Giraffes and Football!!

It finally stopped raining at the end of May in Nairobi and it has since turned cooler(11- 22 degrees)for the months of June and July which is a nice relief from the downpours! Last week my flatmate and I visited Giraffe manor for an "Afternoon Tea" treat and had a great time. One cheeky Giraffe kept on coming back up on the lawn where our afternoon tea was being served looking for us to feed her treats. At that point we were all advised to run back into the “manor” to avoid the risk of being kicked as the managers waved umbrellas in her direction to get her to move away and of course distract her from our scrummy cakes and cucumber sandwiches!!!! Check it out www.giraffemanor.com


World Cup fever has gripped Kenya and the bars are full of supporters especially for the Black Stars “Ghana” who are still in the tournament and everyone is cheering them on. The vuvuzelas continue to be a great hit with everyone and are especially effective (annoying) when blown directly into your ear!!! :-( Go Ghana!!!!

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

One of the advantages I thought about living in Kenya is the good “weather”!! However for the last 2 months it has been raining practically everyday and it is actually getting a bit annoying now….. and Feeling a lot like Ireland!! The up side is that everything is growing fast… the down side is that there is major flooding in Nairobi and around the country. In Nairobi, that translates into dodging car and matatu spray walking to and from work… not easy when matatus go out of their way to ensure that you get a good coverage!! So the culmination of my rant about the rain was that last Friday 14th May I had organized the 2010 Kenya Society for the Blind Fundraising Golf tournament again in Muthaiga Golf Club. Ahhhh… one word for how it went… DISASTER!!! How could i have predicted that the weather would be the ruination of the event… it rained all day before and all morning of the event… So after taking several phone calls from golfers cancelling… we were considering postponing the event until later in the year but eventually we took the decision to go ahead… and it did clear up for the afternoon!!!
This year surprise, surprise we actually got there on time and set up the registration table in the post drizzle…. and waited eagerly for participants… … we got the sum total of 30 players!!! Wonderful!! So the net effect was that we didn’t loose any money but it was the same as if our major sponsor for the event just handed us the cheque for 3000 euro without us going to further effort… DISASTER!! Trying to stay positive.. there is always next year.. Oh yeah but it actually wont be my gig then will it!!!

All things Oirish and Good times over Easter….

The lack of updates means I have been busy….busy… busy!! Somehow the last year since I arrived in March 2009 has just flown by and now and I am now well and truly into my 2nd year of the 2 year VSO placement. It has been a year of ups and downs but on reflection I have had no regrets so far!! I just hope I can make it through to 2011 but time will tell!! In March, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by getting all dressed up to go to the Irish Ball on the 13th March in the Hilton Hotel. We then headed to Kengles “pseudo” Oirish pub on the 17th March with our Paddy plastic paraphernalia to reminisce about the old sod and have the odd drink or two or three!?

For Easter weekend we headed down to Diani Beach for Easter with some fellow VSO’ers and other friends. Good times were had by all… whiskey boy George, Boy band shenanigans from Alan, Bag Stealing Maasai guards facing the wrath of Raffaella, chilling out at Blankets and wine, G & T camp fire sessions, swimming in the warm Indian Ocean and sunning ourselves on the beach!!! Also in the last 2 months I have been back to Hells Gate National Park and got ass rash from those terribly uncomfortable saddles on the bikes they hire and I have hiked Mount Longonot twice. I still managed to get so sun that my forehead swelled up so much and smoothed out all the wrinkles for a day that I looked like I just had Botox job done…… I WISH!!!

Back up and Running!!!

Ok... so my blog has been out of action for the last mmmm 3 months.... (can i use the excuse that I have just been too busy to update it or just pure lazy!!)... But its back up now and running now with a quick update and mainly some pics from Christmas, New Years and my birtday!! I had a fantastic Christmas in Zanzibar with other volunteers then on to Diani Beach for New Years, followed by a 3 day Safari in Tsavo National Park with Grainne and Kate and then finally to Watamu with my Dad to recover!! Pictures speak volumes so here is a selection from the hols!!!!!....