Last night Dorien returned from her school trip to Kenya. The school organised an expedition week, same as last year, with trips to Kenya, Uganda, London and a skiing holiday in Switzerland. As Paula was very enthusiastic about her Kenya Adventure trip last year, Dorien was very keen to sign up for the "Surf and Safari", organised by the same company. They set out with a group of 30 pupils and four teachers (Dorien being the only girl from her year), and flew with Ethiopian Airlines via Karthoum and Addis Abeba to Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast. There they took a bus to the northern coastal town of Malindi, where Rift Valley Adventures have their coastal camp. The camp was made up of some simple huts, with beds, covered by mosquito netting. Two of the girls were sleeping in tents, but unfortunately their bags got stolen the first night and they moved into the girls hut, so they were ending up sleeping 3 in a small double bed and 2 in a single bed. But spirits remained high!
The first days were spend learning to surf (ride a wave, no sail!), and on sea canoes to explore the marine surroundings. They visited a local primary school and spend time to help them to set up teaching material for letters, words and shapes. There was also a combined mountain bike - canoe trip, which proved to be quite a challenge due to the hot weather and the soft sand. Then the group moved south to the Tsavo area. Tsavo is the largest National Park of Kenya, in the southeast corner on the border with Tanzania. There they did a few safari rides, and saw lot's of wild animals, especially large numbers of elephants. They also spotted giraffes, lions, buffalos, zebras, baboons, antilopes and an ostrich, and this really was a very rewarding experience. Dorien happily clicked away with her camera, and got loads of animal pictures. The unavoidable stomach trouble caught a few of the kids on the last day, but they all returned, exhausted, but full off stories of a once in a lifetime experience! Luckily for Dorien there is a week of holiday now, but there is some serious horse riding planned, and a last trip to Luxor.
An elephant is getting close to the bus
Ezra with the kids from Malindi Primary School
Curious zebra's, with a giraffe and an elephant in the background
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