Matatu journey from
Nairobi to Nakuru, predicted journey time is 3 hours. I get my first lesson on the meaning of African time. The journey both seems, and is interminably longer than that. I'd gulped down an entire
bottle of coke in the last 20 mins and KNEW at the time I would
regret it as soon as I got into the coach to Nakuru. I sure did.
Once I was led at last by a
commiserating and welcoming Douglas to our coach, I was too tired to
think about whether I was relieved, or excited, or wanting to go home, or what. I was just happy to be told what to do.
Once again I needed the
loo as soon as we had set off on our 3hr journey, I doubted there
would be any easy stops but was too tired to feel anxious about
this. We sat four in a row just shy of 4ft wide and with less than an
inch of free board above our heads. I fell into a black hole like
sleep for about 15 mins which was enough to give me the little spare
energy I needed to feel desperately uncomfortable again.
I eventually plucked up the courage
to ask if we could stop for a loo break. Was slightly embarrassed by
the production which ensued trying to communicate to the driver a
need he didn't seem to understand, through a pile of 30kg bags of
luggage at least two foot deep.
THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY - We
stopped for the view which I tried to enjoy but couldn't. I was
elaborately led through a plethora of opportunist souvenir vendors to a toilet, and to my gratification I saw that the
majority of the other girls were also grateful for my call.
Sigh.
I well enjoyed the view of
the Rift Valley! It is vast, the convex of its dimensions allowing me to take in the most extensive swathe of land I've seen, cut smooth as undulating silk. The heat ocre-d soil seems to haze upwards from the ground, softening all to a shadowed oyster, mother of pearl laying dusty over a fireplace.
Nakuru is somewhere laid out in front of me, we are c. 1850ft above sea level. This is where I will be for the next two months. I heard my first Hakuna Matata, and felt happy for the first time since reaching Kenya. We clamber back into our battered tin can of a vehicle. The rest of the journey compounded the pain in my bum and back. However, I was now cheery enough to drift off fantasising of the roaring trade sardine chiropractors might have, were their potential customers not already pickled. When I awoke we had arrived at our destination.
Nakuru is somewhere laid out in front of me, we are c. 1850ft above sea level. This is where I will be for the next two months. I heard my first Hakuna Matata, and felt happy for the first time since reaching Kenya. We clamber back into our battered tin can of a vehicle. The rest of the journey compounded the pain in my bum and back. However, I was now cheery enough to drift off fantasising of the roaring trade sardine chiropractors might have, were their potential customers not already pickled. When I awoke we had arrived at our destination.
this is hilarious - josh
ReplyDelete