The public buses came as an initial shocker to me; the artists had taken the troubles of modifying the buses with American Rap God graffiti, turning them into discotheques on wheels. All I could hear was the bass booming from inside. Then followed the Nairobi traffic during office hours, it almost took my breath away.
The next day we rented a car and drove across The Great Rift Valley Province. We had Mt Longmont trailing us throughout our journey until we reached Nakuru. Though our aim was to see the flamingos, we were unlucky; we reached five minutes before closure of the park. So, we left in disappointment. Bad luck followed us after along our way; our car broke down in the middle of the jungle. But we were soon rescued by a kind truck driver.
African backpacking tales: Uganda
We then set out for Mombasa, located at the East Coast. The 261 miles journey took us 8 hours to complete on a bus. Mombasa is ideal to release all the stress. It has been gifted with white sandy beaches, shoreline, and the coral reefs, making it an excellent holiday destination, and weekend gateway.
In Kenya, I ticked a destination off my bucket list. I had long dreamed of visiting the Masai Mara National Reserve. I didn’t mind lodging in a tent amid the bushes for three days. I got a good educational tour about the wildlife and its habitats during my stay in the national reserve. I observed the live event of a cheetah preying on a wildebeest. More interestingly, I saw two lions mating.
The nearby inhabitants of this area are the indigenous Masai people.They speak the Maa language and worship a single deity, Engai. In the Masai culture, men take cattle for grazing, whereas women build the houses and cook food for the family.
Meeting the members of the tribe made my trip worthwhile. Then I took yet another journey of 167 miles from Nairobi to Arusha. It was an 8-hour long bus ride. Citing the tourist season, we experienced a delay at the Namanga border.
The Nepali diaspora living in different countries abroad are welcome to write about experiences of the cities that they inhabit for our column ‘Citylogue’. Send submissions to mycity@myrepublica.com with the subject-line ‘Citylogue’.
