The Mzungu is here!

Day 13

The boat chugs over the mirror-smooth water of Lake Victoria. The slowly rising sun, which makes me feel my slight sunburn in the back of my neck through its increasing radiation, creates a sparkling spectacle on the surface. In the background, the green shores, a few small fishing boats in the distance, and hippos standing calmly in the water, wagging their ears.

This was the scenery of my morning. Today is Sunday and I'm sitting under a mango tree on the office property as I type these thoughts into my laptop. It already feels like this experience on the lake was a day ago. To see the hippos before they retreat into the thick grass of the shore due to the heat, you should go out on the lake early with a boat. So Paul, a coworker I do a lot with here, said that we would meet at 7:00 in the morning to drive to the lake together. As a punctual German, I was of course out of bed at 6:30 and ready at seven o'clock sharp. When Paul eventually arrived around eight o'clock, we finally set off. I was afraid that the hippos wouldn't forgive us for being late and would have disappeared into the thicket long ago. But that wasn't the case. They were standing comfortably about a hundred meters away from the shore in the water, enjoying the morning sun. I wondered how they were still able to stand there, but the captain of our boat, Salomon, who brought us to them, told me that hippos can grow up to two meters high, which impressed me. They looked very cute, but here I also learned something new. These giants, who were so charming with their wagging ears and staring tiredly into the landscape, are apparently the most dangerous mammals on earth. Salomon said that after giving birth to their offspring, the male hippos would carefully observe whether they are female or male calves. They would usually kill the males directly due to competition, which is why it is not uncommon for the mother to run away with her children immediately after giving birth. In the Kisumu region, about 40 people are killed by hippos every year.

'They kill you not because they want to eat you. They are vegetarians. They kill you because of fun,' Salomon said. Sympathetic animals.

Nevertheless, it was very impressive and the feeling of sailing on the largest lake in Africa with this backdrop and the view of this endless mirror disappearing far away on the horizon was unbelievable. Generally, the past week has been eventful. Describing all the events would go beyond the scope here.

I took pictures at the organization's community center in the countryside, where a health center, a tailoring workshop, and a safe park for children are located. I filmed at an elementary school with more than 700 crazy and incredibly joyful and excited children, some of whom had never seen a white person before and therefore occasionally touched my skin secretly and sometimes less secretly to find out what it feels like or shouted loudly and excitedly 'Mzungu! Mzungu!', which means 'traveler' or 'someone who wanders'. It was overwhelming and a unique experience. I truly experienced Kenyan nature and the surrounding landscape for the first time and visited Kit Mikayi, a huge impressive rock formation with rocks that were more than 30 meters high and formed the home of small Colobus monkeys. I was in the city, at the office, on projects, in restaurants, cooked Kenyan food, ate the best and sweetest fruits of my life, and I would say that I'm slowly really settling in here.

Almost two weeks have already passed. Well, time flies, like my drone over the elementary school football field, chased by the hundreds of screaming and bustling children. Tomorrow begins a new week, in which I will be involved in different projects and get to know the Kisumu region even better.

It's hot, especially today the sun is beating down on the dusty streets and my innocent skin like fire. But here in the shade, with the gentle breeze surrounding me and keeping the leaves of the trees and palm fronds moving, it's bearable.

I have seen so much already and I'm even more excited about what awaits me. The Mzungu will report.