tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45285489328498017422024-02-19T12:29:31.307+00:00Baba MzunguMy head (if not my mind) is usually in the UK. But this is more about where my heart is.BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.comBlogger353125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-55764651619993027492011-01-05T08:23:00.000+00:002011-01-05T08:23:51.430+00:00Kenyan GovernmentBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-64162160420095315542010-07-13T19:06:00.002+01:002010-07-13T19:06:57.850+01:00A Trip To KajiadoWednesday 7 July 2010
We had to take Esther, the girl we re-homed from Maasailand to Kisii, to court in Kajiado to give evidence in the case against her former employer for employment of a minor. As the trip is almost 400 km and there is no direct transport, we hired a car.
We left Kisii at about 6am and made good time to Narok, where we stopped for breakfast.
We sailed through Nairobi, BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-84370077959162353412010-07-06T21:10:00.000+01:002010-07-06T21:10:53.585+01:00Power ... or the Lack ofIt is difficult to blog when the power keeps cutting off, or the Internet connection fails ... or both.
This visit seems to have been blighted with more than the usual number of power cuts and in the last two days, we have had no power at all during the day.
On both days, the power came on at about 6pm, but yesterday, it went off again within 30 minutes and it took an age for the standby BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-87196020457166833742010-06-27T20:59:00.000+01:002010-06-27T20:59:15.975+01:00Things That Go Bite In the Night ... and other observations Before my arrival, the rains were particularly hard and the bridge across the little river that separates the house from the road was washed away, apart from the two trunks that everything was attached to. So we have to use the alternative path, the path to the road is less steep, but it is a long trip to get to the road. Still, at least we can get to the road.
I am quite proud of myself, BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-74426905619085106102010-06-23T11:32:00.002+01:002010-06-23T12:42:01.918+01:00Back in KenyaThe journey was thankfully very uneventful, although Vincent and I managed to miss each other at the airport terminal, maybe because I was desperate to get out to my "private corner" to have a cigarette. It had been too long since my last one.
We soon met up and had a bite to eat before haggling with various taxi drivers and touts to get a good deal for the city centre.
Having sorted BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-79110427867574483172010-06-12T19:38:00.001+01:002010-06-13T23:53:47.211+01:00Rhino Charge etcA photo gallery of the latest Rhino Charge, as well as the Hog Charge and Quattro Charge have been posted on the Rhino Ark website.
2010 Rhino Charge
2010 Hog Charge
2009 Quattro Charge
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-53634261877989438442010-06-08T00:00:00.000+01:002010-06-08T00:00:23.208+01:00Rhino Charge 2010The results for the latest Kenyan Rhino Charge have been posted on their website, which can be accessed at http://www.rhinocharge.co.ke/event-info-a-raffle/results.html
A record 72.5 million shillings was raised at the event. Details at http://www.rhinoark.org/RC2010/rc2010.htmBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-63643838458817775542010-06-05T19:24:00.002+01:002010-06-05T19:24:28.754+01:00Meet Simon ...BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-66899988273522511072010-06-03T09:54:00.000+01:002010-06-03T09:54:37.907+01:00Do what with this can of beer?!!?On a bushcraft/rural cooking website, I read not so long ago, that a whole chicken can be cooked in a clay oven with an open can of beer inserted into it ... er ... rear opening, and being a chef of little talent but great aspirations, I thought I would give it a go.
Now, my kitchen in the UK is not a bush kitchen. It has an electric fan oven, not a clay oven, but I thought that would do.
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-45133020313828211082010-06-01T21:11:00.003+01:002010-06-01T21:16:07.093+01:00At the Twiga Children's CentreBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-21318484986935629062010-06-01T16:33:00.001+01:002010-06-01T21:16:35.695+01:00Home Alone ...of some of the kids in Kisii.
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-39343467566407377082010-05-22T17:42:00.001+01:002010-05-22T17:42:54.846+01:00Panic in the GardenI have just been called into the garden by Nyanya Mzungu who, apparently, had caught a snake!
More curious than worried, I ambled into the garden to find her with a flowerpot and inside was ... a slow worm, not a snake at all.
I would guess that it is the same one that the dog caught last year as it had obviously lost its tail at some time.
A creature of habit!BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-44767294784399649642010-05-18T09:11:00.003+01:002010-12-19T17:32:14.138+00:00Rhino Charge 2010, KenyaJust received this email, thought it could be useful
For the people intending to do attend the Rhino Charge - see notice from the organizers :GARMIN/ TRACKS4AFRICA- SPECTATOR'S MAPRhino Charge, Garmin and Tracks4Africa have collaborated in producing a Spectator's Map which will give spectators all the information they need to navigate to and around the Rhino Charge this year.Because the details BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-23339300560094631442010-05-18T08:52:00.000+01:002010-05-18T08:52:57.402+01:00Malaria and the SensesThis blog is categorised as "Curiosity in a field I know nothing about"
As my regular readers will know, we have a deaf child at the Twiga Centre, Simon, who is around 8 years old. As a baby of about 5 months, he contracted malaria and as a result [?] became deaf. Consequently, he has never learned to talk.
While I am wasting away in the UK, I am looking for ways that we may be able to help BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-61760558281226532162010-05-17T09:05:00.000+01:002010-05-17T09:05:52.171+01:00It's All Over ...Well, it is 10 days since the UK elections which did not produce an overall winner, and it is a few days now that we have been presented with a coalition government. David Cameron and Nick Clegg have cobbled together a government from their two parties and are getting down to the business of running the country.
But now, as there is no Labour government for the press to snipe at, they are tryingBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-91096656834451717672010-05-06T16:30:00.002+01:002010-12-19T17:35:57.236+00:00The End of Democracy As We Know It?Lifted unashamedly from Witterings from Witney
This post may be considered presumptious and egotistical, but it is one that I feel has to be written, so with those caveats - here goes:I am of an age that some still have to reach and having reached that age I hope that in those years I have acquired a wisdom that those younger than me still have to attain. In my life I have seen many changes, someBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-71422670408819831082010-05-06T13:19:00.000+01:002010-05-06T13:19:51.052+01:00I've got a GPS!I acquired a satnav or GPS at Christmas. I wanted a particular make, apparently the only make that is compatible with a South African digital map organisation, T4A, which is steadily mapping the whole of Africa, but this make is more expensive than the others, so I was forced to get the base model – no matter.
So I happily played around with it, pressing the various touch-screen buttons, and BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-42727485298694674642010-04-29T09:10:00.001+01:002010-05-18T17:37:27.312+01:00Bucket List - Things To Do Before I Die - expandedTaken from a previous post and expanded
Earlier, I wrote that my proposed overland driving trip to Kenya was one of the things I want to do before I die, and I could not think of anything else that falls into this category.
But now I have thought of something else I would really like to do. I would love to see the Rio Carnival.
So, having started, I am going to try to make a list of ten thingsBabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-12951176586407418242010-04-23T15:50:00.003+01:002010-04-23T15:55:47.024+01:00Freecycle & FreegleWhat a wonderful scheme Freecycle is!
For those who have not seen it, it is a way of getting rid of stuff you no longer want, but which still has life left in it, so someone else might like to use it - anything from furniture to odds & sods.
I use it regularly to get things for the kids at the Twiga Children's Centre in Kisii, Kenya.
The last time I was there, all the kids BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-89031077243287121532010-04-22T21:00:00.000+01:002010-04-22T21:00:47.694+01:00Blogging ScarceBlogging could be a little scarce for a while for several reasons:
Real life is getting in the way of my e-life, demanding that I get off my ... er ... seat and get out of the house;
My DSL router is a bit flaky, and I lose connection more than I find it
Nothing much has happened. The volcanic dust hasn't affected me as I'm not going anywhere in the near future, the election campaign passes me BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-86221004450482601772010-04-14T19:40:00.003+01:002010-04-14T19:50:11.668+01:00Before And AfterBEFORE (as I bought it)
AFTER (as it is today)
Looks a bit better now, doesn't it? (And it's legal)BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-46757425955834768032010-04-14T15:11:00.000+01:002010-04-14T15:11:51.127+01:00Kisii, What Is There For The Tourist?As my regular reader will know, my second home is in Kisii, in the Western Highlands of Kenya. It is a provincial town of some 70,000 souls, bustling, vibrant, perhaps a little chaotic, busy, colourful.
I know what I think of the place - I love it, and I feel that it should be brought to the attention of other visitors to Kenya, but why? What is in and around Kisii to attract tourists?
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-91382892634002182752010-04-13T19:26:00.001+01:002010-04-13T19:26:50.027+01:00A Popular Kenyan Song - MalaikaMalaika, nakupenda Malaika. Angel, I love you Angel.
Malaika, nakupenda Malaika.
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio, What should I do, your lover?
Nashindwa na mali sina, we, I don't have any money
&BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-69785650531739435732010-04-13T12:29:00.001+01:002010-04-13T12:30:14.401+01:00UK Election? What for?What are we voting for on May 6th? Why do we need a Government at all? Below is a list (not exhaustive) of the responsibilities our last Government signed away to the European Union.
We were promised by our last Government that we would be allowed a vote as to whether we should sign away all these, but we didn't get it.Competition
Trade
Asylum and Immigration
Foreign Affairs
Industrial Policy
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528548932849801742.post-8229834956579974882010-04-12T21:50:00.000+01:002010-04-12T21:50:08.102+01:00Our National Debt - In Real TimeBelow is our national debt and it is increasing at a frightening rate!
BabaMzunguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423217043240843105noreply@blogger.com0