BY STEPHEN BIRKETT
I teach at Strabane Grammar School and I am on a four-week expedition to Kenya with ten of my current and past-pupils. The Expedition is organized by a company called World Challenger.
Most of the challengers will use this as their Duke of Edinburgh's Award Expedition. They are: Michael Caldwell of Hollyhill; Paul Gray of Ballymagorry; Anna Jones of Donemanagh; Andrew Kennedy of Magheramason; Philip Lee of Ballymagorry; Trevor McGerrigle of Barrontop Farm; Alison O'Connell of Beldoo; Gareth Ostojic of Peacock Road; Victoria Sayers of Ballyheather Road; Andrew Smith of Derry Road and David Smyth of Liscloon. We have two English leaders; Charlie and Fay.
We are at now at the end of our first week in Kenya. The expedition started badly as Victoria was unwell and was not allowed to travel with us.
We have had our acclimatization week. You might think we had to get used to the climate but it was actually colder in Nairobi than Strabane!
We camped one night in a leafy suburb of the city, changed money, bought food and left by the bus hired for us for the week for the Rift Valley. First we crossed the Kikuyu highlands with its sprawling suburbs and pocket handkerchief sized farms.
"As these pettered out they were replaced by forests. We left the main road to Nakuru and dropped down into the Rift Valley down the steep Kikuyu Escarpment. We stopped at a view-point to look down into the valley and were immediately surrounded by souvenir sellers. We headed into the town of Naivasha where the youngsters had their first experience of a real African town.
"They were amazed by the sounds, sights and smells. The main street is tarred and the footpath is a raised concrete construction under an awning; practically a verandah on each shop. Between the path and the road there is a stinking drain. Litter is everywhere and everything looks half built.
"All the shops are adorned with brightly coloured, hand painted signs. The street is full of people. The men are mostly dressed in loose-fitting shirts and pants with dusty shoes or sandals. Some men are in neat business suits with clean, pressed shirts and smart ties. The women are all in skirts or kangas, the Kenyan equivalent to a sarong.
"Occasionally you see a woman with a sling on her back and you might be lucky enough to see a little sleepy head peering out at the world. The general atmosphere of relaxed fun is reinforced by jangling African music blaring out of bars and shops.
The bus had a puncture so we had to wait over an hour for it to be fixed. A bus full of Muzungus (whites) attracted the attention of every tout and beggar in the town and soon the bus was besieged by people hawking everything from lollipops to tribal masks and little boys asking for 10 shillings.
Finally we reached 'Fish Eagle Camp', a gorgeous campsite on the shore of Lake Naivasha. A short, green lawn dotted with Acacia trees separates the lake from a nice hotel. This is where we were to camp. This spot is famous for its birds.
Our first expedition was up Longonot, a dormant volcano that looms over the lake. We left camp at about 6-30 to drive to the Park Gate. The walk to the summit was only 6km but it was steep and very dusty.
"When we got back to the campsite we discovered that monkeys had got into the tent shared by David and the two Andrews; the cooks for the day. They had stolen much of the food we'd bought the day before; not a normal problem on Duke of Edinburgh's Award hikes!
On Saturday we made our way to Hell's Gate National Park. Hell's Gate is a wide gorge with savannah grassland on its floor.
On Sunday we left Naivasha for the eight-hour drive to Kilgoris.
Trevor wandered out of the gate and soon attracted a huge crowd of excited children as he handed out pencils and notepads he had brought as gits.
On Monday we left forMasai Mara. The team was impressed by the sheer abundance of big game on the plains. We camped near the entrance gate with nothing between us and the wildlife. How many Duke of Edinburgh's Award camps have elephants wandering blithely past them as ours was?
The highlight of the morning was seeing a big male lion crunching up a baby zebra. he had killed. At least that was the highlight until I got a text message from Victoria saying that World Challenge had passed her as fit to travel and that she would be arriving in Nairobi at 7-20 the next morning.
Now I am sitting with Victoria in Nakuru after meeting her in Nairobi this morning.
The team has gelled well. They are also getting good at shopping and making a meal for thirteen on four camping stoves which is no mean feat. More importantly they are getting used to African ways and this is important for next week when they will be helping to build a school.
