Nairobi - Migori, Kenya
Jambo (Swahili – hello) Bloggers!
This morning we were woken up at 4:30 by a wakeup call that Jared arranged for us. Apparently, he thought that we would need a long time to get ready. Instead, we went back to sleep for half an hour. At 5:00 we got up to our own alarm and were downstairs for breakfast shortly before 5:30. At 6:00 Ben showed up and gave us all a ride to the bus station.
The bus station was quite the experience. As soon as we parked the car we a number of people asked if they could help us with our bags. After declining their offers we made our way across the street (Frogger Style) and boarded our bus to Migori.
The bus ride was another unique experience. B, Clinton (a Californian also visiting Jared) and I were the only white people (in fact we are the only white people I have seen in the country) and the bus was totally packed. Eventually, we were able to store our baggage and cram into a couple of seats. A woman and two of her children all piled into the seat next to B. To make matters worse, she had motion sickness and frequently spewed into a small plastic bag. Needless to say, we were all quite cramped. I even had some part of the window latch digging into my shoulder for most of the ride…
Still, the ride was really fun. In the first two hours of the drive I caught a glimpse of numerous gazelle, zebra, and other cool wildlife. To no one’s surprise, I eventually fell asleep. Even so, I woke up about every 5 minutes as the bus went over large bumps (the road was only partially paved).
Ultimately, I gave up sleeping. Instead, I focused on taking in the surroundings. During the ride the driver would occasionally stop and allow vendors to come on and try to sell things to the people on the bus. Similarly, every time the bus stopped to allow someone off (either at their stop or to pee on the side of the road), people would run up and try to sell things to the passengers through the windows.
Nevertheless, my favorite thing about the ride was a man who got up half way through the ride (4 hours in) and started talking in Swahili about something. B and I had no idea what he was saying but he was very passionate and talked for at least 30-minutes straight. Eventually he came around and tried to sell people herbal medicine…After this ordeal I relaxed, watched the scenery go by, and listened to the African music blaring from the buss’s sound system.
At about 13:45 we arrived in Migori (which is more of a city than a “village”). Jared took us to an internet café (that doesn’t have internet…) and we dropped off our bags (Jared said the place was trustworthy). We then wandered through town and stopped at several places selling fencing materials (Jared is trying to repair part of his fence). We then made our way to a restaurant and had a large lunch. I had chicken and a tortilla thingy. As always (in Kenya), no utensils were used and we ate entirely with our hands.
After lunch we picked up our luggage and jumped into a cab. B and I got dropped off at the guesthouse (about 15:30) where we will be staying for the next few days. We unpacked a few things and rested for a bit. There were some very unique looking large birds in the field next to our guesthouse...
Jared was supposed to come back and pick us up at 17:00 but did not show up! At 18:00 a cab came and picked us up and took us to his house. While there we met some of his friends and neighbors while waiting for Jared and Clinton to come back. When they returned, we all sat down for dinner.
After dinner B and I took a cab back to our guesthouse (20:00). On the way we made a quick detour to get some bottled water (not wanting to drink the tap water here…). Feeling totally exhausted from two straight days of travel, we are going to go to bed early.
Asanti Sana (Thank you very much) for reading! And, Hakuna Matata…
NOTE: I was surprised by how green Kenya was. The drive was filled with green countryside and large trees. Also, everyone here speaks English in addition to Swahili and all signs are in English. Ohh and I hope you all know what movie I was thinking about when I heard Asanti Sana and Acuna Matata!
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