My husband is here for a week (hooray!) and we decided to take a road trip to the Kenyan Coast. Our driver, Joseph, told us it would take about 5-6 hours to get to Mombasa from Nairobi. It took us 9 1/2 hours.
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| Mombasa |
The driver is not a luxury – he is a necessity. The traffic and driving here truly are insane. The roads are few, terrible and mostly under construction. You barrel along a 4 lane for a mile or so and then the road just . . . stops and you are on a dirt turn-around where the driver does a 180 onto another dirt road, stops for a foot deep rut and then onto another road. No one minds any rules of the road. The public transit – Matatus (vans) and boda bodas (125 cc motor bikes) driven like maniacs. There are deaths daily.
Now about that 5-6 hours to Mombasa. I’ve experienced a fair amount of similar misinformation. Take this recent interchange at dinner:
“The menu says you have Béarnaise sauce for this entrée?”
“Oh yes, the Béarnaise sauce is very very good.”
“OK. I will have that.”
My food came with a sauce, but it clearly was not Béarnaise.
“I don’t think this is the Béarnaise sauce.”
“That is pepper corn sauce.”
“I see. But I ordered Béarnaise sauce.”
“The pepper corn sauce is very very good.”
“But I ordered Béarnaise sauce.”
“That is pepper corn sauce.”
“I understand that it is pepper corn sauce and I am sure it is very good, but can I have Béarnaise sauce?”
“We have no Béarnaise sauce. The pepper corn sauce is very good.”
I don’t perceive an intent to deceive or to mislead in these conversations. I think it is more a reluctance to make you unhappy with bad news, and so you get a modified version of the facts to maintain peace in the moment.
The drive to Mombasa and the East Coast was pretty interesting, although ultimately too long and very hot. It included more than a few incongruous moments:
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| Free Ride |
1. A policeman was directing traffic in the middle of rush hour by the Nairobi airport. Clearly lacking multi-tasking skills, he stood in the middle of the road with one arm out stopping traffic in one direction while talking and laughing on his cell phone FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. The traffic he should have been controlling with his cell phone hand sat there, motionless, until he was done.
2. The number of people who can cram in or on any particular vehicle is astounding.
3. We watched several men load a car up onto a truck. They counted to three and then lifted it onto the truck, which was about 6 feet off the ground. It was similar to watching a person passed along a mosh pit by a drunken crowd. At times the car kind of wobbled and leaned. It was so odd and engrossing to watch that I forgot I even had my camera.
4. We had lunch at a Muslim restaurant. The TV was turned to an Islamic channel that conducted the call to prayer, translated into English. As soon as it was over, The TV was switched to a rather bawdy MTV like channel.
5. We saw many Muslim women in traditional black garb, with full veils, but they were filmy and formfitting, sleek and sinuous, with sequins, and the women looked incredibly sensual. Not I think, the intent of the religious requirement, which seems to be focused on eliminating any vestige of female allure or individualism – to make you an unidentified thing, not a person.
6. A school sign said “Secondary School for Girls. No Mutilation.” A good thing.
7. A motorcycle went by with about a dozen live chickens hanging from its various parts. Not too much later we saw a motorcycle with 5 people on it – 3 adults with two kids sandwiched among them. And then this:
8. The over-loaded bicycles in the middle of intense traffic.
9. The over-loaded push carts in the middle of intense traffic. Note that the guy below was running as he pushed the banana cart.
10. The under-powered semi-trucks filled to capacity that are unable to get to the top of the hill (not to mention the 5 higher hills coming right after). I wonder what they do? Unload, I suppose.
yay for jan's arrival! hysterical about the sauce dialogue!
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