So here we are again and at last I've found an internet cafe in Mombassa that's fast enough to allow some pictures to be posted so I hope you enjoy them. We've had a fantastic week hosting Kate's parents here, although at times they were much more hosting us. We've spent a few days in Diani, a beach resort about an hour north of Shimoni where we live. Then we spent two nights down in Shimoni where Martin and Stephanie got to see our base, meet some of the locals and we all went out on a dhow cruise for the day around the marine park. From there we were meant to head to Shimba Hills National Park for a couple of nights safari but after we arrived at the park and found out from the oh so helpful warden that in addition to our $60 pppn for the lodge we would have to pay park fees of another $20 per day each we decided that perhaps safari not so njema ('Safari Njema' means 'Good Trip' in kiswahili) and hot-footed it up to Malindi for a few nights of real luxury in a fabulous hotel. It's been so nice to have a bit of luxury and feel really clean for the first time in 3 months. Fresh HOT water, clean towels and sheets, LOADS of good food and I am now the very proud owner of not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 large jars of Marmite....now I just need to find a toaster (dammit!)

It's been Kate's birthday this week and albeit I thought it might be a bit 'coals to Newcastle' so to speak, I bought her a pair of tickets to see the Lion King when we get back to the UK (oh the irony). Below are a few pictures from the end of our expedition, our week with Martin and Stephanie and Kate's birthday.

Here's Kate trying to blend in with the local wildlife. Although her shirt proved too much for the poor chameleon who eventually gave up, turned green and hot-footed it into the bushes.

A day out on Marine and the weather turned for the worse, but with sunshine in the background we got this stunning view from our boat.

Here's our contribution to the painting of one of the nursery school classrooms on Wasini Island...Science Corner...ta daaaaaah!

After a mishap with a sea urchin (I'm still limping two weeks later) here's our local vet Felicity digging around in my heel with a scalpel to extract the spines, one of which measured about an inch in length, or should I say depth. Quite why I've got such a smile on my face when there was no local aneasthetic I don't know but even more disconcerting was everyone else's bloody great grins. Honestly, the things people will do for entertainment when there's no telly!

Kate enjoying a bird survey a little bit too much.... the birds are the ones supposed to be resting in the trees Honey!

Here's our Forest team from the last week, left to right , Fido, George, Sammy, Matt (Forest Officer), Kes (Forest Intern) , Kate and myself (no really my legs haven't grown weirdly long since I got here it is just the lens angle...or something like that

Downtown Shimoni...mudhuts and dirt roads but you might spot the one incongruity on the roof on the right. This particular shop usually features a crowd of locals outside it all trying to get a glimpse of whatever football match is playing on the TV inside.

Here we are enjoying a quiet (and cold) beer in Paradise after a busy day on Marine, this is the bar on Wasini Island and the view is back over to the mainland with Shimoni not quite in view.

Our last meal as a complete expedition on the last Friday night before we all headed our separate ways the next day. The three drink rule still applied but it's amazing how much fun you can still have :)

Here's the full expedition team, as it ended. Some people have come and gone over the progress of the 10 weeks but this is the final team including staff, from back and left to right

Me, Merijn, Mr Neck, Undy (just showing), Kennedy, Karen, Fido, Victoria, MollyMollyMolly, Hayley, Daisy, James, George, Hattie, Sara, Mr Adam, Ines, MattC, Felicity (the butcher), Kez, Megan, Kate, Jules and finally those big slabs of hunk....Sergi and MattN...grrrrrrrr!

After we spend days trudging end to end of the Shimoni Forest barely glimpsing Colobus monkeys who immediately scarper into the thickly overgrown trees, this little tyke was viewed from our hotal balcomy in Diani looking non-too fussed about our proximity!

Stephanie, Kate and Martin on a little launch taking us over to Wasini Island from our dhow for lunch. The best fresh crab ever served, marred only slightly by the fact that the village and the hotels in it have no alchohol at all...sorry Stephanie, I'll slip a little hipflask of red wine into our daypack next time.

Kate enjoying a little birthday dip in the pool at Scorpio Villas in Malindi...no wonder she's smiling after all the presents she got!

Back in Mombassa and a wee pre-dinner drink on our balcony. Don't be fooled by the 'scyscraper' in the background, it's the only one in Mombassa.

Happy Birthday Mrs Litt...cheers, or as they say here 'Maeshamarif'...at least I think that's how they spell it.

Anyhow, that's about all from me for now. We've got a week ahead of being very busy on our Swahili Cultural Course and getting ready for the new volunteers but we'll be back in Mombassa before next weekend so I'll try and organise some more pics. Unfortunately, after weeks of trying to retrieve it the harddrive (and all my photos of the first 6 weeks) has definitely gone which is a real blow, so no more pics from then, but hopefully lots more to come in the future.

By the way, if any of you want to text us our mobile number here is (+254) 717 171 793

Cheers for now

J&K

So this week we finished our first 10 week expedition and BOY! has it come round fast. 10 weeks have just flown by and seem to have disappeared at times. I can’t believe it’s June already. Even more, I can’t believe it’s been almost 6 months since I’ve had a paid job! Both a frightening and liberating thought I reckon.

But anyway, back to this expedition, it’s over. All done! Our next step is to become staff members who’ll help the next lot of volunteers ease into their African adventure in the way that the current staff did with us at the start of April. It’s funny, we’ve only been here 10 weeks which at times has flashed by, but at others has seemed to pass at a crawl. I still miss everyone tremendously, there were a couple of weeks when I could quite easily have thrown in the towel and headed home with my tail between my legs. Don’t panic yet, I’m not about to come back to London and ruin your Litt-free Summer J. No, we’ve settled in pretty well now but given that we committed to 6 months straight off I think it took us that little bit longer to settle in and get used to the idea, more so than if we had only been coming for 3 months. But now the expo is over and we’ve waved goodbye to many friends heading back home we can both say without hesitation that we are very glad we’re not heading home just yet and that we still have another 3 months ahead of us.

Seeing people come and go has been very difficult. When we first arrived, all the staff seemed so confident, so self assured, so familiar with everything around them. And we in equal parts seemed so naïve, so insecure and alien with our surroundings. We’ve learnt a huge amount in the first 10 weeks and now it’ll be our turn to know the ins and outs and help others which is nice. Nice to know that we have learnt, that we have progressed and that we’ll be able to help others. Quite frankly though, it’s also laughable to think that people will look to us to know what we’re doing , to be calm, confident and self-assured….yes alright don’t laugh too hard or I’ll hear you from here!

The one thing we are still missing out on are our close friends and family as you can never quite relax in the same way as you can with people that know you inside out and understand your little quirks and foibles….OI! I said LITTLE quirks thankyouverymuch!

Anyway, where was I, yes, so we came with others who have since left after 2, 5 or 10 weeks. Over that time more people have arrived as well and we’ve made friends with them as well, but for us not in the way that we befriended the first people we came with who were in the same boat as us. And the people who arrived after us, they had the people they’d arrived with as well so it was different for them as well. We’re mates with the staff as well and those friendships will continue to develop and strengthen, but they were staff when we first arrived, wide-eyed, naïve, pale-skinned and innocent. The new volunteers will make friends with us but by now we’re the tanned, cynical steely eyed cool ones (what WHAT!!!! Ahem!)….anyway. So if you see what I mean, we’re lacking the people that really know us and make us feel at home. In addition to which, we live in a situation of constant social flux where group dynamics are regularly changing with people coming and going. We made 3 very good friends , Kevin, Belinda and Louise who left after 5 weeks and it’s a bit of a shame to know that we’re unlikely to make such good friends again whilst we’re here. But I guess that is inherent in our commitment to stay for the period we have agreed to and the benefit for that is the growth of knowledge and experience we’ll get from this.

So, sorry if this post has sounded a bit whimsical and hasn’t had much about our adventures for this week of stories of me falling down holes and Kate fighting man-eating tigers ( there are loads in Africa you know). Our last week was in Forest so we’ve told you most about what that involves. Oh except this week Kate got a severe case of ants in her pants…quite literally, Safari ants at that as well which if you know them are worse than bloody sandflies and bite like buggery! Two days later I encountered them as I was hacking at some thick bush with a panga (machete), Matt our forest officer alerted me to the fact that there was a nest of them 2 feet to my left. Apparently, the speed and grace with which I vaulted the fallen tree in front of me would have put an Olympic hurdler to shame!

However, in more exciting news this week…my marmite has arrived, ahem, I mean my in laws Martin and Stephanie have joined us. Joking aside, I can’t tell you how nice it is to have my favourite savoury spread restored to me. Sorry, sorry, , I mean to have them both here with Kate and I. Having lived in Kenya before and in Africa for many years it’s a pleasure to have visitors that know it all so well and understand how we feel about everything. And for all the good people around us it’s wonderful to have people that know us so well and are so close to us.

We’re very much enjoying what is properly a week’s holiday after 10 very busy and exhausting weeks. They’ve not just been physically demanding (I’ve lost almost a stone since we got here), but mentally shattering as well at times. All the new things to learn, living in such a foreign environment, having very little time or space to ourselves and around us. So it’s lovely to have familiar faces here with us so that we can truly relax. Now, I’m off to have an ice cream and a cold beer. There ain’t much that can’t be made better with an ice cream and cold beer so be my guest and have one on me J

Until next week!

Ps I’ve been wanting to write a post about the people we have met both volunteers and locals but the picture situation is still difficult so I’ll wait until I’ve resolved that. Until then if you’d like to know about anything in particular or have any questions then please post them in a comment by the end of the week and I’d be happy to answer them.

Pps some people have very kindly suggested that I try and get some of this published which I’m very much obliged to you lovely lovely people for. I am thinking about how this might work and how I could get more material to write about so if anyone has any suggestions, knows any nice people in publishing or simply runs their own website and is willing to link to this for me then please do let me know.

Ta-ra for now

Community! Hell yeah!!!

We spent this week on the island working in Mkwiro Primary School along with a fairly large group of project volunteers (PVs). PVs are volunteers who come for 2-6 weeks to do one activity either Marine or Community. We’re EMs (Expedition Members), the Expedition being the first 10 week programme of Marine, Forest and Community, which is the first half of the total programme we are here for. I can’t quite believe we’ve only 2 weeks left of the Expedition already, 8 weeks seems to have flown by at times. 2 weeks left of the Expedition then we have 2 weeks off, kind of anyway. Kate’s folks are joining us for that first week which we’re both really looking forward to. It’s like a bit of home being brought to us and for me, still being unfamiliar to this being abroad for longer than a holiday business, it’s nice to have some experienced hands coming to join us for a week.



The second week will be a fair amount of lesson planning for the second 10 week expedition when we’re based in Shimoni, on the mainland, teaching at the Base Academy. There’s also been talk of a 4 day intensive kiSwahili language course for GVI staff (which will include us by then) which I’m really torn about. On the one hand I’m really keen to learn as much as possible whilst I’m here. On the other hand that precious week being filled up with full on days would be a bit of a shame when it’d be an ideal time to get out and see a bit more of this amazing country. Especially as once we are staff members for the second 10 weeks, we’ll be a lot busier. The staff here work really hard, often only getting one weekend off a month, sometimes going 4-5 weeks without a weekend off. I know from what I’ve written before we have some cruisy times but this isn’t a land of tropical tans in Paradise. We haven’t come on an extended beach holiday. In fact, there is no beach on the Island, just hard sharp coral stone all the way round. It’s hot like a holiday, but that means we are working in the heat, cooking in the heat, trying to sleep in the heat along with 6 other people in each room in bunk beds and, if you’re so inclined, trying to exercise in the heat as well. As I write this in my journal it’s 9.30 on a Saturday morning. I’ve been up since 6.45 but awake since 5 because of heat and sun-up and this is the rainy season so it’s cooler than normal.



That’s the plus side of the rainy season, the heat abates a bit particularly at night and the Island is lovely and green compared to the dry season. There are a few down sides. The mossies treble in numbers and intensity. And they’re pleasant compared to their neighbours the sandflies. Seriously, every sentence is interrupted at least twice as I try and swat the damn things away from me. Sandflies are the tiniest little bugs as well, smaller than a pinhead. You can’t feel them land, you can’t feel them bite, but about 2-3 days after they’ve bitten you come up in the itchiest red bumps I’ve ever encountered. I’ve seen a few people so covered in these they can’t sleep for days and are reduced to tears. The only antidote is to stay covered in Deet and keep your fingers crossed. Some people reckon it works, some people don’t. It’s not very pleasant showering in buckets of salt water and the minute you’re dry covering yourself in such noxious chemicals but it beats being covered in bites. So there, for those of you that sit at your desks reading this on a Monday morning and cursing my name with your imaginations full of pictures of Paradise, think again. ‘Paradise’ on this island is the name of a mangy cat who steals our lunch if she gets half a chance. And from what I hear about the weather back home, we can’t even gloat about the sunshine. BAH! But anyway, enough of this rant, I’ve vented my spleen, I’ve expunged my negative thoughts and re-established my equanimity [deep breath in…deep breath out…aaaaahh…AARRGGHH! SWAT SWAT SWISH…DAMN…THOSE…SANDFLIES!]



So anyway, back to this last week in Mkwiro School, it’s been a very cruisy week. Up at 7, start lessons at 8.15 or, if no lessons first thing then some lesson planning. No more than 2 lessons per day always in the morning then lunch from 12:30-3. 3-5 either painting the local nursery classrooms, here’s Kate in Science Corner or, maybe a games lesson with the kids [hey I didn’t say I wasn’t going to gloat at all in this entry] …Games lessons, brilliant, I get a whistle and a ball and 30 kids on a patch of dirt to entertain for an hour. The boys all want to play football and the girls all want to play dodgeball and whoever doesn’t get there way, or loses a game, or even a point puts on a display of histrionics that’d make a premiership footballer weep with admiration. Remembering my own school days of PE and now being the man with the whistle rather than the kid being whistled at has been hilarious. Powertrip I hear you say? Certainly not!...ahem



But histrionics aside the kids are generally pretty good. Like any school I guess, some are great, some are good, some are a bit sulky and a few are downright bloody infuriating. Too cool for school, but it made me mutter one or two silent apologies to teachers I may have (errrr) ‘aggravated’ during my years at school.



The lesson format is 5 of us troop into a classroom and stand in a line at the front. The lesson leader, “Good Morning Class”,with a deafening response of “GOOD MORNING SIR, HOW ARE YOU?”, “Fine thank you class please sit down”, “THANK YOU SIR WE WILL THANK YOU!”. The lesson leader then assigns the other 4 tutors to a group of about half a dozen kids. The next hour and a quarter alternates between the lesson leader giving instruction at the blackboard and the tutors helping the kids at their assignments. I say ‘helping’ but it’s more a combination of cajoling, coercing and then threatening them with the loss of a precious team star if they don’t shut up and get the hell on with it. The team with most stars at the end of the lesson get a sticker for each team member. Never underestimate the power of stickers, for these kids they’re a matter of fierce competition and intense pride and gloating rights for the team that gets them at the end of the lesson.



Since starting to write this a few days have passed and we’re now back on Marine, our last week of dolphin spotting. Day 1 we spotted 4 pods of dolphins varying from 6-12 in each group. 2 of the pods were really shy and kept going down on deep dives, which makes them really hard to follow. 1 group was really playful, following the bow-wave of the boat and playing around right in front of us, with one particular juvenile coming out of the water for closer look at us [PICTURE]. The final group stayed curiously close together…until we realised they were (ahem) otherwise engaged. Well baby dolphins have to come from somewhere I suppose!



As part of our survey day we all do a 500m snorkel along various reef edges looking for turtles. Monday Kate saw one, a Green Turtle, identifiable by the number of pre-frontal scutes (but then of course you knew that didn’t you), a real thrill for her. The first one either one of us had seen in the water like that since we’d been here and she was buzzing for the rest of the day. I wasn’t jealous at all! But the next day, although it was our first day out that we didn’t see any dolphins, I had an amazing spot of a Hawksbill Turtle which once it caught sight of this ugly creature bobbing about on the surface of the water above it, shot off at a pace that defies belief from what looks like such a cumbersome creature.



Aside from spending days surveying for exciting animals we are constantly surrounded by all manner of fauna. Lizards, snakes, bugs, birds all manner of wildlife. This pic, for those lacking in lizard-listing skills, is a chameleon we spotted just climbing along the boundary fence of our base. Putting on an awesome display of a multi-coloured masking skills, although I think trying to blend into Kate’s shirt in the background was a bit beyond even this amazing creatures abilities!



To be honest, yes it’s marvellous to be surrounded by so many exotic creatures (apart from the snakes and spiders), but it’s having the time to look at them that makes the difference and learning to appreciate that they are everywhere. So if you get a chance this week try and spend 5 minutes to stop and look for an interesting wee creepy crawly or some such creature around you, they are all over the place. The prize of a sticker goes to the person with the best tag to this post with a comment about their top sighting of the week.



Ps We really really do appreciate the wee tags and comments people post although we may not get time to reply to them all. So thanks and keep them up.