At Kisampa

I have arrived to Kisampa and I am officially set up in my BANDA! I have a grass roof and then a little tent that goes under it. For everyone that was afraid: I DO have walls! There is a screen that zips up and even cloth that can cover all of my walls at night. I have a bed and a nighttable, a chair, and a desk. It's a very nice, private place to live. 

Outside of my banda there is a mango tree, that the baboons LOVE. They live there and sleep there so I get to watch them when I have free time. Today, I got up at 7, had a hot shower (outside in my shower) then went to breakfast. We had a family here from Norfolk, England, that was leaving today, so we had breakfast with them (breakfast is fruit to start, cereal, and toast) and then said goodbye. 

Today was the first day of school, which began promptly at 9 am. We do school from 9-12, with little breaks in between so that the kids can run around. Sarah and James are both clever, but sometimes they have a little trouble paying attention.

At 12, we go to lunch. We had a pasta salad and coleslaw today, followed by fruit for dessert. The food here is DELICIOUS. There are 3 people that cook, the head chef is Borre. The camp employs all people from local villages, 30 in total. They have carpenters, waiters, night guards (I feel really safe), etc. etc. It takes ALOT of work to run a camp, and its nice to have so much help.

They have also employed a Maasai named Raymond, who arrived yesterday. He speaks fluent English, Maasai, and Swahilli (the language of Tanzania). He has just graduated from Mecca, the 3 year school that teaches the Maasai all about wildlife, animals, and plants. He is a wealth of information and very interesting to talk to and go on walks with. He is employed here full time now, like me, so he eats every meal with guests and the family as well. He is considered an "advanced Maasai" because he eats fish and drinks wine.

After lunch I went to my tent and wrote for awhile, today being the first day I have actually been able to do that. Now, it is 3 pm and I got a chance to get on the internet. This afternoon, there is a family of 4 from Switzerland arriving. Then, tomorrow, the Dutch group of 12 arrives. A busy camp! 

I am going to start by teaching James, possibly the most adorable 5 year old in the world. He can concentrate for about 12-15 minutes, so at some point before I go to bed tonight I have to prepare all of his lessons for tomorrow.

That's about all for now, I think I'm going to attempt to go for a run around the camp at some point...hopefully I don't run into a Black Mamba, Leopard, or Elephant! (Don't worry Mom, I'm either taking a worker or a radio with me).

I will post pictures as soon as I have time to leave my computer up for an extended period of time (I'm thinking tomorrow morning).