22/09/11

Last day in Kenya! I got up super early and went to the beach to watch the sunrise

It was pretty cloudy but still mighty impressive. Havn't got to leave here until mid-day so I'll spend the morning lingering around I guess! Then a short trip to Ethiopia followed by a 5 hour wait in an Ethiopian airport and then back to England! Loved every minute of being here, it's a remarkable place filled with the happiest people I've ever met. I wouldn't say the trip's been life-changing but it's certainly been life-enhancing. I can't wait to go somewhere else!

21/09/11

Today was my last day working here :( As a treat I got to clean up monkey poo all morning! Actually, my real treat was helping to change the bandages on the injured monkeys, they are so damn cute! Anyway, after that a bit of packing and off to bed for the last time!

19, 20/09/11

Two 9am bridge surveys to start my final week here-the joy! The plus side is being able to spend the rest of the time on the beach. I've also managed to work my way through about 7 books since I've been here, really glad past volunteers have left their reading material behind!

18/09/11

Well, to make up for yesterday being so fun-filled today was rather dull! Every sunday two volunteers have to take care of the animals and as I've no sundays left it was my turn! It meant I couldn't leave the Trust much which was a shame because a lot of the volunteers went to Mombassa for the day :( Ah well, I've driven through it enough times! We're going out for dinner to Swahili Pot tonight, an African Restaurant. I've only tried a couple of African dishes so far and as yet nothing has been all that amazing but I'll let you know!

17/09/11

Went on safari today, it was epic! The park is 3 hours from here so it was a 5am pick-up and we drove through Mombassa. We got to the park around 8.30 and straight away were up close and personal with all the animals. We drove around until 12 then went for lunch, nothing fancy (more rice!!!!!)
After lunch we drove round some more until about 3 then headed back towards Mombassa but on the back roads, through the villages which was both interesting and bumpy. We passed through Shimba Hills which is a forest whereas Tsavo East where we'd been all day was a savannha so we got to see lots! A couple of piccies to rub it in:

Yeah, it really was awesome. Nothing but savannha as far as the eye can see. Did see a couple of Wharthogs but they scampered off before I could get a picture :(

16/09/11

Today I was back on animal care (more cleaning up the poo!) although it was made a lot trickier today by the huge troop of baboons loitering in the garden. Not that I'm complaining but they do make life a little tricky. One woman walked outside with a piece of watermelon in her hand and got charged at by a female. It's best to just leave them to it and come back to whatever you were doing later. It's mating season for them right now so the females have really huge pink bums and the males have their woo-woos out all the time. Did get some more nice pictures though:

Without a doubt my favourite holiday snap!



We had a blow-darting competition this afternoon. Using the blow pipe you have to aim for a target of a monkey. Sadly none of my darts stayed in but it wasn't for lack of trying! I had a go with the rifle and that was no better!



And finally this evening we went to a small village where one of the part time staff members lives. It's only a ten minute drive away but it's so completely different to the 5* hotels on the road around here. He showed us around, took us to see the village witch-doctor who was curing a woman of tummy ache. Then we watched their tribal dances and they did an acrobatic display that would've won Britain's Got Talent hands down! I have it all on film, I'll upload them when I'm home. I did get some pictures aswell though:

I tried some of the stuff he was making her eat, fairly sure it was ground up roots.

What a mzungu!

Happy campers!



So, that was a very good day! Tomorrow myself and Maddie (girl on the far left above) are off on Safari! Can't wait! We're getting collected at 5am because the park is 3 hours away but should be worth it for the amound of wildlife there. I'll let you know how it goes!

13,14,15/09/11

This week the work was much the same as last week; I had two bridge surveys and one day was cutting plastic insulation for the overhead electricity cables so the monkeys don't get electricuted. I also had a couple of hours out de-snaring, and I found my first snare! A very proud moment for me!

Last night we had a barbeque after work, the owners got some meat (goat!) and some beers in and all the volunteers and staff got involved. Afterwards we had a few games of beer pong followed by a couple of rounds of Kings, needless to say it was fun!

Goat a'la BBQ. It was really good!



I managed to get a couple of photos of Betsy, the hand-reared Colobus, but she's a bit mental and doesn't sit still long!

And lastly a picture from Sunday when 3 of us went snorkeling: