12 days, 6th – 17th Feb
Taveta
Thurs 6th Feb
I had a great night’s sleep…despite waking up a little bit too early and thinking about breakfast. I’m glad I got started in the kitchen just after 06:00, because the cooking and eating and preparing coffees, all takes time.
Whilst the other 2 took their time, I was rustling up an egg fried rice from leftovers. Then there was the bread to toast and packing to do, all by 07:00 when Juma was due to collect us. Mark took the unfinished noodles, jam etc with him to Nairobi. We said our goodbyes to Chris, thanking him for his hospitality.
Juma dropped me off first. I got straight into a matatatu but we didn’t leave for at 45 mins. Otherwise, the trip to Taveta was comfortable and we saw some elephants and giraffe along the way. One elephant was quite close to the road but I saw it too late to take a photo.
I went to Texas for a tea, and that was the start of 11 days in Taveta.
When in Taveta there is nothing of any note to report. Life is a mix of the same routines but in a different order.
So, doing a small clothes wash on most days. Buying milk in order to have tea with Mercy every morning. Alternating places to watch football at weekends; that now includes Challa Htl because they have good wifi and it’s much cooler in their lounge than anywhere else.
I went 2 or 3 times for Grace’s kiti moto at Mwangaza. I visited Green Park once or twice; I hadn’t been there for a long time. I went once with Lucy to the bar near the start of the rough Chala road.
I went a few times to the Depot for 3 bottles of County at a time. I seemed to have got into the habit of giving small bottles or half the big bottles away as gifts.!!
As my Kenya status was now a confirmed problem, I decided not to meet Mark in Arusha and Moshi towards the end of Feb. Instead, having checked it was okay with Helen and Peter, I planned to go to Nairobi and Naivasha for about a week.
Also, the decision was virtually made that I was going to leave Kenya before my eTA expired on the 18th March.
A couple of highlights….
Sun 9th Feb.
I took Mercy to Holili for a delicious kiti moto. Of course Mamka’s kiti moto is always a good excuse to visit Dubai Grocery and Village. But this time I also wanted to put the Immigration entry nonsense to the test.
Well, the lady was consistent and asked if I had applied for my Kenya residency. An argument ensued and I just managed to stop her writing ‘Should apply for residency’ over the stamp. At least this confirmed that this was a serious problem for me.
So what I did a couple of days later was message an old Taveta family friend who I suspected was now quite senior within Immigration. Surprisingly he replied immediately asking me to send him a copy of my passport bio data page. He checked the System and said there was nothing in the “notes” to indicate any issue with my status in Kenya.
I thanked him and said I would soon be passing through Nairobi and perhaps we could meet up.
Other notable activity…
Wed 12th Feb
I decided to cycle to Chala. I left early..about 08:00..and arrived at 10:30. A very good first half, but then the slight incline and wind against, began to take its toll. It’s certainly getting more and more difficult to ride the bike to Chala, but the particularly bad road at the moment, doesn’t help.
I only stayed a short time at Dad’s grave before heading back. I even told Dad I wouldn’t cycle to Chala again …becoming very hard work. I stopped at Martina’s curios, and although she wasn’t there, I had a black tea, some avocado and mango.
The next place for a prolonged stop was the place selling Tz beers where the road from Darajani meets the tarmac.
Kili was in view for a short time, but otherwise it was a tediously long and hard cycle. I stopped numerous times to push the bike and save energy, and it took me at least 4 hours to get back to Taveta.