We quickly ...

Hi everyone!!

So yesterday was Halloween for you all, and I can already say I love looking at the pictures on Facebook! Steph... your Tone costume was hilarious. Oh.my.god!!! haha I died laughing here at Junction looking at it! A+ forsure! My muzungu costume was a huge hit here though I have to say! I never once had to tell anyone what I was, they already knew! Everywhere I went people would yell out what I was. It was great! lol
I ...

On Tuesday morning many people on the truck left early to go white water rafting on the Nile or visit a Chimpanzee sanctuary. A few of us were doing neither so we had a bit of a lie in, packed up camp and left for Jinja where the rest would meet us that evening. We stopped at a supermarket and then some fruit and veg stalls on the way to Jinja. For the two weeks from Nairobi into Uganda and back I had taken responsibility of buying ice for our esky out of the kitty I'd collected from ...

... announced that we only had 10 minutes left, and we all gasped in surprise, swearing that we had only been watching for a few minutes. Then our big break finally came. We rounded a tree and our guide told us to all sit quietly. Another large silverback male was less than 4 meters away, munching on leaves quietly while sitting against a tree. The thrill of watching him is indescribable. He was so humanlike, his hands, his face, his mannerisms, but ...

... of 6 is from Sherwood Park and Rose knows 2 of the people in that group (of course).

Nairobi, which means “cool water” in the language of the Masai, is the capital of Kenya and is a bustling city of almost 3 million people where colonial buildings mix with modern skyscrapers. On the way in from the Carnivore Restaurant we saw tin roofed shanties right across the street from a brand new gated ...

... in future. I was not overly lubricated and we headed to bed before the crowd begun to get too noisy. Wayne watched a movie on the computer and tried to sleep but the camp dogs were barking a lot as they guard the camp along with numerous local guys who are employed to guard. Here in Africa this is the norm, all hotels, camps, banks, well off people and businesses have guards. Especially in the city there are armed security men outside many banks, businesses and hotels.

I landed in Nairobi Airport at approximately 6:30 in the morning and was absolutely exhausted. After having my passport checked I went down to the baggage claim to collect my tons and tons of bags and hopefully find Michelle. Thankfully, Michelle was waiting right there and all of my bags were collected with no problems! However, due to the corruption it is quite common for the customs officials to charge people for no reason, typically those with several bags. Michelle ...

... but then you wonder if your heart can take this for that long and how much worse it will get before it gets better, so I came to the conclusion that I’d like to go the hospital. Now.

Which was when we learned that Kenya doesn’t have 911. Or ambulances. As one host brother told me the next day, "Here we would have just stayed home and let God take care of it." Not being a Christian, this was problematic for me. Also, my understanding is that God made the ...

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