Kitale and the sheep

Well, today Becky and I went off to Kitale…( a big-ish town about an hour and 20 min drive away) she went to get a tooth seen to, while I took the chance to go to the supermarket to buy the holiday club food….

After carting the 50 kilos of rice, tea leaves, 5 kilos of sugar, 1800 biscuits etc. around the shop and then into to the car, we decided to treat ourselves to an imported Crunchie bar for the road! (it’s about 5 times the price of back home,  and tastes a bit… old, but still a treat!)

 While Becky went to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine, for the Eye Clinic going on at the hospital next week, I waited outside in the vehicle, and began tucking into my half of the Crunchie when suddenly there was a big crash - my Crunchie bar flew through the air, and as the our car lurched forward, I looked round and saw a Matatu in the back of our car…

There was quite a commotion - lots of Kenyan men seemed to appear, from nowhere, at my window, everyone was shouting at the Matatu driver who made a lame excuse that we were parked badly….... After it was pointed out to the driver that he was fighting a loosing battle  . . . . he had been insisting that crashing into any stationary vehicle was not the fault of the one who crashed into it . . . he kind of smiled, and said “I know, I know” (I kind of admire the fact that even in more stressful situations, Kenyans manage to smile and keep things light and positive.)

I found myself wondering which of the 4 men who were talking ‘at’ me was actually the driver, and where was Becky? What would she say when she came out of the Pharmacy to find this commotion had erupted in under just 2 minutes...?  And, more to the point, what happened to my Crunchie bar?

So Becky came back - we had to think . . .  “Now erm… what’s the procedure for this kind of thing in Kenya then?”  We realized it was best to seek advice, so made a phone call to the owner of the car and had  him speak to one of the many men who just happened to be a Mechanic. The Mechanic gave a quote estimating the damage to be 6,000 ksh (about £50 - quite a lot for a Kenyan to produce immediately!) So, it was all agreed that we will be given the 6,000 ksh, and then be on our way.

It all sounded pretty simple at this stage until it was apparent that getting that money is easier said than done!! By this time, it was raining and everyone was hovering under the shop veranda except us, we were standing in the pouring rain discussing the money issue.

As time went by, the group of men disappeared one by one, I think because they realised they might be called upon to chip in for cash. Eventually we are left with 2 people - the real driver and the Mechanic who suggested we go to their boss’s house… so we got back in the vehicle and the two men squeezed into the back to sit amongst the sacks of rice and bucket of cooking oil.

“ Where are we going? “ I asked..

‘Just there’ - they point…
“Ok, how far is there?’ I asked, hoping for a bit more info
“About 2 kilometres”.

….So, maybe 6 kilometres later we pulled in at a small shop, where an old man and his wife were sitting. At first they were excited to see white people, but soon they realised the white people were there to take some money off them and the man’s face hardened a bit.

It was a funny situation for us as we felt awful demanding money from someone who wasn’t even involved, but we had been instructed not to leave without the money so we had to insist, explaining that we lived far away and were under strict orders from the vehicle owner…

 An hour went by with a lot of discussion going on.  Every now and then they turned around and said, “Why can’t you come back tomorrow?” We explained and phoned the owner again who explained that this was really a police matter!  It was late, and the thought of facing the police here was worse than facing the consequences of going home empty handed. It was getting dark we knew it was not safe to be out at night, and it would be hard to dodge all the pot holes in the dark.

We could see the men were scratching around for cash. . . one had about ‘a fiver’s worth’ on his phone, another had a handful of coins, that along with the shop takings of the week amounted  to around 2000ksh but it was still a long way off from what we needed.

I really just wanted to go in my purse and pay it myself but asked “Is there any other way of getting some cash?”  The man’s face lit up, he had a brainwave - “I have a sheep will you take it?  It is worth 4000ksh…”    Well I loved the idea, and at this stage we would take anything, we just wanted to get home!

So we got in the vehicle and went to the boss’s house, a tidy compound with a few sheep. The man went up to one of his sheep; a big black one with white socks, and said “Take this one”…. Well I loved her, and how exciting to take home a sheep!  But I wondered where we would keep her?  The man told us there was a lot of meat on her, so she could be slaughtered for a special occasion.  I had to explain to him that I couldn’t eat her but instead I would give her a name!

The men laughed and the mood lightened again, except my sheep didn’t look too pleased about going home with us.  I was concerned that she really might not survive an hour and a half journey in the dark against the piled up food in the back seat.  However, I took the Kenyan attitude of “It will be ok!”

As we were loading the sheep in the vehicle, the owner of the car phoned again to see how things were going. We explained we had settled for a sheep as payment … but he told us we must not take the sheep because it is bad manners to take a sheep from an old man…. (I wondered which really was bad manners, since I had thought it was bad manners to turn up at a stranger’s house unannounced and demand money  - but what do I know?! )

So we had to give back the lovely white socked sheep and told him there was a change of plan.  He gave us the few coins he had collected and the sheep was happy to go back to her patch.

After many offers of Chai and supper, we explained that we had a long journey ahead of us, in the dark, and needed to get on our way.  It was funny the way we all exchanged numbers, as if they were our long lost relatives, or as if we had met under completely different circumstances. They waved us off and promised to stay in touch; I took one last glance at the sheep as we drove by, and found myself waving to her as well!!

On the way home we chuckled to ourselves. Although I love it, I don’t think I will ever fully get this country!  (I also love the idea of having a sheep now too. One of these days I may just buy one as a pet, although I don’t think I will ever find a black one with four white socks!)

As we warm up and dry off and even find our chocolate treat, we are once again reminded that no two days are the same here.

 

 

Kenya's finest

Since living in Kenya I have always prioritised doing the cultural things as opposed to the touristy things. So, I have mostly travelled direct from Nairobi to Kimilili and seen little else along the way. However as most of the visitors who come to see more of Kenya than I do, I decided now was the time to check out some more of this beautiful country that I have spent almost two and a half years in.

My sister and I decided to hit the Masai Mara…..

On travelling through Masai land in a vehicle, I felt a bit frivolous - at the mission our much needed fuel takes us to many far flung communities, reaching all kinds of needs - yet here we were burning petrol going up and down the vast Mara landscape for nothing but our own pleasure…

I put unnecessary pressure on myself… (like I always do, when I have paid a fortune to see my favourite band perform, and just hope those few hours will be worth the money).. Would this adventure really be worth it?  Especially like so many things, when bigged up so much, they often end up being a disappointment.

The Mara itself was beautiful and for miles and miles one could see millions of blades of orange grasses and some still, solitary trees scattered across the wide span of landscape…now and again you would see a red speck in the distance, of the cloth of a Masai guarding his cows. The Mara was so peaceful, so huge, so different to any other landscape I have ever seen before.

My sister was so excited and loving it after a few seconds…as she saw the hyenas looking just as sly as you would expect, or the funny wart hogs collectively doing a merry little dance…

It was indeed special to see many animals in their natural habitat, the rhino waddling along going about his business, the lion prowling the area, living up to his kingly status and the Giraffes gracefully strolling the horizon with their beautiful silhouetted frames. 

                           






But then, there He was, probably my most favorite of all, the magnificent elephant who majestically shadowed the vast landscape with his massive frame, like a gentle giant he passed us, almost blocking out the sun completely. It was one of those moments where words escape you and all you can feebly mutter is "wow". There I was, armed with my long lens camera and multiple sketchbooks, but for what? How could I possibly document this moment and do it justice?

 . It is a moment that I can not attempt to do justice with words, but if I was to try, I would say, you realise how big the world is, how small we are, and what deeply considered beauty surrounds us, so much of it untapped. I felt closer to my creator for just being there because somehow standing within a few feet of a lion or an elephant I had no choice but to acknowledge how magnificent our God the creator really is. I felt small, humbled and in no way wanted to compete with a perfect piece of work by trying to photograph it myself. I just stood, looked up, gulped for a second time and admitted defeat. There are parts of this world that are just too beautiful to photograph, too perfect to draw and too overwhelming to write about, this was one of them.