Treve & Katrina Travel The World

Hello everyone from down-town Nairobbery!

This is the first installment of our web-based travelogue that we'll try to keep up to date. Rather than spam everyone with huge, boring e-mails we'll post our diaries here, so please check in from time to time if you're interested in what we've been up to on our travels. Many thanks to Chris for setting this up for us.

Well, we finally made it out of the UK, despite complete chaos getting our house let before we left.

Nervous smiles just before boarding the plane at Heathrow!

Here is a brief itinerary of our trip:
June: Travelling around Kenya, using Jamie & Lians' place as a base
July to August: Travelling from Kenya, through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia & finally ending up in Cape Town in South Africa. We'll be travelling to Victoria Falls independently and continuing to Cape Town using an overland trip (more to follow).
September: 5 days in Hong Kong, followed by 1 month in Thailand (& hopefully Vietnam).
October to mid-December: Australia. Starting in Sydney & travelling up to Cairns and back to Brisbane.
Mid-December to mid-January: New Zealand.
Mid-January to mid-February: California. Travelling from Los Angeles up to San Francisco, hopefully via Yosemite Park and Lake Tahoe (for some skiing!)
Mid-February to mid-March: Mexico to see the Mayan temples, etc. and hopefully get across to Cuba for a couple of weeks (before Castro kicks the bucket!)

It has been a strange first week. We certainly felt like rabbits in headlights when we arrived at the airport (though not as bad as the first time we came, 3 years ago). Jamie (Katrina's brother) & Lians' certainly helped us to feel more at ease, as it's very western in appearance with a lovely green garden (with security guard and electric fence). The house is situated in a very affluent area surrounded by a forest called Kileleshwa.

The view from Jamie & Lians' patio

Spent the first day being shown around Jamie's office, before sneaking off to the cafe to watch the Lions rugby game on a massive TV.

The next day we ventured out of the house for the first time on our own. Sounds pathetic really, but Nairobi has such a reputation that it almost puts you off walking anywhere. So, we took the bull by the horns and wandered up the hill to the local shopping centre for a coffee and samosas. Very brave of us!

On Friday, we went out to visit the farms with Jamie, whose company imports beans, peas, etc. into Holland for the supermarkets.

Jamie discussing business with the farmers

The farms were situated in a poor region to the south of Nairobi. While poor in terms of money, they are rich in terms of natural beauty and spirit.

Ladies washing (themselves?) in the stream

The surrounding hills are reminiscent of a tropical Switzerland, with banana plants, coffee plantations and neat fields of maize and beans.

Terracing of fields introduced by the Brits

As usual, we were the centre of attention when the local school kicked-out. A few nervous handshakes soon eased the atmosphere!

Kicking-out time at the local school

Saturday saw us brave Nairobi town centre for the first time. Lian dropped us off at the shopping mall and left us to our own devices. We visited the craft market outside and were immediately accosted by the stall-holders who were desperate to sell their carved animals and jewellary. It's quite tough to fend off these guys, but we were successful in coming away empty-handed! It's too early in the trip to be buying trinkets!

Yesterday, we drove to the Ngong Hills about 1 hour from the centre of Nairobi. We drove there via Karen, the town made famous by Karen Blixen (the central character in the film Out of Africa). It's an affluent rural town, fulls of 'mzungus' (as us whites are called out here). The Ngong hills offer a breath-taking view of the Great Rift Valley.

Looking out over the Great Rift Valley

Katrina & Lian spent the afternoon painting the view, while Jamie & I supped on Cokes!

Some painting, some relaxing!

Today, we've been extremely brave by walking on our own (yes, on our own!) into Nairobi city centre. Once we close up shop here, we're off to the Norfolk Hotel (the oldest colonial hotel) for lunch. As you can tell, we're really slumming it!!

On Wednesday, we're all driving down the coast to Mombassa, where we've rented a beachside cottage for a few days. After the weekend, Jamie & Lian will be leaving us down there to fend for ourselves for a few days before we take the bus back up to Nairobi (gulp!!) Then it'll be time for us to pack our bags, leave Nairobi and begin the next leg down to Arusha in Tanzania (where the travelling really begins!!)

Well guys & girls, we'll sign off for now. Hope you enjoyed the first installment and will continue to check in from time to time.