Ride Back to Kenya

Angela writes:
After leaving Rwanda we spent about 4 days getting back to Nairobi, Kenya.  As Daryll explained in his earlier posts the pavement on the roads was dangerously grooved which made for some tough passing, brutal speed bumps and slippery surfaces.  The drivers in Uganda and parts of Kenya were also horrendous so even though the roads on the way back were familiar to us, we always had to pay very close attention and stay alert to all traffic. The worst part was the transport trucks coming towards us that decided to pass someone while using our lane.  I think they assumed that we could just hit the shoulder and get out of their way, like all other smaller bikes in the country seem to do regardless of the amount of people/animals/vendors using the shoulder at the time.  The trucks just didn’t seem to realize that we were also traveling at 100 km/hr towards them and that we were fully loaded motorcycles.  Sometimes we could slow down enough to let them complete their asinine passing and then shake our fists and swear at them to show our frustration.  Then there were times however that the passing was so close that all we could do was focus on getting out of danger – priority number one.  At one point Daryll stopped dead in the middle of the highway while a semi-truck was coming towards him to show the driver that we were not moving from our lane and that he would have to maneuver back into his to get by us.  The truck was traveling uphill at about 20 km/hr at the time so the speeds weren’t too dramatic but it was really funny because the truck driver was so mad and we were all yelling, gesturing and swearing and all the other truck drivers in their proper lanes surrounding him were laughing and supporting us.  Oh good times! 

Another annoyance that happened on the way back through Uganda was being stopped by some army guys in the middle of a desolate marsh.  As Daryll and I approached a “Police Blockade” sign standing in the middle of the road, we didn’t think too much of it as these stops are quite common.  The only difference with this one was that these guys at the side of the road were dressed in army fatigues and one was actually curled up on the ground napping.  The situation just seemed unusual and unprofessional.  They did not carry radios or clipboards or even seem to have their own transportation out of the area.  Anyway Daryll stopped and talked to an army guy and I talked to a different army guy and neither of us turned off the engine on the bikes.  With a big toothy grin my guy says “Are you a journalist?” I said “No, no, heavens no, I’m a tourist”.  He says “And what did you bring for me from your country?” At that moment Daryll had finished a similar conversation with his guy and started taking off which allowed me to get off by answering “oh, my husband is leaving.  I’d better go” rather than have to search for some token to give him.  I then took off behind Daryll without issue.  I do think their “road block” was an abuse of power though to solicite “gifts” and it was just sad to see army guys reduced to this.       

On the border of Uganda and Kenya I did have a nice conversation with a young 22 year old guy named Mabonga.  He was actually a fixer, who I normally just ignore, but he was super nice and he told me about how he was working to save money to go to college to become an Agricultural Project Manager.  He taught me about the different crops in Uganda (beans, potatoes, cassavas), the growing seasons and about the education system.  He explained to me that sometimes he has access to the internet when he is at his friend’s house and when his friend can afford to pay the bill.  Then he tried to convince me that Daryll and I should move to Uganda and open a school to teach computers because there are so many people willing to learn in Uganda and that labor in the country is very cheap – he was quite ambitious.  When I said to him that I wanted to live in Canada because I would miss my Mom otherwise, he said that I was old enough to be away from my Mom.  I laughed and said to him “but I like my Mom” and he said “Well you should just have her as a friend on Facebook!”  I laughed so hard!