The journey continues from Muhaka to Tsavo

COUNTRY: Kenya
PROGRAM: GapBreak, Unibreak
PROJECT: Community & Conservation
WRITTEN BY: Belinda Rayner

On the 24th of January, the Antipodeans Abroad Gappers moved from Camp Muhaka to Tsavo. During these last days we continued to work on the bottle house and the grey water system there at the camp. We all accomplished a great amount of work on these projects, which I know we were all proud of. Some of us also got the great opportunities to work at the local dispensary, or even the nurseries. The opportunities we all got to experience and the people we got to meet and work with here I know will always be very special to us. So of course our departure from Muhaka was a heart filled one, as we all realised on this day how much we would truly miss this place and its people.

When we arrived at Tsavo we were warmly welcomed by the staff here and presented with lunch. We were then given a brief overview of the camp and its projects. These included making elephant dung paper, the tree nursery, sanctuary maintenance, Sasenyi School, wildlife monitoring, the bush adventure and lastly the safari. While listening to all of these I could tell that everyone was excited and looking forward to our projects and our time here.

On our first official day here at Tsavo we made elephant dung paper. Although this may sound bizarre and even a bit gross, it was actually quite interesting and fun. We were showed how to make this by some staff members who also explained to us how important this paper was to the local community. We smashed the poo, mixed it with glue and panned it. We then left it to dry and some of us even added some flowers to it. Overall this was a different, yet interesting and worthwhile experience. We also got to spend the afternoon working in the tree nursery, where we filled some plastic bags with soil ready for planting, cementing the bottle well, removing aloe vera plants and chilli picking. Overall these projects were relaxing, yet eventful.

During our stay here we also had the opportunity of working at Sasenyi Primary School. During this time we did demolition on an old school building, in preparation for the building of a new one, cementing the walls of a newly built room, and some of us even had the privilege of being inside the classrooms with the children supervising and teaching. Our time here was precious, as we all felt the work here was helpful and it was also amazing being able to talk to the headmaster about the school and also experience some time with the children.
One of the projects we also got to take part in was sanctuary maintenance, which involved filling in the pot holes and ditches in a road on this ranch. Although this work was found a bit hard, it was worthwhile. We also got to take part in wildlife monitoring, whereby we had the exciting task of spotting animals and listening to the staff tell us interesting facts about them.

We also got to experience a bush adventure during our last week here at Tsavo. We got to go on a game drive where we left the buses and looked at the many different footprints. We were also taught how to identify the footprints which was very fascinating. In the afternoon we were divided into three groups and had a competition in building huts. We then got to try and use a bow and arrow and shoot the target, which ended up being harder than it looked. Then we were shown how to light a fire without using a lighter or matches.
On our last full day here at Tsavo, we spent on safari. We got to explore Tsavo’s East National Park where we saw giraffes, baboons, different type of antelopes, zebras, buffalos and many elephants. From living in Australia where you can only see these animals on TV or in a zoo, to seeing these beautiful animals in their natural environment was fantastic and presented us with some amazing photo opportunities.

Our time here at Camp Tsavo had been a brilliant one. We have been able to experience Africa in a way that normal tourists couldn’t, as well as our time in Muhaka. I certainly know that I never imagined that Kenya would be this amazing. I was told before leaving Australia that this trip would be life altering, and these statements have proven themselves to be true. I don’t think anyone from this group will be able to go home and be able to put into words the gravity of their experiences and what we have learnt. I cannot thank Antipodeans Abroad and Camps International enough for giving us all this opportunity. From being able to see beautiful creatures, making new friends, to the amazing staff, our experience herein Kenya is unforgettable and unlike any other.