Carpe Africa Africa 2007 tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-11:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984 2007-07-18T07:30:53Z leiasj img/travel-blog-feed.png there and back again... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-18:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=18&entryid=71741 2007-07-18T07:30:53Z 2007-07-18T07:30:53Z So once more I am back in "Sunny" England again. But returning to my last few days in Africa, I spent Saturday learning to scuba dive. I was quite nervous, considering my not liking snorkelling and not being an amazing swimmer. But after watching a dvd in the morning and spending some time underwater learning how to breath towards the shore (only panicking a couple of times), I felt much better. The masks fitted much better then with snorkelling and i ... So once more I am back in "Sunny" England again.

But returning to my last few days in Africa, I spent Saturday learning to scuba dive. I was quite nervous, considering my not liking snorkelling and not being an amazing swimmer. But after watching a dvd in the morning and spending some time underwater learning how to breath towards the shore (only panicking a couple of times), I felt much better. The masks fitted much better then with snorkelling and i didn't have to worry about a big wave coming down my air supply. Just so long as my mouth piece didn't get knocked out. So in the afternoon Bethan (who is already Padi qualified) joined me as I went for my first scuba dive!! We didn't go too far away because some people on our boat got sea sick, so we just went to the nearby restaurant jetty. It didn't matter much to me, because I still had an amazing time and saw some beautiful fish. We went down to about 12metres and were down for 43 minutes. I saw a Dory fish from Finding Nemo, a stone fish and a catfish, and a whole load of fish that looked very pretty!! And of course all of the coral looked very pretty also.

On Sunday we had to return to Stone Town, I packed my bag ready for the flight home and surprisingly fitted everything in (minus a few clothes to be thrown away, of course). We got in the dala dala back to Stone town and spent the afternoon spending the last of our money buying last minute souvenirs. After then chilling out in the room for a couple of hours we went out to the market to get some cheap but delicious food. I had a couple of savoury and a sweet Zanzibar pizza, a naan, falafel, a potato ball and a meatball, washed down with some freshly squeezed cane juice. I also bought some crisps for the next day and all this only cost me 4800tsh, which is less then £2!!!

We caught the ferry across to Dar early in the morning, which was a nightmare. We didn't get seats so ended up sitting on the stairs by the toilets and on the way up to the deck. So by half way through the 2 hour journey people were rushing past us in all directions to be sick! Needless to say, this was not conducive to a vomit free journey for myself, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the journey myself rushing to the toilet, there being no room up on deck to get any fresh air.

When we finally arrived in Dar I had emptied my stomach of its contents and Bethan had a little while until her flight so we headed to a bakery with a couple from another truck, and spent a few hours there. We then got in a taxi, which dropped me off at the hotel I had booked and took the others to the airport. I had a double room booked because Hamish had though Bethan was staying with me, I went into the hotel to enquire about changing to a single room, which I was told would cost me $42!! With my Lonely Planet book in hand I told them to stick their room and headed to find a taxi to take me to a hostel that would cost me $16!! I went for a wonder from the hotel, but there wasn't much to see, so I spent the day relaxing in my room.

I got up at 4:30am to go to the airport. My flight wasn't until 9am but I was at the airport in plenty of time. Checked in and my bag wasn't overweight, which was a bonus!!! Bought some last minute things at the duty free and boarded. Flight was pretty smooth, just got annoyed at it taking 40minutes to taxi across the whole of Heathrow it seemed!!!

there and back again... remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> sipping cocktails by the indian ocean tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-13:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=17&entryid=70993 2007-07-13T10:47:08Z 2007-07-13T10:47:08Z So Sunday we travelled to Dar es Salaam. Everyone was very excited to see the ocean. OUr campsite was out of the city a lttle and on the beach. we had cocktails from coconut shells!!! We were in transit for the last time to get there, probably not going to miss the long journeysd but it has given me the opportunity to see lots ofthe countries. ON Monday we took a finally short trip in Kafaru to the ferry port, where ... So Sunday we travelled to Dar es Salaam. Everyone was very excited to see the ocean. OUr campsite was out of the city a lttle and on the beach. we had cocktails from coconut shells!!! We were in transit for the last time to get there, probably not going to miss the long journeysd but it has given me the opportunity to see lots ofthe countries.

ON Monday we took a finally short trip in Kafaru to the ferry port, where we said goodbye to our drive and truck. we took a short ferry over to Dar and then another across to Zanzibar. Some sea sicknes felt, but i fell asleep and it was all better. Missed the film tho!!!

On arrival in Stone Town we had to transfer up to the beach in the north. When we finaly gotthere there was much excitment and of course quickly in the ocean. the sand is so fine and white, and the ocean so clear. it is much more humid here so the swim was welcomed.

On tuesday we went snorkelling. i didnt get too far away from the boat, because i wasnt confident enough, but i still got to see lots of the fish and some coral. a little worried about jelly fish reports, but i went unscathed. we also saw 4 dolphins jumping on by our boat!!! in the evening we went on what is commonly called a booze cruise! needless to say we had a really great night!

On wednesday we had a chilled out day, swimming and walking along the beach. there were lots of little stores along the beach sellinbg curios, but aparently the governmen decided that they cant be there anymore so they were all shutting down. quite good for me becuase i got an awesome ainting cheap! but also added somemore to my baggage allowance!

we had a big group dinner with entertainment this evening, some acrobatics and fire eating!!! it was also karaoke!!!

thusday morning we had to go back to stone town. on the way we did a spice tour where they showed us all round the different plants that they make into spices. such as cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, lemon grass etc. also we saw a boy climnb a coconut tree and then threw them down to us so we could drink the mil;k and eat it. we then reached stone towqn and learnt about the slave trade.

we had the afternoon free so i tried to find the post office so i could send home my bedding to save space in my rucksack, the post office were unhelpful and dhl wantd to charge a small fortune, tho it would be abck before me!!! ill try again in dar. after a group of us met in a bar dedicated to freddy mercury because he was bron here. we then headed to meet the rest of the group to watch the sun set over the ocean. after some cocktails we headed to the fish market for dinner. lots of stalls selling the days catch. not being a fan of sea food, i did try shark, but i particularly enjoyd the zanzibar pizza, whioch is actually more like an omlete, but i is soo tasty, i had one savory and on sweet. then back to mercurys for fairwell drinks and to wish bethan a hayy birthday.

this morning myself, charlie and birthday girl bethan have returned to th beach for a couple of nights. i plan on going scuba diving tomorrow!!! well off to enjoy the beach and sun now, i hear its raing back home!!!!!

sipping cocktails by the indian ocean remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> the big 5... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-07:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=16&entryid=70011 2007-07-07T14:11:05Z 2007-07-07T14:11:05Z argh... sitting in the bar where they are playing music and the speaker is right behind me!!!! so getting aheadache, and with there only being one computer people keep coming up to me every minute to ask to be next!!! anyway, a few things since i last wrote in nairobi. Monday we went to the giraffe sanctury where we got to kiss the giraffes. i had a nice giraffe saliva wash!!! they stupidly were stock taking the shop when we were ... argh... sitting in the bar where they are playing music and the speaker is right behind me!!!! so getting aheadache, and with there only being one computer people keep coming up to me every minute to ask to be next!!!

anyway, a few things since i last wrote in nairobi.

Monday we went to the giraffe sanctury where we got to kiss the giraffes. i had a nice giraffe saliva wash!!! they stupidly were stock taking the shop when we were there so missed out on all the things we were contemplating buying through the shop window!! after this we went to see the elephants at the sanctuary attached to nairobi national park. this was only for an hour so that they dont get too much human contact. we saw them playing around, but no kissing.

after this i had much trouble trying to exchange the last of my travellers cheques! but got it sorted in the end. in the evening the group split a bit because some people wanted to go to an all you can eat meat buffet, whreas 4 of us decided to go to an ethiopian restaurant. the dishes came served on a giant piece of pancake type bread thing, that you rip off and use to scoop up the food. i had a man wash my hands!!!

tuesday monring we had to pick up 4 new people who are going with our truck from nairobi to either cape town or joburg. so where we used to haev 4 free seats we now have none. the two girls i mentioned before whose compant cancelled their tour have gone on a different truck.

we had a long drive day this day into tanzania (i feel sorry for the 4 new people who had to spent $50 on a kenyan visa for 1 day!!).

wednesday i jumped out of an aeroplane of mount kilimanjaro! i was the first to go, as i had done one before. but we were quite delayed by the clouds and then immigration who did a random check on our car from the campsitre to the airport. the skydive instructers had to go get their passports and take them to immigration. then we arrived at the airport and had to wait til 11, i was supposed to jump at 7!!! there were 13 of us wanting to do it, but unfortuinately only 9 got to. caused some friction ebcause some people who only jsut decided or can do it again in namibia got to do it, whereas some girls who had decided 4 weeks ago to do it did not get to jump.

after this we drove to arusha and had an african buffet.

thursday morning wqe drove to the serengeti. we did not have long in the park this afternoon because we had to get to camp before dark. but i did finally get to see a leopard. my photo isnt very good because it was getting dark and was a little far away, but someone else in my group has a better one i can steal!!! we also saw a lion sitting on a rock. as per usual the camp site was unfenced, heard a lion and some hyena nearby.

the next morning we drove around for longer and saw another leopard, still didnt get a good photo tho. we also saw 4 cheetah!!! an elephant charged us, but we survived!!! and also a lion got a little close for comfort considering we were in smaller jeeps instead of our big truck!!!

we went to visit a maasai village after this, and i managed to leave without getting married! did get an awesome spear tho!!! hope i can get it through customs!!!

we slept at the top of nongoragora crater which was very cold, and a little scary when we pulled into camp to see an elephant. during the ngiht i needed the toilet and was faced with what was either a rhino or a buffalo... either way scary!!!! and the zebra were guarding the loo so i had to pee outside!!!

this morning we drove around the crater and saw the big 5 in one day!!!! the black rhino wasnt really playing ball and was looking mroe like a rock!!! and we didnt see the leopard until we were on our way out and it ran from us so again no photos!!!

off to dar tomorrow and then on to zanzibar!!!

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]]> the lion roars!!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-02:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=15&entryid=69234 2007-07-02T13:13:24Z 2007-07-02T13:13:24Z So we travelled to Naivasha, where we were able to go for a walk to green crater lake. this meant a 45 minute boat ride (where i didnt feel sick!) but we did see hippos finally and a python!!! when we got to the land, we had a couple of hours walk to the crater. on our walk we saw zebra and giraffe up close. we even herded the giraffe a little. the crater was really beautiful, having been formed by ... So we travelled to Naivasha, where we were able to go for a walk to green crater lake. this meant a 45 minute boat ride (where i didnt feel sick!) but we did see hippos finally and a python!!! when we got to the land, we had a couple of hours walk to the crater. on our walk we saw zebra and giraffe up close. we even herded the giraffe a little.

the crater was really beautiful, having been formed by volcanic activity. there were lots of flamingos in the lake at the bottom and we saw somer colobus monkeys.

the next day we travelled to the masai mara national park, saw lots of masai women and men. we drove around all afternoon seeing the usual antelope and giraffe. when we spotted some elephants most of the group had not seen them before so gt very excited. we were buzzing through to the driver to stop but he kept going. we then realised that justn a little further up he had spotted a male lion by the road. he paraded around for us for a little bit before settling down, but we could see that he was looking over at something, and when we looked in that direction we saw all his females and cubs under a tree. we headed over there and were watching them for some time. not long after all of the matatus had heard about our find and the place turned into a car park!!! we heard about a cheetah spotting so headed in that direction, but when we got there the guide was stopping people going there, we think maybe there was a cub with the cheetah. so we headed back to the elephants but they had moved on.

our campsite was jsut outside the park, but with no fences up the animals still roam around, luckily a well equiped maasai man was keeping guard. once again we could hear the hyena in the background, and hippos too.

the next morning we stopped the lionesses again. this time they were a little more actve and walked right beside our truck. in total i have probably 100 pics of the lions!!!! still no leopard or cheetah in the wild yet tho, but still serengeti and Nungoragora crater left tho.

from the mara we were supposed to drive to a campsite an hour from nairobi, but we were making good time so in the end we arrived at nairobi at 8pm last night. the cook group were let off cooking their goat meat (it was the only meat the butcher had!) and we ordered pizza!!!!

the lion roars!!! remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> leaving my mark in kenya tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-29:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=14&entryid=68584 2007-06-29T13:53:30Z 2007-06-29T13:53:30Z Not a very eventful week this week. mostly just been in transit. travelled back to uganda to join the rest of my group to begin with. Went swimming in Lake Buyonani, thanklfully no crocs or hippos around. Also t\went out for an early morning cvanoe ride, tho me and rachael werent very good at steering it. THen tra elled back to kenya via the equator, where we expereinced how water floows different ways in each hemisphere and on the equator just ... Not a very eventful week this week. mostly just been in transit. travelled back to uganda to join the rest of my group to begin with. Went swimming in Lake Buyonani, thanklfully no crocs or hippos around. Also t\went out for an early morning cvanoe ride, tho me and rachael werent very good at steering it.

THen tra elled back to kenya via the equator, where we expereinced how water floows different ways in each hemisphere and on the equator just goes straight down. Went to a drum market where a lot of people bought big drums but i settled for a modestly small one.

Went for a walk up a hill when we got to kenya, had some local boys take a small group of us up. followed in the evening by some t raditional dancing that we were able to join in. unforunately it was quite dark.

travelling to lake baringo and a truck had got stuck in a big dip in the road, they had the army type people helping, we found our own way across, but we had to build the road up to begin with with some more rocks. huge cheers when we got across, but we had to leave the other truck stuck. apparently we only help out other overland trucks.

yesterday we went for a morning walk i i got to hold a scorpian. we also saw a snake and lots of plant type things. We climbed up a ridge of the rift calley in order to get a good view of the lake.

after breakfast we went for a boat trip, which was unsuccessful becasue we didnt see and hippos. although we did hear them at night, and were scared to leave our tents to go pee in case one charged us. though we did have a guard loking out for us apparently. we did see some crocs on our boat, and saw a fish eagle catch a fish that we threw for him.

after lunch we went to visit a local tribe. i think i got married several times. else they were jsut interested in my watch! there was a language barrier! it was good to learn about them. and we got to dane with them although it wasnt as good as the other dancing that we saw, becasue they were really just jumping around, fun none the less.

today we have just driven from baringo to nakuru on our way to naivasha.

leaving my mark in kenya remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> chilling with the big guys tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-21:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=67612 2007-06-21T12:46:15Z 2007-06-21T12:46:15Z firstly please excuse my awful spelling in this entry, on account of my keyboard seems to have had all the keys put in the wrong places. stupid french keyboard in rwanda so last wrote on saturday, since then i have done a couple of exciting things. went to chimp island on monday. it was a sanctuary for chimps, we only had an hour at the sanctuary, but it was really good cos we got to see feeding time. we had to ... firstly please excuse my awful spelling in this entry, on account of my keyboard seems to have had all the keys put in the wrong places. stupid french keyboard in rwanda

so last wrote on saturday, since then i have done a couple of exciting things. went to chimp island on monday. it was a sanctuary for chimps, we only had an hour at the sanctuary, but it was really good cos we got to see feeding time. we had to take a boat out there which started out fine but then the water got choppy and i got a little sea sick as well as soaking wet! the chimps were really cool, very full of character but too human like for my liking. they were very playful, and i got some really good photos, even though we didnt get very close to them. we took the boat back which was even worse. i could have swam across the equator, however my stomach was wanting to be sick on the equator.

the next couple of days were spent doing lots of travelling in order to get to the uganda rwanda border. we left some of our group in uganda who either weren't trekking else had applied too late and were trekking in uganda instead.

we arrived in uganda on wednesday and went to the genocide museum, it was very moving and informative for someone who didnt know all that much about what went on. rwanda is such a beautiful country, looking around just a few years later it is hard to believe what went on.

so today (thursday) we went gorilla trekking. an early morning so as to catch them as they are waking up. it didnt take us too long to find them in my group of 8, which was good cos it meant not too much walking through the dense forest. the clock ticing for our hour with them and they were up the trees which looked good but not on the camera unfortunately. however, it wasnt long before they came down and we got much closer than the 7 metres we are supposed to keep, especially when we seemed to be in one of theirs ways. little bit worried that they would turn on us but it was all good. and we say a really small baby one also on its mothers back. there was only one big silverbackm a couple of females and quite a few juevenilles. 9 in total. will try to upload some photos but itss slow here. and also my camera ran out of battery so onlky managed 70 photos!

xx

chilling with the big guys remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> adrenaline junkie tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-17:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=12&entryid=66781 2007-06-17T10:25:18Z 2007-06-17T10:25:18Z so crossed the border into Uganda on thursday. it was a long day driving, but worth it. i think i prefer uganda to kenya. our campsite was right onto the nile (it starts in Jinga where we were staying). the view from the showers is of the river. and we could hear the rapids at night. so on friday we spent the whole day doing the rapids starting at the source of the nile on the last day of it being ... so crossed the border into Uganda on thursday. it was a long day driving, but worth it. i think i prefer uganda to kenya. our campsite was right onto the nile (it starts in Jinga where we were staying). the view from the showers is of the river. and we could hear the rapids at night.

so on friday we spent the whole day doing the rapids starting at the source of the nile on the last day of it being the longest river, aparently the amazon is now the longestest as of yesterday! (apart from 3 people, one with maleria, one recovering from a cold so she can see the gorillas and the other i think was just scared!). there was 7 of us in each raft, mine didnt tip over until the last 2 rapids of 12 the first a grade 3 the second a grade 5). there were a few injuries, myself, i have twisted my arm while holding onto the rope as we went thgouh a grade 5, though i didnt fall out and managed to put up with the pain for the rest of the day. another guy badly sprained his ankle when they fell out, and another girl was just too hung over, stupid!! i have a dvd of the day so can show you that when i get back.

then yesterday i took myself off to do a bungee jump into the nile, while everyone else did either horse riding or quad biking. with my sprained arm i couldnt have done either of these. waited around for a long time while they sorted stuff out, and was quite nervous when i did it. although i have done one before it was easier becuasae i was in a full harness and they helped me to fall. this time i was just strapped by my feet and had to do the dive myself. i didnt get fully dunked into the water but my hands went in. got someone to take a video of me doing it, although my battery ran out, but got the important part, shame i wasted a minute before jumping because she was filming it then. in the end the guy just went 3,2,1 and i just did it. so awesome!!!

i think my travel insurance covers me for all these things, better check before i do a skydive over mount kilamanjaro!!

adrenaline junkie remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> sleeping with buffalo tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-13:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=66047 2007-06-13T09:02:33Z 2007-06-13T09:02:33Z so i've been on the road for 2 full days now, and its all been very exciting. we started off leaving at 8am on monday, and headed into town so people could change up money. there was lots of traffic in town and ambulances. turns out someone had let off a hand grenade in a bus stop. police have clashed with a local gang over the weekend and this was their retaliation or something. luckily the only person to die was ... so i've been on the road for 2 full days now, and its all been very exciting.
we started off leaving at 8am on monday, and headed into town so people could change up money. there was lots of traffic in town and ambulances. turns out someone had let off a hand grenade in a bus stop. police have clashed with a local gang over the weekend and this was their retaliation or something. luckily the only person to die was the idiot who let of the grenade by accident in his pocket! needless to say we headed out of nairobi pronto.

drove for most of the day to our first campsite on a farm. stopped off at a nice viewpoint, and got pursuaded into buying something that will again put my baggage weight up! had my first experience of a long drop toilet, but these ones were quite nice becaue they were raised like a toilet. jsut stink! had a nice meal and gt to know my travel buddies. many of them already know each other ebcause they have done projects togther before this.

the next morning we went on a farm tour, they have eglish cattle that they milk and they breed race horses. we left to head to the national park. still waiting to see leopard, but did get to see some white rhinos in the day time which i havent before. saw lots of buffalo, zebra, giraffe, and a whole host of flamingos! saw some antelope species that i havent seen before. and of course to welcome us t the park were a troop of vervets to make me feel at home. they were trying to get onto our truck of course! also plenty of baboons.

we set up camp, but rather than a fence surrounding the camp like at kruger there was nothing between us and the animals. while we were cooking dinner we noticed eyes in the darkness, turns out to be a couple of buffalo bout 10 metres from our tents. they had a little scuffle which was worrying that they would charge us, but we surived. needless to say i did not go to the loo in the night! other people also saw hyeanas by our camp.

just had the morning driving around some more. still didnt see the leopard. but got closer to the other animals and saw a hyena trying to get a flamingo while eating breakfast!

crossing into uganda tomorrow, and white wter rafting by the end of the week i think. lots of driving, but plenty of people to talk to.

sleeping with buffalo remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> moving on tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-09:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=65476 2007-06-13T09:04:51Z 2007-06-10T06:16:48Z very sad, had to say goodbye to all my monkeys yesterday. Im especially going to miss imogen and frances, but i got loads more pics of th ... leia_0023.jpgleia_0013.jpgleia_0033.jpgvery sad, had to say goodbye to all my monkeys yesterday. Im especially going to miss imogen and frances, but i got loads more pics of them before i left. a total of over 800 pics from my 8 weeks in SA! dont worry, i will make a condensed slide show of the best ones for anyone who is interested!

Had fun on wednesday afternoon giving deworming medicine to all the monkeys in intro enclosures. no easy feat. we had to use syringes to squirt it into their mouths through the fence. now some monkeys are quite inquisitive and come up and put it in their mouth no problem. then they want more, and as much as i know about monkeys now, i still cant tell them apart when im trying to give medicine to a cage of 24! so i think maybe some got double doses and some none at all. but hopefully it will cure the problem of monkeys dropping dead. we have just lost the parents from the family, and baby wasn't looking too good when i left, but fingers crossed.

thursday i finally got to do some digging. we needed to make an enclosure for georges rabbits so that they have some grass and will reproduce, so that they dont have to keep buying rabbits when george needs feeding. so we all got digging, the workers found our efforts quite amusing!

i chose to do baby cage on my last morning of chores. as much as i shout and scream at the babies for climbing on my head, im sure gonna miss them!

we had a night at on the rocks on friday. it was definately my best ngiht out, all the new girls are such good fun, im sad i cant get to know them better.

had a 12 hour wait at joburg which meant i got half my new book read, but didnt appreciate having to wait in nairobi airport for another person to arrive to share a taxi with. got a discounted rate because the driver felt bad! will upload some pics them im off to get robbed!

well off to spend the day in nairobbery, got a padlock on my backpack for protection. cant be doing with someone stealing my money again!

moving on remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> bad day friday! tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-06:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=64882 2007-06-06T10:15:37Z 2007-06-06T10:15:37Z what a week! after leaving the internet cafe on friday, i got to the supermarket and realised that some nice kind fellow had stolen my purse! Luckily i only had less than 20 quid in it. but also my driving license and my bank card, which means that i can't take out money here now. luckily i have travellers cheques for kenya. got bills to pay here to bob and lynne, so will prob have to do a bank transfer ... what a week! after leaving the internet cafe on friday, i got to the supermarket and realised that some nice kind fellow had stolen my purse! Luckily i only had less than 20 quid in it. but also my driving license and my bank card, which means that i can't take out money here now. luckily i have travellers cheques for kenya. got bills to pay here to bob and lynne, so will prob have to do a bank transfer or something!

but i had it ok reallly, because at friday afternoon feeding, theresa had her hand very badly bitten. we had to take her to the hospital. unforunately bob had to shoot the monkey because it was out of control, he couldn't catch it in the net and got bitten himself! not sure if i had mentioned him before, but we had called the monkey mad max because he was a bit mad. she is doing much better now,and will prob have her stitches out on friday. she still doesnt have feeling in the side of her hand.and cant really do the cleaning at the moment, but her job is to cut up the food instead now,

i stupidly dropped my contact lens case down the sink but have managed to buy a new one.

watched the rugby again. we lost again!

the owls are doing well, except hector who unfortunatelydied. not sure if he maybe choked on a piece of food, else there was a small fire in the clinic near him after the heater we had been using in there set alight!!! now there is melted plastic on the floor!

there are lots of volunteers here now, i think at last count there is 10 of us! so we have started cleaning the small cages in quarantine.

we had another monkey die, the father from the family. probably from parasites. we are treating all the monkeys for paracites by covering tablets in syrup!

we also had to give the babies medicine, which was a challenge,because while they like jumping on youand annoying you while you clean. they make it very difficult to catch them and givethem their medicine!

looking forward to going to kenya, but will definately miss SA.

bad day friday! remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Some new feathered babies tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-01:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=64043 2007-06-01T10:49:26Z 2007-06-01T10:49:26Z A bit late with my update this week on account of me getting to the computer on wednesday and not being able to remember what i have done this week! Not that exciting things didn't happen! We have had 4 owls bought to us this week,Three from the same lady who says they fell out of their nest, and being unable to fly would have died. Another was bought in with a broken wing, so yesterday we had to fix that ... A bit late with my update this week on account of me getting to the computer on wednesday and not being able to remember what i have done this week! Not that exciting things didn't happen!

We have had 4 owls bought to us this week,Three from the same lady who says they fell out of their nest, and being unable to fly would have died. Another was bought in with a broken wing, so yesterday we had to fix that up and fingers crossed she will be ok. I have named the first to come in Prisicilla. Each night we have to cut up day old dead chick to force feed to the owls. This is a challenge when they seemto resist being fed by using their sharp claws! Luckily i have my garden gloves to wear for protection, but im sure that before my last week here is over, i will be scratched to pieces!

We also had a kingfisher brought in last week. He was unable to fly. We tried to catch grasshoppers for him, but were unsuccessful, catching just a couple and James almost losing a finger when he tried to feed it! The next day the bird had died.

This especially caused problems because of the 24 children that we had visit last friday. to fill their day we had pl;anned for them to catch grasshoppers for the kingfisher. we still had them do this tho, but lied and said they were for the snakes and to be frozen for birds that get bought in. In the end we feed them to the monkeys, who really enjoyed eating them. One of the girls had caughgt 50+ grasshoppers, because the children themselves eat such insects they were much better at catching them.

we also had the children draw monkey pictures,they were all quite good. They all seemed to enjoy their day,and it is good to have educated the children about their countries wildlife.

We have been having some probelmswith week with the damn monkeys in quarentine escaping. they are smart critters who manage to undo the bolts that shut the doors. not sure why they dont use padlocks on the doors, would save a lot of problems. ONe of the monkeys from quarentine also bit james this week, his lame attempt to get man point, i say!

We had another monkey die from worms. she had been in one of the intro enclosures. it is always very sad. Also one monkey was found dead when Matthew was showing the 2 new german girls around the place, not a nice introduction for them.

It is very cold at night here now, but still warm enough for shorts and skirts during the day. Apparently their worst winter for a while. Hopefully be warmer when i getup to kenya.

We had to go to the bar to watch the rugby last saturday, Englanbd vs SA. Shame we lost, which meant the south africans being very happy! Return leg this sat, fingers crossed for some english glory!

Bob and Lynne returned on sunday from england. they had been over to visit some kids from lewisham who had been over as part of a tv show that will be on channel 4 this month. so look out for it on the tv schedules.

Had a bushbaby get itself into one of the small enclosures, i noticed on my way up to do morning chores. it was the first time i had seen one, they are very cute. matthew caught it and let it go into a nearby tree.

Some new feathered babies remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> fried monkey tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-23:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=62367 2007-05-25T12:43:04Z 2007-05-23T11:05:38Z We had a monkey bought in last week who had been fried by some electricity wires. he was really shaken up, and of course had to be taken away from his troop. he was probably only a couple of months old. he smelt really bad, like burnt flesh. So we sedated him and cleaned him up a bit, but he didnt make it through the night. Rigor mortis freaks me out! We ha ... leia_0041.jpgleia_0031.jpgleia_0021.jpgWe had a monkey bought in last week who had been fried by some electricity wires. he was really shaken up, and of course had to be taken away from his troop. he was probably only a couple of months old. he smelt really bad, like burnt flesh. So we sedated him and cleaned him up a bit, but he didnt make it through the night. Rigor mortis freaks me out! We had named him Berni Flash (and made him into a super hero because he survived the high voltage!).

Had one of our babies die as well. probably from worms. found him in the morning when we were cleaning the cage.

a lot of the monkeys and the babbons have diahorrea at the moment, as do I and some of the other volunteers. goes to show how similar we all are.

on thursday we had some land claims people come around to price the farm up because some black people are laying claim to the land. which is really sad and could mean that the monkeys become homeless. apparently the claims dont even need to be that substantial and it can be claimed that their ancestors were living there before white people took it away. there is so much built on the land which they will also get, and no doubt the price that is offered will be very low for what is there. it is all to do with having a black government.

sunday i went on the big swing, which you jump off into a gorge from 38metres up and swing! lots of fun, though lots of screamning. we bought a dvd of it so that you can all see when i get back!

on the way there we stopped off at a few different places with nice views and to do some shopping. so now i must send some thigns back! but i will wait til im leaving SA. We also saw some potholes (not the ones that annoy you in teh road) and i got to make a wish because i had good aim!

on monday me and james got adventurousa nd decided to brave the crocodiels and hippos to test the rope swing over the river at riverside. needless to say the river was cold and dirty. but it was really good fun. and no crocs or hippos spotted!

we also had another braai but was slightly different because we made a stew on the fire, which was tasty!

on friday we have 22 kids coming for the day to show them around, so might not be getting to town.

forgot to say but i would like the melon at the wedding please!!!!

xxxxxxx

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]]> confrontation with an elephant tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-16:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=61203 2007-05-18T11:02:48Z 2007-05-16T13:23:14Z went to jruger national park for the weekend. it is the biggest in south africa and possibly africa. the big 5 are all there as well as lots of bird species and lots of other mammals. we had to be up early to get to the park for 6am when it opened. morning is the ebst time to see animal activ ... leia_006.jpgleia_008.jpgleia_001.jpgleia_002.jpgwent to jruger national park for the weekend. it is the biggest in south africa and possibly africa. the big 5 are all there as well as lots of bird species and lots of other mammals.

we had to be up early to get to the park for 6am when it opened. morning is the ebst time to see animal activity becaus they dont lie to move about too much in the midday heat. we saw ltos of giraffe, which are my favourite because they are so graceful. also zebra, wildebeast, impala (distinctive by an M shape on teir butt, which looks like the mcdonalds logo which is appropriate beause like mcdonalds you see them on every corner, and are a favourite snack for many of the carnivores), otehr antelope, hippo and rhino. i say we were confronted by an elephant becuase he was pretty close and the car behind us was trying to piss him off. but we escaped unscathed. we did see a couple of lions from a distance. we also went on a night drive which must be with one of the game rangers. the lions had killed a giraffe and at ngiht the hyenas were busy feasting. they laugh jsut like in the lion king! we had a mini braai and threw a left over piece of meat over the fence behnd our tents (dont tell the rangers!) so that the hyenas would come close. they also make a strange wooping sound which i didnt realise and so thought it was one of the boys messing around. the ngiht sky was so clear that we slept with the tent door open so we could see, but woke up very cold in the morning! we fell asleep to the sound of hyena and lions in the distance. in the morning we went on an 8km walk to see soem of the wildlife close up. well we didnt get all that close, but we saw lots of tracks, and some plants and small animals. we then drove around in the car again, desperate to find the cheetah and leopard, to no avail.

however, we did get to go to a cheetah rehab project so i did get to see them. not as good as seeing them in the wild. but still good to see. we also went to a reptile place. and i held a snake, scorpian and baboon spider.

hopefully attatching some photos for you.
xxx

confrontation with an elephant remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> back to Riverside tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-11:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=60239 2007-05-25T12:36:24Z 2007-05-11T10:18:26Z I am back at Riverside now. Finished shooting the baboons on monday. Before I left sun city i went to the local shebeen a couple of nights (and on monday when i was supposed to be working!). Bob, Mathew, Tracey and new volunteer James came to SUncity before I left. James to take over my role. We had a couple of lovely meals which made a nice change to pap ... leia_0011.jpgleia_005.jpgleia_003.jpgI am back at Riverside now. Finished shooting the baboons on monday.

Before I left sun city i went to the local shebeen a couple of nights (and on monday when i was supposed to be working!). Bob, Mathew, Tracey and new volunteer James came to SUncity before I left. James to take over my role. We had a couple of lovely meals which made a nice change to pap and chicken! I ate ostrich!!

oh and i also took my first night drive. The baboons let me have the evening off, so i took a night drive. so very very cold!!! but i saw lots of animals and took some vidoe because my camera is not so good at taking ngiht photos. we saw wild dogs, lion, hippo, zebra, elephant, rhino, impala, hyena, wildebeast and rabbits!!!

Rather than coming straight back to riverside i spent 2 nights at the release site, where we have been relocating monkeys from a nearby town. the site is going to be part of a huge game reserve, and we stayed in a luxury lodge. It has a chapel so I am contemplating this as a future wedding venue because it is so lovely. Except for the kitchen where it is so dirty that i cut my toe on glass despite wearing sandels. when they have weddings there, the bride arrives on an elephant!!

I was also able to do a microlight, and saw zebra, giraffe, buffalo, and monkeys because i flew over the release site!!!

we then came back to riverside. there are 4 of us volunteers here now, and a couple of friends of bob and lynnes. the baby baboons have gotten so much bigger and stronger in two weeks. it did not take them long to recognise us again. we also have a baby vervet that we are looking after now, it is napier who was not getting along with the other babies in the baby cage. not sure what will happen to it. because it being out of the cage will only make it worse for it to be reintroduced!

tomorrow we go to kruger national park. we will take a day and a night drive.

unfortunately my camera is not recognised on this computer, so no new photos!

back to Riverside remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Being adventurous and taking advantage of staff discount!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-02:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=58541 2007-05-11T10:22:30Z 2007-05-02T09:18:47Z So the baboons are runnign riot!! Well they aren't too bad, jsut smashing a window here and there! and stealing food etc, nowt out of the ordinary! I have been busy taking advantage of some of the activities here. So far I have gone down what is supposed to be the worlds longest zip line, and also been parasailing. I have uploaded a photo of me doing the zip line, because I remembered the CD. unfortunately I forgot ... 100_0681.jpgSo the baboons are runnign riot!! Well they aren't too bad, jsut smashing a window here and there! and stealing food etc, nowt out of the ordinary!

I have been busy taking advantage of some of the activities here. So far I have gone down what is supposed to be the worlds longest zip line, and also been parasailing. I have uploaded a photo of me doing the zip line, because I remembered the CD. unfortunately I forgot my USB cable to upload some photos from my camera! Both activities were a lot of fun. Though I did have to put a lot of faith in the ability of 2 men to tie a good knot when I did the parasailing. I have faith that people are good at their jobs. And I was up for 6 minutes without a hitch! I know I keep promising photos, believe me you will get them soon enough!

We rescued a monkey from being a pet, because it has now decided to bite its owner, no shit! I wonder if it has ever seen another monkey, this is always the problem that they are too used to humans and do not react well with other monkeys.

I should be returning to Riverside at the weekend. Else go to the release site.

Mum can you send me family addresses because they were stored on my zen that I can't turn on!! Thanks!! xxxIMG_1262.jpg

Being adventurous and taking advantage of staff discount!! remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> life of luxury tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-26:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=57369 2007-05-11T10:23:36Z 2007-04-26T08:27:52Z soo... its been a week since i last wrote. and here it is to keep you up to date. we had a bad day on friday... first we lost a baby monkey up a tree... but using a large poking device managed to get it down. then the workers bought in a monkey to clinic who was very thin, a little while later she died. we did an autopsy and found that she had a huge worm, which had been eating ... 100_0440.jpgsoo... its been a week since i last wrote. and here it is to keep you up to date.

we had a bad day on friday... first we lost a baby monkey up a tree... but using a large poking device managed to get it down. then the workers bought in a monkey to clinic who was very thin, a little while later she died. we did an autopsy and found that she had a huge worm, which had been eating all her food. apparently there isn't a monkey grave yeard and when a monkey dies it actually gets cremated. then we were just waiting for dinner to be served when we heard a commotion over at one of the enclosures, one of the female monkeys from the intro enclosure had escaped into the main enclosure and without her troop to help she got bitten to pieces. we had to sew her up in clinic which took 2 1/2 hours because each stich has to be individual to stop them pulling out the whole thing and also she was cut open all over the place. she has survived but is clearly in a lot of pain and isn't eating much.

after stiching up the monkey we went to a local club, very cheap drinks!

saturday night we had a braai, which is basically a bbq but we cant call it that!

sunday we went out on the raft, but on our way back (we had to get back to take a girl to the airport) the wind picked up and was blowing us backwards! so we had to pull up on the side and walk through the bush... i did this while carrying a baboon!!! there was then an amazing thunderstorm! it was worst when we were trying to do feed, and there was a river running down to quatentine!

monday i have moved tpo sun city, which is an exclusive resort in SA, they have a problem with baboons and monkeys so we are contracted to shoot at them with paintball guns to get them out of the resort and stop causing problems! its fun and pretty chilled, but with only one other person doing it, it can get boring. luckily we get to drive around a golf course for a few hours each day which keeps us entertained!! google sun city and see how cool this palce is. i will prob be here for 2 weeks because it is a 6 hour drive from riverside.

forgot my cable so cannt upload pics this time. will remember for next.

also pain in my ass that my zen has broken from using my battery thing to charge it up!!! very annoyed having spent so long putting stuff on it before i left!

report again soon!

xx

life of luxury remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> I feel better prepared to have children... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-18:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=55808 2007-05-18T10:59:15Z 2007-04-18T11:36:09Z Arrived safe and well. Trip to Johannesburg was fine, had 2 seats to myself! The plane to Phalaborwa was tiny, but also had a couple of seats to myself. The airport was really beautiful, if I can at some point I will get some photos, cos it is something else! Arriv ... leia_004.jpg100_0402_1_.jpgArrived safe and well. Trip to Johannesburg was fine, had 2 seats to myself! The plane to Phalaborwa was tiny, but also had a couple of seats to myself. The airport was really beautiful, if I can at some point I will get some photos, cos it is something else!

Arrived the first day and got straight in to cleaning out the croc pond,whcih entailed me holding the thing for a while and getting a dead arm! The next day I had to clean out the baby cage which is somewhat of a challenge, because they are running and jumping all over the place, covered in poo, climbing into my top. Twice a day we feed the animals, and every morning clean out all the cages!

YEsterday was also mother to the 2 baby baboons, which means having them follow you, feed them and fling them around. However, I have quickly found out that if you put liquid in one end, it inevitably comes out of the other and covers you! No time to change clothes, plus you would be doing it every half hour. It does thankfully dry out quite quickly.

facilities are basic, cold showers outside... but I'll live with that.

This is my first chance to get on the internet because we have come into town toget food for the animals. bread from the factory and waste from the supermarket.

Got to go, monkeys to clean!

I feel better prepared to have children... remains copyright of the author leiasj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> 5 Days to go tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-11:/blog/?domain=leiasj1984&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=54548 2007-04-11T14:06:45Z 2007-04-11T14:06:45Z Its getting pretty close now... less than 1 week until I head off on my own to Africa for 3 months! Some people might think I'm insane, others might be extremely jealous that I have the balls to do such a thing... then there are my parents who are no doubt shitting themselves, but are too kind to tell me!! I've been waiting to do this since I went to Ecuador, and this is just the beginning. I already consider myself ... Its getting pretty close now... less than 1 week until I head off on my own to Africa for 3 months! Some people might think I'm insane, others might be extremely jealous that I have the balls to do such a thing... then there are my parents who are no doubt shitting themselves, but are too kind to tell me!!

I've been waiting to do this since I went to Ecuador, and this is just the beginning. I already consider myself to be pretty well travelled, but this time next year I will hopefully have covered all the continents (bar the cold ones, but maybe one day!). But first lets get Africa ticked off!

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