Long Day on the Road, or "Mbuvi, are we there yet?"

(Pictures that accompany this blog post can be found by clicking on the "Kenya pics on Picassa" link to the right)


This morning we got an early start. Jet lag does weird things to you so we were all up before 6am. Our trip was mostly uneventful; the usual stop for fuel, air pressure, etc. and a harrowing, rush hour drive through Nairobi. John Cherry had only seen it at night on our way in, so he didn't fully understand just how crazy things can get. We saw the aftermath of an accident, a pretty serious track versus mutatu (bus) and lots of close calls in the traffic circles. Cherie Creech slept through it all. Amazing.

At the rift valley overlook, we discovered that we had a flat tire. That is apparently interesting enough that all the curio vendors stood around giving us advice, rather than hawking their wares, so it was actually a blessing. Mbuvi changed the tire like an old pro and we went on down the road.

On this highway, you pass three alkaline lakes, lake Elementita, Lake Niavasha, and Lake Nakuru. We could see that all three lakes were very low. The drought has hit this area particularly hard.

Near Niavasha, we stopped at a roadside shopping center to fix the tire and get lunch. They have a great snack there called a Samosa. It's kind of a cross between an egg roll and a burrito, stuffed with meat and deep fried. Yummy.

Further down the road we were passed by a large bus with Michelle Obama's picture on the back and "The First Lady" painted on the mud flaps. Only in Kenya.

Past Nakuru, we crossed the equator again, this time on the ground (Nairobi is at 3 degrees South latitude), and so we celebrated by stopping for pictures at the big sign. The rest of the drive featured bad roads, beautiful scenery and napping passengers.

We arrived safely at Eldoret and are staying at the Hotel Sirikwa (seer-E-qua) which is nicer than any hotel I have stayed at in Kenya. Clean and well maintained, and dinner was great. At dinner we met with Keith, an Eldoret based missionary supported by a church in Abilene. He married a Kenyan woman some time ago and now is a permanent resident. Neat guy. He's going with us to Nguenymesut tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be at our first orphanage, and I can't wait. We'll have plenty of time to meet everyone, take pictures, tour the facilities, have private meetings with the widows and generally love on those kids. It took a long time to get to this point, but here we are. I'm pumped. More tomorrow night.