Fill-up, wrap-up

Within roughly an hour I descend from around 2300 m to 800 m. Northwards in the dryer region the air looks much clearer than this hazy smog which I had to deal with during the past days between Aberdare Range, the Lake System and Mount Kenya. Time for some last big refills in Isiolo. By incident I find a decent bar with good local food, fresh pineapple-passion-avocado-beetroot-mango juice and … toilet paper in the restrooms, for a local (non-Mzungu) price.
One of my jerry cans is leaking and I have to change my cabin filter of the air condition because apparently it served as a mouse nest recently – probably at Eckhard’s place – and is now generously shitted and partly eaten. I just need a cheap spare part but the “mechanic” insists in changing it for me. Oh dear, this is what drives me crazy about many Kenyans. You are not able to to anything by yourself. For every poop you need “a guide” or someone to assist you. Of course then they want money for it but they just don’t understand if you say “No!”. I even started to deposit junk, trash, water, supplies and everything else on my spare front seat because even when you just ask for directions instead of getting an answer the next second somebody is sitting next to you and wanting to guide you to your destination.

Maybe it’s time for a condensed wrap-up anyway. So, there is a gradient visible from Zambia through Tanzania to Kenya. In Zambia the people don’t have anything – but they speak at least English. They are so poor that they got excited whenever I gave them a banana. I felt very bad. They are a bit shy but very warm, hearty and honest. So far, from these three countries I appreciated their “feedback” most. There are barely any cars in the countryside and the nature looks more or less … like nature. Sure, also because I’ve been there during rainy season but the overall impression considering the population distribution and landuse is “more natural”.
The moment you cross borders to Tanzania the very same landscape looks totally different with much more agriculture and vanished bushland which has been replaced by maize and other crops. Suddenly there are hundreds of boda-bodas (motorbikes) and piki-pikis (tuk-tuks) around. The people are also nice, warm, welcoming, but communication is more difficult because English is not so dominant in the countryside. Just learn three words in Kiswahili and their hearts are open! But as Google and Wikipedia build the base of world’s wisdom nowadays I am not sure how the Tanzanians will cope with future because Google and Wiki do not understand Kiswahili very well ;) Still, Tanzanians seem just not to care which I find very attractive =) So, when you ask for directions in Tanzania you either are not understood or you get a clear answer, whether it is correct or not, or get invited to their home. But the guys don’t want to suck your blood immediately like it might happen occasionally in Kenya.
Yeah, Kenya. Cattle. Erosion. If your find grass, only it’s roots are left. If something is green, it's a crop. But also the vegetation zones change to semi-arid and semi-desert bush- and scrubland northwards. Obviously a greater challenge to feed the people and thus maybe unfair to draw a direct comparision. More cars. Like I wrote before the people are nice as well but especially around the urban areas I have to approach them differently. When I stop and a guy approaches me asking to buy him a lunch I cannot take him serious when I see the 10+ motorbikes being lined up and waiting to be repaired by him. But, where in Tanzania I had the impression that wherever I go the men are just sitting next to the road and watching the wind while the women and children are doing all the society’s work, here in Kenya everybody seems to be up to something “productive”. The youngsters I have spoken to have clear visions and seem to be motivated whereas in Tanzania I did not meet any youngsters, they all seem to be emigrated? Where in Tanzania they send their children to carry water and firewood, here in Kenya they use donkeys. Tanzanians seem not to know that donkeys exist :pRead more