Blog #17

I am really enjoying being part of this Gap Programme here in Western Kenya, but I have to say how much I appreciate the fact that this weekend I was allowed to spend most of the weekend in Bungoma, as it was exactly what I needed to refuel myself for the remaining month stay I have left here of my African experience.

Saturday morning I woke up for breakfast where Matthew had already left to find us a decent affordable television for the guesthouse lounge. I spent the morning trying to get a little more sleep and then woke up for a shower and got my stuff together that I would need for my over night stay in Bungoma. I went to the Cyber centre to check some emails before coming back to the guesthouse to chill awaiting the return of Matthew. He arrived back earlier than planned with a TV that looked pretty nice that we would install in the room when we returned from our trip. We waited around and had lunch before making our way for a Matatu to take us to Bungoma for a weekend break.

On the Matatu we were all fired up and happy to be able to have some time away from Kimilili and especially for me to see a little more of Kenya. We spend about an hour on the Matatu and the journey cost us 75 shillings each. We arrived in Bungoma at around 3pm and head straight for the cash point to draw out some funds needed for the accommodation and also some other expenses I owed to Matthew. We had several attempts at trying to find a cash machine that was willing to give us some cash as most seemed to be out of order, but finally after sometime we withdrew our funds and head to the hotel using a Boda-Boda.

We arrived at Pamus Hotel just as it begun to rain heavily. We looked round for the reception which was situated outside where we filled in our details and paid the lady 800 Shillings for our stay in a room that occupied a double and single bed with a shower and wash basin. We collected our room keys and went to the room to get changed into some cleaner clothing. After getting changed in our simple but decent bed room, we walked over to the hotel restaurant to get some food, avoiding the rain.

We had a few Sodas whilst waiting for the rain to stop. It didn’t look to be ending anytime soon and we didn’t fancy staying in the hotel restaurant for the whole evening, so we decided to ask the lady in the restaurant if she could phone us a Tuk-Tuk. Instead of calling us a Tuk-Tuk, which is a three wheeled small taxi car, she called for an actual Taxi which arrived within a matter of minutes. After paying the Boda-Boda’s for their unneeded service, even though they were staying anyway to shelter themselves from the rain, we left in the car to go into town to have some food and take a walk around the town, that’s if it had stopped raining by then.

Arriving in town it had stopped raining so we decided to take a walk around the town before we stopped off at a café to have something to eat and relax. We looked round a few shops and explored the town a little but didn’t see anything we needed or worth buying. We stopped off at a little cafe type restaurant and had what we love best, chips that came alongside a nice little side salad. After making a slight mess by dripping bits of tomato sauce on the table cloth, we decide to have a final look around the town before heading back to the hotel as it would soon be getting dark and we didn’t know the place well enough to be staying out after dark. Using the same Taxi driver who was called Dominic, we went back to the Pamus Hotel just as it was getting quite dark. Now we knew that the restaurant had a TV in it because we had spotted it earlier on of first visit to the hotel. It looked to have satellite channels so we had the idea to sit and watch the programs it was playing while we slouched on the comfy seating. In no time at all it was 11pm and closing time for the restaurant and the staff wanted to get off, so we left for our room. Matthew had brought his radio with him so we sat listening to that for a while. We soon began to send messages to the people we know at home and also call a few which cost us an absolute bomb. We continued doing this till the very early hours of the morning then went to sleep for some well needed rest.

I woke up during the night to find Matthew had either not put his mosquito net on properly or he was a very messy sleeper. I could hear the buzzing of a mosquito in my net as the net I was using wasn’t what I would exactly call “top quality” with holes and tears that even a rhino could probably sneak through. I quickly returned to sleep and surprisingly didn’t have any crazy dreams like usual, well not that I can recall anyways.

Waking up bright and early we packed up and left for a last look around the town and grab some breakfast. We took egg and toast at the restaurant then got a Boda-Boda into town. There wasn’t much left to do in Bungoma as it wasn’t exactly the most exciting place in the world but I was glad I had got to see what I had. Wanting to get back before lunch we got on a Matatu from the loading bay where we waited about 10 minutes for the bus to move and get us back home. Being sat on a crowded bus of people early in the morning surely makes you feel tired again. I wanted to sleep and sat with my hand resting against my head as we ventured along the long virtually straight roads.

We left the Matatu and walked back to the guesthouse, the staying up late and talking had really caught up on me and I felt as if I could do with another 8 hours sleep. Back at home I decided as they weren’t expecting us for lunch that I would go back to bed and get some rest prepared for the afternoon and the rest of the evening. I did but only slept for a couple of hours waking to go find Matthew and Dennis. I met Matthew on his way back from the office and I was hungry so suggested we could go grab a bite to eat from town just to see me through until the evening meal. We grab some chips to take away and headed back to the office check some emails. I ate my chips while Matthew visited the house of a man he knows and then we both went back to install the new television and had dinner with the people from Holland.

In the evening I was called up by my parents where we had a chat for a while. The lads and Roel and Marianne were doing there own thing in the guesthouse, reading and doodling, so I decided to head for my room and stayed there for the rest of the night.

It had been a good weekend and nice to break away from the normal routine of life in Kimilili. Hopefully I will have the chance to see other towns before I return home in what is nearly only a month’s time.

God Bless x