Desert Safari in Dubai

My husband and I picked Dubai to meet this time.
It was our first stay in Dubai or Middle East!
The first thing which I did was looking for very good Japanese food, of course ;-)
Second thing was taking a bath in bath tub! This is really what I was longing for!!

TOYOTA Land Cruiser dancing in desert!

One day, we tried Desert Safari! Technically it was not in Dubai but in neighboring emirate(forgot the name...).
It was half day tour to see desert, camels, sunset in desert, desert driving(was crazy!! but fun!), traditional dance & dinner.
Both of us enjoyed this experience very much!

FYI:
We found a very nice Japanese restaurant which serve real Japanese food(as Japanese).
Since we heard that it is still new, hope many people like it and they survive(So that we can go back again!).
Lunch set costs around USD 20 with many kinds of small dishes! For its variety and quality, it was quite reasonable to me!

"Hanabi" @ ASIANA Hotel (near to Reef Mall)

Asiana Hotel is located in Deira, Dubai
Closest Metro station: Salahuddin

*Actually, this hotel is too new and most of the taxi drivers don't know the location.
Better to mention the mall. You fill find the hotel with big sign on the top from main street.

One night at Addis Ababa

I forgot the name of the dish... but it tasted good!

I supposed to come back to Juba on Wednesday but we missed the flight on Wednesday.
After few hours struggling, we could be on the manifest for Thursday.

On Thursday, we flew back to Juba finally and I could connect to the international flight to Addis after 3hrs.
Within 3hrs, I somehow managed packing, shower, lunch, online banking, one meeting & wrap-up email!!

So after 2hrs flight from Juba, I could be in Addis and have reunion dinner with our former colleague who currently working in Addis.

Next day, I still had whole day to enjoy the town. Luckily the wife of my colleague took me to local lunch & coffee.
The dish contained minced beef with spices, local traditional cheese & vege together with their special bread & injera(Ethiopian crape). It was delicious!! I enjoyed it ;-)

New arrivals in Rumbek

Returnee can bring their belongings including furniture(Mainly bed, chair, tables.)

Taking rests under the tree at way station

On the final day of mission, we happened to see the scene of returnee arrivals at way station(temporary accommodation for returnee after their arrivals in South Sudan but before the departures to their final destinations).

Lunch @ Colleague's house

Ugali(white one), fish & vege(left top), fish soup (right)

In Rumbek, I had a chance to be invited for a lunch at my colleague's house which is very close to the office.
The menu was full of fish - my favorite! Since there is no river in Rumbek, they normally use dried fish.
It was interesting to find these dried fish taste quite similar to ones in Japan!

I liked the fish with vege the most! I couldn't stop eating!

Project Monitoring

Our staff(right) com beneficiary(left)

This 17 years old girl was IDP during the war and came back to Rumbek. Hope she continue to study to open her way.

In Rumbek, we had several firld visits for monitoring our project in 2011.
Always communication with community is really eye-opening for me!
I really appreciate the chance to be in different field even my mission is always short.
However, it is challenging for me to balance the story I heard from different parties and decide/recommend something forward... I really need to train this aspect.

On the way back home, I saw one school built by UNICEF supported by Japanese government.

Tropical but cool weather town - Rumbek

Palm tree is a symbol of tropical island for me. But I had to change my mind in Rumbek.
There are many tropical trees but with cool weather. This totally changed my impression of "Africa" again.
In Rumbek, I woke up around 3 a.m. to find that I am freezing cold(for me, yes!) in the bed.

I'll write about the time in Rumbek in a few days.
Actually, I missed a flight to go back to Juba on Wed and spent one extra night in Rumbek.
Luckily & thanks to colleague, I managed to connect to the international flight on the same day and now I'm in Addis.
Next post will be in Dubai ;-)

Our new trial

Do you have any idea what we are doing?? It's part of our trial for next year!

From tomorrow, I'll be on another mission to Rumbek(Lakes State) before I leave for my next R&R on Thursday!

Slum Upgrading / UN-Habitat

Today, I finally visited one project by UN-Habitat which has been so attractive for me.

In Hai Zandia area, they have one project for slum upgrading.

The above picture is community center which was built with community using SSB(Stabilized soil block).

In Hai Zandia community, I could see a lot more rubbish than the other places on the ground.

This project has 2 parts.
1) Upgrade current area to more organized / planned area with better housing + basic facilities
2) Relocate part of the community to the new site providing proper planning + basic facilities with better housing

And this is the new relocation site.

Still in a bush - soon? to be a new town!

Community leaders

I was told this is the first family who already moved in!
The housing looks quite nice with mud block!

Girls school

At girls school in Juba

A snapshot from my field visit yesterday.
They are so adorable and cheerful!!

Borehole drilling

From today's field visit.
Today, I visited several places to monitor our shelter, livelihood and QIP(quick impact project) projects.
It was my first time to see borehole drilling scene!

Long queue for water

Today, I went to one of the schools we build for returnee and host community in Juba.
In the school site, we drilled one boreholes for entire community. Every time I go, I see this scene.
And small kids carry these heavy container.
Always I wish I could assist to deliver Q-drum or some helpful tools for them.

If you know any good organization to send proposal to Kopernik, please let me know!
They evaluate the proposal and fund raise for community to provide such life-changing techs ;-)

Bush meat

After returning from Masai Mara, we had "bush meat" for our dinner.
"Carnivore" is famous restaurant for such rare meats.
Until you take out your carnivore flag, meats will be served on your hot plate!

The meat we are were(not so much "bush meat" though);
- Crocodile (not bad actually)
- Camel (hard)
- Ostrich (ok)
- Turkey
- Pork
- Beef
- Chicken

Good to try once in a life ;-)

The Carnivore Restaurant

• Langata Road, Nairobi, Kenya
• 254 020 605933
• 
  

A Masai boy

On the way back to Nairobi from Masai Mara(6 hours drive), our car got a flat tire.
This is a Masai boy who helped us.
It was also big surprise for us that 2 more Masai approached us from so far distance! I think they have very good eyes!

(I heard that normally Masai don't allow us to take their picture because they believe their soul will be taken away if their pictures are taken.)

Eid Al-Adha Holiday (7. Nov)

I was always thinking I should do something special for long weekend.

And finally I did for the latest one!

Since we had an UN holiday on Monday, I took one day off on Friday and spent long weekend in Kenya.

Together with my friends, I planned best schedule for our safari, good meals and shopping!

In the end, I found we had so much fun more than we planned or expected! ;-) 

Game drive with safari land cruiser!!

Cheetah at the entrance! So lucky!

Elephant

We saw so many kinds of animals only within 2 game drives!

Brick making in Malakal

In Malakal, again we had a series of meeting with local government entities, our partners, community chiefs etc.

And in the last part of our trip, we visited one community/person who produce bricks near canal.

They burn with caw down and firewood 

We passed by some villages

Bentiu to Malakal

Then, 3 days later, we moved from Bentiu to Malakal.

On the way to the airport, we saw many armed soldiers on the road.

Then the attack in Mayom happened after a few days.

With a small aircraft...

The Nile

In Bentiu town

On the ground, we had a series of meeting and didn't have much time for the field visit.

But the meetings were all productive! 

Take control points in the bush

Visited one family(not our beneficiary)

Visit our shelter project in Bentiu

In Bentiu, we visited one of our shelter project site in town.

Before we saw our shelter, we had to cross this huge puddle!

The other location in the other county(outside of Bentiu town) was not accessible during this rainy season unfortunately.

Even it was almost the end of the season but still not accessible at all.... 

Before reaching the community even in town

Black cotton soil - when it is not dried

Black cotton soil - when it is dried