KENYA
March 2, 1978
At 05:00, I was too mad about the loud music, so I went downstairs to look for its source.
The door to the outside was locked, but some watchman let me out.
I walked again through the dark village of Voi, where only a few Indian storekeepers were awake.
I found out that the source of the Congolese "band" was a plastered truckdriver who thought he had won the lottery and kept
dropping in more and more coins into a juke box!
I walked back and went to bed again, this time only bothered by a mosquito.
I woke up at 06:30, and found not only that there was no water, but also that my shoes and socks were rather smelly.
This was confirmed by a cantankerous tourist who complained about having had to wait for 20 minutes...
Later, when I thought I saw a geologist, it happened to be one of a group of 3 Dutchmen repairing a bridge. They nicely helped me across and we had a small chat. There was some rather fresh looking lava and I saw hundreds of deer. In the "Rhinoceros Valley," I failed to find any rhinos, but on two roadsigns I saw a lizard and a falcon, respectively. I took picts of them and of the speedbumps and/or piles of elephant dung. Also came across some giraffes, a dumb looking redhead hen and a giant nose bird, some secretary birds and a pool full of flamingoes. 
There also were some iguanas, about 50 cm long. The weather was changeable, but I enjoyed the Park till I got out after 13:00. Here I hit a veritable jackpot, some 5 gas stations, at one of which I tanked up. and bought some chocolats. I continued on the road to Nairobi, climbing higher and higher, passing several villages, a temple, and a turned over truck loaded with ironware. There were more glorious wide views of mountains, valleys and plains, then suddenly another half dozen giraffes. I stopped and bought some mangoes, and soon reached the airport. Then I made it through the annoyingly crowded traffic of the capital Nairobi to the Salama Hotel, arriving at 16:00. I first called Rita Whittey, who told me that Alan was in England but invited me for dinner that evening at 20:00. It took her a while to explain to me how to get there. I first took a long shower and shaved, then bought two boxes for ks 2 each, and made arrangements to weigh my tar samples the next morning. I packed the two boxes with a pair of shoes, three shirts, a leather coat, a dishdasha, sheepskin, 2 fungia corals , and all kinds of maps and souvenirs, then weighed them (20kgs in all). "Good riddance!" I said to myself and left at 19:15, taking a Masai shield as symbolic present for Rita. I got to Convent Road without problems, and we had a wonderful evening with drinks, dinner, music and long stories, till it was suddenly 1 in the morning and time for goodbye. I made it past the Ambassador Hotel and its still active army of ks 70 attractions and tumbled in bed for my last night in Kenya (at least, on this tour...). |
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