Nine month update...

It's hard to believe that we have been here for nine months already.  At once it seems as though it was yesterday when we started this crazy adventure, at the same time it seems centuries away when we lived in the regulated and somewhat more predictable world of Hardegg.

One of numerous visitors
to the verandah every day!

Little has happened in the two months since last we wrote.  Wally has grown into a handsome adolescent boy, still all paws which seem to have a mind of their own and contribute to his less than graceful gait.  The cats are steadfastly holding to their territory - inside the house and venture out to play only when the dog is asleep.  Wally on the other hand, is desperate to make friends with and play with the cats and on the rare occasion when they are in the garden barrels towards them at full speed.  The cats engage lightening speed reflexes which propel them up trees or on to the roof of the house leaving the dog confused and frustrated. 

I am afraid you will just have to imagine
his glorious bright red wings

The wild birds have benefited enormously from this turn of events and we are regularly inundated by firefinches, cordon bleus and seedeaters on the verandah.  At the same time a "dole" of doves, up to thirty at a time, now feel safe enough to crowd on the birdtable and distribute the seed all over the lawn.  We are anticipating the we will start a new trend in millet lawns!  More exciting, but less frequent visitors to the garden include the turaco, their colours stunning in flight and the giant African harrier hawk that does a a remarkable job of clearing the skies, trees and bushes of all birdlife, within milliseconds of its arrival.

A business trip to Dar es Salaam for CRAfrica turned into comedy of errors which started at the airport.  We were clearly far too efficient booking our flights two months in advance.  A week prior to departure we were informed that our outbound flight had been rescheduled and would leave 90 minutes later than planned, not too much of a problem we thought.... Our taxi to the airport remarkably got us there in 35 minutes, a journey that can take 2.5 hours!  We strolled casually to the check-in desk to be informed that the flight had closed and was due to leave. 

No precision whatsoever about this airline!

The departure time having been re-rescheduled to the original.  Some warning would have been useful.  Fortunately they were willing to call the gate and ask them to wait for us -  clearly they were not trained by Air France!  A frustrating delay at passport control, obviously the speed at which we arrived at their desk alerted them to the fact that we had plenty of time to spend watching them look at every stamp, at least twice, in our passports made for a mad dash through the re-furbished terminal. We made it to the gate and subsequently boarded - Yay, we made it!  At midday in Nairobi, even in winter, you do not want to be sitting on the apron in a tiny Dash-8, full of less than fragrant passengers, but sit we did, for at least 30 minutes, whilst they unloaded bags and then waited for a passenger who was in no hurry.  

Sunset adding a glow to the jetty

An uneventful flight landed us in Dar to join the somewhat haphazard immigration process.  We have learned to keep our mouths shut when governmental systems are less than efficient.  A British traveller behind us had no such reticence and loudly proclaimed the system as the worst in Africa.  We took several side steps to ensure that everybody could clearly see that although carrying the same passport we had nothing to do with this person who was oblivious to the less than friendly body language of the officials.  Finally we were called to the desk.  Having collected the $100 necessary to enter the country all attempts at friendliness gone, our passports were scrutinized, we were glared upon, fingerprints taken and unceremoniously directed, with a shake of the head, to the baggage area.  The baggage area contained very little baggage, specifically it did not contain our bags.

It was some 15 hours and at least 20 telephone calls after our arrival that our bags eventually arrived at the hotel (02h30).

View from the terrace at the training venue
- it beats your typical business hotel!

 After a tortuous week in Dar we returned home,  again flight changes making for a rushed check-in, the plus being that they also rushed our bags through.

For the first time in about six weeks we are back outside on the verandah enjoying sunshine!  Winter in Nairobi is horrible. Grey, cold, damp...in a word, miserable.  Don't plan a holiday here at this time of year - ever.  Everything is growing like crazy, particularly weeds:-(  Raffi has found some rough ground somewhere that specializes in a weed with superglue properties with a predilection for cat fur.  On our arrival back from Dar we found a very sorry for himself cat, his coat a tangled mess forcing us to remove huge chunks of fur in an attempt tidy him up.  He currently resembles a soft toy that has been subject to a three year old's attempt at hairdressing.

The drought has had disastrous consequences up country, no sooner than the desperately needed rain arrived it caused flash floods adding chaos to mayhem.  The situation has resulted in everyday items disappearing from supermarket shelves, the most prominent of which has been sugar.  For our staff this was a major problem.  Sugar is added in copious quantities to everything, a cup of tea is undrinkable unless it has at least 4-5 teaspoons of sugar added to it!  Helen was certainly more excited by the gift of a couple of hundred sachets of sugar than she was by her salary! 

At the end of the month we return briefly to Vienna, a work driven break but it means we get to see the SHIT team (Stevie, Hazel, Ian and Taylor) for the first time in a very long time and although it will be a fleeting visit we are really looking forward to seeing the kids again - YAHOO!