First Days in Kenya
Studying wildlife has been my passion for years and when I found the African Savannah conservation project I knew it was the right one for me.
I’ve never been outside Europe before and discovering another continent with such a different culture made me jump out of excitement.
From my first days I had the opportunity to work with the Kenyan wild flora, seeing the animals wandering freely in their natural habitat, which was breathtaking.
At the same time I learned a lot about the Kenyan lifestyle by interacting directly with the local population at, for example, the community days, where our volunteering team built some equipment or facilities in villages, although I didn’t live in a local village but in the conservancy itself.
We stayed in a comfortable house along with a very welcoming staff. They immediately became our friends and, I’d even say, a second family. I’m still keeping in touch with them and can’t wait to come back to visit them.
They accompanied us to work and taught us a lot of new and interesting information, notably about wildlife.
Travels With New Friends
I also had the opportunity to meet other participants from all over the world. It definitely expanded my cultural knowledge. By talking with them, I discovered Japan, France, the United Kingdom, The United States and Canada.
We all became friends very fast, played Kenyan card games and volleyball together.
Most importantly, we were all motivated to make a difference and worked as a great team to help the conservancy and the community around.
Moreover, we got the opportunity to travel around the country, visiting National Parks, Nakuru City, lakes, the equator, craters…
But the most memorable trip was definitely when with a few friends, we went to attend the Mass at a local church and later cooked with a Kenyan family, using traditional kitchen tools.
The hardest part was definitely to leave. I miss every single part of Kenya, the volunteers, staff members and the joyful local people, to whom I grew very attached to. It makes me want to continue volunteering and reinforced my love to travel.
Thank you, Projects Abroad, for such good memories and for making my dream come true.
