A new year and a new blog entry! My new year’s resolution was to keep this blog updated more often. And that was only 13 days ago, so I can’t be doing badly!
So what happened since the last entry – let’s see if I can condense it a little. In November, Katy and I took off on a trip into previously unchartered territory: Western Kenya.
In Western Kenya they grow tea!
We visited Kakamega Forest – an ancient rain-forest that used to stretch across the breadth of Africa, but which has now been reduced to a mere patch. But it was still impressive, full of noisy monkeys, exotic butterflies and colourful birds.
Here’s Katy pondering upon how marvellous it looks.
Look at the funny ladies with wood on their head!
Katy’s caption: The west of Kenya is less developed than many other areas and few tourists venture there. We couldn’t believe how friendly people were though – particularly compared to Nairobi. We were invited round to a lovely family’s house for tea.
These kids were being taught that chopping down the forest is a bad thing.
Katy’s caption: Increasing populations in villages surrounding the forest means more and more is plundered each year for farmland and wood. The Kenya Wildlife Service has set up weekend schools teaching local residents that the forest is a valuable resource and that they need to find a balance.
More impressive however is the main mode of public transport that this area of the country relies on – the terrifying boda boda. It is basically a bicycle with an extra, barely padded, seat on the back which one must cling to whilst hurtling through bumpy, twisty and hilly roads. A bit like a rollercoaster, really – except with the added exhilaration of potential death.
This picture was taken by myself, and you can just about see Katy’s bicycle behind as we career towards oblivion. Do not mistake the apparent smile on my face for enjoyment – my muscles haven’t moved out of that position since I got on the bike 15 minutes ago…
After all that rural fun, we stopped off at the more bustling town of Kisumu, situated on the shores of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in the World! Or something like that.
We stayed at a posh hotel that had satellite TV and everything, and made the most of it by spending the night in with a couple of bottles of Tusker each and rubbish American comedy shows. But not before watching the sun go down from our balcony.
