The Kenyan Adventure Begins

Hello from Kenya!

We have had a busy few days and our patrols have taken time to each write a brief update below. To send messages to us add comments to this blog.

The flight to Kenya

Our flight was at quarter past 10, which actually meant getting up at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. Although the flight was really long, 8 hours, there was quite a lot to do, we watched films, tv, listened to music, talked and also walked around the plane, which annoyed the cabin crew a bit, but it was nice to stretch our legs. We arrived just before 10 o'clock at night in kenyan time (3 hours ahead) but we weren't hungry because there seemed to be food every couple of hours, stocking up before getting to Kenya. We sang happy birthday every hour or so as well, just to annoy people, it started off with Cat (Pat), and then went on to any one that the group thought would be embarassed by it. Half way through the flight Gemma knocked several cups of tea across the plane and one which landed on Ben (Dteads) and meant that he had a wet bum for the last 5 hours. We then had to wait 4 hours for the coach to arrive before we finally got to the camp site at 3.30am,througout the wait everyone was very positive and we played lots of silly games and visited the supermarket which was nearby.

By Team Echo - Toni, Ben, Liam and Rie

Rowalan - The Kenyan Scout HQ

We arrived at the campsite at 3.30am and waited for the second half of our party to arrive on the bus. We then separated into boys and girls, and set up for bed in two dorms. In the girls room there were 12 bunkbeds which were all pretty old and dodgy, squeeking and shifting with every movement. We had in interesting hour or so working out how to hang a mosuito net, giving us even less time to sleep! We went to bed, slept until 6.30am (only 2 hours sleep!).

In the morning we packed up our stuff, and had a wander around the campsite. It was amazing, we saw a slightly green swimming pool, the Kibira Slums (not on the campsite!!), Baden Powel's gravestone and foot print. When we ventured into another field we found a totenpole which included sections from Gilwell in England and Uganda.

We waited for our next bus to take us to the Giraffes, and after a few hours an amazing truck pulled in and everyone fell in love, it was going to be a bumpy ride in the massive army like truck. Whilst loading the truck we had some furry visitors, as a Monkey tried to drive our Bus away! Crazy.

Team Extreme - Holly, Mel, Kentish, Becky, Clare and Bertie

Kibera: East Afraias largest slum

Whilst we were at Rowallan we saw Kibera, the largest shanty town in Kenya. Our first vision of Kibera was on the drive through to Rowallan, however as it was dark we wern't able to see much. Alex had a particularly interesting experience when someone jumped onto the side of the bus as we were travelling through the shanty town, causing a loud (and girly) scream!

In the morning we we able to see part of Kibera from the back on the Scout site. We were all asstounded by the sheer size and smell of the town, and everyone seemed a little humbled by the experience.

Team Golf: Caroline, Nick, Nat and Tommy

Giraffe Centre 

After a relativley short coach ride...4 hours, we arrived at a giraffe sanctuary and were entertained by a short presentation from one of the keepers about the giraffes. We learnt about their eating habbits, the different types of giraffes that are in Kenya and even an awkward look at their mating habits. We were able to hold two different giraffes bones, one was a leg and the other a jaw of a giraffe. After this we were able to go out side and feed them. A few of us were even brave enough to kiss them. This was done by putting food between your lips, and getting them to lick it from your mouth.

The coach journey onto Siaya, that was ment to be 6 hours, took us about 14 hours with only a few short stops. In the school bus with Sam, Summer and Dani everyone slept for most of the journey while listening to random songs on the radio. On the truck with Emma, Danny and James most people were dancing and singing in the ailse, the video of 'Aga Do' will surely follow after the expedition..!!

By team Donuts - Sam Dani James and Summer

Coach Travel

Coach travelling has been a major part of the trip so far and has always been an interesting event; we've kept ourselves entertained with singing, sleeping and flying through the air when we go over the uneven roads. So far out of our 68 hours of being here around 55 of them have been travelling. It has been interesting as on our coaches we are able to view the different surrounding areas of Kenya. We have noticed that the Kenyan people are far more friendly than the English, they wave when you see them and are always happy to talk to you. The roads were interesting as they make sleeping impossible but we had plenty of christmas music to keep us entertained, even if it was the same CD about 20 times! We habe learnt that when kenyans say the journey will take an hour it will actually take 3 days. A plus side to the coach travelling was the friendlyness of the Kenyans, they are more than happy to wave at us as we drive past.

By Team Charlie-Dom, Rachel, Rebecca & Tom

Arrival at the school

After Indiana Jones experience in the back of "Pumba", our safari lorry, we arrived at Wagwer mixed secondary school, where we were met by a very lively Kenyan patrol, made up of students from the local area. After yet another luggage transfer from the bus and lorry (Please ask about our new home removals and courier service), we were saved from pitching tents at four in the morning, and bedded down in the classroom, which were surprisingly comfortable, the best camp sleep we've ever had.

We were rewarded with the longest camp lie in going, not rising from the pit until after 12 noon, enjoying a wet wipe wash, followed by jam and cornflake sandwiches (and for some you did read that right). We reloaded the vehicles yet again, to set forth, along with the kenyan scouts, and their songs, for the Siaya scout centre.

By Tean Foxtrot (the best one) - Andrew, Steph, Seb, Little Bert, Fairy and Tomo

　

Arrival at Siaya Scout Centre

After arriving at Siaya Scout Centre, at just after 2pm, we, yet again, had to unload the safari lorry and mini van. We then sorted the kit out and found our tents and pitched them up along the side of the site. By this point it was boiling hot and everyone kept taking little breaks inbetween which made the job take so much longer, although we got there eventully. After we had finished a group of us had a game of football with some of the Kenyan school children. Meanwhile another group went to buy food and water and everyone else was relaxing and cooling down in the shade (or at least attempting too). The safari truck soon returned with a group of local scouts who will be staying on the camp site with us. The unit welcomed them straight away, with Danny trying to teach them a few songs with Tom's ukulele, although not too sure how well that went!

We are now pretty pleased that we had finally found a place that we will be staying in for a while and not have to worry about packing/unpacking coaches, sitting on them for hours on end and getting to bed at 4 in the morning. Now for a traditional Kenyan dinner, but more of that later.

Team Alpha: Naomi, Sam, Hannah K, Jack