Darkness on safari through Kenya, Africa infested with lots of poverty, hunger, AIDS and greedy elephant killing Kikuyus

http://www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1

Thatkind of link was given by someone who commented Mariann's blog, being disturbed by circumstance that Manna shows Africa in bad light. OMG.. certainly read this article.. it is hilarious. By the way, I SHOULD write a book holding this guide in my mind.. I guess it would be a superhit in comedy genre. And actually, considering this, my blog aren't so bad either :p

Sellise lingi andis üks Marianni blogi kommenteerija, olles häiritud asjaolust, et Manna Aafrikat halvas valguses näitab. Oh jumal küll.. loe artikkel kindlasti läbi.. see on ülimalt naljakas. Peaks kusjuures seda meeles pidades kirjutama raamatu.. oleks ilmselt hitt komöödia šanris. Ja ega mu blogigi väga halb selle järgi pole :p

Rainforest

Translation to Estonian follows.

1. February 2010

Yes, morning wakeup was early. Small breakfast and then we started or hike. Really cool.. as we would have went few hundred years back in time. At first there were wide paths going into the jungle and in some places even the way signs, but soon paths started spreading, getting narrower and finally completely hard to spot. In some places our way was completely blocked by bushes or fallen trees. On one open field in the middle of the rainforest we wandered around by paths that probably were created by animals. At least none of these took us anywhere. For some time it felt we are a little bit lost and some even considered that we should go back the same way we came, but after some time we found our way to the river. The same we found last day. So logically, if we go upstream, we should again get to the falls. Just to get ahead a bit, I can say that it was best idea, as we probably wouldn’t have found any better jungle paths and views anywhere else.

When we got to the river, we made a stop. We ate some weird triangular bread, dipped our feet into the stream, and just rested a bit. I of course decided to try to cross the river. It was full of slippery stones and in the middle water deep and the stream pretty strong. First time crossing it, I even managed to remain dry, but when going back, I chose another place where bottom seemed sandy and water more shallow. But when I got to the middle, situation changed suddenly. Again there were slippery and in some cases loose stones. Water got deeper very suddenly and stream was even stronger, as now I was at the beginning of small rapids. Many times I was about to fall, but finale happened just near the riverbank. I already thought that I had safely crossed it, when because of some loose stones I really lost the balance. For the disappointment of others (as they didn’t get good photo) I didn’t fall, but as I struggled to get back the balance and had to put hands into water, I got a little bit wet.

Ahead by the riverbank, path turned really wild. It ran up and down, turned around gigantic trees and impassable coppice, and in most places slope to the river was high and steep. From above the lianas fell to the path. At one place there were really tall palm trees. Near the river we finally also saw white colobus monkeys. Last day we saw some black ones and guys said that we also saw some blue monkeys. At the final part of the trail, Sarah and I were running again. It was a good cross country.

When we got back to the camp we were extremely hungry and thirsty. So we ate and prepared to leave (as we were only allowed to stay in the reserve for 24 hours). But we still decided that before going we have time for short walk. Mykolas, Carlos, Sarah, Justas and I went to viewing platform that was on a little hill. Rest decided to go to so called monkey trail. Monkey trail my ass! We had fun of climbing some cliffs; admire beautiful view to the entire forest; to see lots of colobuses, etc. But coolest thing was when we walked back that one big family of baboons had come to the road. Carlos got very good photos of them. And for conclusion I found a very nice eagle feather, what I set to the head of Sarah and took a very good picture of her too. I want to print it in a proper size to the photo paper. It would be good portfolio photo and nice gift for Sarah. Actually I also did a nice photo of Kristi. Now I would like to make a perfect portrait photo of Kate too.

So, for conclusion, even though this trip was expensive, it was absolutely worth it. Rainforest is great. Of animals we saw at least three different species of monkeys (in Kenya there were supposed to be 7 or 8 species.. therefore good achievement), countless beautiful butterflies, including the dead one, ants that traveled in wide lines, very weird dead bug, a green forest giraffe and of course the pink panther. Some birds also but nicest one we encountered actually when we already had left the reserve.

Drive back to Eld was again in a matatu packed full of people. At the beginning there was really big local mama sitting beside me, and when she went out, one man and one woman replaced her. Even less space. Especially freaky was that when this man finally went out, this woman still stayed tightly against me, although now there was lots of room to take it little bit easier. I guess I was so warm and softy then. In matatu Love and I listened music from my mp3 player. He said that he has lots of such kind of music that I probably like.

Twiga - giraffe

Kima – monkey

Punda - donkey

Kipepeo – butterfly

Siafu – ant

Vihmamets

1. veebruar 2010

Yes, hommikune äratus oli varajane. Väike hommikusöök ja alustasimegi oma matka. Päris lahe. Nagu oleks sattunud paarisaja aasta tagusesse aega. Metsa sisenedes olid algul küll laiad rajad koos mõnes kohas asuvate suunaviitadega, kuid üpris varsti hakkasid laiad rajad hargnema, muutudes kitsamaks ja lõpuks päris vaevumärgatavaks. Mõnes kohas takistasid noor võsa või langenud puud meie tee täielikult. Ühe lagendiku peal ekslesime tükk aega mööda radu, mis ilmselt olid hoopis loomade tekitatud, sest kuhugile välja need küll ei viinud. Vahepeal hakkas tekkima tunne, et oleme juba eksinud ja tuleks sama teed tagasi minna. Lõpuks siiski ringi ekseldes jõudsime jõe äärde. Selle sama, milles me eelmisel õhtul ujumas käisime. Seega ülesvoolu liikudes peaks sama koseni jõudma. Veidi ette rutates tahaks öelda, et see oli parim idee, kuna paremaid radasid ja džungli vaateid ei oleks ilmselt kusagilt leidnud. Jõe äärde jõudes tegime väikese peatuse. Sõime veidi, kastsime jalad vette ja puhkasime muidu. Mina loomulikult katsetasin, kas suudan läbi jõe minna. Põhi oli libedaid kive täis ja keskel oli sügav ning päris tugev vool. Esimest korda jõge ületades jäin siiski päris kuivaks. Tagasi minnes valisin ületamiseks aga uue koha, sest see paistis madalam ja liivase põhjaga. Jõe keskkoha kantis aga olukord muutus. Jälle libedad ja mõnes kohas ka lahtised kivid. Ja sügavaks ning tugevavooluliseks muutus jõgi ka väga järsku. Seal oli vool isegi vist tugevam, kuna tegemist oli väikese kärestiku algusega. Mitu korda tahtis mul jalad alt tõmmata. Aga finaale juhtus hoopis päris kalda lähedal, kui ma olin juba üpris kindel oma turvalises kaldale jõudmises. Veerevate kivide pärast kadus tõsiselt tasakaal ära. Siiski päris vette ei kukkunud (teiste pettumuseks, sest nad lootsid head fotot saada), aga tasakaalu taastamiseks rabeledes sain siiski parajalt märjaks.

Edasi mööda jõekallast muutus rada eriti metsikuks. Jooksis üles-alla, keerutas ümber hiiglaslike puude ja läbipääsmatute tihnikute. Enamustes kohtades oli jõekallas järsk ja kõrge. Puude latvadest rippusid üksteise ümber väänduvad liaanid. Ühes kohas kasvasid eriti hiiglaslikud palmid. Lõpuks nägime ka valgeid koloobus ahve. Eelmisel päeval olime näinud mustasid ja teised ütlesid, et nägime ka siniseid ahve. Raja lõpu poole hakkasime jälle Sarah’ga jooksma. Mõnus maastiku jooksu rada oli.

Laagrisse tagasi jõudes olime ülimalt näljased ja janus. Seega siis sõime ja avastasime, et üsna pea peame lahkuma (sest kaitsealal tohtisime olla vaid 24 tundi). Siiski enne lahkumist otsustasime väikese ringi teha. Mina, Mykolas, Carlos, Sarah ja Justas, läksime vaateplatvormile, mis asus väikese mäe otsas. Ülejäänud otsustasid nii-öelda ahvirajale minna. Monkey trail my ass! Me saime järsakul väheke ronida, imetleda imelist vaadet kogu metsale, näha hulka mustasid koloobuseid ja kõige lahedam oli, et tagasi tulles avastasime, et meie teele on roninud suur paavianide pere. Carlos sai neist väga häid fotosid. Tipuks leidsin ma kotka sule, mille ma Sarah’le pähe seadsin ja temast väga laheda foto tegin. Loodan, et saan selle siin kuskil paraja suurusega foto paberile printida. Oleks hea portfoolio foto mulle ja kink Sarah’le. Kristist tegin ka kena foto. Nüüd tahaks vaid veel Kate’st täiusliku portree saada.

Niisiis kokkuvõtteks, kuigi nii sõit kui reservaadi külastus olid kallid, oli see täielikult seda kulutust väärt. Vihmamets oli ülivõimas ja austust äratav. Loomadest nägime vähemalt kolme eri liiki ahve (Keenias pidi neid kokku olema 7 või 8.. seega päris hea tulemus), lugematult erinevaid üliilusaid liblikaid, kaasa arvatud üks surnud, laiades ridades rändavaid sipelgaid, ühte väga veidrat surnud putukat, rohelist metsakaelkirjakut ja muidugi roosat pantrit. Mõningaid linde ka, kuigi parima otsa juhtusime alles väljas pool kaitseala.

Tagasi Eldi sõit oli jällegi rahvast puupüsti täis matatus. Minu kõrvale istus muidugi ilgelt suur kohalik mammi ja kui tema maha läks, tulid üks mees ja üks naine asemele. Veel vähem ruumi. Eriti imelik oli see, et lõpuks kui see mees maha läks, siis naine istus ikka tihedalt mu külje all edasi, kuigi ruumi nüüd ju oli, et veidi vabamalt võtta. Ju ma siis nii mõnusalt soe ja pehme olin. Matatus kuulasime Love’ga minu mp3 mängijast muusikat ja ta ütles, et tal on hulganisti sellist kraami, mis mulle ilmselt meeldib.

Twiga - kaelkirjak

Kima – ahv

Punda - eesel

Kipepeo – liblikas

Siafu – sipelgas

Bad boys and bad girls aka. More Fire

31. January

In the last post I wrote how I had a little yearning for my people. Today Estonia and even friends seem like a dream I saw last night or even like a fantasy story. As good and unreal as the stories about the dragons. It seems simply impossible that somewhere there is snow on the ground. Mariann asked from me if I would believe it if she would take a snowball from the pocket and throws me with it. She has a good imagination. January is ending, it is evening and still it is hot. Well yes, right now we are also on lower ground than usually. We thought that it would be great to travel a little bit in free days. At first we thought again about going to Kerio valley, and hike to the bottom, but locals said that it is too dangerous without car, because there is some wildlife. Therefore we decided to go to Kakamega rainforest reserve.

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But first I continue from yesterday’s happenings. In the morning we went to Huruma, where we had this awaited first football match. It was a really amazing game. We started with very intensive offence. Pushed on really hard during all the game and opponents weren’t bad either. Final score 1:1 was satisfactory and it seemed that also opposing team was happy with that. So, on the sport we showed ourselves from good side from the beginning. By the way, I bought myself proper football shoes from here. These were used, but very good and cheap. Thanks to that I got to run really fast on the field, but I also made one incredible fall (because I’m not yet used to these). I had a wrong step when I tried to pass the ball from side to front of the gate, as the chance to score from that would have been almost certain. But instead I made an somersault and bleeded my hands.

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Afternoon, lots of locals came to visit us and they made the food for us instead of Caroline. Lots of chapatis. Later we went to club. Well, it wasn’t really a club in our sense, but at least we got to dance. First real African bashment. After some wine I and Kate were the first to go onto the dance floor, but immediately more people started to come. With a little time party went wild. Could say that Kate and I, we are a couple now. Can I get closer with Africa? Of course I can, and it is possible that we’ll get there, but then again I’m still not planning to bring a girl with me from Africa. Yet I wouldn’t say no to moving to Kenya myself. Climate is good here, people nice. In Estonia I can’t say that I’m much of a favorite of girls, but here it seems I can get prettiest girls easily. Kate told me that I’m beautiful and many times people said that I dance good, and I believe they really meant it. I think here white people can be really successful in everything. More successful than local people and do it more easily than in Europe or America.

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Today morning we finally went to church with Caroline. It was terrible. Only funny thing was that pastor talked how small things distract us from God and belief. I would have liked to say: “Words for example, not to mention the big things like church.” Belief is in our heart/head and we can’t even express it verbally very well. And you may argue against me, but I think that if God exists then it is everything and knows everything.. even your thoughts. So you don’t have to go to church to find it, and you don’t need to pray to communicate with it. It was so much talk and singing, but at least for me it didn’t say anything. After the tormenting and awkward churchgoing (because naturally I didn’t go along with any prayer or song), we bought a tents, went home packed things and then to Kakamega. This trip got to be more expensive than we thought, but it is worth it Rainforest is beautiful and cool. It sings and here are lots of different butterflies, monkies and dragons :D

We arrived to camping site, but we don’t stay in tents as we planned, as bandas (little round houses with thatched roofs – traditional architecture here – can really be found everywhere in rural areas even these days) were for some reason cheaper.

Although we had only little time until the sunset, we went to little walk to find Isiukhu falls. Finally we got to swim. Our way back was mostly in pitch black, but as you can see, we didn't get lost. In the "kitchen house" near the other bandas, we met a nice French couple (Slim and Laureen) who talked a lot of interesting things. We prepared the dinner, improvised some spoons (as of course no-one remembered to take these with us) and now we wait for drinking water to start boil. It should happen any moment now.. although we have had the same thought for half an hour at least.

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In the morning we wake up early and go to serious rainforest hike.

Ongeza moto! – more fire!

Ukuapi? – where are you?

Ngoja! – wait!

All covered by Africa

29. January

When we go back to Estonia, then probably we are the most polite Estonians. Not to mention that Kenyans thank for everything, they even apologize for things that are no way of their fault. For example yesterday I stepped to Sarah’s heel and she apologized. Something went into my throat when we were eating and I started coughing, she again apologized (to me). Of course I said that, no, I should be one apologizing, but so it is here. Then they also ask all the time: “how are you, how was the town?” and other such things. All that is so easily sticking. Then again, Kenyans have a weird habit to ask whatever they just desire at some random moment and that basically without any politeness: money, chocolate, pens. The worst is that mostly these are our known people who ask, not street kids, and it is much harder to say no to them. But yesterday Joshuah, Jackson and one another Kenyan guy asked us to the cafe and paid our colas. That’s how it is here. It seems like they all are one big family. If someone desires something, then they hope that maybe you can help them. For us, who we believe more into private space and property, who we make quite certain plans for what to spend the money, for us it may be hard sometimes. But still, for me it seemed now quite bad that Helen couldn’t give money to Caroline when she asked it. Of course Helen and actually we all have very limited money, and locals have to understand that we are not rich. Then again, after Helen told me about it, I still felt like maybe I still should give it. I was in a quandary if that would offend anybody (Helen basically) or if I would do wrong, only causing more of such requests.

More about politeness and commons. It is told/written that public signs of intimate relationship are kind of taboo here. Yes, I haven’t seen anybody kissing openly and hugging is done mostly when greeting or leaving. It just doesn’t happen that couple is bound around each other, but holding hands is quite normal. It even doesn’t mean the intimate relationship, as even two men sometimes hold hands when walking on the street. Sarah has held my hand countless times and she has many times confirmed, that this doesn’t mean anything.

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Yesterday we walked with Sarah and under one truck trailer, there were some guys who when we approached, said to Sarah that she is walking with a beautiful girl. LOL! I really want to get my hair done soon to be more like African man. Although most men cut their hair to zero, then there is some rastas with long hair, but then it is always plaited or in dreads.

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Today we had to go to police station again, and as usually nothing got clearer for us. Well, little progress was that this time we went to some chief, but also he didn’t have any answers to us, other than come back again after few days. Anyway, Mariann bought herself a new phone. These are cheap here, but I can’t get a new camera. These are at least as expensive as in Estonia and I haven’t seen any Canons anyway.

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In the town Wesley picked us up with his own car – small pickup truck. So most of us, me included made a ride in back. Road was bumpy. We visited some places that have something to do with the project and finally went to Ainaptich school football pitch to practice for the match that should be tomorrow. There was around 30 players on the field at the same time, but it was still nice training. We have also gone to run last days, so it wasn’t even so hard.

After the match we walked to the place that is called Jerusalem. Around Eldoret we can travel the whole world in a very little time. Jerusalem, Hawaii, Paris, Gaza, London, these are all here. Well, not exactly the same as the real world places, but still. In Jerusalem we went to one hotel to have some cheap chapatis and chai. Chapatis are quite like pancakes, but not sweet (still very good and nutritious, and chai or white tea as they sometimes call it, is simply put a tea with milk (but probably everyone already knew that). Chai is very sweet and good. Then we went home with matatu. Joshuah, Sarah, Bosco and many others came with us just to send us home and then go back again. Or maybe as they now know where we live, then maybe they will visit us sometimes.

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Right now Eldoret is like three different places for me (not districts/estates, as it has lots of these): the town or town center (most interesting, but also more expensive, and there we get too much unwanted attention); Elgon View (place where we live, nothing else actually than our house and kiosk for some basic food stuff. Maybe after some time we explore it more); and slums as Jerusalem, Hawaii, Huruma, Kipkaren, Ainaptich, etc. Most of the people live in slums. Some in really bad conditions, some in pretty decent ones. Sarah lives in Ainaptich. We haven’t visited her home yet. Kate lives in Kipkaren, in quite modest house. Most of the people are happy with their lives (at least it seems so), and it seems they have enough money to manage. In some cases even more. Today Sarah bought a juice (not the cheapest drink here) and said that tomorrow she will buy for me. I said that maybe it should be me who buys for her, but she didn’t agree. We were supposed to be guests. Anyway, tomorrow we’ll go to dance club and then I certainly do a drink for her.

Basically no-one seems to think about in how bad conditions, in the middle of garbage piles, often even without electricity, they live. No-one is ashamed of their home. Happily they could welcome you at their place. I like it, but toilets even in the town center are really awful.. and of course the garbage problem. We live in Elgon View as some kings and sometimes this feels weird. Well yes, I like our house and that we have decent conditions.

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Today when we ate dinner, we had accidentally one empty place and then I said that it is for those we miss. At first I said it without much thought, just for easy talk, but then feelings conquered me. I don’t miss Estonia, but my people, my friends. I like our local acquaintances/friends and basically our group. Sometimes I just would like that I could simply take a train or hitchhike to visit my friends. I think about you!

Namna gani? – What’s up?