The Road to Kisii

Today we set off for Kisii, which is about 350 km to the west of Nairobi. George and I left Nairobi in the morning after my apartment at Gemina Court was inspected to make sure I didn’t abscond with any of their (mismatched) silverware. Then we stopped in Limuru, a small town covered in fog up in the hills, to pick up Noela and we were on our way.

As we headed down the hills on the highway with breathtaking views of the Rift Valley, we hit a road block. Or more precisely, a long line of cars and trucks stopped on the two lane highway that George said was most likely caused by an accident. He said sometimes it can take hours to clear the road when these happen. It seemed like our trip was off to an unfortunate start.

But then, George noticed a dirt road leading off the main highway up into the hills on the right. Calling it a road is quite generous. It was more like a clearing where the dirt had been flattened so that the rocks and potholes were more visible to the naked eye. A half-dozen 4-wheel drive safari tourist vehicles roared confidently up this road. They were followed by a couple of matatus (more about these later) and then a small minivan. And finally George, our intrepid driver, decided to go off-roading in a car that has the equivalent size and horsepower of a Toyota Prius.

Our long line of vehicles made its way slowly up the road, with continuous jarring bumps and dips. At one point about 15 minutes in, we came across a huge pothole where it looked like the road had caved in. The safari vehicles cleared it easily. The matatus, on the other hand, had to give up and turn around. Matatus are small passenger vans that seem to be the most common form of transportation used by Kenyans, especially when traveling long distances. They typically hold about 14 people, but their engines are not very powerful.

After the matatus gave up, I was pretty dubious about whether we could make it. But George expertly navigated our way across. It felt like we had just successfully forded the river on the Oregon Trail. =) That gaping pothole ended up being the first of many, but George managed to get us safely across all of them. After about an hour, we finally ended up getting spit out back on the highway several kilometers north of where we needed to take the exit for Kisii. I’ve never been happier to see a paved road!

The rest of the journey was thankfully quite uneventful, and we made it to Kisii in the late afternoon. I thought I was the only one who was nervous during our off-road adventure, but when I asked Noela about it later she said she was holding her breath the entire time. I have to say it was definitely a bonding experience. More about our adventures in Kisii next time!

 
~Ammu
 
(Note: I wrote this post 4 days ago but didn't have any internet access to post it till now.)