On the Road in Kenya

It's been an interesting and unconvential week for me here in Kenya so far. I definitely have not been the average tourist.

First of all, Norah's family lives WAY outside of Nairobi - like an hour away. Sure, you just jump on a couple of Matatus (small minibus vans; independent public transport) and you are there, or at least close to where you hoped to go, when the Matatu driver decides he has had enough and puts you out and he turns around and goes the other way again. Nairobi didn't really provide me with too much interest so far anyway. The big cities of the world prove to be much alike once again, although the crime rates differ, as does the air quality.

Over the past weekend we headed to Norah's grandmother's farm in a small village called Meru in the hills. Picturesque. It's tea country up there; I've never had hands-on experience with tea plants before. They coat the ground like a chest-high lush green carpet from the 1970s. There was fog in Meru as well, and it was cold at night, almost driving me inside from the beautiful skies, full of stars for the new moon. Amazing what a cup of warm tea can do, especially when it's made with milk you saw come out of the cow a mere 4 hours earlier. Yum. And the tea was from the fields around me too. There were great clouds to chase, but my video camera is taking a break in Kenya - it's unreasonable to drag around on all of the public transit, especially when everybody tells me I am about to be robbed every second of the day. Ai-yah.
In Meru I also had my first experience meeting a chicken, then watching it become my dinner. They really do flap all around once their heads come off; it's not just an expression. This particular chicken was quite well exercised though. Eating it was kind of like experiencing meat flavored chewing gum. Tasty, but hard to swallow.

After the return from Meru, we turned around and came to Mombassa. Well, actually not quite.. we are on an estate about 40 minutes away up the beach. It's quite nice actually. A big house with servants and grandchildren in for the school break. If you heard about the resort blown apart by terrorists a couple years back, well that place was about 5 minutes away.
Today we did venture into the city, however, and I was struck with a remembrance of Semester at Sea. This way one of SAS's old ports, recently replaced with Dar Es Salaam. I felt the SAS vibe strolling avenues too small for autos, full of people more diverse than any US university could ever accommodate, even given the highest levels of political correctness. Muslims of all varieties, Indians, Arabs, Africans, and centuries of combinations of the above.
We visited fort Jesus, once again a Portuguese legacy to the world. We chewed Tambu.. a leaf filled with tobacco, honey, molasses, beetlenut, coconut, and more. We drank thick rich coffee (yum; I'm in coffee withdrawl here in tea country). We wandered small streets and people-viewed for hours. Unfortunately, the town seemed to close with evening call to prayer, so we've returned up the beach.

Next stop - I'm hoping to spend one of my last nights in Nairobi (and Africa) at a resteraunt called "Carnivore". I can't wait!

David