Kenya Trip

Date: 12-28 June, 2013

I can finally check Africa off my bucket list. To anyone who enjoys travelling as much as I do, I strongly recommend at least going to Africa once, and probably fall in love with the place like I did.

I decided to travel to Kenya with my school. It was an opportunity that I could not pass up. We stayed at Daraja Academy for 1 week, then we were on two safaris for the rest of the trip. There is so much I can talk about: the people, the landscape, the wildlife. I didn't know what I was expecting when I first signed up for the trip, but it was an adventure I will never forget.

Daraja Academy

Daraja Academy is an all-girls, boarding secondary school in Kenya "for girls with exceptional leadership skills, strong scores, and no financial means to continue their education past primary school". The girls, who come from all over Kenya and represent ~30 tribes, receive a full 4-year scholarship at the school.

My high school has been involved with the development of Daraja Academy for quite some years already. I have helped with fundraisers, but wasn't very committed to the cause. All this has changed since the trip. I can talk forever about my stay at Daraja, so here goes.

As a quite and shy person, I was overwhelmed by the girls attacking us with hugs. We arrived late, well past their lights out time (the school can only afford 4 hours of electricity every day), but they stayed up to welcome us. I was kind of freaked out by it, but it just shows how happy they were that we visited.

Throughout the week, we shadowed the girls, we tutored them, we did volunteer work around the campus, played many games, and went on field trips with them. But nothing beats the friendships we made during our stay. The girls are so open about themselves, and they are so genuine. Listening to their stories, I'm thankful that I'm so fortunate, but I also felt ashamed. The things they consider as luxuries, I take for granted (electricity, education, food, clean water, AC/heater...) since I grew up having so much more compared to most of them. However, this by no means make them any less happy or smart. They are wicked smart, and will definitely achieve their hopes and dreams

I have enjoyed every little bit of my stay at Daraja, and leaving was bittersweet. I will never forget the place, and I hope another opportunity will come by so they can come to me or I can go visit them again.

Connect with Daraja:
Official page | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter


Safari

After Daraja, the safari was a whole new world. As it is meant for tourists, the hotels were exceptional. It is both amazing and sad to see such a huge difference in the areas merely separated by fences. There are the hotels inside the national parks, then there are the villages outside the parks. The people with the money who spend thousands of dollars to see wild animals, and the people who run after tourists' buses just to try to earn a little bit by selling cheap products.

Lake Nakuru and Maasai Mara was another week of the trip. They are two very different habitats, so it was nice to be able to go to both and see the diversity in animals. My favourites were of course the big cats. I loved watching the lions and the cheetahs. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to see leopards (another excuse to go again!). Giraffes, wildebeasts, dik diks, zebras... There are too many animals to name!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I greatly recommend travelling to Africa, both to actually experience (not only to know) the culture difference, and also to see animals in wildlife. Put "going to Africa" in your bucket list!

Nakupenda sana (I love you so much)!
Amanda