Kitale
KENYA
Onwards to Kitale for a Rest
By AARON
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
After experiencing the wonders of Maasai Mara National Park, Lyndi and I hopped on a matatu from Nakuru to Eldoret. Being a short stopover between Kitale and our safari, Nakuru consisted of an overnight stay, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rum and cokes and “The Big Lebowski” on the computer. In Eldoret, we got on another matatu and then proceeded on the insanely bumpy road to Kitale.
Known as an agricultural town, Kitale does forgo that “big city” feel and outdoor markets selling purses and dvds are easily replaced by shovels and pickaxes.
We walked to the Bongo Hotel, which received glowing reports from our Lonely Planet, and for about $14USD we got a nice double room with private bathroom and a huge breakfast included. Our days here were spent catching up on internet, reading the local paper, and on our second day, visiting the Agroforestry Center, which was founded by the government of Sweden.
The center’s main goal was to teach the locals about the importance of trees and large plants and how to integrate them into their farming systems here in the north of Kenya. So after amusing ourselves for about 20 minutes, Lyndi and I took off and grabbed a milkshake back in town. Actually it turned out to be a coke and a fake chai tea. You see, in Kenya, we’ve noticed that at any given restaurant, be prepared to have about 1/2 of the items not be available to you on a regular basis. For example, at this cafe, they offered juice drinks as well as milkshakes, yet failed to own a blender. You get the idea.
Being our second day, and last night in Kitale, we bought a couple small bottles of rum, played some cards, and then when the electricity in the entire town went out, went next door to the Bongo Bar and enjoyed a couple of beers while practicing our Swahili. I can now count up to 50.
That pretty much wraps it up for Kitale. Not an interesting couple of days, I know, but if we want to keep the lines on our “travel map” accurate, it was needed. Kakamega Forest is next and I promise it will be better.
