Week 10: Horseback Safari

Another exciting week has passed and the reality that I only have 2 more left is starting to sink in. It will definitely be bittersweet saying goodbye to this amazing country.

Classes continued this week going on in their usual manner. This week, Edward tasked Kash and I with putting together a short multiple choice test for the students from questions in the textbook’s teacher’s manual. We did this and thought we had created a good test that would challenge the students slightly but wasn’t too difficult, oh were we proved wrong. After giving the students the test one of them said he was traumatized from it so he didn’t want to participate in the class discussion. Marking the tests was tough as we really wanted the students to do well but this was not the case and many were around the 50% mark. The next day we went over the test with the students and it seemed much of the English used in the questions was too complex for the students, so they were unable to fully understand many of the questions and answers. The next test we put together will be much easier and we will revise to questions from the book to make the English simpler. It was slightly upsetting seeing the students so upset over their less than stellar marks.  

Relaxing on campus using the Wi-Fi as it was problematic in the guesthouse as per usual

Some of the students working on a group assignment

On Thursday we went out to ACHERU after classes, it seems everyone is recovering nicely from last week’s tragedy and the place is back to its normal cheerful atmosphere. Now that we have been around ACHERU for quite some time, many of the children that were originally there and really warmed up to us are beginning to be discharged and going back home. It is awesome to see the kids healing and getting healthy enough to go home but it is also tough to say goodbye to the ones that were so fun and I had special connections with. Luckily there is high demand for ACHERU’s services so as the healthy children leave, new children arrive. One of the nurses at ACHERU, Betty, has an 8 month old son Joshua who accompanies her to work every day and is such a cute baby. Typically, Joshua is passed around among the staff and the mothers while Betty is working. Kash and I have held him before but he is only content with us for short periods of time then he becomes weary of the Mzungu’s. On Thursday as we arrived, Betty was just heading back to work after her break so she asked if I would take Joshua. Amazingly, Joshua was happy with me and I got to cart him around for a couple hours. It was hard work to carrying a baby while also trying to work with the other children, I have so much more respect for mothers with multiple children now!

Joshua and I, notice he's not terrified of the Mzungu

Peace and Patience, two of the younger kids that I work with most of the time

Handing out stickers at the end of the day, who doesn't love getting stickers?

This weekend Kash’s friend Arwen, who is also a Uvic student and doing her co-op in Nairobi, came to visit and we went on a two day overnight horseback riding trip. The trip was lots of fun with 4-5 hours of riding each day through varying landscapes. Saturday we mostly went along the Nile and through the local villages, there was one section along a maize plantation where we were given the opportunity to gallop on the horses. This was pretty much first time for all of us on the trip to gallop so we were slightly nervous but everything went smoothly and it was amazing! That afternoon we arrived at the lodge called The Haven which is located right on the Nile with a fantastic view. It was a lovely place with great food, a pool, hammocks, and comfortable accommodations.  When we arrived, the horses were put into the paddock on the property and my horse quickly began to roll around in the grass. Unfortunately, somebody had thrown a glass bottle onto the grass so my horse rolled on and shattered the bottle cutting his neck in the process. Luckily the wound was not too deep so he was just fine and able to be ridden back to the stables for further treatment the next day. The next day after the best breakfast I have had in 10 weeks, we set off to begin the return journey. The route we took back was completely different, we were doing up and down mountains/hills, through a rainforest, and through massive sugar plantations. The ride was longer on Sunday but since it was not in and around the villages as much we were able to go much faster. Luckily my body was no too sore as Kash and I had ridden the weekend prior to get our muscles back in the game. However, some of the soreness is unavoidable and today my bottom is quite sore and slightly bruised. All in all, it was a really fun weekend and the guides and guy that runs the whole thing were so fun which made it that much better.

On the back of a Boda Boda

Day 1 post riding with Kash and Arwen

Our group for the weekend, the other two girls were from the UK

Jack Daniel's cut from rolling on the glass bottle

Dan and Francis washing down Nile Gold after a rather dusty ride

Me with my trusty horse for the weekend, JD 



The view of the Nile just down the hill from the Haven

I could have stayed there happily all day

Watching the sunset



Gorgeous colours with the view of the Nile from the Haven

Fresh coffee, my book, and the Nile in the background made for a relaxing morning

Riding in a section of the rainforest

Kash and Arwen at the top of one of the hills

Just before setting off on a gallop through the sugar cane plantation

Hope you all have had a great week.

Jess