February 8th, 2010
Our first two days had a singular purpose – rest and restore from the jetlag. We got off the plane and Utugi’s daughter Faith met us. All of our luggage arrived in good shape and we got through customs and baggage claim in short order. At first, I felt that the place was hot – but it was only the stuffiness of the terminal. Once we got outside, it was a balmy Seattle summertime evening –very comfortable for us. Faith drove us onto the highways where I began to feel “wow, I am certainly in a different land”. The highways, at night, are a bit unnerving. There are no lines on the road, and the cars and trucks stay to the left (ala English highways), but weave in and out of the gaps and make their own lanes. We eventually slowed to an inexplicable stopping point – no signs, no turn off, just a break in the concrete - at 60 mph.
We drove down a RIDICULOUSLY bumpy rode, which seemed about 10 miles (it’s actually maybe 2) crawling through ruts, bumps, ravines, chasms, lakes, gulfs, quarries to finally arrive at Utugi’s house. I learned later that they travel this multiple times a day. Brett, welcome to Africa my friend; Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
The house is a lovely, well built house in a decent section of Nairobi. The family was waiting up for us to arrive so that we could have dinner together. We were a bit shot, but they welcomed us warmly with the cheerful cheek to cheek Kenyan greeting (which I have grown to love). We had a traditional Kenyan dinner of beef, beans, and cabbage. Then off to bed it was for us, complete with my first experience in a standard mosquito net bedroom. Ahhh, sleep at last…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment