Trip to Nakuru

Believe it or not, two days after driving to Eldoret, we travelled in the other direction to Nakuru. Borries had to collect his new company vehicle; on Saturday, Grant, I took him to Nakuru to fetch it.

As usual when we travel to Nakuru from the valley, we cross the Equator

Once the documents had been signed, the dealership manager said he'd fill Borrie's vehicle with fuel and leave the keys with the guard. We went into town; Grant had to collect spares for the workshop and Borries collected meat for the guest house from Gilani's butchery.

Afterwards we popped upstairs to Gilani's Restaurant for lunch. The restaurant setting is beautiful, there are three cuisines (Chinese, Indian and Western). Grant and I ordered Indian while Borries had T-bone steak and chips.

Before the meal, each of us received a piping hot flannel to clean our hands. The waitron thought I was struggling to open the twisted cloth when in fact I was making faces with it!

Then it was time to return to the motor dealership where Borrie's brand-new vehicle was waiting outside the showroom. I convinced Grant to "hand over" the keys to Borries as the sale manager normally does.

Borries receives the keys to his new company vehicle from the "sales manager"!

On the way back to the valley, we crossed the Equator again!

When we overtook this taxi, I noticed that the interior was packed to capacity and beyond with passengers and luggage. No wonder a couple of people had to stand in the open sliding door and hang on

I've never travelled this highway on a Saturday and marvelled at the activity in every village lining the road. We also noticed many people dressed in their Sunday best and all walking in the same direction. At a small village called Emining, we saw a hall with a huge crowd of well-dressed people standing on the lawn. A few kilometers we came upon a long convoy of vehicles parked on the side of the road.

Wedding guests waiting for all to gather and make their way to the event in Emining, a few kilometers back

Pretty young girls, dressed for the occasion, stride along excitedly

Three children waiting for their parents to emerge from the house behind them, perhaps?

A few minutes later, we turned off onto the gravel road which leads into the valley, and after 26 bone-jarring, teeth-rattling kilometers, to the mine.

Stopping to stretch a leg, the men compare notes. Borrie's vehicle is exactly like Grant's and will be fitted with an identical canopy in due course

A pile of wood tells the no-win tale of Africa. Local people need wood for fuel or to make charcoal, and the earth needs it's forests and natural bush to be preserved

Borries riding along ahead

While in Nakuru, I stopped at the vendors' stalls in front of a supermarket. I bought two small plastic cars for KES150/US$2 each. On the way home, Grant and I looked out for two little boys on the side of the road. (There are always many children along the way, and only that morning had I seen a little boy pushing a plastic water bottle along in the sand. This gave me the idea to buy some toys)  Just before reaching home, we spotted two lads leading a small herd of cattle along the mine road. Grant stopped and I called them to my side of the car. As I handed a toy to the boy who'd arrived first, he grabbed it, clutched it to his chest and shouted: Eeeh-eeeh-eeeh! The other one came running around the vehicle and I handed him the second car. They were so excited with these bright new toys - probably the first time they'd ever received anything like this in their lives.

Two little boys clutch their new toys (Note boy on the left with car in his right hand)

Have a great week, everyone!