In Kenya Trip Part 1, I left off on my first day and arrival into Nairobi with Milly and I resting at the Hampton House while Domnic, Samuel, and Leonard picked up our rented private car to drive to Migori in. The guys got to Hampton House about 2:30pm with the "tiny" car we rented for the trip to Migori in order to get there Friday night, the 20th. Taking a public Bus with stops in each town it takes 6 hours or so to go from Nairobi to Migori; in private car it is supposed to take 4 hours, meaning we would be in Migori around 7pm, saving us from late night travel.
Nairobi; outside Westlands on way to Limuru
We squeezed in and took off from Hampton by 3:00pm, stopping for gas outside the Westlands area of Nairobi before leaving town to pass through Limuru and then drive down into the Rift Valley area, heading southwest.
Western Nairobi
At the gas station I was over-charged 20ksh for my Soda since I was a Mazungu (Swahili for white person or foreigner), but the argument was not worth the wait to quench my thirst. Milly bought the same soda and paid less. ;) I learned to chose my battles wisely in Kenya.
Migori District, where majority of the Luo Tribe still live and remains partly rural with half or more of area still lacking electricity, is only 30 minutes from the Tanzania border and 1-2 hours from many Lake Victoria communities including Karungu and Luanda. Migori has a single main street/downtown area - the only paved road in Migori is the main street since it is also a major highway from Kisii. The other roads are all very rough dirt/mud with potholes that should be called canyons and huge complete breaks or cracks that are 3 feet wide and the length of the road. Somehow motorbikes and even taxis drive these roads, often stalling out when driving down into the "canyons and cracks" with drivers who are gifted with some MAJOR driving skills. The businesses in Migori are all on the main street downtown along with local market and kiosks along the main road and the attaching dirt roads leading out of downtown include homes/private kiosks selling veges and fruits from their gardens. There is no real flat ground and to go south or north of Migori's main street you end up walking or driving up and down hills and/or mountains. Walking takes much effort but takes those pounds off quickly, in conjunction with the Kenyan corn-based protein lacking diet, as you walk almost everywhere to save money on transportation or to follow cultural suit. Migori used to have many Kikuyu Tribe people living amongst the Luos and other smaller numbers of various tribes there until the election violence 2 years ago when Kikuyus were targeted after the issues between the Luo & Kikuyu Presidential Candidates and questionable vote counting. During this election violence, some Luo & Masai mobs ran most of the Kikuyus out of the Migori area and burned or destroyed every single Kikuyu-Owned Building in Migori, whether Luos were living there or not. Terrible aftermath that affected the entire area quite severely and even killed many Luo in addition to Kikuyu. People there seem to be forgiving quickly and inviting Kikuyus back to the area slowly, but time will tell.
View of Rift Valley As We Head Down the Mountain
Tree Flying By
After leaving Nairobi we were enjoying our thought to be "smart" choice of transportation including the beautiful views as we drove down into Rift Valley area and out of the city until about 1 hour into it when we tried to pass through one of the many Police Checkpoints (all along the roads and major highways there are Police Checkpoints where they can stop you for any reason they so choose). Though we were not speeding or doing anything wrong, they waved us over to stop and made our driver, Leonard, get out of the car and follow them back to their vehicles. Then he came back with one of the Police who noticed me, the Mazungu, in the backseat and asked some questions of Samuel & Leonard in Swahili. Next thing we know they are saying we were speeding and needed to pay a fine there on the spot. In Kenya, the Police can enforce on the spot payment in which they often put right into their pockets (mainly their way of bribe corruption). Knowing this over 5,000ksh fine was probably just because the Police saw a Mazungu-me, Leonard took almost an hour negotiating the "fine" down to 2,500ksh (kenya schillings). During all this I used my UK Satellite phone to text Carl for prayer support to get us out of the predicament safely. Funny how when I am in Kenya, God is the first person I turn to in every situation for help or guidance, but here at home I often don't go to God until I am in deep and can't find a way out. The convenience and comfort of my home environment serves as a false sense of control and security. In Kenya, I automatically go to God on EVERYTHING instantly and I assume God is the only guide, source, or way out or through ALL situations. Hmmmm; maybe a lesson to learn there, ya think? Phew... so we drove on... for about 10 maybe 15 miles... then we broke down. From where we broke down, I could still see the checkpoint far off back in the distance! At the same time, Domnic, sick from Typhoid, became severely ill with cycles of vomiting which he had to do in a plastic baggy that we would dump every stop for the remainder of the trip. It was at this point that everyone decided the Devil did not want me in Migori and was working very hard to keep us from God's work. The next morning we got confirmation of this, but that is for Part 3. Oy.
Killing Time while Broke Down... Milly
So now our car stopped working! Right in the middle of the Rift Valley Masai Mara area, we were broke down, needing water since we overheated the car, just to get to the next town to find a mechanic. We didn't want to use our drinking water with Domnic so sick and needing hydration but now it was late afternoon and we did not want to be stuck on the side of a Rift Valley road in the dark as that is extremely dangerous. You shouldn't travel at night anywhere in Kenya, let alone Rift Valley. Thank God, there was a Masai Family living off the road who at first did not want to share any of their scarce water with us during this drought time in the Rift Valley and I don't blame them, but with 45 minutes or so of Samuel and Domnic talking with them, they gave us their just used dirty wash water. Basically the 45 minutes of bargaining was just to wait for them to use the water first before giving it to us; which worked for both parties really.
Masai Boy
During the wait for water, 3 of the families children, Masai kids, came up to me out of curiosity to see a Mazungu up close.
Animals cared for by Masai Boy
I shared a pack of gum with them which made them extremely joyful and super excited; maybe too much so as one boy became a bit agressive trying to grab for more gum, but who could blame the kid. I just told him "pole pole" which means several things in swahili including "gentle" or "slowly" so he calmed quickly. Thank you Jesus for knowing a little swahili! Asked to take a picture of the family but they wanted too much money for the priveledge to do so. I did get a couple shots of the kids before that and their livestock they were caring for. ;)
Waiting For Water; Samuel
So we were back on the road for a second time (or was it a third time?) and off to the next town where we could find a mechanic. We ran into a medium sized majority Masaai town where there was a huge shack-type mechanical compound where 20 or so mechanics were working, welding without eye protection or gear, eating, and chatting it up. Domnic wouldn't allow Milly nor myself to get out of the car since all males there and not sure of our safety, so us two girls sat in the car with Domnic while they worked on it while Samuel and Leonard stood outside watching over the work to assure we were being treated fairly and getting what we paid for. It took a couple hours which was painful to sit in a hot, no air, stuffy car for that long, but we had some great conversations. Took 5 guys under the hood and by the time the car was fixed it was completely dark, pitch black. We paid them, took off for Migori, and prayed for safety. Exhaustion set in as I had been up since 4am Wednesday and it was now Friday night, so though I normally can't sleep in cars or anything moving without getting sick, my body was shutting me down, sick or not. No matter how hard I tried to stay alert or even barely awake, I had no choice, my brain stopped. Squeezed into a tiny backseat unable to wear a seatbelt or even re-adjust my body we were hitting road canyons (african potholes) and cracks going 55+mph, causing nausea the entire time along with many bruises on my hips & back. Seriously... my butt would fly up and off the seat when we would hit the larger potholes aka canyons and the only reason I stayed sitting upright was because I was wedged between the door and Milly's boney sides which caused half my bruises. Two boney girls wedged together makes for a painful ride! I was shocked I nodded off sitting up with my head in my hand. Nausea or sweats often woke me along with the bigger road cracks that would jar me awake, but the smaller-constant potholes actually soothed me deeper into sleep. At night, there are no street lights and it gets pitch black fast in rural Kenya, so even with head lights on (shotty headlights at best), you can not see the sides of the road well. Often, when passing oncoming traffic, Buses & Matatus force you off to the side so we would drive with 2 tires on the road and 2 tires in dirt or bush, yet still going 55+mph. I am sort of happy it was too dark to see or react. Yikes!
"Late" Chicken & Chapati Dindin
Our 4 hour trip turned into a 9 hour trip, but we finally did arrive in Migori after around 11:30pm where we stopped at one of the only restaurant/cafes (no fast food in Migori but they do have it in Nairobi) where I picked up the last of the day's chicken and chapati. I ate all the chapati (like african tortilla/flatbread) but barely touched my chicken as it was questionable; had definitely sat all day in the heat ruborizing.
My Room View @ Hill View:
Arrived at Hill View, my boarding house on the eastern outskirts of Migori downtown, off main street. By the way, there are no real addresses for buildings, businesses, or houses in rural Kenya - only addresses are PO Boxes. We chose Hill View because it has armed guards, a reinforced security wall, private room with decent mosquito netted bed, private washroom w/shower nozzle, toilet, and electricity! I could not stay at my Host Family's House, Domnic and Milicent Owigo, in their compound, though I would and did take all meals at their place. They did not have the room nor safety or guards, and it is in the more dangerous section of Migori. They also do not have electricity so cooking meals was interesting and I learned much about "real" cooking from scratch including how to kill the chicken. We just referred to it as "the compound" while I was there because the community housing and apartment type dwellings in Kenya are called compounds.
The Compound is located North of downtown area, in Suna Migori up one of the big hills; is an hour or so walk from my room at Hill View so I had to take taxi or public motorbike (called PikiPiki - Piki is swahili for motorbike) to and from The Compound every morning and night. Usually used same motorbike driver, Pastor Abuka because I knew I could trust him. PikiPiki Man was his official name given by me and it was used more than his real name. As a matter of fact, I did not even know his real name for a week until he was my translator on my 2nd Sunday in Migori when I gave message at the church he works in/attends. It was so funny; I did not recognize him in a suit without his motorbike Helmet so did not realize it was him, my PikiPiki Man, standing next to me translating until he stopped in the middle and said, "Don't you remember me? I am PikiPiki Man, Pastor Abuka, now translating for you." Then he laughed and laughed and laughed! He loved to laugh. :) Pst Abuka loved being called Pikipiki Man too; seemed to make him proud to be the Mazungu's personal PikiPiki Man. At the end of my stay, he said he now had the reputation of being the "Mazungu PikiPiki Man" of Migori. Ha! Too funny. At night I was forced to pay more for a taxi since so dangerous for taxi drivers to work at night(one was murdered while I was there) and too dangerous for Wazungu (swahili plural for mazungu) or even locals to ride around on Public Motorbikes, Pikipiki, due to criminal activities in dark hours.
PikiPiki Man!
I came to LOVE LOVE my PikiPiki rides every morning because it was fun, cooled me off in the humid heat, and gave me a chance to wave or yell "Habari Yako" or "Jambo" to everyone I knew on the way to the compound. Not surprisingly, by the end of my time in Migori, I knew many people along the way too. Tons of children would yell "Mazungu How are you?" or "Habari yako" to me daily which I came to love and even more so I loved the giggles when I would answer back in Luo or Swahili, "Mzuri sana". Boy did that make them estatic! They'd run a short bit after me sometimes laughing and talking or waving for me to come back. Domnic wrote to me recently that the very next day after I left Migori, children were already asking where the Mazungu was and that they were missing me. Made me sad yet so blessed to know they miss me as much as I miss them. Every day on our walks I most looked foward to the kids' greetings or Milly's Aunt holding and swinging hands with me as I walked by her kiosk/home area and kissing my cheeks hello and goodbye. She also had me calling her Auntie on day two; ended up feeling like my real Auntie - love her! By the end of the trip I knew more Swahili and noticed they were now treating me more like a local. And I must admit, I felt more like a local by the end of it... more than I ever thought possible. Everywhere I went my last couple days in Migori I ran into people I knew or had someone yelling Jambo or waving to me around every corner. It started taking longer to walk to the compound from town because we'd be stopped by so many people who wanted to chat or say hello. That must be one of my most amazing feelings ever experienced; a foreigner feeling like I fit into a world so foreign... to be so lovingly accepted by a group of people so different from you; they made a space for me. They called me their family, their sister, a Kenyan. They value relationships so much that everywhere they go, greetings and chatting take priority, sometimes even over getting to work on time. Only it is so hard to apply these lessons here at home. They sacrifice things we can't for their relationships though sometimes they could use more time consciousness... Ha ha! Will that be on African time or real time? Ha! Why can I not utilize this growth yet here at home? Because I am too busy here to stop to chat or greet 10 people on my way to work - that is why. I can not even keep up with emails let alone in-person socializing!
Grew quite comfortable and accustomed to the environment extremely quickly in Migori; much more than in Karatina last time. Felt more like home than anywhere I have ever been outside of Hawaii. ;) Figured out what to watch out for and be weary of or whom including the muslim area of the Migori district which is basically off-limits to anyone non-muslim. You can't even be employed in the Muslim's area unless you are a Muslim! I became well oriented with my surroundings and fully comfortable walking through Migori or grabbing a pikipiki. At the end of my time there I knew my way around the entire town; which market was best, where the best Pit Latrine (seatless outhouse - hole in ground) was downtown, and how to cross mainstreet during the day without being killed especially on market days when traffic is at it's worst. Also learned how to tell when it was a rolling black out day by sounds - when you hear generators in the downtown area or at the Hill View, you know there is a blackout (about every 2 days in Migori). The little things you begin to notice after such immersion and I absolutely favor the little things in life! Still have so much to learn in future trips back, but this trip was the first major lesson in this long journey. The days to come of my trip to Migori are some of the best, and most painful, days of my life... Part 3 to follow!
Mungu Akubariki (God Bless)
Bobbi Jo aka Butter
