My last week in kenya, and watamu

Sadly, I am coming up to the end of my amazing time in Kenya. The last week in Watamu has been incredible. Everyone here in Watamu have been so hospitable to me, and so so generous. I have been waterskiing, involved in a fishing competition on mida creek, played some hockey at ocean sports, and have been just relaxing on the beautiful beach of Watamu. I left the engel's beautiful home on the Sunday morning, and moved in with Clare Moller and her daughter, Tiva, who is also at Pembroke! They too have a beautiful home on the beach front, and she has been so hospitable, inviting me to Lunches, suppers, and parties all around Watamu, giving me the opportunity to meet so many lovely people. I've never met someone so willing to get her guest involved in the social life of Watamu!
However, I firstly want to thank the Engel's for such a fun couple of days. I had never met them beforehand, yet they welcomed me with open arms into their beautiful home. I also met their beautiful daughter, Gaby, who was great fun and stupidly good at mono skiing, and her and barney combined made for an hilarious couple of days. Sadly, both Barney and Gaby flew back to school yesterday, so haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have hoped with them, but nonetheless, it was a fun couple of days with them, not forgetting the Islam channel! Inside joke....! I feel so privalidged to have met some an amazing family, and spend a couple of days with them.
The last couple of days have been nice and relaxed, whilst going out most meals with other people. I feel as if I have been accepted into the elite Watamu community! But yes, I've have a very subdued couple of days, which I've loved, as I've spent the majority of the time walking along the beach, meeting more and more people, and swimming in the baby blue sea. now i can't remember if I mentioned this in my last post, but whilst walking along the beach, I saw this fully grown turtle being released into the sea, having been caught by a fisherman by accident. I also almost stepped on a stingray whilst swimming, and saw a camel wandering along the beach. It really is paradise here.
Sadly i'm only here until Friday morning, but I have well and truly loved my time here in Watamu, and do hope I can come back soon. My plans for the next couple of days, is to relax by the beach, then travel to Mombasa, where I then fly to rainy Nairobi, and then stay the night there, and finally fly back to the UK!
I can't wait to see you all when I get back. As amazing as my time has been here in Kenya, I can't wait to see all my family and friends, and catch up!

See you all soon!

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A fun week

Following backpackers for 2 nights, I headed off to the Francis jones' house in Lavington to stay with them for 2 nights in their amazing house and their three awesome girls - Tessa, Annabel, and Lucy. We had a great time, playing 40 40, swimming in their pool and relaxing. They're such a nice and welcoming family. Was so nice to be sleeping in a bed without bed bugs as well!
I then flew out to Mombasa from Nairobi on the 15th. Having got there 3 hours early, it turned out that my jambo jet flight was 3 hours delayed...perfect! This meant that my original plan to get a matatu to Watamu that night was off the cards, as I arrived at 9:30pm. I therefore had to find somewhere to stay. I knew there was a backpackers in Mombasa, as Tristan and James had stayed there a couple of weeks ago, so I headed there in a taxi, with very low expectations! I arrived to sign myself into the backpackers, to notice I couldn't find my passport anywhere. Interesting.....  I then remembered I put it on the dashboard of the taxi, and had left it there! Perfect! Fortunately I asked the taxi driver for his number beforehand. However, he wasn't picking up! It took an hour of trying for him to finally pick up! This felt at least 5 hours! But I eventually retrieved it from him. Safe t say that it wasn't my finest moment of the trip...welcome to Mombasa! So I spent the night there, and left in a tuk tuk early that morning to go to the Matatu station in Mombasa. So it got a bus to gede for 250 bob (2 pounds). This bus took me 3 hours, with it stopping every ten minutes for people on the side of the road. I also sat next to a chicken for the majority of the 3 hours, which was....interesting. There was also a fight which broke out between a passenger who didn't have enough money, and the conductor. I stayed very quiet in the corner! When we got to Gede, I then got a piki to the Engels house in Watamu.
It is such a beautiful house, on the beach, with a pool. We are 50m from the beach, which you can see past the palm trees in the garden, from my own balcony. Yes, that's right I have my own balcony! Its amazing. The whole family went to Mombasa for the day yesterday, so I had the house all to myself, and wandered up and down the beach all day. I then met Clare Moller, who I am staying with after the Engels. She subsequently invited me to this party! On the way to the party, we had some drinks with the davies, who are also Pembroke parents, and the father, Damien, is in charge of turtle bay, one of the big hotels on the beach. Safe to say that they have an incredible house as well! Overall, it was an OK night..hahahahahaha.
Fortunately, the Engels are coming back today, and it sounds like we might be doing some waterskiing! Yey!

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An interesting backpackers in Nairobi...

I arrived at Milimani backpackers yesterday afternoon, and its safe to say that it wasn't really what I was expecting! Its all rather hectic, with nothing to do, but sleep. Theres also no one here! The only people here are 30 year old Europeans! I was expecting it to be full of other gap students. Im staying in new of the dormataries, meaning bunk beds. These are the most uncomfortable beds I've ever experienced! Rock solid. I think I must have slept 2 hours last night, having got to bed at 8pm! To top this, the food is gruesome. I just had a burger, which you'd expect to be cooked, wouldn't you?! But no,it was rock solid and cold. Ergh. If anyone was visiting Nairobi anytime soon,looking for cheap accommodation,I wouldn't recommend this! The kilifi backpackers was soooo much nicer! Perhaps I'm comparing it to Ol Jogi, but it really is horrible.
I therefore ran away for the day today, going to the junction for the day. I went to the cinema solo, to watch Rio 2,in 3d. What a great film! Loved it. I also indulged myself in some yummy food with clean surroundings. Was a lovely treat. I got a piki there and back, who was a bit of a butter to say the least! We got there though, which is all that matters!
I've now got another night of discomfort ahead of me! Only one more to go though, as I'm staying with the lovely Francis Jones in Lavington estate tomorrow, and then the coast! Can't wait. Will be great to see the Francis Jones' as well, and catch up.
See ya!

H
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Thank you, Wellers

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to the Weller's for having me to stay. I had the most amazing two weeks staying with them, and I'm eternally grateful to them for their hospitality. They are such a lovely family, with two lovely kids, Sam and Carolyn. It was sad to say good bye to them yesterday, but I'm sure they're glad to see the back of me! I will never forget them, and hope to stay in touch with them. Ol Jogi was a beautiful beautiful place, and I feel so lucky to be given the opportunity to visit our the private game reserve. So a huge thank you to johnny and Serena for having me to stay. I wish them all the best for the future.

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Leaving ol jogi

I have some sad news for you all. I have left Ol Jogi. I know, I know, don't all cry. The last couple of days have been very relaxing, including a picnic with the Empson's, who live on the way to nanyuki from the Weller's house. They have just moved into a house they built, and we had a lovely picnic on their dam, with 3 other family's, all with tiny kidjanas (kids). There was a cliff on the side of the dam which was great fun to play on, and surprisingly high up!
We then had a day in town, where I went off by myself and wondered around town. Amazingly, I bumped into Ameri, who was the manager of Laragai house one Borana, and e met him back in 2011 when we were all out here for Christmas. I was also mugged by a couple of homeless people on the street as I crossed the road,but fortunately used my pace to escape!
Yesterday we went to visit Johnny's step sister, mouse, who lives on the next door ranch, and has a very basic house, but with the most amazing views you can imagine. They have a tin shack for a kitchen, a tent as a dining room, and a caravan as the main room. But is at the most amazing location. They are obviously still developing, so when its finished, it will be amazing. So yeah, we had tea with them.
We all travelled down to Nairobi this morning to village market, where I met up with Sophie, one of the other gaps, which was nice. We went down to the Masai market down the road, which was endless. Hassle, hassle, hassle. It was non stop! I feel drained now. It was very funny though-I had my trainers strapped onto the back of my backpack, and I think at least 50 men asked me "are you trading them?". NO I'M NOT! gosh. Was fun to see super Sophie though, and got a couple of lil gifts.
I'm now at milimani backpackers on upper hill in nairobbery. Its a pretty grim place to be perfectly honest, but its cheap and has a bed. I meet the Francis Jones' on Sunday at junction, the mall, and will then stay with them until I leave on the 15th for the coast! Can't wait!

Until next time..

H
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Riding, driving and fishing

Last post, I stupidly forgot a pretty awesome moment. As we were coming back from seeing the elephant family, we stopped off at one of the dams to let the dogs out, when we suddenly saw a lone hyena drinking from the dam, which also had a hippo in it! #justanotherdayinkenya
Yesterday, we started the day off with a 2 hour morning ride with johnny and the kids. It was so so tiring, as we trotted a lot of the way, and my horse was being very naughty, wanting too much of the reign. I eventually worked out how to speed him up (Cowboy), but this was in the last couple of minutes. We bumped into a few giraffe and grevys zebra on our ride, as well as 2 buffalo lurking in the bushes about 10 metres away from us. Very exciting.
We then went on another drive around the boundary, and saw very little, other than some gombies (cows) drinking from the river where we were. We then went to see if anything was lurking around one of the many dams, and we found these 2 male giraffe in a stand off. We stopped the car to see if anything was going to happen, for there to eventually be a fight between the two males in front of all the ladies. It was an amazing spectical, for me to get on video! They hit each other with their heads and necks, in a very awkward fashion, but it obviously does the job!
Finally, in the evening, we went for a spot of fishing in the same place we were earlier in my stay. On the drive to the dam, we saw this leopard on the road, which sprinted away as soon as it saw us. I am yet to see one up close, but I am told there are several around the place. Johnny was lucky enough to see one a metres away from his car, lying down in the shade,  but sadly this was on his way back from work so we weren't there! So we went fishing, and caught another 25 or so, half of which we gave away to the staff, and whilst we were fishing, there were 5 hippo lurking 20 metres away from us in the water, which livened things up a bit. Johnny also had to wade in to recover Sam's line which was caught on a thorn bush in the dam. Safe to say, he wasn't amused! On the way back from our fishing trip, we bumped into a pack of wild dogs, which was super special, as they are very rarely seen in the wild in Kenya. They're amazing creature, which I had previously seen at the orphanage, but to see them in the wild was spectacular.
Now to today. There is a couple staying with the Weller's who are from Tanzania, originally from Australia, and he is very keen on cows, and so wanted to see some of the Ol Jogi cows, as well as Jackie's cows in the next door ranch. So we went to see them all being dipped this morning, which was both hilarious, and very messy! Sam and I were watching inside the dipping area, and got splashed many times by the cows jumping into the dipping pool. It was hilarious though. The idea of the dipping is to remove and disease and tits from the cows. We then went to look at these cacti which are invading the ranch, and johnny showed us how they are trying to contain the cacti by the white substance. This kills the plant off, but very slowly. This cactus has fruit growing from it, which the elephant and baboons love to eat, and when then digest it, and it comes out the other end, it is seeded into the ground. It is therefore everywhere in the ranch, and johnny and the team want to get rid of it asap!

All for now.

See ya tomorrow folks

H
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An amazing day in ol jogi

We had another amazing day here at Ol Jogi. As its a Saturday, johnny had half the day off, so we headed out on a game drive in the afternoon, to see  some game, visit the orphanage (animals) and climb up to the top of the world in the car.
It had rained in the morning, so the reserve was looking a lot more lush, and we therefore saw a whole heap of game, including hundreds of giraffe, elephant close by, hippo, zebra, and the usual grant etc. It was a rather long drove to the other side of the reserve to the orphanage, where they had a lion, two leopards, cheetah, wild dog, toucan, crane, hippo, camel, toucan, owls, loads of different exotic birds, and also a brown bear! Was bazaar to see a brown bear in Kenya, but there was one there! It was an awesome place, with so much wildlife on show. The idea of the orphanage is to rehabilitate the animals, with the aim of setting them free in the future (except for of course, the brown bear!).
Having seen hundreds of animals at the orphanage, we then went to see Alfie the blind rhino, who is a black rhino who was blinded at a young age, and brought in to be looked after. He has his own enclosure in the middle of nowhere, to prevent poachers from getting to him. It was an incredible experience, as I was able to almost lie on top of him, and get real close to him. They also have the most amazingly tough skin,and a beautiful horn. No wonder rhino are poached! I joke, of course. But it was a fascinating experience.
We then headed back to the car and drove up to the tallest hill on Ol Jogi, called the top of the world, and I found out why. It was an incredible view of Ol Jogi, and the surrounding ranches, and a great place to just stand and contemplate...gosh, I really am finding myself on my gap yeah! It also made for a great photo! The way down was interesting to say the least, as we decided to take a different route down, with turned out to be at 60 degrees and only large rocks for a road. We finally made it, with two terrified children.
We then went to see two baby cheetah in a secret location, who had been rescued when they were tiny tiny, and brought to Ol Jogi to be looked after. However, no one is able to see therm, other their feeder, as they're very keen to release them both into the wild as wild as possible, so it was very naughty of us to go and visit. Nonetheless, they were very adorable and fluffy, even if they did growl at me!
However, the fun wasn't over yet! We then went to see a family of three elephants, which you're able to touch and get up close to. It was amazing to get so close up to such huge animals, the male being double the height of me!
We then headed back home after a long, but incredible afternoon, having felt a black rhino, 3 elephant, and a cockatoo. Just another day in Ol Jogi!

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Drama.

Yesterday was rather dramatic here on Ol Jogi. Me and the kids (I know, it's the kids and I!) went to play some squash on the squash court they have, and had an all of a time.not many shots wsent in, but who on earth cares! We played for an hour or so, to see johnny (the father) driving back from work in a bit of a rush. We got to the door to be told that one of the dogs (baggy) had chased and killed a Grant whilst on a walk with Serena. However, the Grant was still alive when we got to it. It was all very distressing for everyone, with Serena, understandably, getting very upset with the dogs. By the time johnny had got the shotgun to put it out of its misery, the poor Grant had already died.
We then had another very relaxing day at the house, followed by a tennis game at the main house with 3 others, including myself and johnny. They played doubles, for a while,and theni got involved for a couple of games. We then headed back to the Weller's for some supper. One of the other players (jackie-a guy) is one of the most prestigious cattle farmers in Kenya, and has a ranch just outside Ol Jogi. He also, funnily enough,went to Radley! Was in D social...very funny.
Today, we headed off to nanyuki for some shopping and the kids and I headed to the sports club for some swimming and what not. It then started to chuck it down with fain, and we took shelter in Serena's sisters house just outside town!
Hopefully we'll be going on another horse ride tomorrow morning!

H
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Ol Jogi

I arrived at Ol Jogi with the Weller's after a long and sweaty 4 hour car journey. Having had only 2 hours sleep,I wasn't on the greatest of form, so I decided to nap for the afternoon, in time to go on a game drive in the evening. We had a really exciting game drove, seeing elephant, zebra, impala, grant, dik dik, giraffe, and many many baboon. It wasa great introduction to the reserve, and the amazing landscape it has to offer. With mount Kenya on the backdrop, and these immense boulders scattered around, it was a beautiful evening.
The next day, we all went on an early morning riding safari for a couple of hours. At first, I was a bit incapable to say the least, but when we got going, it ewas amazing fun. Being so close to the wildlife was an incredible experience. They have around ten horses here altogether which allows us all to go riding, including the two children, Carolyn and Sam. We then went fishing in the dam, infested with hippos, where we caught around 50 tilapas (appalling spelling...) I'm around 40 mins. You literally dipped your rod into the water, and a fish caught on in seconds. This therefore meant that the evening consisted of de-scaling and gutting the fish! Yummy.
The next day wasn't quite as exciting, but another family ,the Grants, arrived. They have two tiny boys with a mother, who used to live in arusha with the Weller's years ago. The excitement of the day came in the evening when we had sundowners on a rock, looking over the game reserve, followed by another evening game reserve.
Today was a bit more eventful, as we went on a house and trap ride for an hour or so, swing elephant and many grants and impala. We had a huge station called Robin pulling us alone, who was stupidly strong, pulling 6 of us! We then had a nice relaxing day, putting up tents for the kids, and for the evening e went to the river and have tea and biscuits whilst the kids jumped around in the mud and river. We were down there for hours, and on the way back we saw buffalo, giraffe, gerineck, Cory bustards and grant. You name it!

All for now friends,

H
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End of Term

Term finished on the Saturday morning, following an eventful Bugsy Ball and an incredible play. The week leading up to it consisted mainly of bugsy rehearsals and my final few lessons with the mighty 3W.
On the Friday night, following the play, the bugsy ball took place, which was down on the pitches under a huge marquee. It was an amazing set up, with lots of lights, and music, as well as a few drinks here and there! Iwe had supper,and then rushed onto the dancefloor and busted some dutty moves. It was a late night, getting in to bed at 6:00am, and having to wake up at 8am to leave for Ol Jogi!
So it was an early morning with all my good byes to say to everyone, and then we were off to Ol Jogi with the lovely Weller's.

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