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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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