Africa, My Journey.

My time in Africa was the most amazing month of my life. It was eye-opening, shocking, humbling, overwhelming, intimidating, diverse, barren, hostile and awesome to say the least. Words, nor pictures, will truly do justice to my experience over there, in a world that no amount of research can really prepare you for.

Of course I had some idea of what I was getting myself involved with. And going through a profit based organisation I knew I wouldn’t be totally thrown in, but I would be completing a programme that was prepared for me to experience as much of the difference in culture as I could.

Throughout the month, the size of our group varied quite dramatically. As people were staying for different lengths of time, we were split in terms of programme content. We started out as 28, then cut down to just 8 of us (who were staying for 1 month) while the others (staying for 3 months) separated to complete their part of the programme, spending 11 days at a camp in Tsavo!! They actually returned to our base camp on the day we left!! Gutted, we missed them quite a bit 

Week 1. (All 28 of us!)

For the first week we spent all out time at Muhaka, where our camp was based. Much of our time consisted of project work. From Monday-Friday, we would work on construction from 8.30am-12.oopm, break for 2 hours (resting over the hottest period of the day), and then go out again from 2.oopm-4.oopm. While over there I was involved with building a community toilet, classroom and computer room of which the local children of Muhaka would use. By the time I returned to England, the toilet was almost complete, they estimated another 5 days and it would be finished!!! I was gutted I wouldn’t be there to see the final product – hopefully i’ll see some pictures via Facebook

Week 2. (Just 8 of us, for 3 days!)

During the 2nd week we spent 3 days in a place called Tsavo, 5 hours west of  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”of “>Muhaka. Here we were taken on a 3-day game drive. I feel so privileged to have been able to go on such an amazing safari! I cannot begin to explain the amazing feeling of seeing animals in their natural habitat. We saw Elephants, Lions, Zebra, Buffalo, Giraffe, Antelope and Waterhogs. It was truly memorizing, they were so natural and peaceful… I know it sounds strange but you could see such a difference when you compared the experience to the zoo. In the sense at they were free, so they didn’t feel pressure to ‘perform’ or however you might phrase it.

On one game drive we set off before sunrise, and on another returned after sunset. Looking out on Africa at these times of day, for me, really instilled how lucky I was to be able to experience something so beautiful. It was pretty emotional, and during sunset we had travelled up a small hill with an amazing view. That image is something i’ll never forget, I was in awe.

Week 3. (Still 8 of us!)

Although we had returned to Muhaka for 4 days, we left again during the 3rd week. We knew it was the last time we’d be all 28, so we went out on the last evening and had a brilliant time! It was bittersweet in the sense that we had such an excellent time with them, but we knew that the trips away from Muhaka (such as the safari) benefitted from smaller, quieter groups.

During the 3rd week we spent our time at a place called Mwaluganje (pronounced: mologanji) We stayed at this tiny place in an Elephant Sanctuary, the camp was situated on the top of a hill and the wind was pretty scary at night – especially since we stayed in tents that shook pretty violently! Haha, but by far, if I had to choose, this was definitely my favourite place! Waking up to Elephants a few hundred meters away every morning is something that cannot be matched by any of the other camps we visited. The area was beautiful and the lookout from out camp…. Wow.

While we were here we did construction, as in Muhaka. We finished building a road that had to be reinforced for the rainy season, and we actually made Elephant dung paper!! We also got involved with the local school here – Ng’onzini Primary school. We played netball against them (won 3-2!) and planted seeds in the Jatropha nursery. It was really amazing here, trying to promote peace between people and the Elephants. Due to drought the elephants would wander off the sanctuary and eat the farmers crops, resulting in them retaliating with violent behaviour. It is an unfortunate but ongoing conflict that is currently in the process of being harnessed and addressed, slowly but surely peace is being restored. Through teaching the children about all the good and positive impacts of Elephants, hopefully their perception of them will vary greatly to the negative ones their parents continue to hold.

Week 4. (Down to 4 of us!!!)

The last week in Africa!! So upsetting, but we were all still determined to get the most out of whatever we could. On the Wednesday, 3 people were leaving to go back home to England. One person was going also going on a Safari to the Maasai Mara – a place where The Big Cat Diaries is actually filmed (he had an excellent time!). So for a few days, there was just 4 of us.

This last week wasn’t especially eventful. We spent 3 days on construction at the school again, making a blackboard (which was pretty awesome), levelling out the crumbled windowsills and painting the inside of the classroom. We were actually encouraged to take time off! As for 2 of the 3 days there was only 4 of us, they didn’t seem as enthusiastic about letting us do so much work. I guess it also meant that our mentors were also having to work, perhaps on days they thought they may have gotten off. I don’t think they realised that we actually wanted to work and not just chill out on the beach!! Haha But we spent all Saturday on the beach before we departed on the Sunday!

We thought we might have seen the rest of the gang before we left but we didn’t I have their Facebook though, they are friends that i’m sure will remain so! After all, we did live together for 2-4 Weeks!! The 3 month people though were for the majority, Australian!! So I don’t think i’ll be seeing them again…

Aside from everything i’ve whittled on about, Africa gave me so much more. The programme allowed us to have a cultural tour (we met the Bush Doctor), go on a city tour (which was the biggest cultural shock of all), go snorkelling, and even go Jet Skiing around the stunning Mangroves!!! (though I had to pay extra for the jet skiing). It wasn’t a holiday, but allowed for some tourist things to be done – we went to the beach on the weekends but I actually felt guilty!! The disgusting juxtaposition of the blatant poverty against the thriving beach bar and its wealthy customers didn’t sit right with me.

Africa was amazing. I want to go back. I want to climb Kilimanjaro! I want to travel many more places. This experience has given me so much. I feel much more independent, i’ve learnt I can live without all this technology- I even quite liked the break from it to be honest!! I have more patience than I realised, I feel more confident in myself, I appreciate what I have on a much greater scale, I can see how underdeveloped and unequal some areas of the world remain to be, how selfish the western world is in comparison, how much poverty still surrounds us….

All in all, a truly inspiring journey. One i’ll never forget and one i’ll never be able to leave alone. To see how much impact my little doing did in Africa, and how appreciated my efforts over there were, pushes me on to want to do more. I’ve already promised myself i’m going back, I don’t know how I couldn’t, I’ve fallen in love with it.