Even though I spent last night huddled under what must by now be the thousandth ratty mosquito net of my life, I'm actually really glad I escaped Nairobi yesterday and headed a few hours north to a town called Nyeri, in Central Kenya.All it takes is a few deep breaths of fresh air, some free flowing traffic and a lowered blood pressure reading to remind you that people really don't have to live like rats packed into a smoggy, dusty, unbearably loud maze. If I stayed here 17 more YEARS, after my 17 months so far, I still wouldn't get used to the mad crush of Nairobi's Central Business District. There are just too many people, and too little of everything else...roads, food, water, you name it.
I'll be in Nyeri today and tomorrow, working with folks at the Daily Nation's office and doing a bit of poking around. I'm staying at a "quaint" little establishment called the Green Hills Hotel; the name, coupled with the rather spartan, grey concrete exterior, is disturbingly more befitting a mortuary, but I'm trying not to think about that for the time being. In fact, whenever I feel like complaining about the lack of luxury in local lodgings, I just need to remember my torturous week at the Tee Jay Palace Hotel in Zaria, Northern Nigeria. To this day, I can't explain why I don't have lockjaw, persistent malaria and cholera, and a permanent nervous tic from THAT stint.
I'm hoping to find time for a quick side trip to Mt. Kenya, to at least lay eyes on it while I'm here. There's still waaaaay too much of this country I haven't seen, and my time in Kenya grows short. I'd like to be able to share a vision of this country that doesn't just include Parliamentary mischief, traffic, and suburban malls. I've been to the West, I've been to the East, and now I'm adding Central to the mix. If I keep this exploring thing up, maybe I'll even wind up appreciating Nairobi before I leave.
A gal can dream, can't she?
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