Sunday, after a week without internets, some exciting developments

Blog 28/02/10

Well, I haven’t updated for a while. Mainly because we have not had internet at the Guest house since about Tuesday I think, possibly Monday. Anyway, I’ve had to go to Java and places like that to check emails, and as I’m been uber busy with trying to do museum stuff I haven’t had the chance to update. Not that there has been much to update about really.
I’m staying longer, that I think we knew already. Well, technically coming back anyway. I have to pay for my flight as I’m coming home, because they can only pay for one return flight. So I’m thinking end of March or beginning of April I’ll be coming back over here. I’ll have a lot to do to get ready for the opening of the museum, so I’ll need a couple of weeks. As for going back to the UK afterwards, well, that’s anyone’s guess! :) I’m going to be an attachee until the end of May, after which I will go off and do my own research for a couple of weeks. Quite looking forward to planning that. Then I’m not sure really. I’m trying to see if I can stay to do fieldwork. Ignacio is going to Olduvai in July, and if he can get money to fund me then I’ll be going there. I think if that happens then I’ll go back to the UK when that finishes, be around for August, and then go off to Spain if I can afford it. Otherwise, I met Daryl Stump last week, and he’s digging in Engaruka (Tanzania) in July/Aug and might have money for supervisors, so I just have to send him my CV and hope that I come across as supervisor material. And then Ceri Ashley is excavating in August, so I might be able to go and work on that. It all depends really. Hopefully I should have a better idea of what I might be doing and be able to book a flight before I go back to the UK this time.

Right now I am in Makutano again. I caught the bus up to Kitale yesterday and was so glad I had decided to stay in Kitale for the night already. Otherwise I would have had to find somewhere to stay with no preparation as we arrived near enough to 7pm. For a start we were meant to leave Nairobi at 8.30 and we didn’t leave until nearly 9am. Then we seemed to be going really slow a lot of the time, and we ended up sat in traffic, I think because the road was closed, and as it had been raining there was a huuuge puddle on the dirt diversion road which meant only single file traffic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had been stuck at some point as well, making it an even longer queue. Then we stopped in Nakuru and Eldoret along the way. We didn’t arrive at Eldoret until quite late so I figured it might still be a while, and then at about 4.30 we stopped on the side of the road. I didn’t know what was going on for a while, but in the end my legs needed stretching and we’d been sat there for a while so I got off the bus (quite a few people had already). It seems that we had somehow hit a car. Well, there was a car parked in front of the bus, with a large red paint smeared dent in the side at the back (the bus was red & white). It seemed that the car passengers were rather angry, and neither party wanted to admit it was their fault. Finally they exchanged details and we got on the road again sometime after 5.15pm! I was contemplating catching a matatu, and one had stopped and picked up one guy and still had space so was waiting around to see if anyone else was going to join him when it was all sorted and we were being ushered back onto the bus.

So that was a fun journey. When I arrived in Kitale I was offered a taxi, and I didn’t even haggle on the price. Probably should have done, it was about right by Nairobi standards but I believe it probably should have been cheaper up here. Anyway, it got me to the Karibuni Lodge, which is a charming backpackers place run by an English lady and a Kenyan guy. Oh arse, low battery and now the power has gone. Anyway, as I was saying, lovely place. I had a single room which was 1300ksh including breakfast. Fairly pricey, but it was beautiful. They do have dorms and I think camping too so next time if I’m on a tight budgie I might stay in the dorm or camp. My room was off down a little dirt track. It was like a banda, but made from a wooden frame with woven matting walls, and I think bamboo or something like that for the roof, but I can’t really remember. It was lovely, really nicely decorated with lots of calabashes and lanterns and stuff. The bed was a double and had lovely cushions and a really nice warm looking blanket over the duvet (it did get a bit nippy at night). It had lamps on either side, and a light switch for the overhead lights dangling above the bed so you didn’t have to go all the way to the door to turn it off. It had a decent mirror and a hanging space with hangers for clothes, and this was all cordoned off in the bedroom compartment through a door. The main door to the room led into a little area with tea & coffee making facilities (if I’d stayed longer and had milk I would have taken advantage) as well as drinking water, all on a little desk with a plug socket which already had an adapter there in case of different plugs! It had a chair, big open windows which you closed with blinds made from matting as well as curtains, and a nice wicker sofa which was small but could probably still have sat 2 people. Then outside was an adjoining bathroom with composting toilet, large bucket of sawdust, magazines (awesome) and shower area with electric shower and huge soft towels. There was also a shower block just across from my room, with 3 wood fired hot showers, more eco-friendly that electric I presume, which was where I showered this morning. Apologies if I am gushing, but you just don’t get this in Kenya. Not for that price anyway!!! Then I was shown into the main building. There was a kitchen where they would cook pretty much anything you liked, a dining room, a large living room with tv and huge bookshelves (containing all but New Moon of the Twilight books – I might bring my copy up and donate it when I come back – as well as the Dark Towers series by Stephen King which Leila, Dave, James and I had been talking about on Friday night, as well as loads of other interesting titles) and a gorgeous veranda with a large dining table as well as a comfy seating area which overlooked the garden and is where you take breakfast. They have an assortment of animals, dogs, cats, and three pet sheep which I think are in addition to some sheep they keep for eating, and countless creatures, and birds, that made scritching scratching noises all through the night.
Anyway, it was a lovely place to stay, and I will definitely be going back, even if I did have to tie up a hole in the mossie net, and even though there were spider webs in the composting toilet (sit down and hope that the spiders don’t feel like crawling up onto your bum!) and at the corner of the mattress (tuck mossie net between me and web). Theresa made me soup when I arrived, which was delicious, and apparently Ibrahim was a chef for the Sheraton in Nairobi or somewhere equally as impressive, and his food is delicious.

Sadly I had to leave the lodge this morning. Ibrahim called me a boda boda, although I was tempted to walk but it’s 2kms and my bag was feeling heavy and the boda boda was only 50bob. So I did that instead. He was very good actually, I was a little nervous as it had obviously rained during the night and the majority of the roads were dirt roads, but he drove so slowly and carefully so I tipped him an extra 10 when I got off. I was also wearing a skirt (I hadn’t planned for the boda boda) so trying to get on and keep as much of my legs covered as possible was interesting! So anyway, I went to a supermarket and bought some toothpaste – the tiniest tube I’ve ever seen. Then I wandered back down the road to the Kitale Museum. I was meant to be looking at the Pokot display, but there was actually only about 2 pokot items there, which was a little disappointing. Leila had seemed sure I should go and have a look! But the crocodile pit and the snakes outside were fun. And I took photos of the early man part of the museum for my future interest. The dinosaur part was funny as well, I’ll have to wait until I get back to the UK to put the photos up tho as I didn’t have the memory card with me so had to put them on the camera memory, and I don’t have the cables with me.
Then I walked back up to the matatu stand, thinking I’d seen all the market there was, and then as the matatu left I realised there was a whole other section the other side of the stand. Darn. I might see if I can check it out some other time. I caught the matatu to Kapenguria and got off at Makutano. I suppose I could have gone on to Kap and had a look at the museum, but I didn’t. I came to the hotel instead and got given 106 which has a nice hot shower, which would be great except there doesn’t seem to be water. Ha, inside at least. So I went for a wander around Makutano market and bought a couple of gifty things, and then walked along to the gift shop I had seen on the way into town on the matatu. It had started to rain rather a lot by this point, so I reached a gift shop, although it wasn’t the one I saw from the matatu, and went in and bought up a load of stuff to give as presents. I really liked the stuff I bought actually, but I don’t think I can carry much more with me so I might just wait and get more things for me when I come back. Look! How selfless, presents for other people first. :)
I came back to the hotel and have been meandering around the room ever since. The power went, and the laptop battery died, but the power is back now so now I can get some work done. The rain is quite constant though, and it’s a bit colder than I expected! When it’s not raining it’s quite warm, when it’s sunny it’s blimmin hot, but it just seems to be raining at the moment. And I didn’t bring my raincoat. And I’m getting peckish and really fancy some tea. Brr. Ah well, I shall eat my last little packet of biscuits and hope that Matt arrives back soon.

As for the rest of last week, well, not really much happened. I rushed around trying to get things done, getting frustrated! I made macaroni cheese weds evening when Sarah came round for dinner, which everyone (apart from Leila who thinks she has a wheat allergy) ate, including ‘Dave-Ugh no not macaroni cheese, can’t stand the stuff, tastes and looks like vomit –Conway’. Ha. [on a separate and rather off topic note, when I first realised Dave’s surname was Conway after knowing he went to uni in Oxford, I had a brief thought process whereby I thought that Leo also had a brother called David (I think) and wondered if they were related, until I realised that Dave actually from Oop North. Silly Jessica]
We also had a rather good night on Friday night. Dave, James & I went to Upper Hill campsite for dinner and a few beers, and had a rather good evening. Met some really nice people :) and a crazy American lady who was really just rather annoying. Heh. But yes, very good evening. :)

Now, I suppose I should get something work related done as there is power and I have nowt else to do. I won’t connect to the internet now though. Maybe later, but I’ll probably just post this in a couple of days time. I have a dongle, but to connect to the internet I have to put my phone sim card into it, and it’s such a palaver. Also I want to preserve my credit for the moment. Gosh, I don’t half ramble don’t I!

Update 28/2/10
In a fascinating development.... or possibly not, we moved hotels. I had a call from Matt at about 5.45 as the car had broken down just outside makutano, asking if the water was back yet. It wasn’t, so he asked me to check out the lodge down the road next to the place we have dinner. Very convenient. Turns out they had 6 free rooms, all with hot showers and running water, and some with interesting interior design (the woman who is taking core samples whose name I can’t remember, has a room with an animal print blanket and a fancy multi-coloured crystally lightshade. Mine just has a bare bulb!). So we moved all our stuff from one hotel to the other, and then I waited around while the others had showers and a plumber tried to fix my toilet, flooding my room in the process. Then we went for dinner (such a long way to walk, all of two paces between the doors) and then took a random short-cut and tried out a new pub which had very loud music.
Anyway, long boring story, cut slightly shorter. I spoke to Matt about Nacho’s question about funding applications. He said it isn’t too late, but that he wouldn’t be at the top of the list for funding a second time around for the same thing because he got it last year, but that the likelihood of the other applications not being very good and so his being picked anyway was quite good. And then when I said it was so I could go Matt said, well, first he said that he would block the application if it was for me. And then he said that actually he could probably push it through on the grounds that it is a good investment and a continuing investment in one of their attachees. So yay! I might be going to excavate at Olduvai Gorge this summer! Oooh, the possibilities.

Right, I should probably send an email now, and then get to bed. I am so so tired. Not too early a start in the morning though. I only need to get up at 7.30. Oh, and then after our meeting at the museum, or, well, my day at the museum. I’m going to get up mega early on Tuesday morning to catch a matatu to Kitale to get me there in time to get a ticket and get the bus to Nairobi. Although part of me thinks it might actually be quicker to catch matatus. Lets just hope I don’t have a crappy slow bus like last time, although I think the rain may have slowed things down a bit. Which, by the way, it is still doing. Raining that is, not slowing things down. Although it might be doing that too.