This post is for those of you who might be feeling that I am living a glamorous and exotic life in the sunshine, while you suffer the ignominy of daily life. This is to reassure you that my life is not glamorous, at all. I’ve recently realised that there’s going to have to be a […]
Last week I visited Nasik, a city about a hundred miles, and 4-5 hours by road or rail, north-east of Mumbai. I took a rickshaw from Bandra to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, where I caught the train. For part of the journey I sat in a berth beside a family who were on their way to […]
I went to an InterNations event, taking a taxi from Bandra over the Sea Link suspension bridge to Worli village. I met Hitesh, we got along well and at around 1am when the event was finishing, he took me on a drive through the city. Surrounded by dark water and lights, Mumbai is incredibly beautiful […]
This pretty Catholic church is situated at the end of Hill Road in Bandra, and is lit by bright, upward-projecting lights.
I thought it might be interesting to write about some details of my everyday life now. My flat is a studio, one good-sized room with a bed and a kitchen at the end, with attached bathroom. The kitchen windows open out onto a wire cage, which prevents the birds coming in (in theory), and can […]
I’ve been quite busy in the past week or so acquiring a flat, and moving in. I live in a suburb called Bandra West now, which lies north of Mahim Creek and west of the railway line, beside the sea. I’ve been riding on the suburban trains, and doing a bit more wandering around and […]
I arrived yesterday and saw the sunshine and palm trees beckoning to me outside the airport. Had a very interesting taxi drive from the north of the city where the airport is into south Mumbai. Drove past the slum Dharavi, and saw in the distance the looming high-rises of the suburb Bandra. The drive took […]
On Tuesday I packed, played football and Lego with Peter, and walked through Kitengela for the last time, on its market day, saying goodbye to the litter-strewn streets and the roadworks rising out of the dust. I left Kitengela in the evening just after Storm Over Paradise had started. David drove me to the airport, and […]
My last day in Kenya. Strangely I feel a bit sick and nervous just like I did before I came here. It’s because the whole world is about to change for me… in the next 24 hours… and Nothing will be the same. I am also looking forward to it, to getting home and seeing […]
Just before sunset yesterday I left my hotel in Nkrumah Road, Mombasa. I took a tuktuk to the station, booked in and got onto the train. I tried to read my book during the one and a half hour wait that followed, as the train sat in the station, but it was far too hot […]
Today is Jamhuri Day, Independence day in Kenya. All the shops are closed, apart from the large supermarkets. Yesterday I walked to Fort Jesus and sat on the harbour wall looking out to sea. There are old, rusting canons strewn about everywhere around the Fort, even some laying on the small, rocky beach. And lots […]
Last week I spent my remaining time on Diani swimming in the sea, reading (Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace – incredible book!) and eating. In my delight at having a kitchen I cooked three large, warm meals per day, and put on lots of weight, reclaiming all the pounds I had lost during the previous […]
So much has happened in the past few days. The first thing is the weather has changed and is now so extremely hot that it’s worthy of comment. It began on Sunday afternoon, and through Monday it was almost unbearable. It probably sounds like a lot of fun to you who are stuck in winter-gripped […]
On Saturday I went on a marine safari to Kisite Marine Reserve. I got picked up in a private touring matatu from my cottage at 7.15am, and we drove along the strip picking up other passengers from their hotels. This also enabled me to see some of the other hotels along the strip – some […]
Four days ago I left Kitengela behind me, and set off alone into the big wide world. I took the matatu to Nairobi, but having caught it halfway along the road in Kitengela I didn’t realise it wasn’t from the matatu stand in town, but had come on a different route. This route ended up […]
All my bank problems have finally been resolved, and I am so happy! For a week I have had no access to any money… but now I have a new pin and my card is actually working in an ATM here in Kitengela! The good old Kenya Central Bank (KCB) has given me cash…! Now […]
Today I have returned to Kitengela. Sophie and I have been travelling for the past six days, we have seen and done so much, both been ill, crossed a border and got a new stamp in our passports, and are now very tired after the adventure. On Friday 6th we travelled from Kitengela to Kericho, […]
Last Sunday two things happened: there was a nationwide power cut across Kenya, and the rains finally arrived in (and flooded) Kitengela. The internet has been down since last Saturday so I am really excited that today I can blog again! It’s 4.25pm and I have just got back from school. Last weekend was quite […]
This week has been a taxing one with the children fighting over water at school because only a few of them have anything to drink. Sylvia and I bought backpacks, uniforms, pencil cases and books for Benjamin and Ndola. We gave them to the boys in the school’s small library on Thursday; I was watching […]