More tales from africa (bullet point version)

[elfy]

* My camera is broken. As in, completely. I lost it yesterday evening without noticing it, it fell out of a matatu (mini-busses used everywhere here, kind of like private taxis). Only because of much luck I got it back around an our later. A conductor of another matatu had seen it fall an knew the driver of the matatu I was in and contacted him. Unfortunately before he picked it up someone stepped on it or it was run over, I'm not sure. So, my camera is basically squished and unusable. Which is bad, because I really need to take more pictures next week, not only for me, but for the project. I have an insurance for it, but I can't really wait until I get back to germany. It's bad it has to happen now, but honestly, I'm very, very lucky I got it back and this was got back the SD Card with all the pictures I took yesterday, because ...

* I've been finally out of the city! It was and will be the only trip out of Nairobi and except the above thing it was really nice. We went to Lake Naivasha and had a little boat tour there, then a walk up to the border of a crater. We saw zebras and giraffes and many more animals (no cheetas or anything like that, unfortunately), pictures will follow (IF the card still works, haven't tried it yet, I have to admit).

* The people here are all really religious. 80% are christians and all the students I've talked to go to church every sunday and were very surprised to hear that we are all atheists or at least not serious at all about our religion.

* I've been to two slums, Kangemi and Kibera. The last one is the biggest slum in east africa and has an estimated inhabitants of over a million people. It's a kind of poverty there you can't really imagine until you've seen it. I took pictures which I'll show later. We've always stayed on the 'main road' and I can't say I felt threatened, even if we were told to be very careful and not to take pictures openly, especially in certain areas. It's strange that this part of the city is still, well, just like any other city-district. It got schools, there are shops, most people wear clothes you wouldn't expect in a slum, but for example they actually *do* pay rent for the little huts they live in.

* I get the whole two weeks at the ymca paid! Yay! :D

* And last but not least, a picture of our group (part of it, actually):

Comments

[vanita.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I hope the card is still working and that the insurance company won't bitch at you.
Thanks for the exciting update!

[al-pha.livejournal.com]

Das hört sich alles sehr interessant an. Danke für's Posten.
Ich weiß ja nicht, ob das geht, aber manchmal kann man sich in Fotoläden (ist da einer?) Kameras leihen.
Hoffe, daß die Karte noch geht.

[poisonbeatrice.livejournal.com]

You look stunning : )

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

I think she has a specific grin for formal photos :-)

[cos]

Lake Naivasha was my favorite place for wildlife of all the places that I went to! Especially Crescent Island (not really an island). Did you have a chance to go there? I have more than ten films of photos from there, but they're all prints and I have only scanned a few of them (and don't have a scanner anymore).

My camera battery ran out in the middle of the day we walked on Crescent Island. We were at the furthest point out, getting ready to slowly head back. There was no way to get a new battery and still have time to return, so that was it for photos for the day. I missed so much good stuff, including hanging out with more giraffes later in the afternoon. Plus, the place we were staying at that night was tourist-oriented, which meant it had a shop that sold camera batteries (lucky) but they cost more than twice as much as in the US. Everything else was so cheap, I spent more on that battery than the two of us spent on food that whole week.

We didn't go to Longonot (which is the crater I think you went to?) but we spent a day walking in nearby Hell's Gate which is the only place we saw ostriches while on foot. That's one of the special things about that area, Crescent Island and Hell's Gate do not have cheetahs or water buffalo or lions, if they did they wouldn't let you walk on foot there. Most of the other national parks require you drive, they won't let you in the park on foot.

P.S. Some Nairobi matatus:

[mopese.livejournal.com]

Schön, dass es dir gut geht... doof, dass es der Kamera schlecht. Geht. Hmhm. Aber das wird schon und deinen Spaß hast du hoffentlich auch so. Bringst du mir das blonde Mädel mit? ;D

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Wow.

[gaharr.livejournal.com]

Hey, nice to hear from you, good to know you are well.
Shame your camera is broken, hope you still manage to do whatever you needed the pictures for.

Also,I'd be interested in the photos you took in the slums.

*hug*

[majinaraparticl.livejournal.com]

Somehow most people I know have bad luck with their cameras on trips to foreign countries. Great that you still have the photos though.

[fuchs.livejournal.com]

Spannnnend! Und ja, nen Slum-Bericht würd ich auch gerne sehen.