On the road: Nairobi to Kampala
It’s the 4th day of our trip from Nairobi to Southern Uganda and back to Nairobi via Masai Mara. We are riding a truck fitted with passenger-friendly seats, but the ride is still rough: the engine roar is harsh, and the roads are sometimes in a bad state. Yesterday we crossed the border from Kenya to Uganda and spent three long hours waiting for our passports to be stamped despite the fact that there were no lines, and we had everything in order. Those of us who acquired the eVisas had to wait a long time because of process issues in visa verification. “This is Africa,” our tour leader would say whenever unforeseen events happen.
“This is Africa!”, and I am here for all that it represents: smiling kids waving their hands at you on the road, Piri Piri sauce and its same sting after each gulp of food, “Hakuna Matata” as it is sang to celebrate life amid a bonfire! “No worries!”, it is the life we celebrate and not the problems.
We’ve passed by the Great Rift Valley in Kenya onwards to Africa’s Great Lakes, crossing the Nile river very close to its source. I still imagine the quest that it was to find this source, and I understand that Great is a fitting superlative for this lake region. On the road, you will see sugar cane, corn, tea plants, and even rice. It is surprising to see such fertile land after having read that less than 20% of area in Kenya and as for Uganda only 12%! Our route passes by “bread baskets” for both Kenya and Uganda! Eldoret has that monicker for Kenya. Incidentally, Eldoret is also famous for being the breathing-ground of Marathon champions in Kenya, it’s high elevation and resulting thin air makes it optimal for endurance training.
Our first stop after Nairobi is Lake Nakuru National Park; it is one of the smallest National parks in Kenya. In fact, at certain places in the park, you can hear ambient noise from a nearby city. The advantage of Lake Nakuru is that you don’t have to travel far to see entirely different kinds of animals. Except for the Elephant, it has Africa’s Big Five: Lion, Leopard, Rhino.
We camped on a more secluded part of the park. It was peaceful. Nevertheless, nothing separated us from the wild. At night the sky is lit with countless stars beaming from with the absence of city light in the area.
All along the little villages that we pass by to are shops advertising mobile phone payment and solar electric generators, it is interesting to see confirmation of news and documentary reports on this. Another testimony, I gather it is the presence of significant Chinese investments in the countryside. At the border, there are so many cargo boxes with Chinese character markings.
Things are changing fast; I just hope that it is for the better.