Meeting the gorillas and Lucy

I have now made it to Nairobi, Kenya after a few long days on the road.

First up was the trip down to Bwindi, Uganda, to trek with the gorillas. The drive from Kampala to Kisoro where we stayed the night either side of trekking was a solid 12 hours each way. The countryside was beautiful. Steep hillsides with terraced farming, lakes and misty skies. It actually reminded me a lot of the Peruvian highlands.

Gorillas in the mist.

The trekking itself was awesome. The gorillas were literally within metres and I couldn't believe just how human their expressions were. I was surprised that the gorillas are usually found on the edge of the forest, they often eat the maize and beans growing on the edge of the forest.

Bwindi is in the south west corner of Uganda and Kisoro is very close to both the Rwandan and Congo borders. The UN has a refugee camp on the outskirts of the town. It was quite confronting to see physical evidence of the conflict and M23 rebel action in the Congo. (Which incidentally appears to be escalating, the borders between Uganda and the Congo are now closed.)

After returning from Bwindi I had a stressful Saturday trying to buy a bus ticket to Kenya and half fainting on a local bus from overheating on an extremely crowded bus. (Sorry Mum, I neglected to tell you that...) anyway, I got the ticket I needed (a mere £17 for a 14 hour bus ride) and endured a rather painful bus ride on Sunday.

The reason for having to be in Kenya Sunday night (and the associated bus ticket stress) was that I had arranged to meet a very special Lucy on Monday. Lucy is the 9 year old Kenyan child who I have sponsored since July 2010. She lives in a village about 2 hours drive from Nairobi. I met her, her mother and the local project partners. It was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Everyone was so grateful, both for sponsoring Lucy but also for visiting her and the project. I would highly recommend the experience of meeting your sponsor child if you one and ever get the chance to visit their country. Lucy was very excited to meet me and apparently she couldn't sleep the night before - she barely stopped smiling all day too!

I'm now in Nairobi where I'll be for the next few days. I've already managed to catch up on all the important news: Wills and Kate are having a baby and England beat the ABs.