KWAHERI KENYA

To be frank I wasn't impressed by the Thomsons falls. Have seen better ones. There were Maasai tribals and touts around, pestering for a fee to click pictures of the tribals. That's one thing everyone needs to be beware off, the tribals pose for a photograph then charge us for it!

We had a long drive ahead of us to the Nairobi city. As usual I was asking so many questions to Moses and if I was silent he enquired if all was well. I happened to notice on the road, till now I had noticed it 6 times and thought why do people drink so much as to fall on the road and sleep...well it's a common occurrence in India so I didn't make it a big deal. But all these men whom I noticed were all lying in a very distinct pose, arms and legs splayed lying prostrate like an "X". So I asked Moses and he explained they were weary travelers who walk for days and a great distance in search of a job or to sell their wares etc. and they just fall on the ground out of exertion and sleep. It's common understanding that these people are not be disturbed and allowed to sleep off their tiredness to continue on their journey!

We crossed many towns and county's... I am not sure about the order though Nyeri ,Laikipia county, Kisumu ,Narok county, no that was near Masai Mara. Well, we stopped at another Rift Valley view point in the Subukia county. We were on the A104 the most important highway in Kenya, here the International Trunk Roads are numbered with a prefix A, the National Trunk Roads as B and the primary roads as C, then so on. There was a huge traffic jam and we had to take a diversion on a dusty off-road. All vehicles in a hurry and forming 4 lanes on a no lane and some good samaritans trying to regulate it . We then crossed Kikuyu town , Kikuyu is the largest tribe in Kenya and the first President of free Kenya late Jomo Kenyatta and his son, the present President Uhuru Kenyatta belong to this tribe.

We crossed an area covered with Cypress trees on either side - this was notorious for highway robberies many years ago .We reached Nairobi late evening, checked into our hotel and as planned went to the "Carnivore" restaurant I had googled earlier, where they serve exotic meat. We devoured on chicken, lamb, beef, pork, turkey and the specialties crocodile, ostrich and Ox balls! Satiated after the beastly feast we slept well.

The Masai market was on the itinerary for the day, we spoke to the agency and altered it. On extra payment we decided to visit the Giraffe centre and the Elephant Orphanage. Nairobi city was green and clean. Sujith wanted to see the affluent areas of the city. We took a tour of the Arboretum road through the Langata road, crossed the State House and saw many universities. Bomas is a place where the cultural heritage of Kenya is displayed through traditional tribal village homes, dances etc. We made a note to visit Bomas if we ever visit Nairobi again.

We were going to an area named Karen, named after Karen Blixen who lived for 17 years in Kenya doing Coffee farming, the huge acres of her farmland is now filled with residences and universities and this part of Nairobi is called Karen after her. There were colourfully painted vehicles called Matatus, the mini bus or our "Share Auto" types which you see in Chennai... totally packed with humans, emitting loud music and exuberance. This is the chief means of transport here.

At the Giraffe centre we fed the Giraffes and I asked a volunteer about the inhabitants. He could identify each Giraffe by their name and explained each ones characteristics. A guide was explaining to a group of English tourists and I made myself welcome there and asked a doubt too...Giraffe eat leaves of Acacia but Acacia is full of thorns so how do they manage? The guide answered that the Giraffe can manouver and eat just the leaves and even if the thorns prick, they have antiseptic saliva, so all's well! I clicked a photo of the list of Giraffes with name, age etc.

David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is open for public only between 12 to 1 pm, the feeding time, so we rushed there. A huge crowd of tourists and I was behind 2 tall men trying to look at the elephants between their elbows and hips. After a while a lady moved away and I had the front row.The elephants were frolicking in the sand and water pushing and playing. It was so wonderful to see them rush towards the milk bottle and gulp it down in a few seconds. The employee of the orphanage was talking about the life of the elephants, how they came to be here and the charges for sponsoring an elephant. They would rewild the elephants once they are 3 years old. We spent almost an hour with the elephants.

Later, an IndoChinese lunch and we were off to the airport. We shared our mail id and phone numbers with Moses, and thanked him for everything .
My peregrinations come to an end.

Definitely a memorable holiday!
Kwaheri(Good bye) Kenya.

P.S. We had to wait 2 hours at the airport as our luggage didn't turn up. The Kenyan adventure didn't wanna end !!!