Sunday 14 September 2008

Entertaining Auditors!

I’ve had the "arduous" task this weekend of being tour guide to a group of auditors who’re over from the US and UK. (Actually, they’ve been very easy to have around, both in and out of work, and have indeed been quite entertaining at times!) There are plenty of places that we could have taken them, but we decided on a trip to Lake Naivasha. En route, we stopped at one of the viewpoints looking out over the Rift Valley. As usual when at such a viewpoint, we were strongly encouraged to look in the stalls of local crafts. I was sure I didn’t want to buy anything, but wound up coming away with a musical instrument which I’d not seen before. It seems to be a cross between a harp and a guitar. I’ll have to see if an ethnomusicologist friend knows what it is, and how it should be played! The sale technique was interesting. The guy was determined to enter into a bargaining situation, which I initially resisted. His willpower, however, was stronger than mine, and somehow I found myself going to get some money once he’d actually packaged it in a “free plastic bag”! We passed a couple of IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp in the Rift Valley. A reminder that some people are still displaced, nearly 9 months on from the troubles. Once at the lake, we took a boat over to Crescent Island which took us very close to a couple of groups of hippo. On the ‘island’ itself (it’s actually a peninsular), we walked amongst wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and giraffe, whilst listening to the calls of Fish Eagles, soaring in the skies above us. What a wonderful day out! Back to work and the audit tomorrow!

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