Wanawake This Way

Jambo All,

In the event you are ever on a 13.5 hour bus ride from Kenya to Uganda and you want to make sure you go into the right rest stop bathroom - and you are a woman - look for the "wanawake" sign. As I am now in a country where it is not spoken, this concludes our Kiswahili lesson for the day.

I have successfully propelled myself into a new country and have started connecting with other solo travelers, and a bunch of wanawake at that! Yesterday I went with two people I met to Ngamba Island to see the sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees. The people who care for these animals are very knowledgeable and very passionate about promoting chimpanzee survival in the wild. The chimps are very polite, raising their hands when they want more fruit to be thrown their way at feeding time. The sanctuary and community involvement is a good response to a bad situation

Upcoming Interviews for "Dream" Footage

I'm scheduled to go back to Nairobi to interview a woman who is a marine conservationist working with a community of women on the coast of Kenya. The women collect washed up flip flops and turn them into key chains, placemats, jewelry and many other products which are then sold to people like you and me. I will interview the woman who started the company as well as some of the artists. UniquEco

I will also go back to Arusha, Tanzania to interview a man who collects the plastic bags that litter the city, disinfects them and uses them as stuffing for animals he makes. Mazingira Mokey Project

All that and I plan to visit Habitat people in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia! Hooray!

Favorite Shop Signs in Kenya on the road to Uganda:

1. "Democracy Bar And" - and what? it hurts not knowing
2. "God's Will Cafe" - think how much money you save on menus
3. "Modern Fly Cleaners" - for the modern fly

Favorite Shop Signs in Uganda between Kampala and Entebbe:

1. "Hope Medical Centre" - when medicine isn't enough
2. "Wood de Pearl" - better than pearl de wood I suppose
3. "Queen Latifah Beauty Salon" - no sign of her there but maybe it was her lunch break

In two days I leave for Bwindi to go see (hopefully) the mountain gorillas. Will definitely send pictures of those when I'm back.

Lastly, a photo of one of the many kids that see foreigners and shout "mzungu (foreigner) how are you?".

Toodles,
Miss K