Blogyagi

Well, I’ve been away from the internet cafe for a while so I’ll fill you in on some of the things I have done in the last few weeks. In bullet points because I’m lazy. No photos for reasons you’ll find within.

• I went to the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on the 24th of March. Spent most of my time at the Tusker tent. Security everywhere because of alleged terrorist threats but the day went off smoothly. Alas sometime between the junior and senior races, some bastard lifted my wallet so I was unable to see the day through to its conclusion and instead had to walk back into town to the police station to get a police report. Only lost a bit of cash and my credit card so not too bad. However, my memory stick was in my wallet as well so I have no easy way to upload photos anymore.
• Flew to Lamu the next day. Was met by Bakhari but not by Zuhra. His last minute preparations for my arrival including putting shark liver oil and cotton in between the planks and she wasn’t smelling her best. Took her out for a sail up the channel the next day though and Bakhari has done a very good job of looking after her during my long absence.
• Tagged along on several trips with tourists to Manda Toto, a small island to the north of Lamu. Got horrendously sunburnt from which I’m still recovering.
• Spent a few mornings polishing and painting Zuhra. The days are too hot to do much at all so I usually knock off about 10, go for a juice and relax around town or sleep.
• Eaten a lot of lunches and dinners at various people’s houses. It’s been good to catch up with various people.

The power’s gone off and the UPS is whining so I have to go. I’ll come back and finish this in the next couple of days. I’m happy, healthy, enjoying Mau Lidi and looking forward to coming back and boring you all to tears with stories from Kenya and Lamu.

Well, I’ve been here a week without putting in an update so I’ll just put a quick note here saying that all is well, including both me and Zuhra. I have a great place to live and am having a great time. Internet however has taken a great leap backwards. I’ll augment/replace this post with more detailed information soon.

 Michael

OK, there’s a bit more here for you to read now. Some of the photos are linked to larger higher quality images, but because of the woeful upload speeds here I haven’t done this with all of them. You can tell by mousing over them.

I’m going to spend a few more days here in Bungoma and then head to the coast next week. I haven’t been able to get into my gmail today so if anybody needs to get hold of me urgently, call or sms my mobile on +254 728 670 526.

This is a placeholder for a post I haven’t written yet about the wonderful town of Bungoma in Western Kenya.

I was pretty heavily jetlagged upon arrival and slept for most of
the time I was in Nairobi, so didn’t do too much before Javan came to
pick me up on Wednesday. I did spend some time doing things that I
couldn’t afford to last time I was living here. For those who have
been there, the following keywords describe my time fairly well:

• River Road
• Merungi
• Florida 2000
• Nakumatt Mega
• Carnivore
• Nyama Choma

Some photos from my hotel room, the 6th floor of the plush Ambassadeur. The lift is slower than ever but I need the exercise anyway.

Nairobi’s Moi Avenue by day

Nairobi’s Moi Avenue by night

Nairobi’s River Road Area by day

Nairobi’s River Road Area by night

The flight from Dubai was uneventful. The skies were clear and
I used the in seat TV to watch the external camera showing the
view looking straight down. Kind of like Google Maps but for
real. If you want to play along at home, we passed over:

• Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter (big sand dunes),
• Oman (as above with the occasional man-made oasis),
• Yemen (rocky desert and dry river beds. No signs of life
  except on the coast),
• The Gulf of Aden (water),
• Puntland, Somalia (rocky desert, dusty towns. My imagination
  added camel trains and mad mullahs),
• Ethiopia (first greenery as the desert gave way to the
  fertile highlands),
• and finally Kenya. The clouds had moved in by this stage but
  Mount Kenya managed to raise its top through. Unlike the last
  time I flew by there was no snow at the summit. Global
  warming apparently.

Despite my body clock registering about 4 in the morning, I
“forced” down a few drinks to prepare me for dealing with Kenyan
Immigration. Last time I came through Jomo Kenyatta, I spent hours
in the hands of officers who were sure I was a dangerous drug
smuggler, being poked and prodded and made to sit upon a perspex
toilet while a man with rubber gloves eagerly awaited the contents
of my bowels.

Not being a German porn star, I had found the whole process
quite distasteful. This time however, apart from waiting for about
an hour for my bag, everything went smoothly and I was out of the
airport and on the streets of Nairobi for the first time in over
two years.

but struggling to find decent internet. Have stories to upload when I do. Have been to Uganda, drunk far too much traditional beer, slept in brothels, eaten goat’s balls and all in all had a very good time.