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Trunky in Kenya
(7 July 2013)
To all my friends in Cookham
Thursday
13th June
After
waking up in front of the Kilimanjaro, Trunky is on
the
road again. He is traveling to Kenya. He has to show his
passport
at the boarder while Kilimanjaro is shining in
the
sun just a few miles away from him.
He
will then travel for 8 hours in the car. Our Kenyan driver
called Maina is really nice. Trunky likes to talk to
him
about his country. It is a huge country and it is
fascinating.
All the people are looking at Trunky saying
"hello
white". Trunky says hi all the time like the Queen on
a
national day. He likes Kenya. It is really beautiful.
There
are a lot of mountains and new animals he hasn't seen
before
like monkeys, zebras and ostriches. This is really
exciting.
It
is a long journey and the road is not like in England. It
is
sometimes really bad. It is getting dark and we are still
far
from our hotel in Kiboko, a town in the South of
Nairobi.
Trunky is a little afraid because he does not like
to
travel when it is dark. Kenya is beautiful but not always
really safe.
The
last two hours of this long trip is on the main road
from
Nairobi to Mombasa and a lot of trucks are on the road.
Trunky
is not really happy but anyway he has to reach the
hotel.
He finally arrives around 9pm at the hotel.
Friday
It
is time to go to bed. The next morning (Friday 14th June)
we are in Kiboko and
meeting a local farmer. His name is
Joshua and he has a
beautiful farm in the middle of nowhere.
He has orange trees,
honey, bananas. The bananas are so
tasty.
Trunky
loves the place. There are a lot of animals and
Trunky wants to play
with his new friends...We are in a
region
where access to water is a challenge because it is so
hot and we are having
a long discussion with the farmer
about the changes he
has noticed for the past 20 years.
Joshua is sad because there is less water than before and it
is really difficult
for him and his fields are less
irrigated.
The
next day, Saturday we are still in Kiboko meeting more
farmers. We are in the middle of nowhere so we have to
follow a motorbike in
order to find the local villages. It
is an adventure.
Many
of them don't have access to water and therefore they
can't sell their
vegetables and feed their families. It is
difficult to hear their stories.
Trunky
is also meeting a lot of Kenyan children and they
always want to play with him. Trunky doesn't speak their
local languages so he is using basic codes like smiling. It
is working most of the time...Trunky wishes he could speak
their language called Swahili.
On
Saturday afternoon, we are traveling back to Nairobi from
Kiboko. We will have Sunday off to rest after all our
trips.
On
Monday morning, Trunky is getting up at 5am and we are
going to the Rift Valley. We are traveling for 4 hours
before reaching our hotel. It’s a beautiful place in the middle of
a green valley with a lot of donkeys, zebras, monkeys and
many children really excited to see Trunky. As soon as we
start filming, a lot of children are coming to welcome us.
They all want a picture and when we show them the pictures
they start laughing. Some children are touching our arms
because it is the first time they have seen white people.
Trunky
likes the rift Valley. There are a lot of heavy storms and
rivers are high. Many woman are carrying water from the
main river and some young teenagers are even washing their
motorbikes in the river.
Trunky
is going to the hotel before sunset because there are a lot of
mosquitoes around in this region and it is a hot spot
for malaria, a common disease in Africa. The mosquitoes are
active during the night and could bite you and infect you.
Trunky
is feeling well so it should be fine. He is also
taking a pink pill every day to protect himself from malaria.
On
Tuesday evening, Trunky is going back to Nairobi, the big
city. He has to work in an office on Wednesday. On Thursday morning,
he is going to the University of Nairobi to meet a
professor, an expert on climate change. His name is Professor Mutua
and he is such a great person. He is very intelligent
but also really funny. Trunky wishes he could
spend more time with the professor because he really likes him.
Perhaps, he could even meet the professor in Europe in the coming months.
Now,
it is time to go to the airport and trying to avoid the traffic jam.
Driving in Nairobi is a real challenge. On
Wednesday
evening, it took 4 hours to drive to the hotel. In the
morning it took us 20 minutes on the same road. Our driver
is always saying that it is crazy, crazy Nairobi.
After
less than an hour’s flight, we arrive in Mombasa and as soon
as Trunky gets off the plane he can smell the sea. It is
such a wonderful feeling. It is also much warmer than in Nairobi.
Only an hour’s trip and the temperature rises. The difference is unbelievable.
Trunky has the feeling he is on holiday.
The hotel is amazing, all made of wood and in front of
the sea. It is the first time Trunky has seen the sea. He
wishes he could relax for a day but in fact a lot of people/ experts
on Climate Change are waiting for him. He will then interview
a lot of experts on Friday and won't have time to walk
near the sea or enjoy this beach resort. He will have
to
come back another time...
After the busy day of interviews, he is taking the plane back to Nairobi. He really would like to stay near the sea for the weekend.
Saturday
One
day to go before the final departure, Trunky wants to film
some beautiful shots for the documentary. Ideally we would
like to see the Maasai. He then decides to travel North
of Nairobi where some of them are based. The road to get
there is beautiful along the Rift Valley. After two and half
hours, we still haven't seen the Maasai. On the other hand,
some local people are advising us to go to the National
Park called Hell's Gate. What a strange name, you really
need to trust the local people in order to go there. This
park was wonderful with a lot of zebras, giraffes, buffaloes,
monkeys. Trunky was hoping to see some elephants but
we could not see them. This park is so beautiful that we decide
to interview an Egyptian expert travelling with us on that
day. We need to interview him in a quiet location. We have
seen the perfect spot for the interview but we need to walk
for five minutes in the bushes to get there. It is an adventure
and Trunky likes
that. All the monkeys are
looking at us and some following us.
We are walking slowly to make sure we don't step on a snake.
The background for the interview was beautiful and we were
really excited about it. It is time
to go back to Nairobi before the sun goes down. We
haven't seen any Maasai but a lot of wild animals instead. A
last night in Kenya...
Sunday
Trunky
is getting up early. He has to work for another few hours
before flying to Ethiopia in the afternoon and then London
the next morning. Trunky
takes time to say goodbye to all his new friends in Nairobi.
He had an amazing time there. He has done so many things
and been on the move so many times. He
has the feeling that he stayed there for a month. Trunky will miss
the people and also the idea of working outside every day.
He really likes filming in the countryside and being in touch
with a natural environment. Trunky
will miss the Karibu from Kenya (Karibu means welcome in
Swahili). He promises himself he will come back soon and in
the meantime, learn Swahili. He would really like to exchange
more conversations with the local people.
Once
on the plane, he chooses the window so he can see Nairobi
from the sky. Trunky will travel all the way back to Europe.
He stops in Ethiopia for the night and on Monday morning,
he is ready for his final destination which is London.
He flies above the Mediterranean sea and lands for an
hour in Rome. The sun is shining through the window. A warm
welcome back to Europe. It is nice to be back.
Trunky is really excited to recognize London from the clouds. Ready for landing and more importantly ready to tell his adventures and share his great memories with all his friends from Herries School.
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