26 November
2018
Traveling. I do love traveling in all of its many
forms. I’ve gone to and come back from
USA twice this year! Planes, trains,
walking, riding horse and driving.
Driving and driving. I enjoy
driving through so many landscapes, climates and places. This year of 2018 has had so many lovey drives. Especially the last two trips to Nairobi and
back.
18 December
2018
And that
statement was as far as I got on the 26th November blog post I was
hoping to write and post before getting distracted by getting ready for my next
trip the following day on the 27th.
That trip was going to Ngurunit with my friend Sylvie and her
daughters. Another amazing trip. We stayed 5 days in Ngurunit having a great
time swimming, doing craft work and enjoying life. Then back again to Maralal on the 2nd
December, only to be traveling again to Nairobi on the 6th December,
then Nanyuki on the 8th and back to Maralal on the 10th. Crazy life really.
I have no idea where I was going with the whole “I love
traveling in all its many forms” statement, really. I do love it, but have also realized that it
can be so disruptive in many ways.
Routines out the window and even when I am in one place, it takes me
days to get back into some kind of productive rhythm. Or maybe traveling is my rhythm and
routine. Hadn’t thought of it that way
really. What I did want to write about
were some of the cool things I have done or seen lately during my travels, and
when I am in one place for any amount of time.
So instead of a continuous timeline of events, I will show snapshots of
descriptive memory of some of the cool stuff.
Snapshot one: Driving on the wildness road on the way to and
back from Nanyuki several times. One
trip down with Sylvie and daughters, we saw so many types of wildlife it was
amazing. There was a group of giraffes
in the distance all standing and gazing the same direction. One adolescent was behind the group watching
the smaller babies. I wonder if they
were watching a lion or something else dangerous? A bit further on, we saw an albino zebra
baby. So cute. So white with a pink nose and vague stripes
barely seen. All the other zebras were
the normal regular black and white stripes type. That day we also saw elephants, a tortoise,
gazelles, many more giraffe, Grevy Zebra, with the tiny stripes and amazing ears,
and a lot of what I call regular zebra, like fat donkeys with stripes. On the way back alone along that road a few
days later, I saw almost nothing. A few
baboons and birds. Then, as I made it up
the huge rocky hill, there was an Oryx.
A beautiful beast. Majestic. Amazing.
Straight horns touching the sky.
Boldly staring me down as I stopped to gaze in wonder.
Snapshot two: A craft
fair in Nanyuki. I had been in Nairobi
on a Friday when I heard about it starting on Sunday. I called the organizer and managed to get her
to let me come and try to find a place to sell the baskets of Ngurunit Weaver
Group. I had thrown them into the car at
the last minute as a whim, or an intuition, as I was leaving Maralal on
Thursday. I had several challenges to
overcome before I could get to the fair.
One was that I was barely walking from a foot infection I had gotten a
week before when in Ngurunit and stepped on a thorn. No thorn present as far as anyone could tell,
but the foot was swollen and painful. But I am determined and after seeing another
doctor in Nairobi, planned to head to Nanyuki on Saturday afternoon, pain and
all. This brought me to my second
challenge, my car in the garage getting a new clutch! The mechanic kept promising it would be done
within the hour, hour after hour. By 4
pm I just went to the garage and sat there watching them attempt to put the car
back together. First one issue, then
another. It was getting late for me to
go alone in the dark on a 4-hour drive, but fortunately the mechanic also
wanted to go to Nanyuki also, so we planned to go together. And even better, he offered to drive so I
could rest my foot. Yay! At 7 pm I was sitting in the car ready to go
when a test drive produced another bad sound.
The back was jacked up, various pieces beaten and pried on, and by 8 we
were off. As we went, the clutch started
to act up, but we made it to where I was staying at 11 pm. My friend kindly came and showed me the way
to her house. Crazy drive up the
mountain as I had to follow her in a car where the clutch was barely working
and my foot hurt every time I had to attempt to change gear. In the morning I woke up to go to the craft
fair and couldn’t get the gear in!!
Yikes. I sat and took a deep
breath, sent up a prayer and thought about what the clutch was doing or not
doing. Inspiration hit. I physically pulled up the clutch pedal with
my hand and behold, the gear engaged and off I went. I made it to the fair on time. Managed to get a space and a table from the
gruffly cranky but somehow kindly craft fair organizer and had a glorious
day. I sold almost every basket I
had. I met many old friends and made
several new ones. I also got several
connections with new markets for the baskets.
So wonderful. The next day, after
getting the clutch adjusted and working, I was heading back to Maralal on the
same wilderness road I like. No wildlife
that day, but I did act as a guide for some lost tourists. Just after getting them to where they were
going to at Ol Molo Ranch, it started to rain heavily across the Kiremon
plains. What a drive. Mud mud mud.
I haven’t had so much fun for a long time. I must say though that it was a bit tense as
I was driving alone and had to be very careful not to get stuck. Slip sliddin’ away. The nearer your destination the more you’re
slip sliddin’ away!! Amazing time. I did make it without getting stuck. Even though my husband did call to see where
I was just as I was in the middle of some of the worst mud!! I somehow managed to answer, reassure him I
was okay, and not get stuck all at the same time! Not answering was not an option as then he
would have worried more. It is nice to
be loved.
Snapshot three: The last 1 ½ weeks I have been in Maralal
trying to get my foot healed (almost there) and organize for Christmas
holidays. The kids are coming!! One week from today and I will be picking
them up from the airport at 6 in the morning and we will be going straight
North to Ngurunit to touch home before Christmas day is over. Before that, I am planning to travel to
Ngurunit the end of this week to drop the dogs and all the Holiday stuff there
to be ready. So, I have been trying to
finish end of year stuff before I disappear into the bush until 2019. Accounts.
Sending basket orders. Making
weaver payment lists. Fixing
toilets. Treating dogs. I am so looking forward to peace, joy, family
and friends over the holiday period.
That is a quick wide view of life in some of my travels the
last couple of months. Wishing you all
amazing Christmas holidays and a Happy New Year!! See you in 2019! Hugs to all.
