Kaj nanu Namunyak. My Maasai name is Namunyak (meaning blessings). Mum’s name is Naisharua (meaning to give). Saikerie is absolutely amazing and mum absolutely loved it. I have spent time in the Maasai, but no so deep into their native land. It really is so very beautiful. It took us an hour riding on a piki piki (motorbike). It was slow and very dusty stumbling over very rocky roads and dry landscapes. Each time I visit these tribes, the highlight of my ride is seeing the numerous random red spots of red from the Maasai’s dress amongst the bush. I then notice the goats and cattle. 3 days was not enough. 6 weeks in Kenya for mum is not. Mum would love to have spent more time out there, more time in Kenya, I am stoked how much she is loving it here – next time! We spent Sunday relaxing, getting to know the other volunteers and wandering up the back valley to watch the sunset. Monday morning we helped Carina (another volunteer) with a class of students reading and writing letters – they love screaming ‘teacher, teacher’, especially to mum, and the reaction on their faces when they found out how old she is, was priceless! They gasped and said ‘oh, you are sooo old’. The average age the Maasai people die is 45 – 50. And mum is 58 and going strong. They were fascinated. In the afternoon of Monday, we spent time in the clinic, which was very quiet but well equipped for such an isolated area. Maggie, our host mum is 30 and absolutely incredible and dedicated to helping the Maasai people – her own tribe. She is a nurse and has the respect of Mother Theresa. When she was younger, Maggie used to walk hours to school every morning and every night – she was one of only 3 in her class that went to high school and the only one in the entire region that made it to college (thanks to a random, very lucky sponsorship). She is now saving money to study at University. She will then return to Saikerie to live and work the life she loves. Tuesday was a big clinic day – in the morning they had children from the school and locals do general checkups funded by an American company. Mum (of course and once again) was one of the first to jump in and help. It’s fantastic to see her enjoy anything to do with her medical background again. And the kids loved being assessed (their height) by an ancient lady. :-) Tuesday and Friday are also market days, so we made our way to tiny Saikerie town to buy a few trinkets. One thing I wanted to do was buy Maasai goods in the Maasai. Knowing the money went exactly where it was supposed to and to whom made it meant a lot. We barely walked up to the vicinity before Mum was absolutely swarmed by Maasai ladies in full dress taking off their own jewellery and placing it around her neck and wrist. She was completely overwhelmed by the attention. Extremely funny and heart warming to watch. We bought a number of necklaces and bracelets to give to friends and also to hopefully auction at an event – we have some very beautiful pieces and what makes them more special is that every one of them was hand made by the very person wearing them. Which each piece we pointed to (or didn’t’), they literally took it off their body and placed it on ours. Most of them didn’t speak English which made it fun and challenging, but others were around to help. I wish I had a video camera handy when mum did a mini Massai dance with the ladies when they covered her in necklaces (pictured). Bloody brilliant!! On the walk back mum and I were engulfed by a giant whirl wind! It almost took my hat and as though we weren’t dusty enough already, it covered us in a whole heap of different crap – we laughed the rest of the walk home. I’ve decided that I might just have to do all my travelling with mum moving forward. She has been so incredibly well looked after here; I’ve quickly become accustomed to saying ‘I’m with her’. There really was no need for me to concerned or so protective of her being here – she really is part of the Kenyan family and quickly adapted to their way of life. Every day I am impressed with how easily she fits in. On our last night in Maasai land we heard hyenas – freaky sounding creatures and we also learnt that there are 3 lions that live within 10 kilometres of the camp, we did, however feel completely safe – Joseph, the Massai night watchman had us covered! There is a short fence that surrounds the compound, that isn’t much, but enough of a deterrent to keep out the nasties. We are now back in the real and busy world of Nairobi. We got in at about 3.30 then shot straight over to The Grace Academy where Fremo (and 2 other volunteers – Gavin and Sarah) were holding 2 day free medical camp. Mum and I jumped straight in doing blood pressure and HIV testing. I was sorry we didn’t make both days (it started Monday) but it was an amazing success. We had dinner and discussed what to do moving forward to help Fremo’s Medical Clinic when we get home. It’s good to back with a bunch of people also leaving soon, but sad reality when it hits us we too are leaving in less than a week. I have so very much to do – I want to stay (and so does mum) but know we can’t. Not this trip – Dad I promise I’ll get her on the plane for you! It was great chatting to you briefly the other day, I am sorry the reception was so bad. The last week has been extremely tough. We have had many goodbyes’ 2 of which were extremely hard! Jane and James – both members of ‘the family’! There are 4 of us that became very close over the past 4 months – Jane, James, Adam and myself (pictured). Mum was also very quickly initialised as a special member. It breaks my heart every time I visit the IDP people without Jane and go to bed without a hug from James. Adam and I desperately miss you guys – hope we can organise to reunite sooner than later. X So going briefly back to last week – there was one particular day that was unbelievable. Mum, a couple of other volunteers and me spent the day visiting a number of animal parks and places. First we went to the Elephant orphanage which was brilliant – the first babies we saw were less than 12 months old and so damn cute – they were so tiny and playful. The next lot were over 2 years old and we heard them before we saw them racing towards us and the trainers with their bottle feed. Boy they can drink and tempers! Whoa, you can see in the video where one of them was told off, so it threw a tanty and knocked over the water. A lot of fun. We were there for just under an hour before going to the Giraffe centre. Now this place was a real treat. You pay a small fee to enter then you are given as many pellets as you like to feed the Giraffe. To see them in the wild is one thing, but to see them so close up and have them kiss you is absolutely incredible. Mum wouldn’t’ bloody stop, she must have kissed the damn thing 8 or 9 times (seriously) before the line of other tourists become long and wanted to have a turn……. You simply can’t describe a Giraffe tongue and slobber. Eeeewwww! Watching them part their legs to eat something from the ground is also funny. Something everyone must do if you ever make it to Kenya! We then had 2 for 1 pizza’s for lunch before entering Nairobi National Park. We wandered the park for a few hours. We saw Giraffe, Zebra, Ostrich, Warthog, Monkeys, Gazelle’s, Baboons and various birds. It was nice wandering around in the clean open air, even if some of the animals we saw from a distance. The last 5 weeks with mum have been incredible. I will fit in another post before we leave. I love (we love) Kenya! Mamma J says hi! :-)