Moving

The 23^rd was a very busy day. I woke up to find that I had come down with some sort of cold overnight (bad timing). Most of the morning was spent packing, except for an early morning run which helped to clear my head. In the afternoon we all did a debrief of the program with the professors, which made me kind of sad because they all said such nice things about our group and the semester, but there wasn’t much time to think about it because the rest of the day was so full of packing and getting ready for our long trip the next day. In the afternoon, we all went to the high school to say goodbye to our friends who we often played sports with during the semester. It was sad to leave but it was a fun visit and I was glad we could do it.

 Later, we all returned to KBC (Kimana Bush Camp) and played volleyball with the staff one last time. Daniel (Swahili teacher) and I talked afterwards and he told me about a safari company he was thinking of starting on the side someday that would donate money to benefit Maasai communities like the one he comes from. He said he might end up looking for interns, and I volunteered so we’ll see! Maybe someday… who knows? It gave me hope that if I want to come back someday, there are ways and there is important work to do.

At night the askaris helped me to wrap up my big Maasai spear for travel, and we all packed our stuff into the land rovers. I had kept it together until then, but I had to say goodbye to some people that night and felt very teary. Luckily, many of the askaris and staff came again the next morning to see us off.

Packing up

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On the morning of the 24^th, I woke up super early to make sure that I had everything and had time to say goodbye to everyone. It was strange knowing that it was the last time I would see our camp, which had become such a home to all of us. Saringe picked me up in the air and gave me a big hug when I left, and I caught Oloibor just as he was leaving to open the gate for us. I ran over to him and he gave me a big bear hug. I feel like he is my grandfather. His eyes were watering as we said goodbye, and mine were bawling (surprise, surprise.) He wiped my face and said “olchoruetai,” “my friend.” I’ll miss them all so much.

After we got on the road, it was easier. I rode for a long time with my head out the window and watched all the familiar places pass by and turn into new ones. It started to feel exciting. It was a long drive, and vey bumpy. The land rover carrying our bags got stuck on the way, and we had to tow it out with another vehicle. Typical.

Stuck in the mud once again

At the border, we all said goodbye to the rest of the staff (sad again) and headed to get our passports stamped. It took a long time but we finally got out of there and into Tanzania, and I now have a very cool looking visa in my passport with a very bad headshot on it. As soon as we entered Tanzania, we met the group switching to Kenya from Tanzania. It was encouraging, because they all seemed quite sad to have left their place as well. It just showed me that it must be great there too. One girl was carrying a ukelele and said that the community and kids loved music and that they’d started a music club at the school, which was exciting.

At the Kenya/Tanzania border

On the way to the Tanzania station, we rode in the car with Moses, one of the new staff. He was really nice. We stopped in Arusha to get cheesecake and ice cream at a supermarket: Arusha seemed huge to me after being in the country for so long! The ten hours of driving while I still felt sick was kind of tough, but this little break helped. As we got close to Rhotia, the town we’d be staying near, I was shocked by the mountains and the greenness of the area. We ascended huge green hills overlooking Lake Manyara to get to the camp, and saw gorgeous views of enormous baobab trees and a sunset on the way up.

When we got to camp, I was amazed… it was all lit up! As it turns out, there is electricity here all the time! Part of me was a little skeptical, because I loved seeing the stars so clearly in Kenya, but another part was excited to be able to brush my teeth without a headlamp every night. When we got out of the land rovers, everyone lined up and shook our hands like they had in Kenya, and I felt the same way that I had there… excited to know them all, knowing that they would be really significant in our lives, but not knowing them at all yet. I just shook their hands and beamed and then tried to look a little less excited to meet them.

Moving into our rooms was great. The showers here are warm and the rooms have light in them and are generally clean and modern compared to the bandas in Kenya… that said, they’re still pretty rustic. The best part is that we can drink the water in the bathroom, which is connected to our rooms! Crazy. No more nighttime runs to the bathroom, no more bats flying around our heads as we brush our teeth, and no more icy cold showers! I got so used to life in Kenya that I didn’t even feel like I was roughing it, but this… this is luxury.