Back in Nairobi.

Back from the holiday in SA, and feeling a lot more 'alive' - althought, think this will be very quickly dispatched with, as the work is a mountain ahead of me! My goodness, a mailbox can pile up when you don't attend to it's dirty little needs...

Will be posting more on our fantastic holiday, but for now, just a quick note to say I'm back in my little Kenyan world...

Keep well y'all!

TTFN

Ta ta for now...

Will be away for the next 12 days, and will have no access to the internet. (Will be on holiday with my hubby, so the internet will be the last thing on my mind really...)

Just to make everybody a bit yellow, here is a pic of a sunset over the Crocodile River in the Kruger National Park.

Hope y'all have a wonderful time, and think of me 'suffering' trought a few days of rest, relaxation and utter uselessness...

TTFN

Things I cannot live without...

Life in general gets so complicated as we 'grow younger' and I've realized that there are a few things that I just cannot live without. Things that, to somebody else, might not mean a hell of a lot, but to me, means the earth, and that will upset me to no end if they had to be ommited. I'm sure that each person has his or her own list, but this is mine. ( Top ten list - in no specific order, except for No1.)

1. My wonderful hubby. The best thing that has ever happended to me. My all...

2. Sunshine - really battle to go for a long period without seeing the sun. Not that I like sunbathing, but seeing the sun, and feeling the warmth on your skin is priceless.

3. A hot shower. Nothing better to get me going in the morning, or wind me down after a long day.

4. A toothbrush - is there anything nicer than having a clean, fresh smile?

5. Body Shop's Body Butter. (No further explanation needed!)

6. Silence - love the sound of silence, that wonderful fulfilling sound of a quite sunday morning in our garden.

7. Family and friends - Who have supported me in the rough times, laughed at me/with me during the silly times, love me for who I am and just in general have always been there for me.

8. Work - As much as I complain about being too busy/not being busy enough/ irritating people/ paperwork/ lack of paperwork etc etc, what would I do without this outlet in my life. Love what I do - end of story!

9. My parents - Which sounds a bit like a repeat of No 7, but they deserve a special mention. Despite our differences, they are my biggest support structure, and love me regardless. And the fact that they accept my partner, and have taken him in as part of their family, is something really special.

10. My children - a.k.a the doggelets, or the puppies or my nunu's etc etc. What joy they bring to our lives, always always there for you...

When I started typing this, I thought it would be things that I could not live without... (I don't really think about what I'm about to post, just start typing really - as you can see most of the time.) Wow, this was a eye opener to me too. Wonder what my therapist would say?

Hope y'all have a really pretty day now!

TTFN

Some more photo's

Thought today I'd share some unique 'Africa' photos. Things that make Kenya special, things that - after a few years here, you don't notice anymore, but that make Kenya a wonderfull place to be.

This is a war cemetary that we stumbled apon on the way back from Mount Kenya. Perfectly manicured lawns and well kept gardens and graves, and just outside the gate, poverty and scalour... Graves where of British, South African, Indian and Kenyan soldiers and officers that died during the second world war, in the battle for East Africa.

Taken during a dhow trip up the creek at Kilifi, on the North Coast of Kenya. This was the captain - life is just so much more calm here...

Taken in Dar-es-Salaam - once again, no rush in Africa.

Getting a lift from a truck up the hill. Trucks are generally overloaded, so they tend to move VERY slowly. Cyclist hold onto the back of the truck and then don't need to peddle up the hill. It also means they sit in the billowing fumes that the trucks spews out.

Sign at a pub in Mombasa. Note the 'cockage fee' - that tickled my warped sence of humour...

Now, I hope y'all have a fruitful day.

TTFN

Ps: Only three sleeps and I get to see my hubby! Jipeeeee!!!!!

Friday, weekend and work!

Sitting here, just a little irritated... Don't know if I've 'confessed' this before, but I do have a bit of a temper - bugger that, I have a lot of a temper actually! When I lose it, the eruption of Mount Helen looks like a sundayschool picnic on a warm balmy spring day. Everybody is walking little circles around my office today... Bless them!

I've had to change my holiday plans for the end of the month 'cause it coinsides with a vital plan for a division that is moving into our operations at that time, and appartly 'they cannot do it without me'. (He says with just a little chip on his shoulder, btw) At least hubby was able to change his leave plans, and all the places were we are staying is able to change our bookings to a week earlier. Still, work is interfering with my personal life!

Really should not complain too much, after all, if it wasn't for work I would not be able to afford going in nice holidays... Life is a bitch, daaaahlings!

Anyhoo, spending this weekend with Estelle and friends of C & C's that are here from SA, so not too bad. And then on a plane to see 'me husband' on Thursday. All in all, not a bad day. He is traveling for work as well next week, but will be back home by Thursday night, just in time to pick me up from the airport. Loverly!

Now, I hope y'all have a really pretty weekend, and be good!

TTFN

Ps: Few notes to the comments:

Daniel: Yes, part of the charm of working in Africa is that things have not gone completely 'commercial'. People keep asking me why I love Kenya so much. And my answer is always the same - the people! They are truly phenomenal!

Lewis: I've bought a few soapstone carving there too! Our house in Pretoria and Nairobi covered in African art...

David: Thanks for all the comments! Will share some more pic's as the fancy takes me.

Tom: Pleasure. The 'southern bit' comes from my love for movies. Every time somebody says y'all, I just completely fall in love...

A few pictures...

Thought I'd share a few pictures today, instead of ranting about something non-sencical...

Taken in the Masai Mara - look at the wonderful reflection in the water...

On the ridge above the Rift Valley - just outside Nairobi.

A 'Boda-boda'. Form of cheap transport. Taken on the road to Naivasha.

Sunset over Lake Victoria. Taken in Kisumu on the 'coast' of Lake Vic.

Outside wall of Fort Jesus in Mombasa.

A picture of the harbour entrance at Mombasa, taken from a gun hole in Fort Jesus.

Now, I hope y'all have a wonderful day, and be good! (Or at least good at it!)

TTFN

Wednesday & life on your own...

Last night Estelle slept over at my place - she was stuck without electricity at her home (A regular thing living in Kenya), and I offered to take her in, give her a home cooked meal, a warm bed and a hot shower... To be honest, it really is more than a pleasure to have her there, and she does my soal well at the same time. Good having another person in the house...

Where this is leading basically is that I miss my hubby. Big time! When you are so used to sharing a space with somebody, it becomes part of your being. When, at first, I had to sleep alone again at night, I would wake up at night and get quite frantic if there wasn't another 'breath' in the room. It would feel weird to make one cup of coffee in the morning. I would wonder why the toilet seat is down in the bathroom, till I remember I put it down, and Dawie wasn't there to leave it up... *Smile* Strange how we get so used to living with somebody, and how strange it is when that person is not around. We are all (well I am...) such creatures of habit, and rock the boat just a bit, and that world is suddenly all hurly burly. I miss my hubby, that is it really.

Hope y'all have fruitful days.

TTFN

My technicolour life.

MY COLOURED PAST.

For some unexplainable reason I'm unable to put a title to my posts... (Thanks Lewis! Titles added...)

Had some difficulty sleeping last night, and started thinking about my life - more specifically what happened after High School. For some reason my national service period of my life was floating trought my brain, a time I remember fondly, but for the life of me, will not want to do again...

Growing up in Apartheid South Africa, all white boys, when completing school, were conscripted into the National Defence Force to fight the 'good fight' against the 'terrorist threat' in the then South West Africa (Now Namibia) and Angola. You were forced to go do military service for two years of your life, as it was your 'civil duty' as a white South African male... Thank goodness how times have changed, as this practice was stopped as Namibia gained Independence from South Africa, and apartheid was abolished - but I digress.

Taken up into the signals core, I spent my basic training in Heidelberg - about 80km from Johannesburg. Basic training basically constituted the first few months of your two year stint, where you were broken down mentally and physically, and then built up again to think like a soldier. Also during this time you would be trained in the 'art of war', and taught to use the equipment you would be working with - in my case, radio and surveillance equipment used for electronic warfare. The one good thing about this time was that I've never been fitter or more toned in my life! My body fat percentage was probably minus 20%... This was also the time that I really became aware of my sexuality, which was a bit daunting at best, and downright scary really.

You see, homosexuality was, to put it lightly, not acceptable in the SADF (South African Defence Force) and people 'caught' practicing these vile acts, would be subjected to shock therapy and would be locked up in a brig. I've always known that I was different from the other boys, and now having to share a shower with a hundred plus other young, well built, fit men, was pure hell/heaven. I cannot tell you how difficult it was to contain my 'whore'mones during this time, but you had no choice - the vision of having electrical probes connected to my genitals while they showed me erotica was not something I really thought would be enjoyable.

Then we got posted to Namibia, and this is where the fond memories come from. Suddenly the strict rules and regulations were put behind us, and we only had to make sure that we do our 'jobs' well. This meant spending days on end in a metal box filled with radio and electronic equipment, searching for the enemy, and trying to intercept their communications. The military type of discipline remained, but it was less important in comparison to what we had to do, and that was work a twelve hour shift every day. The other twelve hours of every day, was spent in a dusty, fly infested camp, where we used to drink (a lot), smoke the 'green green grass of home' and play. (Don't worry, that part of my life is now in the past!)

It wasn't all fun - I mean you're stuck in the middle of a war zone, (Now and again you spent a night/day in a bomb shelter 'cause the camp was being mortared by Swapo) and it really got to some people - a close friend blew his brains out in the bathroom one night - but it was a time that I really grew as a person, and went from a boy to a man. We were young innocent boys, placed in a situation that was difficult, gut wrenching really, and it made us hard - or you lost your mind. You saw friends die, you saw what was left of a person after a vehicle was hit by a RPG, you saw friends losing their minds and crawling into themselves, but you also forged friendships that will last forever, and learnt that, despite what the government was preaching at the time, that all men are truly created equal.

What was the point of this post? Don't know really, just needed to write this down somewhere, to share a time in my life that changed me forever. It took me a few years to get over my time in the SADF, and even spoke to a therapist about this, but not all the young men that spent time 'on the border' had this opportunity. A lot of young men still face nightmares and horrific memories from a time that the SA government was 'living in it's own little world'.

And now, with wars being fought in so many countries, wars that I do not necessarily agree with, young men and women are put into the same situation, and my question is - who will support them when they return home? If they return home...

TTFN

Gay marriage.

This is truly a little too rediculous...

Gay prisoner couples is South Africa are attempting to get married... OK, it's great that the constitution allows gay couples to get married, but should a prisoner have any rights at all? They broke the law for crying out loud, they should have no rights at all!

Just a thought, use it, don't use it...

TTFN

Life and work and stuff...

Work is really crazy at the moment, we're in the midst of a full audit, sourcing expansion funding, appointing new senior staff members, training a new accountant (Thank goodness for this one!) and then Mergers and Acquisitions are still in full swing... My brain is putty - a big blob of gray putty! My big saving here is that I've put in for some leave at the end of the month, and everything is booked and paid for! So, I'll be flying to SA on the 26th, and hubby and I will be spending some time alone - well, after we get to spend a day with all the family for my 'bathday' on the 29th...

Our trip will be to the lowveld in SA - Hazyview area, close to the Kruger National Park, and then off to Dullstroom, which is on the highveld and stunningly cold and misty and wonderfull this time of year! Nights spent around a fireplace, drinking Red wine, eating lovely fresh trout we caught (bought) ourselves, lying in in the morning under a heavy feather duvet. How marvelous! We will be spending some time here and then some time here. Cannot wait!

The pic in the previous post is my hubby! Those eyes are dreamy... I have the ability to take pictures of people at their worst, and this was taken one morning after we went to his year end function at work - obviously quite a late night filled with lovely food - and loverly amounts of booze! (Neither of us really drink a lot, so we don't get trashed, but it did get very racous that night.) I think he still looks gorgeuos!





Weather in Nairobi is miserable at the moment - July is usually winter, and the nights are very chilly - temp in my house is down to 18 degrees at night... So, here is a pic of warmer climates and wonderful holiday spots. This is in Diani on the South Coast of Kenya - about 60km from Mombasa town.

Love the black and white bit...

Hope y'all have a wonderful, fruitful day and week!

TTFN

Don't Ask...

I felt the need to start over... I felt the need to share 'my space' more freely, so here goes again. Why - no need to go into that, but I've learnt a lesson and and will not make the same mistake again. This is the begining of a 'new blog'.

My life is dedicated to you...

TTFN