In Nairobi

For all of you who have read my previous post, you will know that i have been unable to get a working visa for the UK. So now i have just been killing time here, trying to spend as little money as possible, to save it for the UK.

While i have got the time im putting up the offer to write about something in particular, in detail, that you would like to read about. in the mean time, i will write about Nairobi

Nairobi is actually quite a nice city from what ive seen. Im currently sitting in a first world standard shopping center while im writing this. In my opinion, Nairobi is a better city than Mombasa. Mombasa is quite dirty, chaotic and generally not a nice place. Nairobi i have found to be far more civilized (multi story buildings!) the people to be nicer - the ones ive spoken to any way- and it just has a better vibe about it.

I am staying at a place called the upper hill camp site. www.upperhillcampsite.com/ in a little lodge in the back yard of what was once a house belonging to some one rich and white. I have My day usually involves waking up, having a fatty fry up for breakfast, coming to the net cafe, and then going back to the camp site for afternoon tea and a book while waiting for dinner time. its a leisurely existence But boring at the same time. Next week i intend to go out and see the sights nairobi has to offer.

The weather here has been surprisingly cold. Every night i find myself rugging up and hunkering down with my book and meal. the locals say it is never this cold at this time or year, nor should it be as wet. On the coast at diani beach it was allmost always above 30 degrees C, even at night time.

Its election time here in kenya, so every where u look there are posters promoting presidential candidates. The feeling i get that current president Mwai Kibaki is going to be re-elected. How could you vote against him? his picture is everywhere. although he does seem to lack creativity as far as his campaign goes: he is allways staying slightly side on with his arms bent at the elbows and one hand adjusting the other cuff.

thats all for now. Im safe and well, and looking forward to the next part of my adventure.

cheers
jash

SNAFU

just sent this to dad, copied here so every one knows whats happening

hey dad,

this is what has happened so far. Yesterday i went to the brit hi com visa app center to apply for my visa. when i got seen to, i was told that i have the wrong form and that i need to fill out a new one. the new form doesnt really cater for UK ancestery (i had to write it in in the 'other' section. i did that, then got seen to again by the same lady. we went through the form and made sure it was filled in correctly. she then asked for my passport and when she looked at it, realised i was not kenyan.

i told her that i was told, 3 times by the same lady, helen, that i could apply. she went to confrim this, then told me that i cannot apply for any long say visa (uk ancestry and working holiday maker) and that i have to do it it my home country. she told me that the rules changed about 2 months ago in this regard. i then asked rather curtly why i was told i could apply no more that 3 weeks ago. she left the desk to actually ask this mysterious helen lady, then called some one else to see if they remember me. they didnt, and that doesnt surprise me.

after this she then said that i should call the brit hi com visa and talk to them about it. i have done so today, i asked if i could apply in kenya as an aussie on a tourist visa, can i appeal my case since i was given wrong info by brit hi com staff, and i apply in the uk itself? no, no, no were the answeres i got respectivly. i have also tried calling the aust hi com and they just dont know if they can do any thing. i will try them again later. i will also try a different tact with the brit hi com maybe today or tomorrow to try again. i will also call the brit hi com in london to see if i can apply there. can i ask you to do the same for the brit hi com in aust? thats been it so far. on top of that ive found out that my taxi driver (reccomended by francis) from yesterday has ripped me off. so, to move forward we need more info. ill call the brit and aust hi comms again to see what i can find out. and ill ask you to do the same.

it looks like i have a few options for moving forward: worst case scenario is to go to uk as tourist and thats that,or fly to UK early and apply for uk ansctry or send passport home to get app done there. just spoke to you then on the fone. thats about it, ill call in about 20 mins from here so we can talk.
cheers
jash.

Safari

Last week i was on safar in Tsavo East national park, and it was an awesome experience. We went on two game drives a day and covered a fair bit of the park. The truck we had was a massive green thing with about 20 seats. All the other vehicles in the park were little vans that could seat 8 or so. This had its advantages and disadvantages. With it being so big, we would often scare off some animals with the sound of the big loud motor. But we were able to see further, being higher up, and over other vans when there was a few around.

during our time there we saw elephants (lots of them) Dik Dik's, buffalo, eagles, Cheetahs and some lions too. The most exciting one to see was the lioness We spent about an hr following other vans who had radios and were able to track it better. When we eventually found it, it just walked into the middle of the road and layed down to rest. Our guide, Winston, then said that lions have no fear of any thing at all. This was when our big truck payed off. there were about 20 vans around, all of them jammed in pretty right to see the lion. Alot of people were having trouble seeing, but not us, we towered over the other vans, and because of that, i got some awesome fotos.

Another time the big truck paid off was when we had a bull elephant charge us. That was awesome fun, but the guides were shit scared of it. Had our van been smaller, it would not have seen us as a threat, and would not have challenged us. Apon reflection, had the bull actually made contact with the truck, we still would have been in trouble. That elephant weighed in at about 7 tonnes, and while our truck prolly weighed more, our truck wasnt angry - the elephant was. In the end it walked away, knowing it couldnt really do much to us.

The other highlight was the cheetah. When we first say it, it was a good couple of hundred meters away. We all wanted fotos, but didnt have the soom to do it. I has the bright odea of using the binoculars as a sort of telephoto lense. It was tricky to line it all up, but it was possible. The fotos didnt turn out very well - very blurry. the day after that, we saw them again much closer, and discovered that is was a mother with its cubs. predictably, all the girls were awwing at it.

i think thats about it for safari.

now, this is my last weekend at camp, im leaving on tuesday to get my Uk working visa. Then while thats getting processed, im going to climb mt kenya. Hows that for short notice. I made the final decision today to do it, and i start climbing on the 22nd of november. Im nervous about it. More so than Kilimanjaro because apparently Mt kenya is harder. Francis, our gap co-ordinator, says that ill be one of few people who have climbed both in the space of 3 months. Not sure about that one.

thats all for now. I will probably post again when im off Mt kenya.

cheers

Elephunking

Well, last week i was at Mwulangaje elephant sactuary, and it was really good. we spent four days there doing various projects. I was grouped with alot of the new one monthers we have here, so i felt like a lazy old hand who was jaded and cynical all the time. Just like me over two months ago, i was bright eyed and bushy tailed about the whole thing, but now i can bearly be bothered to get up in the morning.

On the camp, we went on several game drives to see elephants, made a book out of elephant dung paper and helped out at a local school.

The game drives were my favourite bit: seeing the elephants was absolutly amazing. They look absolutly huge in real life. photos never do them justice. for all of the game drives we went to the travellers camp, as us camp kenya ppl have our own camp to our selves, so we can sit at the watering hole and wait for elephants to come and have a drink. I bought a beer there and its was 200 schillings. a compleate rip, but theres not much u can do.

the elephant dung paper makiing was interesting. gross but interesting. we made about 100 sheets, then we just sort of sat around chatting. we went back a few days later and bound sheets into books and decorated them. its been years since i had to be creative on paper, so i found it refreshing.

the thing i didnt like was the helping at the local skool, in their plant nursury. When we were there, all we did was dig 3 compst pits, and even then the local kids helped alot. While we were there, i didnt feel as welcome as at muhaka. As far as im concerned, we did no good there. it would have been better if we just got a small tour of what the were doing and the like. After that we went on a tour of their 'nature trail'. it was pretty crap. the kid that took us around was quickly and quielty giving us a pre rehearesd speech about the things there. Whenever we asked him a question he had absolutly no idea. Then - get this- they asked for a donation. They said something along the lines of "we are not asking for money, but if you would like to donate to us...". we had been warned about this before we left, so we were prepared. apparently it was for their planting project, but they didnt not need the money. they have international sponsers, that have given them lots of money to build 7 classrooms, a small kitchen and even a staffroom. they do not, in any way, need more money. this put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

the school also made soap. it was shit soap, and they wanted us to buy some to support that project too. i cant stand greedy people. shits me up the wall no end.

Over the course of the four days, 4 poeple got sick. it was the new people and it doesnt surprise me. i got sick in my first week too. 2 of them went to hospital and stayed there for a few days. alot longer than what was needed i think. Because of that, 2 of them now want to go to australia where there friends are. I told them that basically they should stick with it, and rushing to see their friends is not the point of travel. Bloody newbies: they have no idea what they got them selves into with camp kenya. Ive seen a few other people like that and its allways the one monthers and they do not belong here at all. Im allways happy to see them go - theyre too much maintanance.

that was basically it.

Now some people have told me my writings here lack emotion. good observation: i never like to write about emotions. I dont even write about how i feel in my diary (which i will edit and publish when i get home) simply because i want something that i can read back on with no sappy stuff. if i did write emotionally, i would just curse it for being so...unreadable.

fact of the day: in camp there r 11 boys and 39 girls. all those wishing to pick up, go to camp kenya. its great...if ur single.

on that note i could write about how im handling a long distance relationship. but i wont because its too personal and emotion. Suffice to say thats its tough, i dont reccomend it and that im glad the long distance part will be over soon.

i think that will be it for now.

cheers.

i did it

sorry for the lack of posts. been kinda busy.

a couple of weeks ago i successfully climbed mt kilimanjaro. i reached uhuru peak 5895 meters above sea level at 7.15 am. climbing the mountain was the hardes thing i have ever done, and not something i wish to do again. on my push to the summit i got cold to the point where my body was shutting down. i was freezing to the point where i was numb from my knees down and elbows down. i remember that i would swaet profusly after a cold blast of mountain air, which made me colder, then i would sweat more. if it wasnt for the guides i may have died up there if i was on my own.

but i did it, i have all limbs and digits and some awesome fotos too.

right after that i got back to camp, then headed off to zanzibar on a back packing trip. the highlight of that was swimming with dolphins. lots of fun.

next week im going to mwalanage elephant sactuary. i have a safari the week after that. then im off to nairobi to get my uk visa.

thats pretty much it for now. more detailed posts to follow when time permits.

cheers