Jambo!!

Well, I am back from the Rhino Charge- and very glad to have a real bathroom/shower! As promised, for those of you who don't know what the Rhino Charge is, I will explain it.
The Rhino Charge is an off-roading event that takes place every year in a different area in Kenya. The purpose of the event is to raise money for a fence being built in the Abadare Mountains. The fence is game proof so it keeps the wildlife on the outside in order to protect the people/ecosystem on the inside. Without the fence, the people's farms were being ruined and the children couldn't walk to school by themselves. The ecosystem is very important to protect since the water there provides power and such for all of Nairobi. The participants (2-6 people per team, and 60-something teams) get sponsors in order to compete. Each year the number of participants grows, and so does the number of spectators. This year, the competitors and their designated guests camped at a different site than the spectators. This made things run much more smoothly. The Charge itself is a one day- all day- event. There are 13 check points spread throughout the area. The goal is to get to as many check points as possible in the least amount of time and distance.
Last Thursday we set off for the Charge. We left at 7:00 am and arrived there at 4:00 pm... it was quite a drive! During the first part of the drive, we were overlooking the Rift Valley, it was beautiful- there is nothing else like it! We passed by four lakes; the shores of these lakes were all pink because of the thousands of flamingos there! The rest of the drive was up/down/through the mountains so it was amazing to look out on. We reached the check in point at about 1 pm. There we received directions to the actual charge. The next three hours were along a dirt road. It was incredibly dusty and since we kept the windows down (because of the heat) we got covered in dirt/dust (it stuck even more on me since I was lathered in sunscreen)- I looked about 4 shades darker. On that road, and the roads through the mountains, there were mud huts and children everywhere. The children stood along the side of the road with their hands out, or just waving and shouting to us. When we waved back they would cheer- it was so cute, but soooo sad! Also along the roads were many goats, cows, and donkeys. The goats and cows loved to start across the road RIGHT when you reached them. They also loved to lay in the middle of the mountain roads so when you came around a turn you had to quickly slam on the breaks to avoid hitting the sunbathing animals.
The Rhino Charge took place in a valley. It was very hilly, rocky, and full of trees- almost all of which had inch long thorns. In our group there were 21 men, and me, so there were 11 tents. These men are 'high-class' campers so they had hired people to set up the tents for us and they brought along cooks (from a hotel that one of the men runs). So, our tents were set up and in the middle of the camp ground was a big open tent that held the tables and "kitchen". Unfortunately, the toilets were just pits in the ground... the showers, however, weren't too bad; they had warm water- but very limited water since it was just held above the small showering tent in a bag. Basically I would switch on the water and get wet, turn it off while I put on soap/shampoo, switch it on again and hope to wash off all the soap, and that was it. When we arrived it immediately started to rain... all the dirt on me turned to mud. We unloaded the cars, helped set up the middle tent, and then, once the rain stopped, we unloaded the charge car (the charge cars are brought on trucks to the site, they are never driven to the charge). Dinner was served and then the men sat around drinking- of course- and talking... they were quite fun to talk with. The next day was scruiteneering. The Charge Car was taken to the headquarters and checked for extra gadgets that shouldn't be there; checked for proper safety features, and then a GPS system was installed (the GPS system keeps record of the km traveled during the charge). The rest of the day was spent doing repairs/check ups on the car. It was fun to watch- I was put to work doing the easy tasks like cleaning the car haha. That day, there was a goat tied up near my tent. It was sooo cute! I asked Asgar who's goat it was... his reply: "That's dinner". Yes, they slaughtered two goats for dinner... I'm sure you can all guess how pleased about that I was. That night the coordinates for the 13 check points were finally given out to the teams, so they spent the night planning their route- it was amazing to watch. We had a huge thunderstorm that night and, since the ground there doesn't soak up water very fast, I again was covered in dirt/mud... which was actually pretty fun! While camping there, I never once felt clean (except for a few minutes after showering, but as soon as I stepped outside the tent I was dirty again).
The next day, Saturday, was the actual charge. The contestants began at 6:15. We left camp at 8:00 and went to the check point called 'The Gauntlet'. The Gauntlet is the hardest check point in the charge, and the best area for spectators to watch. This year, the Gauntlet was on top of a huuuuge hill. The cars would come crashing through the trees and bushes to reach the top. Spectators were scattered all over the top of the hill and down the sides. You really have no idea which way the car will be coming up, and since the cars can't stop- people had to run out of their way. It was extremely amusing to watch. We stayed there about an hour and a half then started off to another check point. Unfortunately, I had been feeling quite sick that morning, so I was dropped off at camp after The Gauntlet where I got even more sick (fever, throwing up, etc). So for me, it was actually a very very horrible day. I thought getting sick at college was a bad place... oooh no, nothing beats getting sick in the bush in the middle of Africa. That night I was feeling a little better, so I managed to get some water down (everyone kept trying to make me eat- I refused, I still felt too sick).
Since I didn't get to watch our team- I was filled in that night. Our team was doing very good. They had made it to 5 check points by 11:30 (that's one check point each hour which is the goal). But by 12:30 no one at any of the check points had heard from them. So everyone started to worry. Asgar and a group of 4 other men finally got their approximate bearings and went searching for them. They had to go off-roading themselves, and then walk around and they didn't find them until 5:30 that night. Something had happened to the car and they'd gotten stuck half way up a hill in the middle of a forest. Another car was stuck nearby- the men in that car were all injured so our team helped them out (they were flown to Nairobi) then they got our charge car out of the bush. One of our guys had a thorn from one of the trees go right through his ear- but apart from that they were all fine.
I went to sleep early that night and Sunday morning I felt a bit better. We packed up the camp (correction- they packed up the camp, I laid in the tent). Then we drove home. Last night I slept 12 hours, so I'm feeling much better today; I'm just very weak/dizzy from lack of food. But I'm eating and drinking LOTS of water today because tomorrow I leave for the orphanage. All in all it was quite an eventful camping trip and a very fun experience- the men say I got to experience the "real" Africa. But, I am VERY glad to be back in Nairobi!