Diani Beach

This weekend we went to Diani beach, it is about 30 minutes south of Mombassa. I left Lewa at about 10AM on Thursday and had the day in Nanyuki and met with some people from the SAFI project, which are a group of students from Harvard University who are trying to establish some recycling initiatives in the Laikipia plateau (the area around Lewa). Hopefully we can work together and find a way for Lewa to better manage their plastic waste.

We then walked around Nanyuki, it is a really cool town and some locals showed us around to the good shops. We then took a 4 hour private vehicle to the Nairobi bus station (fairly sketchy), and I was hungry so Michael and I ate some fried chicken at a fast food place (didnt get sick somehow!). From Nairobi it is about 7 hours to Mombassa. the bus was nice but the bus drivers drive crazy fast. None of us slept very much and we were really beat by the time we were in Mombassa.

From Mombassa you have to take a 3 minute ferry ride (we couldn't figure out why they don't build a bridge) to the south coast. The ferries are mayhem, nothing like BC ferries, packed to the brim with walk ons, bikes and cars. In Diani we stayed at a place called the Flamboyant, really nice place and we got a really good deal, less than 20 dollars a night.

Sandra, James and I competed in the Diani beach 5 a side touch rugby tournament which was really fun. A team dropped out so we filled in and we didnt have to pay the 100 pound team entrance fee and got free food for the weekend! We teamed up with 3 others, two from the Isle of Man and one from England. We played really well, only won two games but the other teams there were really good.

Diani beach reminded me a lot of home, west coast BC - Tofino, so although it was an awesome time, it was kind of the first time in my trip that I missed home. We did a lot of swimming, spent a lot of time at the Forty Thieves beach bar and a lot of time chilling on the beach.

The ride back to Lewa was much more manageable and now we are all back to work. Our vacation is over but there is still a lot to look forward to.

In the office/Rhino watching

Today is a boring day in the office, nothing much going on so here are some more pictures to check out. I went with the rhino scouts yesterday and we saw a bunch of rhinos and even some lions. We got stuck for a little while and had to get helped out by some other rangers. I finished writing a proposal to get a plastic collection program at Lewa and I am waiting to get it edited so I can show it to the management. This weekend we are going to Diani beach, near Mombasa, looks unreal it should be a really good time!

NEW POST

Soo no new pictures this week, but soon to come.
This Friday was Sandra's birthday and we had a big party for her. We bought a goat from a nearby community and had fresh goat. For the first time in my life I ate raw liver...not my favourite meal. The goat was really good and a bunch of the Lewa rangers came and we had a bonfire.
For work right now I am trying to implement a plastic recycling system at Lewa because right now all of the plastic is just burned. I am just writing a proposal right now then i will try and get the management on side. Next week we will be starting to prepare for the Lewa marathon, which will be a lot of work.
Hope everyone is enjoying summer, I am for sure!

NEW POST

The last week has been a pretty big adventure. On Friday I drove with Sunthar to the opening of a water tank. We ended up parking in the wrong place and people were sitting all over the front of our car. The speeches went for over an hour and we were going to be really late getting back so I had to clear the people off the hood of the car to make an escape but the engine wouldn't start. To make a long story short we had to wait for another 30 mins then we were watched by an audience while I started the car, stalled a few times and finally made it out.

We then went to Nairobi. Cool town, we stayed in a 1* hotel called the hotel Embassy. It was really shady but it was around 12 dollars per night in downtown so we put up with it. We went to a really good Ethiopian restaurant (you have to try Ethiopian food) then went to a bar. We went to the Maasai market next day, then went to another restaurant and another bar so it was a really good weekend.

Yesterday Sean and I went with some people from a non for profit called equals 3, who put up solar panels in remote areas. We set up a solar panel at the Lewa funded Laparua school, which is at the northern gate of Lewa in the valley. Really cool experience, then went to a waterfall for a swim in the afternoon.

The past week has been very eventful. We went to a NRT (norther rangelands trust) conservancy called Sera last Monday. It is a 4 hour drive north on the highway that goes all the way to Ethiopia. We took apart a radio tower that had been hit by lightning. It is a desert there and so hot and we had to walk up and down this hill for a couple hours.

On Thursday and Friday Sean (another student here) and I went to a primary school called Seboiga and we helped out two other Canadian teachers organize a library and then we helped out with their classes and had a sports day. Really cool experience.

On Friday we had a camp fire and then went camping which was really fun then on Saturday we went into a town called Nanyuki (1 hour drive south) and went to some shops then to a pool hall at night.

Lewa

Habari yako, Wow, so I have been here for about a week now and it is a real experience. If anyone has the opportunity to come to this area of the world- do it. There are 9 other Canadians here so we have kind of taken over and its a lot of fun.

For the first few days I was just being toured around and seeing lewa before the other students got here. I visited one of the schools that lewa supports in a poor village, and a bunch of little kids were waving and coming up to me and wanted to shake my hand, we are so lucky to live where we do. I also went up to a place called Tassia, which is outside of lewa in a conservancy managed by the Northern Rangelands trust. It was really hot up there. they are using a new type of brick that is made out of about 5% cement, and the rest water and soil, and they compress it in this machine and out pops a brick. They are interlocking and so don't need any mortar when they are constructed, very innovative.

On friday I started working on an energy and waste reduction project with another student, it will be very interesting. I also got tracked by a tracker dog from about 500m away then got jumped on and slobbered all over.
Anyways I will post more as it comes, I have some other stories but I'll save them for another time!

Post 1

Sooo after 2 days of long traveling I am at Lewa. It was a real adventure to get here. two nine hour plane rides, a 5 hour delay in Amsterdam and the craziest part was the 6 hour drive from Nairobi to Lewa. The roads are brutal, with pot holes like you couldn't imagine.

People lined the streets almost the whole way, whether they were guiding their herds of cattle, washing cars, selling stuff, it seems like everyone is really doing their best to make money. It is hard to understand how all of these people make a living, but they all seem very happy. We stopped at the equator line where this guy showed me how water spins in different directions literally feet away from the invisible line.

Lewa is amazing, I am in the middle of the jungle in a big tent, all day there are noises of bugs and birds and other animals. The animals run free, these people I have been hanging out with said that a rhino walked right by their outdoor dining area last night and didnt bother them! In the 5 minute drive it took me to get from the Lewa gates to where I am staying I saw a zebra, a giraffe, impalas and a warthog, and there are tons of animals everywhere.