Our last day in Kisumu was busy. We started a day with a bus that had TV-s inside. A total luxury! We headed to the edge of Kisumu where was located a center for young girls. It was still under construction but their will was good and they are organizing some charity events to raise awarness on women abuse. Then we went to a vocational school. They offered plenty occupations. Of course I was more interested on hairdressers. They practised on themselves, so free hair styling sounded attempting. After lunch we had our last gathering. Professors stayed there a bit longer to get input for their research. Though, who says that in Africa it never rains? It was raining every singe day we were there. At least after every rainy moment sun revealed itself again. We headed back to the hotel. But before that we went on a shopping. Well, this store we went to was rather big but I felt that it is not really fullfilling my needs. Most of the things were covered by dust and seemed that products have stayed there at least 2 years. In the afternoon we went to the lake side. As I mentioned speaking of fish, lake Victoria has a meaningful place here. We decided to get a really authentical experience and go there by tuk-tuk. Well, maybe the lake side was literally far away or the ride (squeesed on the back with 4 persons) exchausted me. But the driving time there seemed so long. Lake offered us amazing views - sunsets are always beautiful. Moreover, local souvenir master demonstrated us how he is creating art of recycled materials. We had a dinner on a really awesome place. But beside us they didn't have many more customers, though they had a huge capacity. After munch we went again to explore Kisumu's nighlife. This time it was a shisha club. Place was small and crowded but looked really awesome. Oh, and we headed back to the hotel by scooter/ motorbike. It was an amazing experience. I was rather afraid in the beginning but the ride was actually very smooth. And we both fit to the bike with Kristi 😁 To be honest, I do not even remember did we both have helmets or only one or nobody. But I remember the slight rain falling down and the adneraline spreading around my body. I would have liked to record it. At least I have some memory fragments left in my mind. Early in the morning we departed back to Nairobi to spend a day there. Since we got from Nairobi already that unforgettable airport experience we were ready for everything. Kisumu's airport is rather on European standards with one exception . Maybe the thing was with our airline but we got handwritten boarding passes. Like, for real? And our cute plane looked more like a bus. You can check interior photos below. We had to be really productive in Nairobi. We had only the daylight to explore the surrounding. Since in the dark it is not recommended to go out. After heading to the hotel we went directly to the center. We visited the city market. Souvenirs they are selling there have a real African vibe. Reagan recommended us to visit a KICC tower - Kenyatta International Convention Center. It was a good decision. View from there was amazing and reminded me a bit of Manhattan. Center itself wasn't too big, so we explored the majority of the area and had a really cheap lunch. All was meat-free but still, price for that was amazingly cheap, like a few euros. Supermarket that I visited in Nairobi fit all my needs 😊 When we wondered around in the morning I noticed one hair salon close to our hotel. In the evening I was hyped that we finished our tour quite early and that we are able to check out their prices and availability. They were ready to take us and the price was reasonably cheap. I was afraid that I need to pay the whole fortune, but nope. I am sure they asked from us already more money than from locals. But it was totally on my price range. I had this plan to get braids even before coming to Kenya, I was inspired by Tuuli Roosma, since she spent the whole time in Africa with them. Initially I didn't plan to have the whole head braid but my hairdresses had a different opinion. While we were waiting they asked us what colours we prefer and got extensions from some other place. I chose blonde and brunette, Kristi purple. We had to wait around 1 hour orsm before they started making braids for me. Well, it is not the most pleasant because it takes so much time. I sat there 2,5 hours I guess. And since they were already closing others stuff and customers came to help as well. I mean, every woman is so skilled in that. At some point I had 6 ladies around me. What a service! I looked so different but I felt joyful. It was already dark outside but at least we were close to the hotel and we infiltraded to the surrounding. Our safari started from Nairobi center. We were the first two passengers accomodated in the car. He told he gave us the best places. To be honest, it was correct because while driving there we didn't pump up and down like grazy because roads there are not the best (we were not sitting on wheels). On our way to natural reserve we made a stop to admire an amazing view but what a surprise it was so foggy that we couldn't see anything at all. But still we made photos with that foggy surrounding. Our next stop was in our lunch place. Buffet table offering essential variety, simple but efficacious. Then we turned off from a highway and started driving on a road that basically didn't exist. Nature was already changing and looked more like savannah. Even before entering the officcial reserve area some roads were blocked by masais and they collected money from drivers. And we saw some zebras walking by, like a casual thing. I mean it is for them, but I felt that I am behind a zoo wall and zebras are walking casually with humans. After arriving we had a quick meal and headed back to the safari car. We had our evening game drive and we pretty much saw all the main animals already. We were lucky to see cheetah really close. We weren't aware of that word by the way. But Australians in our car explained us the difference of leopard and cheetah. Now Cheetos chips brand also makes more sense. We spent a night in a luxurious tent. It had everything you needed: running water, electricity, mosquito net, beds etc. From outside it looked like an expedition tent 😃 We had to wake up extremely early. It was totally dark when we had our breakfast. Even when we departed from our place to pick up other it was rather dusky. We saw all our favourites once again: giraffles (my personal favourites), elephants, zebras, cheetahs buffalos. Only animals we desired to see, but it was impossible on our two day safari were hippos and rhinos. I bet they live in other side of park and we just couldn't have enough time driving there. After morning safari we headed to Masai village. Now by foot from our accommodation place. We had our personal masai security guide with us.
I guess our tour in village lasted about 1 hour. It started with a dancing act and then they showed us the village and houses. Houses are made of clay, there is not much light inside and due the smoke I had some difficulties with breathing. Moreover, they showed how to light up a fire without nowadays tools. Our tour ended in a marketplace where women were selling their handmade products. After masai village tour we headed right away to the car and started a ride back to Nairobi. Until lunch place with safari car and from there we were located to a private car with another tourist. Though, while driving around we met our Argentinian project friends twice on safari and once on lunch place. Before heading from restaurant I almost got masai sticks. Some other girls had left it and now they offered those to us. I am wondering how good logistics they have worked out in their travel agencies, they knew exactly how many people fit in which car on which tour/ direction etc. Everyone had different accommodation and arrival/ departure time, but everything was really smooth. So, last hours we felt pretty comfortable in the car and we were able to move faster because we could pass other cars and trucks as well. Though, annoying part of the highway are trucks because the gasoline they use makes toxic smell and usually some windows were open to ventilate car. But this how the life is there. We arrived on time back in airport, even had extra time to spend there. So, we did a few more shopping rounds, though airport prices were extremely high.
0 Comments
To be honest, I have never dreamt to visit Africa. Those three times I have visited North-Africa was totally fine for me. Yeah, I had a secret wish to explore north side of the continent more, but never though about the idea of visiting the heart of Africa. It wasn’t because I didn’t have the will to visit it. It just seemed so complicated and I didn’t have a deep mission to accomplish there. Moreover, I though there won’t be anything to see. But one day I got an offer to represent Seiklejate Vennaskond on a study visit in Kenya. Since I got the offer I couldn’t refuse on. For me all the preparation started with medical issues. I was living in Lithuania and had to figure out where I can have my vaccines. If you don’t speak a language and living in an another country it might turn into a problem. Luckily I had my support in Lithuania. On a boiling hot April’s Friday we went on a journey in Kaunas. With our lovely dresses we walked through Kaunas with frappes to visit a medical clinic. Unfortunately they didn’t have all the vaccines I needed to. But from there we got recommendations and headed to Akropolis’ pharmacy. But before that Akvilė reloaded herself with a vege burger meal. I got three shots of vaccines at the same time. Since everyone were so careful about my health after injections, I felt like a child. All the buzz made me feel really weird on that day and evening. But my medical path wasn’t over yet. I had to visit Estonia on May to receive my Malaria pills. I though my doctor visit is going to be full of questions but in reality it was quite plane. When all the health care was clarified I had to think about the clothes. Someone told that blue clothes are not recommended because some type of bug likes it as well :P Now I can say that I saw many people wearing something blue and no-one complained about anything. When you start packing for Kenya you should take long but breathing clothes with you. Before sunset those bad mosquitos appear and you don’t want to get bitten by them. And during the day-time sun can burn your white skin. Third aspect was religion and different culture that made you dress tactful. I headed to Kenya with another blonde Estonian girl Kristi. Our trip started with a bus trip to Riga, from there we took a flight to Frankfurt and from there to Nairobi. Flights with Lufthansa were pleasant and not so long as I expected. In the airport we had huge passport lines. By the way, it is worth of mentioning the length of the lines for non-EU citizens in Frankfurt airport. Europeans just walked through their electronical check point gates and had no trouble with waiting. On those moments you feel ashamed that you even are European, why there is such a huge difference? But back to Kenya. Since we arrived in the evening to Nairobi it was already dark outside and anyway it gets dark quite early. The area around airport was crowded and our first challenge was to get a taxy. We heard that uber and taxify were also operating there but since there wasn’t a good Wi-Fi connection, we couldn’t use those services. First impression of Nairobi was wide asphalt roads and a slight rain. I though that Kenya is not so bad at all until we turned to a smaller road and I saw small houses built by materials that were accessable for people by the time. We noticed people walking around and candle lights on those small houses. Everyone warned us from the dark period there and on that moment it made a sense. After entering a private gate we entered to a private house area, but still it was totally dark around. Fortunately our taxy driver called to our host and we managed to reach our accommodation safely. She told us that the whole area doesn’t have an electricity but it also meant no hot water. Fortunately she made us hot water with gas and anyway we came there just to sleep so no need for many other things. And it was really romantic, candle light and mosquito net around the bed. Next morning we had a chance to try on taxify since the electricity was back and we had an access to Internet. On our way to the airport our taxy headed to the gas station, as I understood later it is pretty much the normality there, it happened plenty times during our stay in Kenya. Our driver drop us off near in front of the departure gate but this wasn’t enough as we got to know 🙃 They led us to our flight company house that was located around 1 km away. Fortunately there was a flight company bus driving around and they gave us a lift there. It was a small room where we managed to give away our luggage and even have a breakfast. Coffee and a croissant tasted like Europe and I was pleased since with a rainy morning a hot coffee was great. Airport bus brought us back to the departure gate. After security control there was just a common area with one exit where all the people waited for their flights. Most surprising was the fact that even our luggage was transported from there. Why you even need different gates, when one is more than enough 🤣 After arriving to Kisumu we struggeled to explain where our hotel is located because in Kenya street names are not so common. Now we saw more the environment. It was surprisingly green. We also saw local's life. It is common to have animals on the road. After arriving to our hotel we met with others who were having a breakfast. We got news that our hotel doesn't have electricity neither. So, again no hot water. Regardless of that fact, Kristi was brave enough to take a shower. Then we headed to our first meeting in the ministry. It was a time full of information that we received. We even did energizers there. There I figured out how the real Kenian soul looks like. People there are really polite, kind and helpful. After meeting we headed to the lunch place. We walked there and passed through a local market. It was really packed and you could find anything from there. I could swear that one local lady there called Kristi's name, even Kristi heard that 😲 Our lunch place was actually a hotel restaurant. We had a buffet with a variety of meals. After lunch we headed outside of the city. To reach needed places we always used a minivan. Because roads have many bumps and holes, it was a fun experience. During the evening van turned to a discobus with loud music and lights. Visiting school in the village was an amazing experience thanks to the nature around. View to the mountains, holy cows and tiny chicks walking around and a thunderstorm up yonder. Such a magical place with wonderful children. Since our "lunch hotel" had more or less reliable Internet area we headed back there to drink a coffee. After that we headed back to our own hotel. We had a dinner there, a local fish. Since lake Victoria is a huge landmark in Kenya and Kisumu is located by the shore it is a must to eat fish there. To be honest, I am not the biggest fish lover but it tasted delicious. After that we headed to the local club/bar. Even though it was Thursday night, it was pretty empty. The place was following all European standards 👌 With got to know with the local beer and followed some football matches from a big screen. Night ended on a dance floor.
|
AuthorMy connection with Erasmus+ projects. Youth exchanges and training courses. Archives
January 2020
Categories
All
|