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Sorry, a bit (and that might be an understatement) FRUSTRATED by the slow internet here in Ethiopia. It seems Christophe has better luck in opening his blog and writing posts, so if you would like to know our adventures check his blog (unfortunately only in Dutch, but you guys, there is that wonderful button 'google translate').

And yeah, I am okay other than this setback :-). Who wouldn't be when experiencing such a sweet culture and looking at marvelous landscapes?

Ethiopia

Well, I crossed yet another border. We are in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. I can't really put my hands on this city. First of all, it is huge, has avenues and squares the Russian sizes, like the ones of Tbilisi (Georgia). Secondly, apart from blue and white minibuses and taxis there is not much traffic and thus less smog than in Nbi. Thirdly, people are friendly and caring. Today, we played street smart by crossing the street while I felt we were being watched and followed. After we crossed one guy said:"have they taken anything from you?". That immediately brings out another point: quite a lot of beggars. Fourthly, The food is like an angel peeing on your tongue. Seriously! And since we were already counting, fifthly, their English is poor and that might be an understatement. It sounds almost like mr Yoda him selves. Their official language is Amharic, but apparently English is not being taught sufficiently to make a five letter sentence with tourists. They make that up with their charming modest way of being.
I think we are in for some adventure in this country... to be continued.

Catching up

Okay, it has been a while... but it seemed I had ran out of time and my weekends were packed the last weeks. In the end, time was too short anyway.

A few weekends ago I joined a friend to Kisumu, the entry point to see Lake Victoria. Beautiful, relaxing and captivating can describe that visit. So relaxing we lost track of time and we had to rush back to Nairobi and straight to the airport to pick up Christophe.

So after a day strolling down in the capital we hit the road. Honestly, I might have treated Christophe a bit unfair, but I could not help being sad and missing Nbi and the friends/ even the office. I have never ever felt this way before and my tears one night after dinner shocked even me. But traveling is experiencing new things with all your senses, so of course I enjoyed myself. Let me not bother you with our itinerary, just highlight a few moments.

Arrival at Meru National Park after 2 Matatus and a pikipiki (motocycle) with no tent, no car and not too many cash. Ai.... time for negotiations. About 40 minutes later we got a banda (kind of cottage) for half the price, a ride to that banda with the promise of gamedrive the following morning and just enough cash to eat and give a few tips. Well done. The park was great! It is worth a visit, that is for sure.

Nakuru as a town was not much of a joy, so we left early and headed to Naivasha. We stayed at Fisherman's camp and waw: a sundowner trip on the lake, a cycle tour to Hell's Gate NP, a pool day, dancing and taking of my pants after stepping into a safari ant's nest ( I think this qualifies why one of my friends calls me crazy mzungu), seeing the white colobus up close and personal... POA SANA! (very cool)

But then departure day.... hmmm.....