Driving Through Kenya

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This morning came really early. We were supposed to leave the house at 5:30, so we were up far before then. Grace got up to make us all a nice breakfast and say farewell, and Jackson was up to wake us and open the gates for the taxi. Morris also came to drive the truck in. We said our goodbyes at the house, Grace in tears, and headed into town for the bus station. Kampala is quiet at that hour in the morning, though people were busy opening their shops.

This bus is way nicer than the one to Kigali, with only 3 seats a row instead of 5. It’s a “First Class” bus, and we paid at least $4 more to get it. The seats sort of recline, and there’s more space. They even gave us breakfast! The first 3.5 hours, which got us to the boarder, went quickly. Maybe because I slept for 2.5 of them.

The funny thing about being in first class is that in the States, the first class includes people with laptops and BlackBerrys, champagne and business suits. Here, it’s people either reading or staring off into space, but in clean clothes. Also, there’s a lot of tourists.

The boarder was super hot, and it took a long time to cross. It’s still funny to me (though it makes sense) that we get stamped out of one country and hang out in limbo for a while before getting stamped into the next country. It’s also a lot harder doing it with 8 of us instead of just 2.

I finished my book about Paul Kagame on the next leg of the journey, which is great because it’s almost 400 pages and is heavy to carry around. Sarah also finished her Rwanda book today.

There were a few things I noticed about Kenya which are different than Uganda and Rwanda. For one, there are fences. In Uganda, compounds and some houses have tall thick brick walls around them with a huge gate, but all of the livestock roam freely. Sometimes they goats or cows have ropes on their necks or legs, but oftentimes they just wander down the road. Here, the houses in the country (as opposed to in towns) have barbed wire fences to keep animals in.

The other thing I noticed is that Kenya is beautiful. The other countries are too, but you can see more here. For a while, we were sort of on a plain and the mountains were in the distance. There’s so much green, with big trees and lots of crops. The Froeses were excited to see wheat growing here. Let me rephrase this: the first part of the country we were in was incredibly beautiful. Now, a few hours in, it looks dry.

A similar thing about the three countries: the red dirt/dust everywhere. My feet are red. My hands are red. I think my snot will be red for the rest of my life. In Uganda, it blows around and makes the plants look like they’re bronzed.

When we went to Rwanda, there were parts of the countryside where we smelled barbeque, or maybe smoking meat. Here, there was a definite part of Chattwick’s barbeque sauce, which is the kind we have at camp.

Everywhere we’ve been, they love Obama. There are restaurants and shops named after him all over. Today, a man was talking to Sarah and I at the boarder and told someone, “I am talking to Obama’s sisters.” I always thought I looked like the president.

Now in my wallet, I have a few Rwandan francs, a few Ugandan shillings, and finally some Kenyan shillings. I really need to clean out my wallet so I don’t get confused. I said something funny today, or at least Sarah thought it was. That East Africa should be like Europe and switch to one currency- the Afro. Just a thought. Although their economies are drastically different. The Ugandan shilling seems to be getting weaker, with a rate of over 2000 to the dollar. Rwandan francs are at about 570, and Kenya’s shillings are around 80. It’s been interesting trying to do math and switching back and forth.

Right now, we’re on hour 11 of the 13-hour journey. Hopefully it’s only 13 hours.

We rolled into Nairobi right around 8, just on time. There was some confusion as to where were going to stay and things, but it’s all worked out. We’re in a hotel/guest house with flushing toilets, showers, pillows and towels! We might as well be at the Sheraton!

Tomorrow we go to the villiage for a while. Probably no internet for a week or two. I’ll post when I can. Also, I have a post from the wedding that I haven’t posted yet because I haven’t finished writing it.

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