Monday 23 June 2014

Beautiful Places - Beautiful Faces! ELDORET & NAKURU




ELDORET



In Eldoret I didn't have any connections. So I asked my friends if they could link me up.

The founder of the "Little Prinz" children's home in Kakamega hooked me up with his former fitness trainer.





So in the end I just saw the town a bit (it's a very small town) and was stuck in the gym most of the time...
Anyway since the weather got really bad and rainy in that area I wasn't too frustrated of doing nothing.
That's the reason why I don't know what to tell about Eldoret...


At least I was "forced" to take part in the aerobics course and muscle training. 








Eldoret is a pretty, small and old town. It looks a bit like Texas in my opinion >.<
And I heard Eldoret one of the best and cheapest city when it comes to partying.
What I've discovered in Eldi is that people in Kenya often have this kind of mentality "your friends are also my friends".
I love that!



NAKURU


In Nakuru I made the same experience as in Eldoret. Hospitality!
The day I went to Nakuru I didn't know where I would end up. In fact I was expecting to look for a hostel to stay.
Even though I have a "distant" friend, called Loraine, (a former volunteer) in Nakuru.
But I couldn't reach here for weeks.
When I was already checking out how to get an accomodation she called me last-minute.

Her brother Oliver was so kind to pick me in the dark night in Nakuru and take care of me.

Btw he's also a point 5 of  a kenyan and german.


After showing me around Nakuru town in the dark and taking some beer we went to Loraine's.



The family lives inside an international school, very nice compound and atmosphere.
 The parents and siblings welcomed me so warmthly even though I arrived late at night.

pretty pointieeees.... kenya + britain, kenya + tanzanian

I wish I could have spent more time with Loraine and her family of dreadheads!
She's such a cool, jolly and positive character.
Whichever stupid idea you might have you can mostly be sure to have support from Loraine!
At least now I know I have good friends in Nakuru.

Next time I'll stay there for some days so I'll be able to see the Flamingoes at Lake Nakuru.
It has been a while....



Beautiful Places - Beautiful Faces! KAKAMEGA


KAKAMEGA (RAINFOREST)




Next stop.... A town like 2 hours north from Kisumu.
Kakamega has a very small towncentre and doesn't seem too exciting at first sight.
Although the town is surrounded by a continuosly shrinking forest.




That's the reason why I always wanted to visit Kakamega.
Before mankind started cutting down the forest it used to be a huge rainforest.
It used to be part of Africas western tropical rain belt.
These days all the habitats have their own problems of sustaining as much as possible.






Most of the ground of the Kakamega rain forest got transformed into tea plantations, meadowland, villages.

















Another reason for going to Kakamega was a children's home I wanted to visit.


kicheko tena = laugh again

I'm glad I got the opportunity to experience a different environment in the "Little Prinz" children's home!
A very small and cute place, built up with so much love.










20 children, most aged between 2 and 5, found their rescue there. The "Little Prinz" doesn't accomodate orphans in first place but children being affected by jigger (http://www.littleprinz.org/lang/de/projekte/jigger/).
A parasite, which lays eggs under the skin causing pain and movement disorders.











And I met another volunteer from my neighbour town Tübingen in the children's home.
coincidence







 Welcome to the jungle!







On day two of my stay in Kakamega Marie (the other volunteer) and I decided to take a tour through the rainforest before the sun rises.
So we woke up at 4.30 and made our way to the forest with a guide.


The aim was to climb a hill to watch the sunrise over the forest...
Unfortunately our cameras couldn't take sooo amazing pictures :(
In real life it looked a million times brighter, more colorful and intense.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed about the whole tour. 
We only went up a hill, down again walked a bit around and that was it...
I expected a hike for half of the day. And I was so eager to see snakes... I never did.



The next thing is that the forest really seems to be small... It hurts seing what humans can do to nature :(
The Kakamega rainforest habitats over 330 different bird and 400 butterfly species. At least I saw some of them.
this is batland
Btw: Butterflies can still fly if you touch/hold them in the right way.

















Waldes, the baby in Heritage, couldn't pronounce my name for a long time.
So he was saying "Nyani" instead of "Imani".
This means monkey. You can imagine how quickly all the children adapted this "joke".




Two days weren't a lot but I can still say Kakamega was fascinating! 
I've seen a lot and I have learned quite a bit.
Nature is fantastic here and should be seen at least once!








Not for nothing does Kenya have almost all climatic zones and therefore varies flora and fauna!
That's what I love this country for and makes me proud most!



This time I've travelled west, next time's gonna be north. Rift valley and Turkana, hot and dry!

I enjoy the fact that I don't have to stress myself seeing everything at once.



It gives me peace to know I'll come back to Kenya every year, having the chance to explore and understand the country a bit more.

One step at a time....





Last but not least: I'll miss the kids from "Little Prinz", very adorable, respectful and disciplined... It's crazy how quickly you can get used to each other. Next time I'll visit them they'll have grown so much!






See where the journey continues to... Blogpost coming :)




Monday 16 June 2014

Beautiful Places - Beautiful Faces! KISUMU




 Surprisingly my plan of travelling worked out - perfectly!

You know, once you're stuck in Nairobi it's hard to break out. 
I've been staying in Kenya for 9 months now and started wondering what I have actually seen or done?

In the beginning I was a bit sceptic if I'll have the energy and motivation to get to all this places in nine days. From Nairobi to Kisumu - Kakamega - Eldoret - Nakuru - Naivasha.
Honestly, I think I'm a good planner and organiser. 
Even though it was more of a scavenger hunt/"Schnitzeljagd",
more a vague idea of where I'll stay and how to get there, it all worked out. 
Anyway one step at a time and from one stop to another.
All the places I've seen were amazing and every single one has it's own charm and character!
There's no way I can regret having made this decision discovering my beloved Kenya a bit more.





KISUMU


 Welcome to Luo land!
Kisumu city!

Where the b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l Lake Victoria connects Uganda, Tanzania and Kenia.
To know that it is the biggest lake in Africa, the second biggest fresh-water sea of the world and third largest sea of the whole world (!) made me so curious about it!



I'm still excited that Kenia is privileged to share this product of nature!


When I arrived in Kisumu, the third biggest town of Kenya it was raining heavily.
At this time I neither couldn't see any of the belle of the place nor the girl I was supposed to meet.

Debora, another german volunteer I never met before, connected me to her friends in Kisumu while she was still on her way there.

Many people say Kisumu offers an even better nightlife than Nairobi. Since I don't believe in rumours I had to check it out myself. ;-P


As soon as Debo arrived the party started! 

Seriously? Ayyy! Kisumu is bombastic!
It's such a difference to Nairobi.
Everything seems to be so much closer (walking distance mostly) and secure.
It gives one a very homelike feeling.

And it is sooo green there and even kinda clean.
(Or maybe I just don't remember it)

"Agola's Farm" with two cows in the backyard.
love the picture.

 What do you do on a sunny, hot day?
When you're baking in the sun??







Swiiiimming :)






 And of course we took a walk to see the lake!





 Right at the Lake Victoria there's a restaurant/bar/view point on top of the hill.

Such a romantic place! I enjoyed being there so much, awesome view, friendly people and great music!




Life feels easy there...

aesthetics

 
 We made new friends and we made good food!

This is called "Rolex", some ugandan dish:


Chapati (like kinda salty pancaked) with scrambled eggs, cabbage and tomatoes. All rolled like a Kebab. Hmmm..





People drive their vehicles into the lake to wash them there. Haha free water = carwash, yeah!



The old railway station building of Kisumu

 A view from the chilled-out roof top bar.

Somehow Debora animated me to make popcorn. So we bought popcorn and asked in the kitchen of the roof-top-hotel if we are allowed to make it there.






Kenya is great! This are things you can do here and people welcome you and offer you more than you even need!



We made 1/2 kg of sweet coconut-cinnamon popcorn. <3
With a lot of love and special ingredients.


 Next stop? Let's first get onto a bicycle-taxi. Like what the f***?
At first I was like what kind of modern slavery is that now? I hope this guys have a veto right...
Anyway, it's a good way of avoiding polluting the environment.
But I really can't burgain about the price. Respect!


We went for some kind of an open air event on Sundays.
People come to hang out at the lake, waiting for the hippos to come out and the sun to go down.


And welcome to another volunteers house.

The ones, who come to foreign countries through the governmental volunteering program really live a good life!



my new girlfriend >.<
 Two days Kisumu were enough to get an intensive impression and I really enjoyed it!

Even that much that I really want to stay there for some weeks or months when I come back to Kenya.
It's so familiar somehow...


Although I mostly met volunteers from the same country I still got to know soo many various people!

It always makes me happy to connect to others... 


The continuation of my holiday is in the make...
...Just keep on checking out the page