Off the Island

Since our last entry we have managed to get off of the Island and been to some areas of cooler climate which has been totaly amazing. We attended a conference near Nairobi last week and decided that it was cheaper to drive there than to fly. So we have had a bit of a road trip 4 adults and 1 child travelling about 2,400 kilometers over 4 days with at least 20 police stops, 3 new tyres, 2 border crossings, 2 ferry crossings and 1 speeding ticket!

Some of the views driving through Tanzania

There were some paved roads which was nice and they are constructing others but there is often no diversion road so you just find a way around along the side somewhere!

We saw this Zebra just at the side of the road but he started to walk away when we stopped

This is our team car which is kept on the mainland for such trips. This was us changing our first tyre after a blow-out at 100kph. We had another flat and ended up buying three new ones. Notice the bits of tree on the road behind, this is not the reason for the blowout but standard practice is that when broken down (quite often in Africa) these bits of bush or rocks or whatever act as a warning to others. They are usually left there as well!

Kilimanjaro

I had been warned about the amount of traffic police who seem to be everywhere so had kept an eye on my speed, however at one point on the main road to Kenya there was a 30kph limit (thats pretty slow-18.64mph actually) I slowed down and after going through the supposedly hazardous area sped up only to be confronted with yet another cop with a speed gun saying I was going 68kph when it was 30. I explained that I thought we were between a 30 and 50 limit so I was ok but he told me I was wrong and needed to pay a fine, go to court or pay him a gift. I paid the fine only to find on the return journey that I was right and that I had been out of the 30 limit!

We were also stopped on the way back with another cop with a speed gun saying we were going 58 in a 50, we were actually going about 35 and he hadn't even pointed the gun at us so we told him were to go!

We stopped for a couple of nights on the way up near Arusha with some friends. This was really nice as we had our own little banda in the foothills of Mount Meru. It was cool in the evening and we enjoyed wearing jumpers, having a duvet and hot showers for the first time in almost 5 months.

We also made the most of being there and went to Arusha National Park, we were told that we may see hippos and elephants however they must have been hiding. We did see flamingos, buffalo, girafes, zebras and other animal things which I am not sure what they were.

I also saw this there and have included it for all the Land Rover fans as it is quite something.

Once in Nairobi, Paula made the most of civilisation and chopped off all her hair. She is holding what used to be on her head, she said it was too hot or something. We also enjoyed being able to go to supermarkets which had things in them. We were able to get a few things to take back with us such as breakfast cereal, pork sausages, bacon, olives and diet coke.


Just before the conference we were invited to go camping with some English friends who live near Nairobi. We went to a place near Naivasha which was great, it was out in the bush with nobody around, no toilet etc. We were able to enjoy toasting marshmellows on the fire and wearing jumpers and jeans.

The conference was also a really good time. We met lots of people and were greatly encouraged. I think we gained a few pounds due to the amazing food of which I ate alot.

I have saved the best till last. Upon driving into Nairobi we saw big banners over the road advertising a Jars of Clay concert. That is the Jars of Clay, i.e. my favourite band who have not been to England for ages if at all. I need to explain that we used to talk about going to America to see them! We had planned to be in Nairobi for 2 nights and 1 night after. The concert was on the night after the conference so we went. This was best described by Roxanne who said that this was a gift from God.

End of school and start of building

It is now the beginning of February the hottest month of the year here although we are having a few periods of heavy rain which is unusual but very welcome as it is cooler for me and it helps the locals shamba's (gardens for growing loads of fruit and veg).



At the end of January we finished our beginners class at language school which was good fun and we learnt a lot. This is us in our classroom with our teacher who was very encouraging. I am glad that it is over with for now as our days were very busy and I feel that any more information would have gone straight over my head.



This is a picture of us at our house with the certificates from the school. We are unfortunately moving out of this house this month as we are moving into our friends house for a few months while they are back in England and then we will have to find another place!

On Saturday the 24th of January we had the official ground breaking ceremony for the vocational training centre we are building. This was attended by lots of influential people such as some people from the government the German consulate, members of the board of the school, local traders, etc


This involved a few speeches from various important people including our project manager Mr Alex Kittow. This was followed by a viewing of the proposed site (with the sign which Paula painted) and then the Principal Secretary for Education (the guy in charge of the ministry of education), dug the first part of the foundation and finally we had some refreshments.

(Note the lady in the red top with the camcorder just behind the guy's head, she is filming for the local TV-enough said)

We did manage to record the local news which I have included for you to see although it is in Swahili you can see what happened. We are all in it at some point except for Alex although when Hans is explaining details of the site he is called Alex!

Since then work has begun. We have dug the foundations, installed a water supply and the laying of the foundations starts tomorrow. (For those of us who are interested this is not done with concrete as cement is expensive but is done by packing bits of coral rock closely together with a little bit of mortar in the gaps! We will see how it turns out.)

On Friday we are heading to the mainland and will be driving up to Kenya for a conference. I am looking forward to this as it sounds like an awesome road trip and we haven't been to the mainland yet but have heard that there are such things as supermarkets! We will also spend a couple of days in Northern Tanzania on the way which I am looking forward to as it is supposed to be beautiful and a bit cooler!

This is a picture of my friend who helps me with my language. Here I am writing stories in Kiswahili and then I tell them to him and he corrects me. I wanted to include this picture because if you look closely he is wearing a Royal Mail T-shirt-Amazing!

Finally here is a picture of me attempting to windsurf in no wind. I think that I this will be my hobby whilst I am here because our team leader has the equipment and there is not much in the way of waves as can be seen below