A Kenyan back massage!

Yesterday I took the 8 -- or should have been 8 -- but ended up being an 11 hour ride from Nairobi to Kakamega.  When I was buying my bus ticket, the guys behind the counter enthusiastically told me that I would enjoy my Kenyan back massage on the way to Kakamega!  Translation, very bumpy road.  Though not nearly as bad as I was expecting.  And, as you can see from the pics below, the drive was beautiful, as the road goes through the Great Rift Valley, a UNESCO world heritage site. Along the way I also saw lots of donkeys and sheep, as well as cows, goats, antelope and zebras (I think the last two were in a wildlife preserve that we drove by).

I had heard travel times in Kenya and Uganda can vary greatly due to the frequency of breakdowns and whatnot, and yesterday was no exception, and a good introduction to life on the African roadways.  It was smooth sailing for the first 5 hours or so.  Then we came upon traffic that would put LA freeways to shame.  Apparently a truck had overturned and blocked the highway, and then traffic began to build up. This resulted in a 3 hour delay while we waited for people to come to move the truck, and then much longer after that for the traffic congestion to clear.

View of traffic & people trying alternate routes

On the plus side, everyone on the bus was incredibly nice.  A woman across the aisle from me kindly invited me to her home the next time I’m in Nairobi, and several people helped to make sure I got off at the right stop when we finally reached it. They also enthusiastically pointed out the road to Obama’s ancestral home, which is apparently not far from Kakamega. 

I arrived in time to meet my new roommates/co-workers, who had kindly cooked a delicious dinner. Then attempted unpacking and went to bed.