Thurs 21st. Went by piki piki to Kibanda Hasara with Joseph. No pork so it was a beef based kiti moto which wasn’t as nice. But fun ride on a boda there and back. Technically a little bit risky as am in Tz and I haven’t been stamped out and in by any border immigration.

Wed 20th Visited Dad’s grave. Big sisal plants which would have wrecked the grave have been pulled up. On the way back I stopped at Precious hotel for samosas and tea. Pojo samosas which really needed herbs and spices for extra flavour. A little bit further on is Martina’s curio shop. I always stop for a coffee and a chat. This time I also wanted to check it was okay to stay at her flat in Malindi again and was happy with the price of 800. The bike had no brakes or gears ( I’m sure the gears worked last time )..anyway, it was hard work, but worth it.
Sat 23rd Watched football at Utamaduni with Joseph.
Sun 24th Football again..Arsenal vs Spurs but Joseph didn’t show up.
I had 2 beers at Utamaduni. 2 small bottles Triple Ace spirit at Rockland.  Luckily Joseph came by looking for me. I passed out and he got me home. I couldn’t walk or talk. No memory of the evening.  Spiked water ? Have since heard about the big trade in illicit spirits which get produced using ethanol. This relates mainly to the small 250ml bottles of the cheaper brands. But was there any collusion with the boda boda drivers who seemed to be waiting to pounce and rob me. Joseph bundled me onto a boda, took me home, opened the outer door and door to my room and made sure I was safe. Was confused when eventually I awoke at 08:15 , saw a tiny bit of blood on my sheet, my right hand knuckles were grazed, my sheet was dusty and dirty,  and my jeans were very dusty too. Something was wrong but I didn’t know what. And my phone was playing up suddenly; I couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t until 16:00 when I met Joseph at Garden Park that I found out what happened on Sunday night. I slept through from about 9:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. I have zero recollection of that night from the time I finished my drink. Scary. Shall be very careful in future and limit my intake of those small spirit bottles .

20th…Gabriella announced her engagement to Alex. But Alex had phoned me in Aug to ask permission for Gabriella’s hand in marriage. So I wasn’t surprised by the announcement, and very pleased that I kept my mouth shut because apparently absolutely nobody was aware what was in store. Great news and an emotional time. Oh, it all happened on Corfu; Gabriella and Alex had gone there for a 3 week holiday. Obviously Monica lives there, so not only did that make it special, but also Tor had joined them for just under a week. Nice that the family could be together like that.

Tues 26th. Another visit to Mamka’s in Holili for kiti moto…this time with Joseph. It was part of my thanking him for saving me a couple of days earlier. Actually, we walked all the way there; 50 minutes to the border and 15 minutes up to the Dubai restaurant. Very pleasant walk. We called in at White House on the way back to say Hi to Kibosho and mama Robert.  White House was where I stayed for 3 months when Kenya closed the border in 2020 at the start of covid.

No sign of Kili in over 2 weeks; always shrouded in cloud.
Only 2 mosquitoes encountered in my room during my time in Taveta…I had very comfortable sleeps.
Most days settled into a routine of seeing friends out and about.  Going to either Challa Htl, Rockland, Utamaduni, mixing up the different restaurants depending on whether I fancied beans or githeri or kiti moto from Mwangaza or bajias or viazi (potato) karai. Plus chats with David at his roast maize place. Getting to know John Mruttu quite well; great conversations with him at Rockland.

Oh yes, and I got a call from the police station to say they had traced and recovered the phone I lost in March. I didn’t ask where/when they found it; I just gave the guy 1,000ksh as a thank you and rushed off. After that I half heartedly tried to sell it with the hope of getting 20,000. In the end, the day before I left I accepted 13,000. Figured that I really needed the cash, and to pocket about £80 wasn’t bad.

And so, the time had come to leave Taveta. I booked my 1,500tsh the day before to go to Malindi.