The last few days have been rather…um…interesting. I decided that I really should make another visit up north to monitor the bulas during this round of the polio immunization campaign. That meant, of course, that we would have to spend the night again in Moyale. However, this time, I decided that we’d try sleeping on the Ethiopian side, which happens to also be called Moyale. Actually, the two are adjacent with a simple border that people on both sides cross freely between 6am and 6pm. Anyway, after a long, bumpy ride but productive day, we arrived in Moyale, Kenya by about 2:30-3pm. My security guards dropped their guns at the local police armory and changed into civilian clothes (they’d be shot or at least detained if they went over the border otherwise). Then, we drove across the border, which was completely open, into Ethiopia where everyone drives on the right like the U.S. – somehow nice and familiar. Unfortunately, that was when the downpour started. That didn’t make for much fun while looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately, we found that every guest lodge was completely booked, so with a sigh and grim resolution we quickly hopped back to the Kenya side. Oh well…only to find that every place on that side was booked as well! What was going on? It seemed that everyone had decided that they were staying in Moyale that night, perhaps because it was a Monday (market day??) and/or perhaps because the polio campaign was occurring at the time. Who knows? After asking advice from various locals, we finally threw ourselves on the mercy of the man in charge of the Kenyan government guesthouse. One “minor” problem, the government guesthouse is still very much under construction. Still, it was a dry place to stay with beds. The man in charge, I think, took pity on me. He was extremely apologetic about the unfinished state of the guesthouse – that there was no running water or working toilets, but I thanked him for even providing us with beds and assured him the basin of “clean” water (from catchment) and the outdoor pit latrine would be OK for the one night we had to spend there. After all, beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes.
If I had a choice, I’d be back in Wajir at my Neyrus Guesthouse, but since I didn’t… The bed was at least comfortable enough, and no worries about what bugs might be in the sheets since I slept on top of them, rather than in them, in my sleep sack. There was even a new bednet (i.e., no holes), so I wouldn’t have to worry about some random spider, cricket, or other bug crawling on me at night. It was good to have at least the basin of water to clean off all the dust from my face and as much of my body as I could rinse. Although there was no running water, we could still use the shower drain to dump water. Unfortunately, it seems that drains are always, as seems to be the usual thing here, a good source of insects. I think I killed about 7 crickets and a spider, and I don’t want to think about the dead centipede I saw in the corner.
After cleaning up, my security guards, driver, and I all enjoyed some decent chai and made some small interesting conversation while sitting on a big mat in the large hallway between our rooms. After finishing their chai, my security guards, who were Somali and Muslim, performed their evening prayers, while I quietly finished my chai. They reassured me that I wasn’t in the way, so I sat and listened to the calm sing-chanting of their prayers in the dark by candlelight (oh, I don’t know why, but there’s no power until 10pm – like the last time we were in Moyale, so must be a routine thing here). We chatted some more after their prayers – they asking me about my life in the U.S. and I asking them about their families and about Islam – then it was time to call it an early night (it was about 7:30pm). One of them lent me his flashlight (he said he’d rather I used his brighter light than my small one) so I could make a trip to the latrine before going to bed.
Hm. That was an experience. A small trek outside to the enclosed latrine, which actually wasn’t too bad – actually fairly clean as far as pit latrines go – except that when I shined my torch on them (there were two individually enclosed latrines), large cockroaches were crawling all over them. Eek! Well, one had only a couple, while the other had at least 10, so I kept the bright light on the first so the roaches quickly scuttled down the pit into the dark. I tried not to think about the large spiders up on the ceiling that I’d seen earlier and kept the torch down on the pit while I quickly did my business and really tried not to think about all this. Let’s just say that I will really appreciate my nice clean bathroom when I get home.
The night was fitful given all the noise and ruckus from the crickets as well occasionally donkeys and whatever other animals and insects, but at least I had someplace to rest and the morning view from the front steps of the guesthouse was a nice thing to see as we started our day at around 6am. After packing up, we went to the hotel in town where we’d eaten breakfast last time to enjoy some decent chai, good samosas, mandazi and even injara (Ethiopian style sweet flat pancake-like fried dough), ready to face the day.
Skip ahead now to later that day, as I finished my work in Eldas. We were now maybe 2 hours from Wajir and had made good time, so we expected to be back by about 4pm. As it turned out, it had rained quite a bit, not just in Moyale, but all the way down to Wajir town, so the roads were pretty wet and muddy, with the occasionally dry areas of sand. Well, the first thing that happened was that not too long down the road from Eldas, we hit a long patch of sand. My driver had already been cautioned by my security guards “pole pole” – go slowly. He hit the patch a bit too fast, and, as we found soon enough, we happened to blow a tire at the same time. My heart skipped a few beats as the Land Cruiser proceeded to hydroplane on the sand, and we first tipped one way and nearly tilted to my left and then our rear swung left and the car swerved as the driver tried to compensate. We finally came to a stop, and my security guards and I all looked at each other and then at the driver, who got out of the car mumbling that the car had been pulling left. Sure enough, the left rear tire was flat. After a relatively quick change, we were on our way again. No problem. Hakuna matata. Just another flat in the bush.
When we were about 15km from Wajir, we experienced our second and more significant event. As I said, the roads were pretty wet and muddy with plenty of “lakes” in the road. Actually, the lakes, or rather more than usual water, drew a lot of other creatures that we hadn't yet seen, like a large tortoise, a huge monitor lizard, and some fishing eagles. My driver preferred to try to circumvent these “lakes” and take the car up on the side of the road despite the advice of my local security guards who kept telling him to just follow the track through the water. Sure enough, this last time, they were warning him again as he took the car off the track and up the side, when we got stuck in the mud. No problem, we’ve got 4WD, right? Just engage and go. 
Not. Long story short, after a couple of long, hot hours trying to get enough rocks and brush to put under the tires for traction and despite the assistance of a few passing groups of men in trucks (unfortunately all smaller than the Land Cruiser), the car had not just one originally sunk tire, but three tires completely sunk in the mud. 
We were not in a cell coverage area, the closest being at least 7km away in Wagalla, and our UN required VHF radio was useless (couldn’t raise anyone on it). After I learned how close we were to Wagalla and Wajir, I suggested a few times that we just leave the car and walk to get assistance. I think they didn’t think I’d be able to walk those distances – much too far, especially for a woman. Men. They were finally reassured when I told them that in the U.S. I normally run 10-15km every morning and even farther on weekends. So, one of my security guards and I started walking while the other guard and the driver stayed behind to keep trying to get the car out. They were surprised that I put on my backpack and wanted to haul all my stuff with me. I wasn’t about to leave anything behind that I didn’t have to, and my pack and carry bag weren’t really too heavy, especially since I’d left my laptop in Wajir. No big deal – just like a hike. Anyway, the walk turned out to be pretty enjoyable, although hot – I went through the liter bottle of water I had pretty quickly. It gave me the opportunity to see a bit of Kenya the way most rural Kenyans do: by foot. We even saw giraffes feeding just by us on the road as we walked, and eventually the late afternoon/evening temperatures cooled enough to become more bearable. When we got to Wagalla, we arranged for a passing lorry to stop and help my driver and other guard, and I called one of my Wajir contacts to ask for the short lift back to town.
Talk about a story to tell. There’s more to the story, but my driver, the other guard, and the car finally got to Wajir some hours later after two lorries and a truck tried to pull them out and failed and only after a large passing bus stopped and managed to yank the Land Cruiser out. All’s well that ends well.
If I had a choice, I’d be back in Wajir at my Neyrus Guesthouse, but since I didn’t… The bed was at least comfortable enough, and no worries about what bugs might be in the sheets since I slept on top of them, rather than in them, in my sleep sack. There was even a new bednet (i.e., no holes), so I wouldn’t have to worry about some random spider, cricket, or other bug crawling on me at night. It was good to have at least the basin of water to clean off all the dust from my face and as much of my body as I could rinse. Although there was no running water, we could still use the shower drain to dump water. Unfortunately, it seems that drains are always, as seems to be the usual thing here, a good source of insects. I think I killed about 7 crickets and a spider, and I don’t want to think about the dead centipede I saw in the corner.
After cleaning up, my security guards, driver, and I all enjoyed some decent chai and made some small interesting conversation while sitting on a big mat in the large hallway between our rooms. After finishing their chai, my security guards, who were Somali and Muslim, performed their evening prayers, while I quietly finished my chai. They reassured me that I wasn’t in the way, so I sat and listened to the calm sing-chanting of their prayers in the dark by candlelight (oh, I don’t know why, but there’s no power until 10pm – like the last time we were in Moyale, so must be a routine thing here). We chatted some more after their prayers – they asking me about my life in the U.S. and I asking them about their families and about Islam – then it was time to call it an early night (it was about 7:30pm). One of them lent me his flashlight (he said he’d rather I used his brighter light than my small one) so I could make a trip to the latrine before going to bed.
Hm. That was an experience. A small trek outside to the enclosed latrine, which actually wasn’t too bad – actually fairly clean as far as pit latrines go – except that when I shined my torch on them (there were two individually enclosed latrines), large cockroaches were crawling all over them. Eek! Well, one had only a couple, while the other had at least 10, so I kept the bright light on the first so the roaches quickly scuttled down the pit into the dark. I tried not to think about the large spiders up on the ceiling that I’d seen earlier and kept the torch down on the pit while I quickly did my business and really tried not to think about all this. Let’s just say that I will really appreciate my nice clean bathroom when I get home.
The night was fitful given all the noise and ruckus from the crickets as well occasionally donkeys and whatever other animals and insects, but at least I had someplace to rest and the morning view from the front steps of the guesthouse was a nice thing to see as we started our day at around 6am. After packing up, we went to the hotel in town where we’d eaten breakfast last time to enjoy some decent chai, good samosas, mandazi and even injara (Ethiopian style sweet flat pancake-like fried dough), ready to face the day.
Skip ahead now to later that day, as I finished my work in Eldas. We were now maybe 2 hours from Wajir and had made good time, so we expected to be back by about 4pm. As it turned out, it had rained quite a bit, not just in Moyale, but all the way down to Wajir town, so the roads were pretty wet and muddy, with the occasionally dry areas of sand. Well, the first thing that happened was that not too long down the road from Eldas, we hit a long patch of sand. My driver had already been cautioned by my security guards “pole pole” – go slowly. He hit the patch a bit too fast, and, as we found soon enough, we happened to blow a tire at the same time. My heart skipped a few beats as the Land Cruiser proceeded to hydroplane on the sand, and we first tipped one way and nearly tilted to my left and then our rear swung left and the car swerved as the driver tried to compensate. We finally came to a stop, and my security guards and I all looked at each other and then at the driver, who got out of the car mumbling that the car had been pulling left. Sure enough, the left rear tire was flat. After a relatively quick change, we were on our way again. No problem. Hakuna matata. Just another flat in the bush.
When we were about 15km from Wajir, we experienced our second and more significant event. As I said, the roads were pretty wet and muddy with plenty of “lakes” in the road. Actually, the lakes, or rather more than usual water, drew a lot of other creatures that we hadn't yet seen, like a large tortoise, a huge monitor lizard, and some fishing eagles. My driver preferred to try to circumvent these “lakes” and take the car up on the side of the road despite the advice of my local security guards who kept telling him to just follow the track through the water. Sure enough, this last time, they were warning him again as he took the car off the track and up the side, when we got stuck in the mud. No problem, we’ve got 4WD, right? Just engage and go. 
Not. Long story short, after a couple of long, hot hours trying to get enough rocks and brush to put under the tires for traction and despite the assistance of a few passing groups of men in trucks (unfortunately all smaller than the Land Cruiser), the car had not just one originally sunk tire, but three tires completely sunk in the mud. 
We were not in a cell coverage area, the closest being at least 7km away in Wagalla, and our UN required VHF radio was useless (couldn’t raise anyone on it). After I learned how close we were to Wagalla and Wajir, I suggested a few times that we just leave the car and walk to get assistance. I think they didn’t think I’d be able to walk those distances – much too far, especially for a woman. Men. They were finally reassured when I told them that in the U.S. I normally run 10-15km every morning and even farther on weekends. So, one of my security guards and I started walking while the other guard and the driver stayed behind to keep trying to get the car out. They were surprised that I put on my backpack and wanted to haul all my stuff with me. I wasn’t about to leave anything behind that I didn’t have to, and my pack and carry bag weren’t really too heavy, especially since I’d left my laptop in Wajir. No big deal – just like a hike. Anyway, the walk turned out to be pretty enjoyable, although hot – I went through the liter bottle of water I had pretty quickly. It gave me the opportunity to see a bit of Kenya the way most rural Kenyans do: by foot. We even saw giraffes feeding just by us on the road as we walked, and eventually the late afternoon/evening temperatures cooled enough to become more bearable. When we got to Wagalla, we arranged for a passing lorry to stop and help my driver and other guard, and I called one of my Wajir contacts to ask for the short lift back to town.Talk about a story to tell. There’s more to the story, but my driver, the other guard, and the car finally got to Wajir some hours later after two lorries and a truck tried to pull them out and failed and only after a large passing bus stopped and managed to yank the Land Cruiser out. All’s well that ends well.
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