GOODBYE KENYA. I WILL BE BACK-I PROMISE

The time has come to say goodbye to my adoptive city, Nairobi.  As tough as it is sometimes here, having to constantly be on your guard, having to constantly barter for things to get a ‘decent’ price and the terrible and unpredictable traffic, I am going to miss this place, my home.  I am certainly going to miss my friends, you all know who you are-but at least I will know that you will all be here when I get back and coming back to Kenya will certainly be a different experience from when I last arrived here 7 months ago, not knowing a soul and not knowing what my future would be.  I think I have accomplished a lot in my time here, I am happy with where I am loving, I am happy where I am spending my days with babies and also discovering the MB and the life I am making for myself here.  With all that said my travel bug is still alive and well and it feels good to be able to get back on the road again.  I think I will always be a traveller, it is in my blood, it is what has made me the person I am today and maybe all my trips will not be 10 weeks long, but that is the bonus of living on such a massive continent, I am closer now than I ever would have been and Africa is my oyster and I intend to visit every single country on this continent in the years to come.    

   

So with that mission in mind, I am off to explore more of this amazing African continent with 9 more countries on my list this trip, over a 10 week period, and I am really excited at the prospect of getting back on an overland truck.  I LOVE being able to stick my head of the window with some tunes in my ears and watch the countryside roll past.  I am also a waver; it is like a smile, a wave.  It doesn’t cost anything, anyone and everyone can do it and it can make a difference to some-ones day.  I LOVE waving and I LOVE overlanding.  In total, I have been on overland trucks for 32 weeks in the last 2 years.  8 weeks was on an African overland in 2011, 22 weeks in South America and my week that I recently just did in Kenya.  Yes there is something I love about it and I am about to embark on 10 more weeks in a part of the world that not many tourists have traversed and I think that is what excites me even more, which is weird as this is going to be like no overland trip that I have previously done before and it is going to make the others that I HAVE done look like 5 stars.  Dragoman, who I have made my booking with, also, paints a very rough and ready picture. In their exploratory notes, and I quote “that this trip is very much an exploratory route and due to the unpredictable nature of this expedition it is not always possible to follow the exact itinerary as set out.  By their very nature overland itineraries are flexible and the regions that we are going to be travelling through are unpredictable and off the beaten track and often in areas without western infrastructure.  Yes I think it will be no ‘holiday’ and make the east African itineraries look easy that is for sure.  I think if I have a very low picture of facilities and accommodation in my mind, anything better and it will be a nice surprise! 

It was time to pull out the monster (my backpack) and besides the week overland trip I recently did 4 weeks ago; it will be one of the only trips that I won’t have to pack for all occasions eg: a jacket for Antarctica or formal wear for a cruise or nice clothes for a coach trip.  I can pack clothes appropriate for just this trip and this will be a first and I am hoping to keep the space low in my backpack, as I am planning on doing shopping on my travels and I will need all the room I can get.  The upside with my flights is that I am flying Kenya Airways and I am allowed to have 2 pieces of luggage, which will be a massive help on my way home.  It is also going to help me on my way out, as I plan to check-in my sleeping bag and mattress in the second bag I am taking to bring things home in and I will catty said items on as hand luggage on my return flight.  I am on direct services for both my flights at the start and end of my tours, so I think that is a smart idea. 

I have shut down my apartment.  For the cost of the rent (300AUD a month), it wasn’t worth giving it up or trying to sublet it in my absence.  I went the week before leaving without my DStv (pay TV) and I was given DVD’s from Elsabe and I also flicked between the 8 local channels that are free and after watching them I can see why, but in Kenya’s defence, a lot of local channels around the world are hilarious to watch and I have seen some local interest stories that I would never had seen watching my pay TV channels, so it wasn’t all a bad thing.  It is amazing what you will watch though when you don’t have much of an option.  I had gone through my cupboards last week and pulled out all the dry food stuffs that was due to expire in the coming 2 months and gave it to Steve, and today I went through my fridge and got all the food out of the fridge and freezer and gave all to my building manager, Charles, as I will be switching off my fridge so as to keep my power bill at a zero balance in my absence.  He was a lucky guy and left with 3 bags of food and I am glad that it has gone to a good tummy rather than throw all the good food out.  I also had to leave Charles with electricity money, service money and water money in my absence for him to pay on my behalf while I am gone.  He also show me the switch to my apartment to flick off when I leave in the morning saving me having to unplug all my appliances from the wall sockets.  My TV will be covered with a sheet to protect it from the dust.  The way my front door is set, that on the inside there are 2 internal bolts that lock the door, but from the outside there is just a key entry.  I’m a little nervy about only having a key lock, so I have bought a padlock and where my mailbox is located (in the door) I can slip my hand through and padlock an reach the top bolt on the inside, from the outside and lock it with a padlock, and this makes me feel better that I have 2 forms of locks on my door. 

So my last day arrives today in my wonderful new country, and I am really sad to leave.  I’m leaving some amazing friends.  I never knew I could meet such AWESOME people…..again (as I have pretty amazing people in Oz) and I am terribly blessed.  Above love, FRIENDSHIP is really the highest honour bestowed upon anybody and I have met the most extraordinary people in my last 7 months.  More than words can EVER express really.  I had breakfast with 3 outstanding women this morning, whom I know I can count on for anything, ANYTHING, for breakfast, that turned into a 3 hour session of gossip and catch up and long before this day arrived I knew that I had met some remarkable ladies that would long be lifelong friends, and even better they are long termers here in Nairobi (longer than 1 year) and even though I know they will be here when I get back, I am missing some events that has become a personal joke that we will get to it, do it or wait until ‘next year’ when I am back.  As far off as it sounds, next year is not that long right?  Right?  I mean we are in September already.  I LOVE you gals.  I will MISS you terribly and your friendship means the world to me.

After ‘brunch’ and some small tears that sprouted from my eyes without warning, it was off to The Nest for my last hours with the wonderful babies and house mothers.  I cannot tell you what a difference to my life that these small miracles of God have done for me and also the friendships that I have made while I have been at The Nest for the last 5 months.  I always wondered what mothers, in particular, have spoken about when they head back to work after having their babies and the anxiety they have leaving them for 8 hours a day.  I am not a mother, and looking at these small little faces today, was probably the saddest thing I have had to encounter in a long time.  I know these babies; they are such an important part of my life and not being able to express to them that today were my last day for 10 weeks and that I would be back just broke my heart.  They will grow and change in the next 2.5 months and if luck should prevail, some of the babies will have found homes, whether it be with new family or with biological family, which of course is the best possible outcome, I HOPE that they will all be there when I get home (the selfish me) AND more importantly they remember me.  10 weeks in anyone’s terms is a long time, but 10 weeks in baby life is a ‘life time’.  Babies like Lennie will probably be walking, Margaret will also be walking after a traumatic start to life, Vanessa will be sitting up and hopefully James will be able to roll over.  Yes, a lot can happen in a baby’s life in a 10 week period and I am going to miss all of that and that makes me sad.  I know that the circle of life continues.  Staff and babies come and go, but I am currently in a nirvana of my life and to see that change while I am not here really is a sad concept.  But that is life, and things work out for everybody in the long run, whether you are on the scene or not and I will be HOME in November and I know there will be a lot of changes, but as life has proved-THAT IS LIFE-and I am happy to run with that she has to throw at me.  So thank-you to all the house mothers and the beautiful babies this afternoon and you will never be far from my thoughts.

My last night in Kenya was spent at an amazing restaurant called ‘Seven’ at Village Market with 2 incredible women, Lori and Mags.  What I was expecting to be a 2 hour meal turned into a 4.5 hour meal, and really aren’t they the best kind?  This made me feel just how lucky I am to have the people I do in my life and I am also glad that at 10.45pm at night I had 99% of my things packed and ready to go. Being 95% inebriated, this was lucky that I had the foresight to pre-pack and at 11pm, I only had dishes to wash, rubbish to put out and my final Kenyan blog to pump out, which does contain a level of concentration after 6 glasses of wine and a vodka and lemonade currently in hand as I finish off my blog.           

So it is a farewell of sorts for now, not so much a goodbye as I will be back-I promise.  But I am excited about my trip and as I head out the door at 6am, I will see you all in Ghana in approximately 10 hours.