Rampant mood.

I am currently rolling my eyes and clicking. So allow me to vent!

This matt I am in is waiting for passengers who are still in bed! How else would you explain just sitting in a bus stop and chilling. The kange just keeps hitting the side of the matt and the driver keeps stepping on the pedal like he wants to leave but wapi? Kwani they think I am out for leisure in this cold.

Now that I begun venting about them matatus, let me continue. And since you have begun reading, continue and this is not a request :p

Y’all know how a kange is yelling 30 Westie and his counterpart is ‘whispering’ 50 and you get in and discover that the bus fare is actually 50 and the only explanation you get is “30 bob ilikuwa ile gari nyingine!”. NKT. And you know you are not crazy since the entire matt is saying the same thing. Mwizi, is the word right there.

And what of kanges who want to collect busfare even before you leave the hood. As in dude, do I look like I will jump out the window. This aint europe or states where we pay up at the door, that’s why we have a conductor! And fella is huko shaking his coins in your ears. WTH. Hit the ignore button and stare straight ahead.

And what of those drivers who in their quest to beat traffic and ‘save fuel’, use a ‘short cut’ that keeps you in traffic for an additional two hours. Had he used the normal route you would be home, but since he had to get creative, well your stuck. And to add insult to injury, he starts chatting the person sitted next to him with “sijui hata ni nini leo” vibe.

And the worst kind is those kanges who on seeing additional traffic want you to add cash. “Si hata nyinyi mnaona traffic imeongezeka”. Dude, I paid you the agreed amount! Shut up, before things go south.

I know I said the worst kind, but …… what of those matts that just because there are 2 of you they decide they are not going to the end of the route. So, they decide to put you into another car, or how about abandoning you on the road and if feeling sufficienlty philanthropic they give you a coin. NKT.

I am out!

Pieces of memory…

Sometimes you need to ‘rewind’ the tape in your mind.

Plans for the Madaraka holiday weekend were simple, Get out of town and take a road trip to a place i like with people i love. But that changed with a phone call from a pal, there was still a road trip but this one would feature a different setting at the end of the journey but a road trip nonetheless.

Do i love road trips? Not all of them. I think a road trip to Mombasa is the most mind numbing activity, nothing changes in the landscape. Its like the in between is one page in a picture book that goes on forever. I could be wrong in that observation, but it will take a whole lot of convincing for me to do a drive down to the coast again. So pause the road trip to one of my fave towns and start a road trip on a route i am absolutely in love with :). The Narok route to Nyanza. Talk of a beautiful mish mash of landscapes

D-Day arrives and we were meant to leave the city at 6am. Who were we kidding? That would only happen if it was a flight we were catching, but since it was a road trip that we had control of the car keys, getting out of bed was a little bit difficult and throw in some unexpected side shows, lets just say we meet up at 8am. 5 ladies, with 3 proven cholerics in the bunch and you are in for a an amazing journey filled with quotable quotes 🙂 But first things first, find breakfast, much of CBD is deserted and locked up, say for the guards and the few drunks staggering out of the few open pubs, but thank God for Bakers Inn. It’s driver’s job to get the breakfast as the car is super packed and she is the only one who can get in and out of the car without the fear of spilling stuff out, coffee, chai, samosas, chocolate doughnut, coconut doughnut, water was the order given, the teas, coffee and water did come but the pastries were croissants, plain doughnuts and samosas. That’s a choleric at work for you.

Driver delivers rule number one,,”Hakuna bathroom break mpaka tufike. We are late, tungekuwa Keroka saa hii”. Is she crazy? Well, that is what she thought, we were sure there was going to be a bathroom break in Narok. And the Sanguine’s response is “If you see those Uhuru Highway guys who sell shades, please stop.” Like really? Would they be up at 8am on a public holiday? “And does this car have any CD’s?” Agreed, no one thought of that. But kuna radio and when all fails we can sing, we do not luck entertainment. Down Waiyaki way and a Vitz zooms  off and driver tosses out a CD, ” Shuka amekutupia, uchukue” Moving on.

The view of the Rift Valley floor at the place know as view point (like duh!), is amazing, every time i see it its like seeing it for the first time, it is breath taking. The steep drop showcasing a wide expanse walled by vegetation covered cliff….Know the little church on the Mai Mahiu route well trust one on my peeps to state “My wedding is in that church”. How? It is small, there is no parking and where is the reception? “Elementaita.”  Ok.

We get to the Narok road and a poor dog has been run over and a nugget of wisdom is unleashed “Hatujafika Narok town, dogi za Narok hazikanyagwi. They look left and right before they cross. Wait and see.”

Narok. I love the landscape, love the driving past the wheat farms. I just love it there. Something about the wide open space, to think, feel and acknowledge your infinite existence.

You get to Bomet and feel the change from plains to highlands, pass Sotik and then brace yourself for the increase in human traffic that is Kisii highlands. And this comes with massive speed bumbs, if you meet them Otange Express et al you will understand why. The numerous tin roofs lining up the hills like silver strands on a neck just showing that Kisii is packed! and that signals stop over at Nakumatt. Now last time i was there it was like a farm supply shop, literally with kamba ya kufunga ngómbe, sengéngé, chicken feed trays and the likes. Surprise, surprise, there is a change and it is now a modern supermarket, with ice cream (even Mars) , wet wipes and even my specialty chilli sauce. If only these were the days when at a certain time in the year i was a regular in Kisii.

Armed with ice cream treats, back into the car and it decides it will not start. Turn the key, switch off radio, press almost all buttons including the cigarrette lighter and still the car will not start. Surely! Phone chimes and Super Man from Nairobi is on the other end……i will not say why the car was not starting. Let us just say it’s one of those “my computer is not working” and when the IT dude rocks up you discover you had not plugged it into the socket kind of story. 😦

Twenty minutes later we had arrived to our destination, and my brain and heart were refreshed. And my body invigorated by the burst of fresh air.

More road trips to come and most especially down the road past Makuyu, past Karatina  and down the road that has the railway line to your left and the mountain on the right, to  a place where i can curl up in bed and just chill and be at peace and dream.

PS

I  learned i new word, ‘bourghetto’  . Peeps who are trying to be bourgie yet they are as ghetto as they come.