One thing I forgot to mention when we first arrived in Bungoma is that at the Bungoma Easy Coach station, there is a terribly incongruous lamppost. Quite obviously, it signifies your entry into Narnia. I have seen many strange and wonderful things during my stay. We held a leadership conference in a castle surrounded by kings and queens, I rode atop a centaur named Boda-boda, and I was befriended by a faun named Franco. Now, back at the lamppost, it's time to begin our jarring journey back through the wardrobe. Well, I guess we won't be going all the way through, considering that we'll stop in Nairobi, and while Mike goes home, I, like Edmund and Lucy, will be privileged to return again to Narnia very soon.
For one reason or another, the ride back to Nairobi didn't seem as infuriatingly turbulent as our first trip from Nairobi to Bungoma. This is curious to me, because two years ago, it was the ride back that was worse. Therefore, I think I can rule out the South side of the road being in better shape than the North side (in Kenya, they drive on the left), and it's all the same road anyway. So you might think such an ominous title inappropriate for a ride that wasn't as ominous as expected, but I still maintain its relevance. Simply being in a vehicle on a road in Kenya is dangerous enough. We were afforded many opportunities to die. We passed traffic in either direction at breakneck speeds with inches to spare. I'm a very calm passenger, but I also vividly remember seeing a bus laying flat on its side during our trip two years ago. I have a picture to corroborate. So there's an image that I couldn't quite get out of my head while we were careening down the road, very much like a runaway mining car hurtling through mine shafts towards certain death. Furthermore, we were nearly trampled to death by a herd of zebra (Or is it zebras? I saw many much moosen in the woods. In the woodsenen... wow, most of you didn't get that. Sorry.) Ok, so that's a total fabrication, but we did see a herd of zebra. Several herds in fact. And it helped to distract from the certain death all around us.
When we arrived at the Easy Coach station in Nairobi, our normal driver wasn't there, due to the absurd traffic. Faustin went looking for a taxi, and moments later, returned in an old-school Toyota Corolla. I spotted our problem right away. Four people and two chickens, with an average of two items of luggage a piece, three if you count the chickens as luggage, and not as passengers. A Corolla is not a large vehicle. After playing luggage Tetris five or six times and losing, our driver finally got all of the major pieces in the trunk. Of course that still meant that everything else had to go on our laps. It was a very cramped taxi ride, but enjoyable as well.
We got settled in at ACK Guest House (Anglican Church of Kenya), and Faustin and Salome took us out for a very nice, unintentionally multicultural dinner. The menu at the Nairobi Java House where we ate is quite extensive and almost completely devoid of typical Kenyan cuisine. I had the privilege of enjoying some very good mexican food (a beef quesadilla) from an American restaurant in Kenya, and it almost tasted authentic. Mike had a bleu cheese burger. We both agreed that there was something a bit different about our food that neither of us could put a finger on, but that didn't detract from its deliciousity. It was a much appreciated treat from Faustin and Salome, and honestly the least they could do after putting us through that terrifying bus ride again.
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