8th August

We got to camp late on the night of the 6^th.

Our driver Malisa got off at a place called Kisulu earlier that day. Alex then took over the driving. After 10 minutes he drove us into a ditch. Enough said.

The final stretch of our journey to camp we encountered somewhat of a difficulty. At the final turn off for our camp there was a group of roughly 60 workers digging ditches to lay piping that would lead from one obscure place to another. Unforturately they were doing this across what was apparently our road. Therefore there was a ditch of about 2 feet wide and 5 foot deep… It was very dark and to cut a long story short Alex had to pay them a fiver to fill it up so we could drive across it. However, Alex said to me “you should get a picture of this!”. So off I went to get my camera. When I came back I lined myself up for a shot. As soon as my flash started to flicker there was an immediate uproar. All the workers started shouting and about 5 of them rushed towards me, fairly angrily. F*ck. They surrounded me and continued shouting every now and again pointing to my camera. By this point I was concerned for the safety of my camera. Obviously they did not appreciate being photographed – thanks Alex..! After about 10 minutes of negotiating Alex finally managed to calm them down and convince them I hadn’t taken a photo and we crossed the ditch and got the hell out of there!

The day of the 7^th was spent at camp acclimatising and doing odd jobs.

This morning Alex, Samantha and Simon left camp. They’re gone for 3 days to the local town. As a result I am the only white person at the camp. My Swahili is pretty terrible still which means any conversation is very short.

Today was also my first day of work, I left the camp at 7:30 am with the senior field assistant who thankfully knows some English. It was a good day, didn’t have to do too much walking though there is no such thing as a flat stretch here, its either up or down it seems. We got back to camp about 2 pm, which was much earlier than I expected so I decided to try and build a bed. Much harder than it sounds I assure you. We definitely take the craftsmanship of beds for granted! 2 hours later and the structure is complete, only it is very wobbly.. It is made of bamboo and is two A frames connected by two long poles. Good in theory I spose. Tomorrow I will try and make it less wobbly by incorporating some big ass nails. Wish me luck.

Me, Alex and some of the camps field assistants (fully loaded Tinker in backdrop)

A female Agama lizard

a big ass millipede

The wealth of natural life here is ridiculous. There are countless species of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, lizards and birds that I have so far been privy to experiencing. I may have to bore you with some photos.