Getting higher!

Dry Night

A huge sigh of relief was made this morning after there was no bad weather and we all woke up in nice dry tents, even though there was thunder and lighting glooming in the distance, Karen "Boss" Askwith didn't let us go soft and made us stay outside. After we awoke, without puddles or floods, we set off back to work, meeting the schoolchildren along the way and the rest day team set off to lake Bogoria after breakfast. Because of the last two storms, today was the hottest day we had since the start of the expedition, which had made it hard work on the building teams, although plenty of rest was taken and a good amount of work was done. The timbers had arrived today and we had door number 1 put in. Scaffolding was put up all around the classroom and the kitchen was looking promising at about 3 foot high. Me Lotti and Janet went into Marigat to buy fruit and supplies. Once the rest day team returned and the building team had finished, we all sat down and enjoyed some surprisingly nice goat stew, cooked up by the catering team. Tonight we have lined up for us, a campfire by lanterns and then dry beds! Thankyou for reading!

Jack

Rory and Tiptop's adventures

Rory the Lion and Tiptop have their own blog please follow to keep updated on their adventures with John Don!

http://rorysminiadventures.blogspot.com/

We have a door!!!

Monday 29 July

Well today was another unexpected start, rain in Africa? Who could have dreamt this up! Though in an attempt to sound less British talking about the rubbish weather, back to the point of this expedition.. Which is clearly the amazing food and wonderful company.

Well maybe not the food, though at least we are getting there!  Company couldn't be better, seems all the training weekends have paid off when it comes to being sociable and enthusiastic; apart from the leaders that is, who clearly must think we smell too bad to mix with before we have evening showers.

I suppose the other smaller reason for us being here would be the building.. which everyone will be happy to know is going really well! We are steaming ahead on the gable end, and have the window wall up to the same height, with scaffolding (built with the graft and sweat of Dave "Fifi" Fionda..) along two walls.  The door side is proving a little more tricky, but who needs a rectangular door anyway, let's just build it Art Nouveau, it's all the craze in southern Spain.

As we are doing so well with the classroom we have started on the kitchen block, it's a nice shaded spot to work in and we were even serenaded by the school children at lunchtime as they repeated back our scout songs, "Camel Train" seems to be their favourite.

As most were building, or catering, or being lazy on their rest day, there was a small group, ably led by John "Scout" Yardley to dig an intricate network of trenches to (hopefully) protect our tents from any further rain.  Fingers crossed for tonight!!

Oh dear, would seem we are too British, as we are finding it rather difficult to stay on topic with the build, and not go onto a large rant about the inconsistencies of this weather so we had better wrap it up now.

Lotti (and Max - Spellchecker extraordinaire )

Thunder and Sleeplessness

Most, if not all, of the expedition assumed that today would begin with the usual routine - waking up at sunrise, having a snack and heading off the the building site unless their team was on catering duty or a rest day. The reality was much different: a thunderstorm with torrential rain just after midnight brought forward the start of the day. Everyone was ushered inside the barn and were told to grab anything in the porch of our tents as they were at dire risk of being drenched. The place we'd been eating in for the past few days was transformed into a temporary bedroom, with people sprawled out in every corner. The rain persisted for several more hours with peals of thunder breaking up the deafening downpour of rain on the corrugated roof.

The time we'd all assumed we'd be getting up came around with the usual dose of insects and sudden light. A wake up call of African radio coming from the house opposite our campsite roused those not stirred by the light from their poor sleep. Despite the miserable circumstances during the night, many were laughing at the night's turmoil by breakfast.

Work started a later than usual on the building site - at 10am rather than 7. The conditions were a little more uncomfortable than previous days thanks  to the immense humidity and typically high temperatures. Some team members from teams 1 and 4 chose to attend mass in the mission's church: a three hour service in Swahili which appeared to  form the foundations of the community.

Lunch and the long break that followed was a welcome relief from the heat for all teams. Games of cards were the primary source of entertainment for many, with others writing journals or sitting quietly to compensate for their lack of sleep. 

Work restarted in the slightly cooler but still sunny afternoon. Progress on the build was quite rapid considering the universal lack of sleep and soon enough it was time to head back over to the campsite for tea.

After our evening meal, the usual routine of card games, mini board games and talking resumed. All seemed to be well until the first peal of thunder echoed across the chatter. We all hoped that it was simply a clatter of pans or a faulty engine, but with a second peal we all knew that another storm was setting in.

As I write this, the rain is bouncing off the  barn roof and lightening illuminates the sky every few seconds. I only hope it is a shorter storm.

Sarah

Tea time part 2!!!

Tea time!!

End of day 3!!!

Day 3 of the build: Making friends!

Day 2: At work:

Day 1 progress photograph

A Tale of Two Scotties

Errrm...well it's rather hot! Today we built up the walls of the school a few more courses while my sister (and her team) was being lazy and relaxing all day long in a spa. The classroom is coming along very nicely with lots of help from the other teams except the caterers who were busy making us lots of nice food. Some of the group went in to Marigat to have a look around. However I was very hot and decided to go for a cold shower instead. After the shower we had our lovely dinner of chicken curry. Now after the sun went in and all the insects came out we changed into our long clothes. The group are looking for another day of blood sweat and tears.

          Signed by the great Tom Scott

...Meanwhile team 1 were off to Lake Bogoria spa resort to enjoy the first of our relaxation days which was about half an hour away. However, the journey took slightly longer than planned due to the number of potholes and cows blocking our way! The spa was very relaxing, we spent the day in the warm spa pool swimming and playing water polo as well as resting in the sun. The rest day also gave us a chance to get a proper wash in an actual shower as well as a nice plate of steak and chips! Tomorrow it's back to the building site... 

Signed by the greater Rachel Scott

First real day

As yesterday was mostly spent travelling, today was our first day that we really felt that the expedition had begun. This morning, we awoke to a loud chorus of Kenyan insects making noise outside, after our treat of a sleep in! Being on the catering team for today, I still haven't seen the build site, but instead spent the day building up the fire, making food and endlessly purifying water. Kenya is absolutely amazing and feels so different from home. On the drive here we saw a variety of wildlife, including zebras on the side of the road! We are all thoroughly looking forward to get back to ( or begin ) building. The people here are wonderfull and the children treat you like you are from another planet, and love touching your hands. The weather is boiling, but cools down to a nice cooler temperature at night. All in all I would have to sum up my experience so far as follows, its being an amazing first few days that I will never forget.

Philip

Let the building begin!

Evening!!!
The building has started!!
The first bricks have been laid!
We have also been treated to a performance from the younger children. We taught them a few Scouting songs in return!

We have having a few technical issues with our computers, so I can't get photographs up at the moment. Hope to get that sorted and get some reports from other team members soon.

Paul.

We have arrived!

Jambo

We have all arrived safely, now tea is over time for a quick wash and an early night ready for work tomorrow.

Lauren.

Waiting to check in

Woodall services

Our leader and her pride.

A19 so far

June 2013 Newsletter

Training Weekend 5 - 7 July 2013

Cluck Cluck Cluck... A cracking weekend was had by all who attended our final training weekend at roasting Ravengill Scout Campsite, Commondale. Our weather was far from foul as a few members’ pinking complexions demonstrated. We also welcomed the arrival of our newest team member, our resident pet and dinnertime entertainment for the weekend: hen, Boomerang. Why ‘Boomerang’? Because she just kept on coming back.

No one played chicken as camp commenced on Friday night in the usual manner; in case camping with the Scouts isn’t familiar to you that means in some shape or form the poles for the tents don’t match the canvas or the poles don’t match each other or some similar issue; we weren’t disappointed. Eventually our camp was pitched and our activities could progress. Some Frisbee throwing, flag break, refreshments and fifty thousand slides later (or so it seemed) and that was our Friday evening complete.

Saturday commenced for me at 7am with the sound of Jack’s alarm clock three times and then Jack waking up and complaining that his alarm hadn’t gone off! There was no need for anyone to be cooped up indoors as we all set to work at 7.30am! Various teams were spread around Commondale campsite doing tasks such as: packing the equipment that will be used by all whilst we are in the African Rift Valley, including about 462 tea towels; completing the paving for the patio behind the Centenary Centre which we started at one of our earlier training weekends; building foundations for some new huts to be erected at Commondale Campsite very soon; mixing cement by hand (of course!); bricklaying and rendering practice and one lucky team had been up earlier than everyone else (well most of the team – I assume)  and were cooking breakfast.

Everyone plucked on as the rest of the day followed a similar style as that from sunrise, with teams rotating around the various activities listed above during the day.

As evening arrived and dinner time passed the team were egging each other on in some competitive Dodge Ball and Ultimate Frisbee. Referees Craig and David ensured there wasn’t hennybody getting in a flap as we all yolked around.

Our campfire made many a member of the expedition team crack up as we sang and danced around. In bed we would then lay until the arrival of our final training day.

A final few hours of training and the striking of camp marked the end of a quacking weekend training session in Commondale.

Ciao from your Feathered Friend

Alex Crow