arrival camp kaya

sunday morning saw us reluctantly packing up our belongings and piling into the truck that was to take us back to muhaka.. the new monthers who had joined us at tsavo stayed behind for another week and the rest of us commenced the journey home. it's weird that you can grow accustomed to a place so fast.. i already missed the red earth, the fireplace, the comfy huts, the big model lion in the courtyard.. drive was standard - bumpy and long. our bags were then taken to our next camp and us kids dropped off at forty thieves for the day. it was weird.. it kind of felt like we'd just gotten back from a holiday and were in that post-holiday gloomy slump, whilst still actually being on holidays?? the weather was unfortunately shit and by the end of the afternoon we were all pretty keen to head off and explore the primate conservation camp we'd be staying at for the week..

camp kaya is located a 15-20min walk from muhaka down a pot-hole-ridden dirt track, bordering on the sacred forest or 'kaya' of the community. as we passed through the gate and saw a whole bunch of tents set up i was fairly excited - i love camping. the usual ensued - orientation, time to settle in.. then one of the best dinners we've had on trip thus far and an early night.

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after breakfast we were taken for a walk through the forest by the elder who'd spoken to us before tree planting all those weeks ago.. it was breathtakingly beautiful - a tangle of vines, ferns and bushes.. majestic trees reaching up into the canopy. i've always liked trees and i felt a so at peace being so close to these ones, almost sensing the years and years of history in the place, the countless villagers who had walked on the forest floor collecting wood or medicine, the prayers whispered at the sacred shrine during times of need.. everything so green and lush.

on our way out we stopped by a local hut where a woman was weaving roofing tiles out of dried palm fronds. i showed interest in her work and she invited me to sit by her and try it myself.. it looked so simple but i evidently lacked the practice and she smiled as my clumsy foreign hands fumbled the knots i tied..

after lunch it was time to work in the tree nursery. the ground was covered with dirt-filled bags (for tree planting) and our job was to sort out the good from the bad. it was dull work but we gave it our best shot, collecting torn bags and emptying them.. eventually we just began throwing them at chris who, seated on the dirt pile, would punch the bags mid-air to make them explode. there were hundreds to sort through and by the time work was done for the day we'd discovered a very angry scorpion, two poisonous millipedes, an ant's nest squirming with larvae and a wide assortment of spiders who seemed displeased by the disturbance to their homes..

we then walked back to muhaka to pick up some of our gear we'd left behind. i was glad to be reunited with my warm clothes [i sorely wish i'd had them at tsavo] and i spent the remainder of the evening snug in my flannel shirt. when the four girls returned from their day trip to mombasa (jasmine's camera broke and she went to buy a new one) they all sported new hairstyles, the most drastic change being jasmine's braids and con-rows - amazing.