RHINO WATCH & HAPPY FACES – going back to school

Tuesday – I have not had the chance to show you around our wonderful accommodation – Rhino Watch – so now is the time before we head off to visit the local school.  It really is a magical place, the grounds are so spacious and full of wonderful gardens that have loads of meandering paths that take you on a relaxing journey.

Below left – one of the paths and then on the right is the walkway to a secluded little water feature.  Building on the right is used for tutorials and meetings.  It was here that we had our Lightroom tutorial and also met with a Rhino expert – – Dr Felix Patton – – what an incredible man.

He talked about the life of the rhino and what the effects of poaching are having on the species.

Look at the thorns on that bush – some of them are bigger than the injections I had to get!  It would be rather nasty to get stuck in that when trekking along the trail.

The Naivasha Thorn is a flat-topped tree with a yellow powdery bark. The whitish straight spines are about 4 cm long.  Commonly found beside streams and lakes in the Rift Valley, especially at Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru.  Early travellers camping near these waters associated the tree with their going down with fever, hence the name Fever Tree.  In fact, their illness was due to malaria transmitted by mosquitoes which breed on the edges of the lakes and the bark extract was traditionally used for treatment of that disease.

Now for something a bit more pleasant –

This is the spa – hidden away in the bushes.  Doesn’t it look tranquil?  Personally I would be more inclined to head to the BAR – but that’s just me.

At the end of the paths is a wonderful area with a deck that overlooks a very quiet water area.  Many bird species flutter about especially the Widow Bird.  It’s a bit hot to sit out here in the middle of the day – but would be great when the sun starts to go down – especially if you have a drink in your hand from the nearby bar!  As you can see – I have forgotten to change the White Balance from Auto – that is why the last part of the photo has a lighter sky. Bugger! For stitching photos never have the WB on Auto!

Now is the time to go to school – we have all donated funds for the purchase of pens, books etc prior to leaving Oz and today we get the chance to meet the children and hand out what has been purchased.

We have also brought with us loads of stickers, little koalas, bubble blowers and anything else that the kids would love.  We have arrived right on lunch – and how tasty does this look?  Sometimes we do not realise just how lucky we are.  This is cooked in a small hut which as you can see, is filled with smoke.  The cook is a happy person and gladly shows off her recipe to everyone.  I am not too sure what would happen if there was torrential rain – but I suppose they have all those bases covered.

The school is not as we imagine a school should be, but in saying that it has several buildings all within a small area on which there is an amount of grass for the children so I suppose it is like some schools back home.

There is also a small garden area where is grown several varieties of vegetables and it looks as if everyone has to help out to maintain the healthy growth.

Our first stop is the Kuhn Family Preschool – full of happy eager faces who are ever so glad to show us their work and how well they sing.  We give them stickers on their hands and faces and even such small things make them happier still.

After our visit in the classrooms we head for the open area where a special treat has been arranged for us.  All the children come out of class and are seated in the big area – I suppose we would call it the assembly area.

Led by their teachers, they sing us songs and there is even a group of girls who dance and sing.

When the performances are over we get to hand out the books, pencils and other school supplies that our donations have purchased.  Such simple gifts and there is not one child who does not say thank you.

After all the gift giving – time for some fun blowing bubbles and just who is having the most fun????  I will leave it to you to make that decision.

The kids chase the bubbles and we all have smiles on our faces as the bubbles pop near their noses!

Soon it is time to return to Rhino Watch and we are certainly given a royal farewell by those happy, beautiful faces as they wave us on our way.

This afternoon we get to relax – look through our photos and sadly realise that there are not many days left in our Safari but let’s not dwell on that – let’s remember what great things we have seen and experienced.

Highlight of the day – those wonderful smiles on the happy faces!