Today (well, yesterday) we woke up at 8:00 to get ready for
breakfast. After breakfast we immediately went back to our rooms and packed our
stuff to get ready to leave to Shompole. We boarded a bus (similar to the one
that picked us up at the airport) and tried to fit 25 people into a bus that
comfortably fits 20 (plus 23 backpacks). Fortunately there extra were flip-down
seats. Needless to say, it was very entertaining. We drove from the Masai Lodge
to a neighborhood in Nairobi called Karen. There, we exchanged our American
dollars to Kenyan shillings. After we picked up Shani (our in country coordinator),
we got on the bus again and headed south to our final destination of
Shompole/Oloika! On our way to Shompole we saw multiple baboons and flocks of
cattle. All the passengers waved to the Maasai
and they never failed to wave back. I even gave two of them a high five. We
would pass by beautiful parks with lush and colorful plants. We were not bored
one bit on the ride. We stopped for lunch on the side of the road and got a
chance to step off the bus. We drove further into Masai land and then
approached Lake Magadi, an alkaline lake. The lake also had hundreds of
flamingos in it that we could practically touch through our windows. After we
passed by the lake, we drove on a trail that was sculpted of sand and was
hardly visible. At one point, there was so much sand that the van got stuck and
couldn’t move! We all had to get off of the van and push the back of it to get
it to start again. It was a great team building exercise…but a bit dusty.
Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves looking at a sign that said “Shompole
Road” and then “Oloika Trading”. We passed the school that we would be working
at, and children and adults alike heard our bus and came out to smile and greet
us. We pulled into the campsite where we were served cold apple juice. The
staff at the campsite showed us our tents (which are very confortable), our
toilets and showers. After they read us the rules of the camp, we saw a group
of children playing on the other side of the fence. Most of us ran up and
although there was a thick language barrier (and an actual fence between us) we
managed to trade names and strike up a game of volleyball over the fence.
Later, we ate a delicious and filling dinner. Though we were all tired, we had
an ANCHOR meeting and talked about our reasons for taking this trip. We all
went to bed in our very spacious tents and tried to rest up for our first work
day the next day!
Greeting from Kenya!
Lucie and Miranda
