Karibuni Kenya

There is a website I have been told about where you can get free theatre tickets.  It is legitimate, sponsored by the arts council and the metro.  The website is www.anightlessordinary.org.uk   If you click thorugh to the website, then all you have to do is  register on the site and then you can get free theatre tickets!

 Hope it helps.

A week or so ago I went to see an opera in a local bar, Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’.  It was called operagasmic, since the bar it was in in York is called Orgasmic.  It was being produced as a dissertation by one of the students at York, in an attempt to make opera more appealing to a wider audience, and in particular young people.  The opera was split into scenes, and each scene was directed by a different person and had different actors and actresses in.  The idea was to get as many people involved in the production as possible, as well as getting as many people to go and see it as possible.  The whole thing was done in english as well, and in between the scenes there was a compare to explain what was going on  and what was happening between the scenes – some scenes were cut to make the production shorter than usual.

I had never really considered going to see an opera before this, and only went along this time to support a friend of mine who had directed two of the scenes.  Although I do quite like classical music, opera always seemed a bit expensive or a bit too sort of posh or whatever.  Operagasmic changed my mind totally, however.  Even though it was a student production, the voices of those in it were incredible, and the whole performance was wonderfully enjoyable, and has made me want to go and see many more performances.  With the easter holidays coming up, I hope to go and see a performance and see if I enjoy it as much as I did operagasmic.  Again, it’s one of those things in life that you might usually steer clear of, but which is actually really really good.

I finally have the website of tropical air, useful for anyone flying to Zanzibar or Mafia from Dar es salam.  It is http://www.tropicalair.co.tz/.  Their phone number is +255 24 223 2511.  Hope that helps someone, they are meant to be cheaper, especially for students as they give you a resident rate.

Having reviewed War Horse the book and absolutely loved it, I was fortunate enough to get some tickets to see it at the national theatre over this holidays.  It was amazing.

The play didn’t stick exactly to the book, but was very similar.  That said, I think it is better to watch the show and then read the book, or have read the book a long time before seeing the show.  Personal opinion, though, only.  The horses are stunning.  The skeleton and skin is made to be life size and has two guys below it to support it and move it, with another guy on the head for the head motion.  They capture the essence of the horse perfectly, to a degree I never imagined would be possible.  They are simply fantastic.  The actors who play the riders do actually sit on the horses and ride, which is even more amazing.  there’s also music in many parts, some of it from a guy with an accordion, which is lovely, and some of it more orchestral, but again lovely and very powerful.  The acting is superb. and the whole thing really is indescribably brilliant, an absolute must see.  If you have seen the animals in lion king, war horse is similar, although arguably better.  For anyone who loves theatre, they will love this show.  Due to popular demand (Every ticket for every show at the national theatre was sold out) war horse is moving to Drury lane later this year.  If you are in London at any point I strongly suggest going to see it.  Tickets when I went were between £10 and £40, and worth every penny and some.

Happy new year to everyone reading this, I hope you have a good 2009.  Now is the time for making news years resolutions, of course.  I don’t really believe in them , mostly because I never do them.  However, this year I have made a few vague ones to try and get me going.

One of them was after watching the new Jim Carrey film, ‘Yes Man’.  It’s a good film, and well worth a watch.  Carrey plays a bank worker who is quite negative after being dumped by his girlfriend and so tends not to go out that much, and says no to lots of things etc.  Then a friend takes him to a seminar about saying yes.  He makes a covenant to say yes to everything and see what happens.  Its a very funny film and also serves as a good stimulus to take a more open mind to life.  After having watched it I didn’t want to say yes to everything, which you will understand if you watch the film, but I did feel I should do a few more things, even if I’m not sure how much I’d like them.  When travelling that was always the mindset I had, but I tend to fall back into a far more conservative state when back home.  My news years resolution was therefore to try a few more things out and say yes to more than I had.  Inevitably it won’t work, but when Yes Man comes out on DVD I intednt to buy it to serve as a reminder!

Second resolution was to try and cook more varied recipes.  I enjoy cooking and do do a few different things, but again tend to be a bit conservative.  Over this christmas I’ve eaten a lot greater variety of food and really enjoyed it.  SO when I go back t uni I’m going for an early trip to Asda or Morrisons and picking up a few bits and pieces I’ll need a lot of, and then throughout the year pick up bits and bobs to add variety.  For anyone thinking of doing the same, may I suggest looking at some of Jamie Oliver’s recipes.  They are generally fairly easy to follow, and taste really quite divine.  I’m sure a local bookstore will sell something by him, but the recipes are also available online, so worth trying there first and checking you like them before investing in another cookbook!

Third resolution is the classic try and get fit.  With the OTC I do a fair amount anyway, but I had some problems with a stress fracture of one of m,y metatarsals that held me back form doing as much as I would have liked.  I now have been given the all clear, so wanted to really pick it up.  I don’t want to be a marathon runner, but I’d like to be able to run a good distance at a good pace without wanting to die at the end!  With obesity such a problem in the world today, it seems to make sense as well.

That’s my list anyway, and the reasons for it.  Probably won’t stick to it, but worth a try anyway!

Back to books of the week.  I’m going to switch away from just African books and put up anything I’ve read and enjoyed now – although I’ll keep trying to drop a few more african themed ones in as well.  For this post I have two books, War horse and Alone on a wide wide sea, both by Michael Morpurgo.

Firstly, War horse.  This a short novel about a horse who is brought by a farmer and then trained to work the farm by a young boy before being sold to the army with the onset of World War 1, much to the distress of the young boy.  He starts his military career as a cavalry horse before being captured by the Germans and working with other horses hauling ambulance carts and artillery.  He also comes into the care of a young girl and her grandfather for some time, before again being taken from then.  I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to ruin it for you.  I think it is one of the best books I have ever read.  It is both a very enjoyable and also very moving read.  It also inspired me to read another Michael Morpurgo novel, since I loved his style of writng.  Hence the next novel.

Alone on a wide wide sea tells in the first part about a boy shipped to australia to find foster parents and the life that ensues for him.  The second part of the story is about his daughter and her trip across the seas to England to find her fathers lost sister.  I would say more, but it is difficult to describe the book without giving the wrong impression of it.  Again it was a wonderful book.  Again very enjoyable and very moving and also very inspiring.  All I can say is read it!  It really is wonderful.  Also, if you see a book by Michael Morpurgo I would read it as he seems a brilliant author – everyone I know who has read any of his books agrees, so he is definitely worth a read.

Thought I would do a post about a society and a website I think are good, both to do with Africa.  If anyone knows anymore good ones then please comment so people can see them.  

Firstly the website.  It is http://www.safaritalk.net/ 

I was told about it on facebook by the game warden of the site who had seen the group for my book.   He recommended I take a look at it and I so I did and was most impressed.  There are loads of different discussion boards about various issues to do with conservation, safaris etc in Africa, as well as videos of hunts etc.  I’ve seen a few similar websites before I wasn’t that impressed with, but safaritalk was one that really caught my eye and impressed me, so well worth a look.

The society is the Royal African Society, http://www.royalafricansociety.org/

I joined a few years ago and have gone to several of the talks they organise and as part of their membership receive the ‘African Affairs Journal’ which regularly has articles of interest.  You can join online, and I think its wel worthwhile, especially if you live around London as most of the talks and meetings are held there.  Even if you don’t live there, membership is still worthwhile in my opinion – I’m at York uni but still keep my membership up even though I can only very rarely attend any of the talks.

This blog is a look back at how the travelbuzz scheme effected my trip and a few thoughts about my travels.  With regard to health posts, music of the week etc I’ll steadily update them over the coming weeks.

Firstly, I thought the scheme was a really good idea when I first got the email about it and read some other blogs sta travellers had written and that has remained my feelings through my travels.  It was good to have a blog just for friends and family to follow as well, but also made better by the STA scheme as then it reaches a wider audience and could help people planning a similar trip to mine.

That said, if I were to do it again I would take a laptop with me, since sometimes with the slow pace of the internet and it constantly deleting my posts, sometimes writing  the blog became more of a chore than a pleasure.  With the time limits I had to use the internet as well, I missed out on writing in more detail about some of the things I did, where as had I have had the laptop I could have taken more time and care over the posts and enjoyed the process far more – I still loved doing the blog, but could have got more out of it with better preparation and more time.

Writing the blog did also make me look at things in a slightly different way, and made me more keen to try different things out even if I wasn’t 100% sure I would enjoy doing them.  It didn’t make a massive difference to how I approach my trip, but definitely the impact it did have was all positive.  I tend to like to explore places anyway and think one of the best ways to get to know a pace is just to get lost and find your way back again, but it was enjoyable to be able to write about places I found while lost as well as sharing with fellow travellers I met on my trip.

I didn’t meet any other STA travellers on my trip, but all those I met I told about my blog and recommended both STA and Travelbuzz to them, and in many cases received very positive responses.  The more people that get involved the better for us all and the more, interesting and varied information would-be travellers will be able to find out.  Certainly they can be a lot more help than I found the lonely planet!

As for life now that i’ve come back, it’s been more different coming back this time than on previous occasions.  Whether that is just because I am noticing it more or some other reason I am unsure.  I am now back into uni life and back with OTC, so my trip feels like it was longer and longer ago.  Every time I see a photo of somewhere I’ve been or hear a song I heard out there, though, it takes me back and reinstills my yearning to be back there for longer – when Africa gets in your blood it never leaves you.  I am now broke from my last trip so it may be a couple of years before I go again, although I’m trying to find more work to save up enough for next summer.  I’m  not sure exactly what i’d do, but at the moment am thinking of flying into Niarobi, doing a couple of weeks in Kenya then going through Tanzania to Malawi and then back again to TZ and flying out of Dar.  But we shall see. I’ll keep updating the blog with different info or pictures etc and hopefully will end up writing it again back out in Africa next summer – fingers crossed!

I have finally put some photos of my trip up.  There is a link to them on the left of this page.  The slightly grainy ones are mine, and the really good ones are Johns, who was kind enough to allow me to put them up.  Some of them are very good, so worth a look if you’ve enjoyed the blog but would like to see what I have written about as well as reading about it.  Hope you enjoy.

I got back to Naivasha and relaxed for a couple of days and met up with some friends, did a bit of admin and tried to get presents for coming back home before Isaac returned for a planned couple of days in the aberdares.  We set off but again the car needed a couple of things fixing, so we stopped in naivasha town briefly.  WHile stopped Isaac got a call from some friends in nairobi who also wanted o come, so we aited a couple of hors for them. By that time it was too late for the aberdares, so we decided to do Nakuru instead.  We eventually got there – me driving like a matatu driver to try and get past the slow trucks, driving along the grass verges on the side of the road until one of the lorry drivers got angry with me and wouldn’t let me past, at which point we had to wait for a climbing lane to pass him. 

We got there just i time for an evening game drive and then booked into a place I had been three years previously and where I could still remember the guy that worked there, and he me, which was nice.  They cooked our food for us and we all sat down to eat it and chat about different things, which was quite nice and familyish.  We also sat on top of one of the buildings and looked out across nakuru while having a tusker, which was again wonderful.  The next day we spent on game drives, seeing innumerable white rhino, three black rhino, hyena chasing flamingoes and standing off against a buffalo, beautiful white butterflies whose wings took on the appearance of green leaves when they landed on the ground and folded.

After that we headed back to naivasha and then I had one last relaxing day before setting off to nairobi the next day and getting on my flight via Doha home