Our 6 hour drive across Kenya was exciting, interesting, and mostly just beautiful both ways! We were able to see random bits of wildlife while also getting a taste for the country. Kenya has over 42 tribes and 39 million people spread across an area smaller than Texas. We were amazed that even in the rural areas there are an amazing amount of people packed in small spaces.
Below are the kids sitting in the van that drove us from Litein back to Nairobi for our flight home. (Sorry I’m posting pictures categorical instead of chronological.) We were very uncomfortable riding in a nice van alone. Even the kids commented multiple times on the fact that they both had their own seat. Usually, vans of this size have up to 15 passengers. Whenever we took mutatu’s (public transportation in vans), the kids sat on our laps.
We drove past so many people needing rides and here we were in a chartered, private van that had room for so many people… Looking back, the way we left Kenya was healthy in that we slowly adjusted to the culture change. Andrew still comments that the drive out of Litein left him the most guilt-ridden of his life.
Whenever our vehicle stopped, we were bombarded with men, women and even children selling items through our windows and wanting to see and/or touch us. Below was actually our driver’s nephew who we chatted with while our driver visited with his cousin.
Elizabeth promised Grandma Irene she would bring a rock home to share. Looking for a rock became an every day project. The kids were so cute because everyday they would save 3 or 4 rocks in a special place for Grandma Irene. In the end we chose one on our drive home leaving the Masaai Mara.
View looking over the Great Rift Valley. There were tons of little shacks and “tourist stops.” The wobbly buildings hung over the side of huge clifts and often sold animal skins, figurines, or soda. Our mentors offered to stop but I was rather leery not only of parking at these shops but also walking to the edge!
“Attention: You are now entering the escarpment section 9 Km long. DRIVE CAREFULLY”
The stretch of road made me so so nervous! Two narrow, curvy lanes packed with traffic all traveling at speeds that I would be nervous of on straight roads! What cracked me up more was that on our way home we saw many popped corn stands where men would roast ears of corn and then wave them at drivers shouting their price. If a driver motioned they wanted an ear, the man would run a long side the truck and exchange the corn for money (usually 10KS or about 14 cents) while the driver continued up the road!
Construction of a very nice building. Notice the scaffolding is built directly in to the walls.
Along our drive it was common to see a young boy in charge of 1 or 2 large heards of livestock. Often times they’d be in the middle of nowhere alone with the animals.
Gas prices were actually very comparable to prices in the US which means they were outrageous considering the economy. Below is a very nice and well maintained mutatu in Nairobi. Keep in mind that in Litein, the mutatu’s were not even half this nice! The second picture is a bus but more similar to the mutatu’s we were used to… notice the goats on top!
Below is Elizabeth and Alexander with our driver George. George picked us up in Litein, acted as our guide through the Masaai Mara, and also drove us back to the Mayfield Guest House in Nairobi.
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