First Full Day in Kenya

I had eggs for breakfast my first day in Kenya. I was offered eggs for breakfast every single day I was there. At first I thought eggs would be a great source of protein for a vegetarian on a trip. And they are a good source of protein. The Kenyan eggs look different than the eggs I am used to. The yolks are not as yellow. The yolks are cream colored and I think the color difference may be due to nutrition. I had hard boiled eggs or Spanish omelets every day for the first five days and then I could not look at another egg. Forget the protein and give me some cereal! I spent 20 shillings to email and reassure the folks at home. The keyboard is different so my punctuation was way off. We stopped at a large supermarket on the way out of town to buy some snacks and water for the road. There was a television playing at the store. I saw a commercial that brought tears to my eyes. The commercial had words on a plain background and went something like this: "Mr. Kibaki. Mr Odinga. You have the power to settle this dispute that has brought Kenya to the brink of anarchy. You, the leaders of our nation, claim to love our country. You have the power to bring this dispute to an end. Please put aside your differences for the sake of our peaceful country, Kenya." The commercial was put on by the Peace Committee. We are driving north toward Mount Kenya. There are many people walking on the road or standing near the road. Everybody is so well dressed. I see no bare arms or legs. I see beautiful dresses worn by little girls. These are party dresses with bow ties in the back and frilly bibs. Kids are playing in dresses that at home would be saved for the very best occasions. Women here wear suits with longer skirts. Men wear pin stripe pants with belts and the pressed linen shirts tucked in and dress shoes. I feel way out of place wearing shorts. Thank goodness I have that sarong to wear over my shorts. The only people I see wearing shorts are boys less than 7 years old. People in Minnesota show more skin in the winter than Kenyans do. As we drive north I can see homes away from the road but it's weird because there are no driveways or side roads. People walk to the road. I see houses in the distance with only footpaths to get there. Hardly anyone has vehicles. Most of the vehicles I see are buses or taxis or trucks or vans like ours. This is a pedestrian country. People walk or take the bus to get where they are going. The road so far is paved. But there are frequent speed bumps on the road with no warning signs. The speed bumps slow the traffic in front of the road side stores such as butcheries (no refrigeration so sides of beef or mutton hang and people buy enough for the day) or hotels (bars) or roadside fruit stands (bananas, papayas, mangoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage). We saw six police roadblocks. Bars with spikes cover most of the road and the van has to swerve to get around them. Kenyan police stand guard with guns but we are never stopped. I hear corruption is typical and bribes are paid for infractions but our van is always waved through. Each inch of land is used. Each house has about an acre and the yard is planted in corn and cabbage and other produce right up to the edge of the house. The roadsides are used for pedestrian traffic and for cows and goats and sheep to graze. The cows here look very thin. I see ribs and hips protruding on every cow. Maybe they are thin because they have to walk so far to graze. Some cows are brown and some are black and white. All the cows had horns. I saw many carts pulled by donkeys. I saw one cart pulled by oxen. I saw lots of people on bicycles. The bicycles are one speed and they look like 26 inch tires. Many of the bicycles have a flat surface on the back fender for passengers to ride. One bicycle had a cooler on the back advertising meat. The cooler top was open and I could see a huge hunk of meat inside. I saw bicycles with six plastic pop bottle crates tied to the back fender. I saw bicycles carrying bundles of hay and bundles of firewood. Most of the houses have corrugated iron roofs but some are thatched. We stopped for lunch in Katerina and shopped in the marketplace that is open 3 days a week there. We got lots of stares. I saw many things for sale - fruits, grains, vegetables, metal pans and buckets, baskets, woven bags, batiks, clothing, jewelry, and wood carvings. We are expected to bargain over prices. I don't think I am going to be able to bargain. I am ready to pay more to avoid bargaining. As we approached Mount Kenya I saw tractors for the first time. This was President Kibaki's ranch. These fields look more like Minnesota fields. We arrived at Mount Kenya Leisure Lodge. Oh, the accommodations are very plush. I have a private room with my own "Juliet" style balcony. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sleep with the balcony door open and have the gauze curtain move with the wind just like in the movies? The room is very blue with purple accents. My daughter would love this room. We strolled around the grounds to admire the beautiful flowers. We spot a baboon scamper across the grounds. Forget keeping the balcony door open. I don't want any baboon visitors tonight.