Hello everybody! I am currently in Kisumu, which is on Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. I'm staying with the father of one my friend's back in Edmonton, who has a beach resort here, right on the lake. It's pretty sweet, and he's been uber helpful, which is great, because its made everything here so much easier. On Thursday, me and Sparky left Kimuka/Nairobi for Naivasha, and made our way to the Crayfish Camp on lake Naivasha, found a couple of bikes for rent, and chilled for most of the evening. On Friday (after dealing with a flat tire on one of the bikes) we made our way into Hell's Gate National Park - on our bikes- and biked around part of the park. It was pretty neat to be on the ground with the aminals. I may or may not have ridden my bike as fast as I could straight at a herd of zebra and giraffe...and I may or may not have totally loved it... Midway through the day, Sparky got a puncture in on of her tires, which totally sucked, because we were a solid 5ish kilometers from the gate, and 8ish from the camp we were staying at. We ended up having to walk/ride back through the park to the gate, which kinda sucked, as we didn't get to see as much as we would have liked, but it was still pretty cool. When we got back to the camp, I totally had a real shower. A hot shower. It was pretty awesome - although watching the water turn brown as it fell off my body was slightly disturbing... :P We also went swimming in their outdoor pool, which was pretty nice as well. Yesterday (Saturday) we left the camp at about 7:15, and caught a matatu back to Naivasha town, from where I found a matatu to Nakuru, from where I took a bus to Kisumu, and Sparky found a matatu to Nairobi. I made it into Kisumu around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, and made my way over to the Kisumu Beach Resort, where I had another wonderful shower, a cup of chai, and chatted with my friend Maira's father. In the evening I went with Maira's cousin - who has a mobile sound system and DJ's at clubs, weddings, birthdays, etc. - to a parent teacher's meeting. Sounds exciting eh? I was a bit confused as to why a parent teacher's meeting would hire a DJ, but it turned out that the 'meeting' was being held at a fairly nice outdoor restaurant, and was more of a party than a meeting :P It was for an international school here in Kisumu, so most of the parents were wealthy Ex-Pats from England. One of the ten richest Kenyans was there, as well as two Kenyan MP's - who are regarded as minor celebrities in Kenya, which is understandable considering their 6 figure salaries. I had a really good time listening to, and talking about music, talking politics, having a really good meal, and just chilling watching everyone. We didn't get back until after 3am this morning, so needless to say, I was pretty exhausted.
Today, I came into Kisumu town, checked out the open air market, and then made my way here to the cyber cafe. Tomorrow I will be booking my bus ticket to Kampala for Tuesday. I should be able to update some more from Kampala. I guess that's all I have for now. I am doing well, am well fed, and enjoying myself a great deal. :o)
Take care, and I shall see you all very very soon!
