Across the Border Again

Enough of the scary stuff at Jinja; time to move on again.

We headed out towards the Ugandan/Kenyan border, this time to head south towards Tanzania. Thhis time we rossed at the border town of Busia. As usual, checking out was a shorter process than checking in, but our visas for Kenya were still current so the hassles were kept to a minimum.

Back on the road, we knew we were in Kenya again: we had to drive on the wrong side of the road because of roadworks but there were no signs - we just had to keep flashing our lights; there were sections where the dust was so thick that we couldn't see the car in front; there were sections where we had to drive on the road verge because the road surface was so damaged, and the verge itself was an obstacle track! Normal Kenyan roads....

We passed matatus with slogans along the top of the windscreen - typical were "Trust in God"(and not my driving), "Jesus is the Way" (and don't get in mine), "God's Mercy" (we all need some after the driving here). Bicycles were still a means of mass transport with whole families perched somewhere on the apparatus - dad pedalling, mother perched on the back, a baby squashed between them and a 2 year old perched on the handlebars. Children ran out to wave to us, calling out "Muzungu, muzungu" meaning white foreigner - in Ethiopia we were Ferangis.

Bicycles are used as taxi transport. The riders sport coloured shirts, pink in one town, blue in another, with numbers on their backs. They have a padded and fringed seat on the back - womenn used them in particular and perch on the seat side-saddle with their shopping. But women don't seem to ride bicycles as a rule - we only saw two in total over many days. We also saw a sheep being carried across the back of a bicycle - it was tied down but had its head up looking around somewhat bewildered.

School was back after the Christmas/New Year break and thousands of school children seemed to stream to and from their schools all day. We estimated that about 70% of them were barefoot, walking long distances each way. But every one of them wore their school uniform.

We skirted around the eastern shore of Lake Victoria, sometimes close to the water, sometimes climbing up hills and away from it. We passed such delights in villages as the "Coca Cola Shop and Tailoring", "Unshakeable Hardware Store" and the "Silent Guest House" which was right on the main highway.

Our stop for the night was the posh sounding "Kisumu Beach Resort". Well, it was posh in the 60s. It had a magnificent position right on the edge of the lake, but every structure there looked as if it had not been touched since it was built. But, yes, getting priorities right, the toilets flushed and the shower was moderately warm. And as we sat around after dinner we were treated to a special show - glow worms in the grass and fireflies in the trees.