We experienced a massive downpour of rain in Maralal a
couple days ago. The rain was so heavy
that we had a roof disfunction and a waterfall in the living room! Neither my daughter or I was in the living
room as this event occurred, and suddenly I heard “MOM” being yelled urgently
through the house. I ran to find my
daughter standing in a huge puddle placing buckets under several big streams
with it raining as hard inside the house as it was outside! Wow. I
sprang into action mopping up the water into the buckets. We found enough basins to put under all the
leaks and eventually managed to shrink the puddle to a wet smear on the floor. We had reroofed the house last year in order
to prevent this very same flooding from happening again. To no avail. I called the roofing man whom we had paid to
do said job and complained. Within a
couple hours he was there on the roof looking it over with his workman. It had stopped raining by that time, of
course. Regardless, they said they had
discovered the issue and would fix it promptly the next day. I gave out some cash for the needed fixing
materials and have not seen them again.
Uggh. I will have to chase him
down again tomorrow before we get another huge storm. It is looking cloudy and ominous still. Getting very cold tonight too. Hope it doesn’t rain in the night as I don’t
really want to be up mopping up indoor rainstorms in the middle of the night.
Once blessing of all this rain is that my garden is still
viable and growing well without a lot of effort. We are planning salad for dinner tonight with
fresh lettuce and herbs picked right outside our door. I spent the evening digging and planting more
seeds with my daughter. One casualty of
the leaking roof the other day was all my seed packets were on the table under
the leak! I was planning to save most of
them for future months, but they got soaked.
I’ve tried to dry a few of them out but am afraid if kept, the seeds will
be spoiled. So best to plant them
immediately when they are fresh. It is
lovely working in the soil and the beauty of our garden. A wild refuge in the middle of Maralal. We keep the yard and fence quite bushy and it
has become a paradise for birds. We have
so many species. I have even seen a pair
of brown parrots from time to time. I
think they nest in the fence hedge. It
is so peaceful to sit and watch the different birds go about their life
business. The morning birdsong I wake up
to is so beautiful. A great way to start
the day.
I got a call from Mobius Motors today. They are doing a survey of their customers as
to what they think of the Mobius vehicle and the service the company gives to
everyone who has purchased one. I have
been very happy with the Mobius, even with its challenges, especially after having
only the Mobius to get around in for a month when the Pajero broke down. The Mobius is a Kenyan made car with the aim
to have an affordable and sturdy vehicle for Kenya tailored needs. The companies main aim so far seems to be
towards tour operators, farmers and community organizations. We got our Mobius in 2015 as a PEAR project
vehicle. It has been useful, but it is
not four-wheel drive, which can be a bit difficult on our rough roads. But despite this, with front wheel drive, it
has been surprisingly hardy and versatile for us here in Samburu. Mobius Motors has been very good on helping
us with breakdowns, servicing and improving it to be stronger and better. I do keep telling them, as I did again today,
that they must develop a four-wheel drive version. If they do that, I will definitely look at
upgrading in the future. In June, I made
two trips between Ngurunit and Nairobi with the Mobius. Over 2000 km of driving
within a few weeks! It is a fun car but
with manual steering and feeling every bump, it is quite tiring to drive. It is like being stuck in an exercise machine
for hours at a time. I have certainly
gained arm and leg strength this last month!
But I was exhausted much of the time.
The other challenge with the car in Nairobi is that the sides are canvas
all around with only a hard wind shield in front. I had to be careful where I parked so as not
to lose my stuff and my dog when we left the vehicle anywhere. Canvas roll up windows are lovely in the bush,
but not so much in the city!! As my car
was number 16 off the assembly line in the first batch of Mobius vehicles ever
made, and the company not even 5 years old yet, I am hoping that the Mobius
models will get better and better. I am
happy I went with this Kenyan company and I hope they make it as a thriving
business. Now I’m waiting for a Mobius
four-wheel drive with better suspension and locking doors!!
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