Day Seven - Road to the South-East of Kenya

We wake up at 5.00 am to be out at 6.05 am and be in town at 6.30 am for a 7.00 am departure to Lamu. Being a weekend night, a few beach parties were taking place in our hotel’s neighbourhood last night and sleep was hard to nurse. Our taxi is on time and we make to Bondeni on time. Our bus also leaves on time though there are many empty seats to be filled further out at Mtwapa, Kilifi and Malindi.

The road to Malindi is the worst I have used anywhere outside the Nakuru-Kericho-Kisumu, Mau Summit-Eldoret stretches. It is a shame when you consider the potential for tourism. At Kilifi at least six tourists board the bus. Outside Maasai Mara, Lamu must our other important Kenyan selling point. The backpackers especially love Lamu. I know the CIA masquerading as tourist have also developed a keen interest in these parts due to the threat of “terrorism”. The road from Malindi to Garsen turn-off is bitumen standard and has little traffic. Police escort here is mandatory due to banditry, though there is now a good flow of personal 4x4 vehicles (probably tourists or NGO types).

My relatives live in the Bomani area of Mpeketoni and we drop off at Kibaoni area some 8 kilometres from Mpeketoni town. Since the Tawakal bus bypasses the town and goes straight to Mukowe Jetty some 55 kilometres away, we are shuttled home by three boda boda motorcycles. Motorcycles are now a very common feature in this area as elsewhere in the country, especially the cheaper variety coming out of China and India. The flat landscape here suits this mode of transport. Previously bicycles were king here and even the more wealthy in this society were hardly be distinguished by their means of transport. Today a few wealthy residents have motorbikes for their leisurely use though majority of the bikes are commercial. There are no tuk tuks (three wheeled taxis) in sight though it seems like they could do very well here.

When we get home at 11.45 am, the folks are out for church and I leave the family at home to visit Mpeketoni town in the company of my brother-in-law, who runs a business there. The town has recently been growing rapidly thanks to 24 hours of electricity from a Kengen generator in town. Previously power was generated and distributed by an individual and only provided to the jua kali sheds and a few other clients in the one kilometre radius of the town. Everybody else used solar energy. For many Kenyans, life in this part of the country would be unbearable, what with no power, no daily newspapers, TV or radio save for the weak signal of the KBC.

I tour the whole town by foot for about half an hour and see the sparkling new sub-district hospital complete with two ambulances. There are new businesses everywhere and brisk construction is evident as are numerous guesthouses. I wish them luck. We retire from the late afternoon sun into the local VIP pub that is frequented by the town’s big people. After two beers, we leave for home where I chat with my father-in-law till late. He is a good man who has lived a full life characterized by service to others and awesome dedication to his family.