Day 10a...goodbye Bogani and some stuff I forgot to mention

It just occurred to me that I never said what James actually did to save my camera! Can't forget to share this story with all of you, it was one of my highlights of the whole trip!

On Day 7 (safari in the afternoon day) as we were riding along in the lorry, I was chatting to one of the girls beside me and a bunch of kids came running down the road to say hi to us, as usual. On autopilot, I raised my hand to say Jambo (thus coining the phrase Jambo-ing) and my camera went flying off my wrist onto the road! Well, I started waving frantically to James the Warrior and he smiled back at me, he was always smiling, until he understood what had happened then got the attention of the driver and told him to stop. We started backing up and I just prayed my camera wasn't too badly damaged and then one of the guys spotted a kid pick up my camera and...run down a side lane with it (by "lane" I mean between two corn fields)! For some reason, this was shocking to me, didn't expect it at all - quite naïve of me really. And then James went into "warrior mode". I didn't see it myself but apparently his facial expression and demeanour completely changed and he jumped out of the truck and ran after the kid! Of course, we didn't see if he had to take out his machete or not but a few minutes later he came back with my camera in hand. And the camera was no worse for wear, phew, what a relief! James was definitely my hero that day. :)

Another important experience I forgot to share was on Day 5, after dinner we all gathered by a campfire to listen to James and Jackson talk about what is was like to grow up in the Maasai culture and become a Warrior. They are uniquely the last generation to kill a lion as a sign of bravery and also the first generation to go to University. It is truly fascinating to hear how this culture is embracing massive change but also keeping many of their traditions alive to be passed down to the next generation. They openly answered our questions about arranged marriage, female circumcision etc. It was a wonderful, personal experience and I feel we got to know not only the Maasai people a little bit better but also these two guides who were spending the week with us making sure we had the best possible experience in Kenya. They are both wonderful people and I'm very happy to have met them.

And the last thing I forgot to mention was before we went for warrior training we got to "shop" at the Me to We Bogani "store" - which is basically a room where they keep some of the beautiful beaded jewelry and rungus that we saw being made, really cool t-shirts (like my "I heart Maasai Warriors" t-shirt), Kenya Boys Choir CDs, and other fun souvenirs. Needless to say, after a week in Africa, just as the Western world withdrawal was starting to subside, I went a bit nuts in the store! Many of you have been recipients of some of my purchases. And as I said before, there is a store in Toronto if anyone would like to buy some gorgeous African artifacts and support a good cause. (Heeroos, you know what you're getting for Christmas! Lol).

Here are a few more pictures from my last day...

Me and Justus (my spider killer) :)

 

Local Vervet Monkey

Goodbye Bogani...I'll miss you!

So, that pretty much captures my favourite memories from the Free the Children portion of my trip. Next up Mombasa!

Day 9b...best possible end to a magnificent journey

Back to Bogani for lunch and a bit of downtime before "warrior training". ;- )

A few of us decided to finish our beading from the other day, the idea being that you could get your leaf turned into a key chain at the shop in Nairobi the following day. Since I wasn't doing to rest of the itinerary in Nairobi I decided to tie a pretty beaded loop on my "key chain" and give it to James the Warrior as a thank you for saving my camera and for being an all around awesome guy! (sorry no picture and I have no idea what he thought of this)

Next we got split into groups, KPMG people, friends and family, and "kids", to discuss how we could take all that we've seen and learned in Kenya and continue the journey when we go back home to Canada. It was a pretty fruitful discussion and I for one committed to discussing with my boss all the ideas we came up with to see if there is anything we can do "officially" company-wide. Being in my new role with Community Leadership only 3 days before I left on the trip I wasn't sure of the boundaries between trip participant and CL representative. In any case, I (we) really felt changed by this experience and wanted to make a difference at home, whether locally or internationally.

As evening was approaching we were told that our medicine walk and Maasai warrior training would be just outside the fence of Bogani so we all walked over and discovered refreshments had been set up for us! I love the staff at Bogani...seriously, we could not have been treated any better in a 5* resort.

Refreshments in the Mara

 

James and Jackson took us on a walk-about (to coin my old Aussie phrase) and discussed the medicinal properties of the trees and plants nearby. For instance, the plant below that looks like a cactus (but isn't) will make you go blind if you get any sap in your eye. However, if made the right way it can be ingested for use in the after-birthing process (I think it's this one anyway).

Note: To get rid of the blindness put cow's blood in your eye (how they discovered this I don't really want to know).

Jackson and the blinding plant

 

James making toothbrushes for all of us! It tastes peppery but does the trick!



Next up was "Warrior weapons training". James told us all about using the spear and the bow and arrow but for some reason we were not allowed to practise throwing these! Lol. But we did have a friendly rungu throwing competition.

James talking about Warrior weapons

 

The idea was to hit the "Lion/shuka" for 2 points or the "Giraffe/tree" for 1point

Getting ready to throw the rungu

 

How hard could it be?

Oops, missed! But got a high 5 anyway :)

(I did better on my second attempt)

 

Sun setting over the Mara - calling an end to our Kenyan journey

 

But wait.....there's more! Nyama Choma!!

 

You can't leave Kenya without a traditional Kenyan BBQ! OMG, it was so good. And I'm happy to say the goat we ate was not the one that was given to us the other day! :)

 

Bbq

Mmmmm, how do they get their sweet potatoes to taste like potatoes??

 

And then finally it was time to say goodbye. The staff came out and sang for us. There was cake and a cake cutting song (that went roughly like kata-kata-ka-ta! which loosely translates to "cut the cake" lol). We cheered and clapped and sincerely thanked them for all they had done for us over the past week.

Staff farewell and singing

Cake cutting

 

We all went back to our tents to shower, change, and pack before lights out then reconvened for another few drinks and a "dance party" that was more like chilling out, talking, and listening to music.

 

And just like that, the epic adventure we had been waiting months and months for was over. It was definitely worth every penny and I would highly recommend this trip. Go to Kenya for safari but stay for the people.

 

Day 9a...Last full day in the Mara :(

Sorry for the delay, was on hiatus to focus on being a cowgirl (see Facebook) but I'm back now! :)

Hope you all enjoyed the safari pics. Although we were all pretty tired after the very early start, a few us stayed up after dinner to wait for lights out and watch the stars come out to play. Being a city girl, it was wonderful to see so many stars in the sky with no light pollution (haven't seen that since Australia). Unfortunately, none of us knew very much about astronomy so we had one lively discussion about whether you can see the milky way or not (isn't it wonderful not being able to Google everything and just argue, lol!) and then we shut up and enjoyed the view. Wine and blankets kept the chill away.

The following day was bitter sweet. Still lots more to do and see but I think all of us were quietly reflecting on what/who the week had brought and how fast it all went by.

What better way to start off the last day (other than the breakfast of champions) than with some more school building! We were thrilled that we were going back to the Kisaruni girl's high school to work some more on the dormitory that we had started. Today was concrete mixing and pouring! (I've just learned the difference between concrete and cement, I take back what I said a minute ago about Google!)

Before...the rocks from last time but all smashed up now

 

 I was on water duty at first

Mixing cement, sand, and rocks is hard work

The guys were on wheel barrow duty

Using these pieces of wood to smooth out the concrete

After...ta-da! That took us 2 hours, phew!

 

After the build we popped over to the Baraka Medical Clinic's medicinal garden. Our facilitator James talked us through a number of plants (hello, moringa the miracle plant!) and how the program works. It's a teaching garden and small farm where they can show the locals how to tend to their crops and animals. The eggs are given to the school girls as well as sold at market and they can also try growing new plants to see if they are suitable for the climate. As I mentioned before, volunteers from the village can take plants home for free. It's a win-win-win-win-win!

 

Checking out the garden

James - being smart

Very friendly (or hungry) cow

 

One pair of old jeans  covered in cement...$5 (they had holes in them)
One pair of old Sketchers covered in cement...$20
One pair of new work gloves covered in cement...$7

Building a dormitory so girls can go to school in rural Africa....priceless!

 

Day 8...full on S-A-F-A-R-I!

Early start (5am) but so worth it!! We drove about 2 hours into the Mara and started our Safari just as the sun was rising...what a magical day! I only wish I had a better camera. Darn, that means I will just have to go back one day! ;- ) Especially since we (only) saw 4 of the big 5....Rhinos, Elephants, Buffalo, and Leopards - just missing Lions :(

In addition to the animals I mention below, I also saw a pair of dik-diks - world's most romantic animals, they mate for life! They are also pretty rare to see since they are very skittish, I feel lucky to have spotted a pair...unfortunately, my picture didn't turn out.

I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves (click on a picture to enlarge them).

Forgive me if I've misnamed any animals

Sunrise over the Mara :)

 

First animals of the day...giraffes and zebras

Sneaky hyenas

So cool to be here during the great migration....wildebeests!

 

Leopard!

Leopard close up

 

While looking at the Leopards....the hippo was watching us!

Hippopotamus up close

Heron?

Zebras and Topis (they look like they're wearing blue jeans!)

Can't get enough baby zebra :)

And here come the elephants! 

 

Looks like the elephants have been swimming

 

Lone male elephant 

 

 Impalas

Zebra and waterbuck

 

Female waterbuck 

 

Buffalo

Old buffalo

 

Buffalo skull

Baboon

Lots of baboons!

awwwww baby baboon :)

Crocodiles

 

Swimming hippo

 

Hippo, baby hippo, AND crocs! Amazing

Me and the crocks and hippos :) 

 

Jackson photo-bombing my hippo pic

Birds.... 

 

More zebras....I love 'em!

Look at all them hippos and that big sucker! :-o 

 

Ahhhh, enjoying a Tusker in the Mara!

Too funny....James and a juice box! :)

 

A few more pics from Safari #1....just 'cause! Enjoy! :)

The rhinos together 

 

Majestic giraffe (and one drinking)

Best view in the house...I mean Mara!

 

Tusker time! (Being silly with the facilitators Amy, Alex, and James)

Definitely God's country...