10 Reasons Why I Love Kenya...

So, I've been to Kenya three times now and had three VERY different experiences there. Here are just a few of the reasons I love this wonderful country...

Can't I just say one reason and hit the beach?

1. The Kenyan Olympic runner Ezekiel Kemboi stabbed a man in Kenya and was on trial for this crime, but they still allowed him to compete in the Olympics. I love Kenya.

2. Nyoma choma is a meal where you order meat in kilograms, wash it all down with beer and eat it with your hands. Carnivore heaven, veggie hell. Meat and beer, you can't beat it.

3. When I was following a truck load of men all wearing the same clothes sitting in the back of a pickup truck, I asked if they were the local football team... the reply? 'No, they're prisoners'. They were riding in the back of the open pick up truck. Oh, ok then *locks car door*

4. Public transport? You have a choice of a boda-boda (get on the back of a motorbike and cling on) tuk-tuk (3 wheeled rickshaw thing which I think runs on AA batteries) or a matatu (a 9 seater minivan which normally has a minimum of 15 passengers at any time PLUS at night time, they turn in to mobile disco vans pumping out vintage Britney Spears and Ace of Base) Your guidebook will tell you avoid them all at all costs, but don't you dare avoid them! Otherwise you're paying well over the odds for a private taxi, and that's no fun. What the hell does the Rough Guide know about anything anyway...

5. Talking of tuk-tuks, it's so easy to flag one down and being a tourist, what I find the funniest is that even if they already have a passenger AND they're going in the other direction, they'll pull a u-turn and chuck out their passenger so that they can charge me over the odds for a ride.

6. Mazungu means 'whites' in Swahili. So, 'white person'. You'll be walking along and hear 'hey, Mazungu, how are you?' or 'Hey Mazungu, you give me fifty bob' which just has me in stitches every time, I don't get mad at that. Unless it's said in a derogatory way in which case I act in typical Brit fashion and curse under my breath and walk away.

7. The music. I just love it, it gets under my skin and everyone that I've met just seems to love music and dancing and dance without shame. I don't have natural rhythm, plus I have hips, so that doesn't make for a great sight on the dance floor all the time but I don't care.

8. I'd move to Kenya just for the beer, NO! Sorry, not for the beer, for the Tusker brand of beer. I'm not a beer drinker at home, but it's cheap and cold and sooooo refreshing. I can just picture it now with the condensation running down the neck. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, when is the next flight to Kenya?

9. I'm teaching myself Swahili and it's not going so bad. I managed to have an argument with a tuk-tuk driver in Swahili, so I must be learning it... It's a great language and I loved it EVEN MORE ONCE I REALISED THAT THE LION KING IS BASED ON SWAHILI! Simba is ACTUALLY lion in Swahili... woah. This changed EVERYTHING.

10. They sell Top Deck chocolate bars in the supermarkets. Remember Top Deck? It was from Cadburys and was milk chocolate with white chocolate on top. Good Lord that stuff is magic.

Hmmm, so it seems that most of these points are around food and drink. Ooops. I'll be back with more food and drink political and religion based points next time. (I won't.)

Asante sana and kwaheri x

Where Your Donations Went...

Jambo!

I wanted to put a post together so that I didn't fill up your inboxes with an email with fifty million pictures attached. You think I'm kidding? I'm kind of kidding, lets try seven hundred photos perhaps.

So, while I was away, I got on the ol' interweb and sent a fairly emotional email back home to you folks and you were kind enough to send a total of £550 across - which is amazing, thank you. I can't tell you how much I cried when I saw the total! It helped hugely that I was there right then and there and could go and spend it and photograph it, but I have huge faith and trust in Ashleigh, who is out there right now, and Georga who lives in Ireland and manages the account you paid money in to.

Ashleigh is in the floral dress, Georga in the blue top

I'll tell you a little bit about Lunahome, the house where the children live. Ashleigh and Georga were ex- i-to-i volunteers who'd never met each other before last July and they kindly invited me (or I gatecrashed, I'm not sure) out to dinner on my second night in Kenya. I loved listening to the two of them, they're like a married couple, despite Georga being married to a lovely guy called Connor...

They told me that the original project they worked at with i-to-i had some horrific abuse (both physical, sexual and mental) and the owner of the home was involved in a huge amount of corruption. I won't name any names here as its an ongoing thing sadly. To cut an extremely long story short, Ashleigh and Georga could have buried their heads in the sand, but they chose to do some digging, chose to completely turn their own lives around in the hopes of helping the children at the home.

They went to the police, they went to the Children's Department, they went everywhere and came up against a whole lot of red tape, but refused to back down and fly home knowing that they had children depending on them.

Sadly, things don't run that fast in Kenya anyway, and when there's corruption involved, it takes even longer. So Ashleigh and Georga have opened a beautiful home of their own, Lunahome, and are happy to say that 15 children have now been taken off the streets and are in their care. Amazing.

No money from the government goes towards the home, it exists purely from donations, so the money you sent is amazing. Thank you again.

It's fair to say this place has stolen quite a large part of my heart and I can't wait to go back and see everyone again. Here are some photos of where your money went. Enjoy:

Ashleigh and I went shopping!

 

We ordered quality wooden furniture

We painted aforementioned wooden furniture!

And made a mess...

More toys!

More furniture!

Your cash in Kenyan Shillings! It made it over safely :)


I could go on for a lot longer but I'll leave it there for now. You've made 15 children very happy and of course it doesn't have to end there! You can make a donation of any amount whenever you can via this link http://www.mycharity.ie/donate_charityIndex.php?charityID=628


Asante sana and kwaheri (thank you and goodbye) Katie x x

Sorry About The Silence, I've Been in Kenya...

Wow. I'm back in England.

I'm not allowed to say Kenya anymore because I've been talking about it so much I've been banned from saying it out loud.
What a difference a week makes. I spent one week in Kenya and I went with absolutely no plans other than to make the most of a week away from my desk.

It was easily one of the best weeks of my whole life! Everything just fell in to place and worked out so well, I met some amazing people, some amazing little people and visited amazing places.

In one week I:

• Navigated my way around Mombasa alone on public transport
• Hand fed a giraffe
• Drank countless Tusker beers and tequila shots
• Met 15 amazing children at Lunahome Children's Home
• Raised £600 in donations from friends and family back home for Lunahome
• Spent a very pleasant afternoon drinking whiskey in a safari park and playing cards
• Ate roadside chicken and regretted it
• Blagged my way into a 5 star hotel saying it was my birthday
• Had an average of 4 hours sleep a night
• Sang 'Sweet Child of Mine' on a micrphone with the first butch Kenyan lady I've seen
• Learnt even more Swahili and managed to argue with a tuk tuk driver in Swahili :)
• Feel even deeper in love with Kenya

I have to go back and quickly. 15 children have stolen my heart and I don't mind one little bit. I'll tell you about them all in another post as I'm too emotional about the whole trip to even try and sum it up.

I just loved being there and feeling so independent. It helped that this was my third visit, but I felt smug for some reason when chatting to people who were flying there and had no plans to leave their resort. As they were being bussed there in their air-conditioned buses, I was in a tuk-tuk on my way to the supermarket to get some fruit and Top Deck chocolate - do you remember Top Deck? White chocolate and then milk chocolate at the bottom? Anyway, I digress.

Here's a few picture highlights of my trip:

That's all for now, but trust me, you haven't heard the last about Kenya on this blog :)

But... You're Married? Why Are You Going Alone?

Yep, I'm married (happily thanks very much) and I have a lovely little rock on my finger to prove it. The last time I checked, this wasn't the fifties (or something similar) and women were allowed to go off and do stuff on their own...

I'm off to Kenya next week (hopefully, I'm on a standby flight) and without fail every single person I've told has asked the question 'Is Josh going too?'.

Hey Josh! Watcha doin'?

Now, I KNOW I'm completely irrational a bit uptight about some things, but it's hugely important for me to retain a sense of self - whatever the heck that means, I know what I'm trying to say. I never really thought of myself as independent - until I got married. I KNOW, I'M WEIRD. All of a sudden it was really important for me not to be 'a stereotypical wife' in the traditional sense and I'm really trying not to sound like a bitch here. I adore being married, but it's not the sum of my parts.

Honestly, I thought I'd punch the next person who asked me 'So, how's married life?'

I think because it just seemed such a LAZY question. I'm sure you don't really care about the answer, and the answer is that IT'S NO DIFFERENT SHITHEAD. What on EARTH would you like me to answer that question with?! I got married over a year ago, so the question has now expired, and guess what question comes next? Babies. Yeah, get in line for a punch.

What I'm trying to say is that just because I've walked down the aisle with the boy, that's not the end of the road for Katie on her own. Just because we're married doesn't mean we're joined at the hip at all times. PLEASE don't get me wrong, I love my husband to bits (but I'm NEVER going to call him 'hubby' - bleurgh!)

I don't need him to validate me as a person and I think that's healthy. I love being with him, but I love being me too and having things that I'm interested in. I recognise that what makes us stronger isn't necessarily sharing everything. As long as we have fun together and are happy, what does it matter? When you live together, it's important to make an effort and for things not to go stale. I will not be part of those divorce statistics that both of our parents so heavily contributed to (thanks 'rents).

The main thing is, he can't take any holiday until September and I might burst if I have to wait that long to go away. So, I either burst or go alone. And I don't feel like bursting right now...

I figure absence/absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, plus he can watch all the football he wants AND he gets to live in a tidy house for a while (I'm really messy). Then I'll get back, we'll go back to a messy house and relative domestic bliss.

By the way, I have no idea why I've used so many brackets in this blog post tonight, I must be feeling brackety. Read into that what you will.

Yours happily in marriage but refusing to conform to tradition,

Katie x

Kenya believe it?! Standby, I'm going to Kenya on my own...

One of the rare perks of working in travel is that I can put myself on standby for any flight belonging to one of the world’s biggest holiday providers (I’ll give you a clue, their logo is the red smiley face).

I’ve known that I can do this for the five years that I’ve worked in travel, but for some reason I’ve never got around to doing it. I know, I'm an IDIOT.

I guess it’s the uncertainty of not knowing if you’re going on holiday or not. There are many things to be uncertain about in life – going away shouldn’t be one of them in my opinion. So there’s always the chance that you won’t get a flight on standby because all those other greedy buggers have booked themselves a flight at full price and taken up all the seats. Christ. How SELFISH.

I'm making up for it now though! I’m biting the bullet and trying something new. I’m really pushing myself at the moment to stay out of my comfort zone.

It’s bad enough that I work full time and am restricted to being adventurous and keeping busy in my evening and weekends, I’m NOT going to be a couch potato in my spare time, there’s too much to and… you guessed it, life’s too short!

So, I’m going to try and fly to Kenya for one week in one weeks’ time to see my mate Alice. On my own. Yep, all by myself.

Yes, it’s a 7 hour flight and I’ll probably be tired, but I’d rather be tired in Kenya and meeting up with old friends than always wondering what it would have been like to go to Kenya for a week. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m happy to say that it’ll be my third trip to Kenya, it makes me so happy to say that.

I’ve got no idea what I’ll do when I get there. I’ve got a few options, but I’m not going to put pressure on myself and plan too much, I don’t have time for that. I’ve been learning Swahili because one of my goals is to speak another language at beginner level, and I’ve chosen Swahili because I love East Africa and plan to go back there again and again.

So please, keep everything crossed for me that I get a standby flight next Monday 2nd July and can try something completely new. I’m not scared, I’m excited.

The only thing I’m scared of is not wanting to come home and settle back again in to my ‘normal’ life, because that’s happened a few times so far in life, but I’ll get used to it. Or I’ll make another plan that involves travel and some form of stability so that I can see my husband and cat every now and again :)

Watching the sun go down in Zanzibar...

Zanzibaaaaaaaaar. What an amazing name for an island hey? England is so boring in comparison with its two dull syllables. Ing-Land. Zaaaaanziiiiiibaaaaaar. I think I’ve made my point. I’ll move on now.

I loved my time visiting Zanzibar, it’s a beautiful place. Mystifying and intriguing with lots of winding alleys in Stone Town, and the most stunning beaches I’ve ever seen at Nungwi *sigh*

Stone Town / Kendwa- both gorgeous in different ways!


But my God it was hot.

I’ve never been somewhere so hot and had to wear so many clothes. In Stone Town you have to cover up out of respect as it is a Muslim town. Phew. I think I had about sixteen outfit changes a day.

The ferry trip was the coolest part of the trip - temperature wise...

It’s fair to say I liked Stone Town a lot more after the sun had done its business, taken his hat off and set for the day.

It’s a fairly common fact that the best place to go and watch the sun set in Stone Town is at the Africa House Hotel. I’m not going to dispute that, in fact I’ll endorse it further and INSIST that you watch the sun set there.

If you approach the hotel from the main roads through Stone Town, you have no idea what to expect, all you do is enter through a door, just as you do with most buildings.

You climb the cool, grand, dark stairway, blinded after the bright sunlight of outside… you head along a corridor and are hit in the face with the most beautiful scenery.

It’s just the sea, stretching out for miles. All the way to the horizon to be precise.

The Africa House Hotel knows when it’s on to a good thing, they’re not daft. They’ve got the biggest terrace looking out to sea with amazing regal sofas to stretch out on (get there early – around 5pm – to avoid disappointment!) combine this with waiter service and hazy afternoon sun and it’s just bliss.

The maxi-dress convention was fun!

I can totally see why cats like stretching out in a comfy sunny spot now.

Rather than a saucer of milk, I opted for a Tusker beer. It’s a Kenyan beer and you’re in Zanzibar, off Tanzania’s coast, but I don’t much care for the local beer of Kilimanjaro. Yeah, I said it, so what? Back off.

Anywhere where was I? Oh yes, here:

A photo of someone taking a photo! Artsy!

I’d advise you to bring a deck of cards along with you if you’ve got there early to bag a sofa. You probably have 2.5hours until the sun sets… if not, then take someone along for either an amicable silence or animated chitchat, it’s your call.

You’ll know it’s close to sunset time when a flotilla of dhows heads back to shore, what a sight!

OK so that's not a flotilla, but I was busy drinking chatting

Then the temperature drops maybe half a centigrade, the sky turns orange and the sun starts to drop steadily towards the sea like someone is out there pulling it downwards.

It’s ridiculously captivating, even though it happens every day all by itself and is the most natural thing in the world, you can’t help but stare in wonder at the sun setting.

Then all of a sudden, with a cold beer in your hand, you watch as the sun gets swallowed bit by bit into the sea – plop! The sky is a wonderful mixture of colours as the last remaining dhows sail back to shore, it’s almost too perfect. I get suspicious and look around me for hidden cameras, just like on The Truman Show.

Happy as Larry with wine...

Why do we insist on living in England when there are places in the world like this?! Would we just get used to the beauty around us if our everyday lives involved this?

I don’t know, but I think I’d be happy to give it a try!

Zanzibar, you're perfect just the way you are, I'll be back soon. 

The ABCs of Travel!

This is a game of blog-tag going around on Twitter, but (sob) nobody tagged me (sob) It's ok, I'll be fine. I'm starting my own tag game instead! Yeah!

On a long car journey from Leeds - Bristol with the rain lashing down on the windscreen and sitting in a traffic jam, I don't know if I was as positive as I could have been when writing this... but at least it made me want to get the hell out of this country! It was fun revisiting some old travel memories though...

I decided to rope Josh in to answer the questions as well. His answers are in italics and are exactly what he said word for word. I think they show a difference in 'interesting' angles from both of our travels so far and our relationship in general... they're also fairly blunt as he was driving at the time and doesn't really go in for stuff like this... :)

A: Age you went on your first international trip:

When I was 13 I went to Holland and that was my first time outside of the UK. We went on the ferry as my Dad was scared of flying. He made us little name tags to clip inside our coats in case we got lost. We looked like wartime evacuees.

2, I went to Gran Canaria with family

B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where:

Definitely Tusker in Kenya

Heineken in Amsterdam

 
C: Cuisine (favorite):

Cyprus. I’d move there tomorrow for their halloumi, taramasalata, bread, olives, moussaka, kleftiko and the baklava. Oh God the baklava.

Steak in Barcelona

D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why:

Favourite: Kenya. I can’t wait to go back again. Why? The people, the optimism, the safaris, the beaches, the beer and the karaoke.

Least favourite: Hmm, maybe Amsterdam. Why? I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I went but I think there are better European destinations out there that are prettier and that won’t bankrupt you. Plus,
I’m not a pothead, so it was a little wasted on me.

I might see you again Amsterdam...

Best - I like every one of them for different reasons (cop out - Katie)

Worst - Blackpool! Bleurgh! The people, the tackiness, the fugly fuggers (words have been changed - Katie)

E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”:

Safari. Everyone should go on safari at least once in their life. To know that all you have to do all day is sit in a jeep and look out for amazing animals is pretty cool. My first one in Tsavo National Park was just indescribable. Our driver parked up, turned the engine off and a few minutes later a herd of elephants stomped right past us as we sat in silence watching, breathtaking. I love elephants.

Safari – the lodge we stayed in and listening to the sounds of the wildlife and seeing a baboon in the restaurant helping itself to the buffet.

Safari, so goody!

F: Favorite mode of transportation:

Choo choo! Trains, obviously. Wherever possible, I’d like to take the train. Yes it’s slower, but you see so much and it’s fairly cheap too. It’s more sociable than a bus or plane. We drank the bar dry on the train from Mombasa – Nairobi, the barman had to come and tell us to go to bed because we’d had every single beer on the whole train. Oops.

Flying. Quick, easy and nice views.

G: Greatest feeling while traveling:

Contentment. Too many people try too hard to be content while they’re away and sometimes it comes
from sitting down on the beach with a beer as the sun goes down. It doesn’t have to be difficult.

Don't know

H: Hottest place you’ve traveled to:

Mombasa, Kenya. Sheesh. The ATM machines are in little air conditioned rooms and I’d make any excuse to go check my balance, withdraw cash or just accompany people. In Mombasa you’d shower and already be sweating as you towel dried yourself.

Mombasa, building a chicken coop and pulling water from a well. Fugging hot (again, words have been changed.)

I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where:

I’d probably say Mexico, but only because we were in a 5 star hotel there and thanks to the Americans having an extremely high expectation of service that I wasn’t expecting. I really miss having a turndown service, what an odd, but brilliant concept...

We trashed the place! Rock on!

Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh was great.

J: Journey that took the longest:

Mentally, the drive from the Serengeti to the Ngorogoro Crater because we were on a really noisy truck and the road was awful. It was so bumpy that you couldn’t hold your book, so loud that you couldn’t listen to music and your ass felt like you’d ridden a horse around the Grand National 15 times. All you could was sit there and grimace at each other and shout ‘”WHAT?!” at each other’s questions and conversations. Good times!

Physically, I flew to Honduras and took three different planes in succession on a journey that took 19 hours and then a lovely time difference of -8 hours to get used to as well. My remedy? A nice glass of red and a few sleeping pills. Yaaaaaaawn. Stretch. Hola Honduras!

Mombasa – Nairobi train. Long, but I enjoyed it!

K: Keepsake from your travels:

I like collecting shells from the beach and I’ve got a big jar at home that they all go into together.

Other than that, I bloody love fridge magnets, my fridge looks immense.

It's a work in progress ok?! Back off!

Nothing I’m not one for souvenirs. I leave it to Katie to collect the crap. (It's NOT crap Josh!)

L: Let-down sight, why and where:

Lake Nakuru, Kenya. I wanted to see the flamingos and they were too far away, just a pink blur on the horizon. God, I sound like SUCH a diva – bring the flamingos closer to ME!

Pink fuzzy nothingness...

Prestatyn, North Wales. There’s sod all there!

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel:

Painting a mural on a wall in Uganda, feeling totally content and in love with the world. Maybe I sniffed too many paint fumes…

As a child going to Spain with the family every year and having a laugh together.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in:

Excellence Playa Mujeres, Mexico. But then it should be, it was our honeymoon hotel!

Mexico – honeymoon hotel

O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling?

Oh Gawd. Everything. I think I spend too much time behind the camera sometimes... I always feel like I 'neeeeeed' to take photos, but I should probably just focus on enjoying the moment.

Nothing really, but scenery at a push.

P: Passport stamps, how many and from where?

8 I think. Uganda, Dominican Republic, Kenya x 2, Tanzania, Honduras, Zanzibar and Mexico

4 Dominican Republic, Mexico, Kenya, Florida,

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where:

Copan in Honduras. I love a bar that has swings instead of bar stools. That should be a law somewhere. Fab place with loads to see and do.

Isla Mujures with the golf buggies. Sculpture island and most Easterly part of Mexico. First place in
Mexico to see the sun rise.

R: Recommended sight, event or experience:

Safari. Anywhere in Africa that has animals preferably. You MUST do this once in your life!

Isla Mujeres in Mexico. (Spotting a pattern?!)

S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling:

Hmmm, tough one. Depends where you are and who you're with. Sometimes I'd say food, sometimes I just need to eat to tick a box. I'd probably say bottled water from experience!

Food and drink, beer in particular

T: Touristy thing you’ve done:

Bought a safari hat to wear on safari. I've never felt whiter.

Eh! Mazungu! How are you?

London Eye, being a tourist in London, Buckingham Palace. (Oh my God we had the biggest argument halfway around the Eye as I wanted to ask someone to take our photo and he didn't want to look like a tourist... BUT WE ARE TOURISTS, DEAR!)

U: Unforgettable travel memory:

Gah! This is tough! I'd probably agree with The Boy there, the elephants in Tsavo National Park in Momabsa were pretty surreal. They walked right past our truck and we just sat in complete silence taking it all in.

Safari! The herd of elephants walking past us.

V: Visas, how many and for where?

Kenya x 2, Uganda, Tanzania, Dominican Republic, Honduras

Kenya, Dominican Republic

W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where?

Does Sangria count? That has wine in it right?

Can’t remember if the wine was good – it’s all a bit hazy…

X: eXcellent view and from where?:

Safari lodge

Yep, safari lodge (He asked what I had said, think he was getting bored by this point, I'm lucky to have got this far...)

Y: Years spent traveling?:

Consecutive? 0

0

Z: Zealous sports fans and where?:

Barcelona, going to the Nou Camp stadium was amazing and I'm not a football fan in any way. With the amount of seats in that stadium and the price of the tickets, you'd be better off watching it on the TV (told you I'm not a fan...)

Kenya, only 4 teams exist in the their minds – Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal – although I bet they know Man City now (Blank look from Katie...)

@RacheyRoo183, @laura_mc89, @Granniebanana, @journeyingjess, @BananeDavies  You're it! (If you haven't already done this... :)