Staying sane during the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic
Surviving Covid lockdown in Kenya
Just want to start by saying that this is not some psychological mumbo jumbo post entitled "10 ways to stay sane during the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic". I am not qualified for that. This post is How I am staying sane, in these unprecedented times.
And anyway, I give travel advice. Bus times, bus station locations, how to get from A to B and back again or onto C. That sort of thing. I do not pedal other advice.
There is no special way to travel, there are no things that you must take with you, there are no things you must see before you die and there are no 10 things you must see in Rome. There are no 'musts' in life. We are all free to do what the fuck we want. And there are no set ways to stay sane. Everyone has different ideas. Everyone is different.
We are all on some sort of lockdown. You're not? Why not? What part of STAY AT HOMESTAY SAFE don't you get.?
So, I am still on the road as Coronavirus - COVID 19 continues to wreak havoc. I opted not to go back to my home country. I am not, still galavanting around as if it didn't exist. I am in a small town in Kenya, about 100km from Nairobi. I have been here for almost 3 weeks. Today I needed to get money and some supplies. It's the first time I have been outside of the property in 10 days.
I could go out more. There is as yet, no lockdown. There is a nightly curfew from 7 pm until 5 am. There is talk of banning inter-county travel. I could go back to the Crescent Island Game Sanctuary but it will still be there next month, next year.
I served my period of self-isolation after flying in and where I was most at risk of catching anything and now I restrict my movements so I don't catch anything.
I have my room and get 3 meals a day. There is a fridge full of cold Summit lagers, they've run out of Tusker, and Guinness Export. Mostly, there are no other guests. There are 9 staff. 8 of whom don't live on site. These are my new friends though they are quite reserved. They leave me to be.
I am not cooped up in a cell-like room 24/7. I was in the treehouse but have been upgraded to a small suite. I have a bedroom and a separate living area. Sofa, 2 tables, a fridge which I don't use and a stove which I use to boil water for cups of tea. There is a large garden with lots of birds. And there is Tusker.
I like having things to do.
I have a Sudoku puzzle book. I have the Kindle app on my tablet. I have my blog. I contribute to the Weebly Community forum quite a bit. Early evenings are a great time to watch the birds. For the past 10 days, it has rained at some point from 3 pm till 10 pm. So if it's dry at around 6 pm, I will sit outside for an hour.
I am three weeks in. I still have other options I have not yet needed to succumb to NETFLIX to which I can resubscribe, meditation, learning Swahili or a fitness regime.
Keeping busy keeps the boredom at bay.
But the other half of the battle is a mental one and it is not helped by doom and gloom.
This pandemic which has in some way affected every single person on earth is constantly on TV, on social media (I only have Twitter). I bookmarked a webpage detailing Coronavirus statistics. It makes for horrifying reading. There is a dedicated Kenyan webpage.
For the first few days, I was checking these 2 pages, multiple times a day. This was not the way to carry on. I have stopped checking. They feel me with dread.
Checking the stats does not help my cause. They will not, for the time being, get any better. So there is nothing gained by checking them.
It may seem as if I am having an easy life during the pandemic. Sure it is easier for me than many but then my life in normal times was so much easier.
But I am stuck here, in a country that is not my own. If something happens at home, heaven forbid, where I am needed, I won't be able to go. And if my money runs out, I am screwed but let us pray that this situation doesn't go on that long.
And what of the situation where I read that the Aussie government have asked all tourists who cannot support themselves for the next 6 months to get on the few remaining flights home.
Here there are no more international flights unless the British embassy had sorted something out, but hey, I am 3 months into a 4-year adventure. Financially I am ok. But where the hell will I go if it is decided all westerners who are here on short term must leave?
On Saturday my 1-month visa expires. I have to make some calls. I don't envisage a problem but I am reluctant to travel to Nakuru to the immigration office.
And anyway, I give travel advice. Bus times, bus station locations, how to get from A to B and back again or onto C. That sort of thing. I do not pedal other advice.
There is no special way to travel, there are no things that you must take with you, there are no things you must see before you die and there are no 10 things you must see in Rome. There are no 'musts' in life. We are all free to do what the fuck we want. And there are no set ways to stay sane. Everyone has different ideas. Everyone is different.
We are all on some sort of lockdown. You're not? Why not? What part of STAY AT HOMESTAY SAFE don't you get.?
So, I am still on the road as Coronavirus - COVID 19 continues to wreak havoc. I opted not to go back to my home country. I am not, still galavanting around as if it didn't exist. I am in a small town in Kenya, about 100km from Nairobi. I have been here for almost 3 weeks. Today I needed to get money and some supplies. It's the first time I have been outside of the property in 10 days.
I could go out more. There is as yet, no lockdown. There is a nightly curfew from 7 pm until 5 am. There is talk of banning inter-county travel. I could go back to the Crescent Island Game Sanctuary but it will still be there next month, next year.
I served my period of self-isolation after flying in and where I was most at risk of catching anything and now I restrict my movements so I don't catch anything.
I have my room and get 3 meals a day. There is a fridge full of cold Summit lagers, they've run out of Tusker, and Guinness Export. Mostly, there are no other guests. There are 9 staff. 8 of whom don't live on site. These are my new friends though they are quite reserved. They leave me to be.
I am not cooped up in a cell-like room 24/7. I was in the treehouse but have been upgraded to a small suite. I have a bedroom and a separate living area. Sofa, 2 tables, a fridge which I don't use and a stove which I use to boil water for cups of tea. There is a large garden with lots of birds. And there is Tusker.
I like having things to do.
I have a Sudoku puzzle book. I have the Kindle app on my tablet. I have my blog. I contribute to the Weebly Community forum quite a bit. Early evenings are a great time to watch the birds. For the past 10 days, it has rained at some point from 3 pm till 10 pm. So if it's dry at around 6 pm, I will sit outside for an hour.
I am three weeks in. I still have other options I have not yet needed to succumb to NETFLIX to which I can resubscribe, meditation, learning Swahili or a fitness regime.
Keeping busy keeps the boredom at bay.
But the other half of the battle is a mental one and it is not helped by doom and gloom.
This pandemic which has in some way affected every single person on earth is constantly on TV, on social media (I only have Twitter). I bookmarked a webpage detailing Coronavirus statistics. It makes for horrifying reading. There is a dedicated Kenyan webpage.
For the first few days, I was checking these 2 pages, multiple times a day. This was not the way to carry on. I have stopped checking. They feel me with dread.
Checking the stats does not help my cause. They will not, for the time being, get any better. So there is nothing gained by checking them.
It may seem as if I am having an easy life during the pandemic. Sure it is easier for me than many but then my life in normal times was so much easier.
But I am stuck here, in a country that is not my own. If something happens at home, heaven forbid, where I am needed, I won't be able to go. And if my money runs out, I am screwed but let us pray that this situation doesn't go on that long.
And what of the situation where I read that the Aussie government have asked all tourists who cannot support themselves for the next 6 months to get on the few remaining flights home.
Here there are no more international flights unless the British embassy had sorted something out, but hey, I am 3 months into a 4-year adventure. Financially I am ok. But where the hell will I go if it is decided all westerners who are here on short term must leave?
On Saturday my 1-month visa expires. I have to make some calls. I don't envisage a problem but I am reluctant to travel to Nakuru to the immigration office.
I have lots of books on Kindle like this one, to get stuck into:
And this one, from Matthew Lightfoot who very kindly sent me it.
I run my blog from my tablet. It's a desktop program and I run it on Android. Biggest time suck ever.
Welcome to Guest House Jane and Naivasha Treehouse
Awesome gardens at the Guest House Jane, Naivasha
Bird watching at Guest House Jane, Naivasha - Speckled mousebird
Bird watching at Guest House Jane, Naivasha - Superb Starling
Tusker