Driving the highways in Kenya is nothing like driving the main roads in the US. One drives on the left and Mombasa Highway where we were traveling is a two lane road with lots of large trucks using it to bring goods from the port to other parts of Kenya and Africa. Then every other truck was a Mombasa Cement truck going to the plant. Whether you are a big truck or little car it is like playing chicken when you try to pass and often time cars or trucks cut it too close and have to go into the shoulder to avoid being hit. Driving the highway has probably been the scariest thing about being here, but I am in good hands with my friend Steve who is an excellent Kenyan driver and is smart and sensible (and it helps he drives a speedy little BMW).
It was fun passing through little towns and villages along the road where people come up to your windows selling whatever it is in that region and they have their stalls set up on the side of the road. Onions and tomatoes in one place the oranges in another.... slingshots for hitting monkeys and killing birds.... chickens for eating.... Grain baskets for sorting.
We stopped for a break and lunch snack where there were many artists selling wood carvings. They all wanted my business so I took a photo with each of them telling them I would be back through next week to decide. They all were very kind to me hoping I would choose their wares! One lady said, "hakuna matata" to me which of course I knew from The Lion King. I proceeded to sing a line from the song to her and the man next to her was so excited I knew an African song and he started singing, too. Ends up it was a different song, but it was fun to share the moment with them.
This is also where we stopped for a snack break instead of lunch. Mandanzi(non sugary donut like things) are popular here and they have canteens where you can buy them along with other snack items like potato chips (ketchup flavored, salt and vineager, etc) and always soda in glass bottles, but plastic, too. There are tables outside to sit so after chatting with the wood carvers I ate two mandanzi and a enjoyed a soda.
Then there was the part of the highway that runs through Tsavo National Park! Oh- and just outside Nairobi we saw camels with people riding them! Evidently- camels to native to East Africa and they ship 30,000-40,000 to the Middle East each year. In addition to camels we saw a giraffe, an ostrich, tons of baboons that came right up to the car, and four zebras.
I was so excited to see the animals and I wasn't even on safari yet! It was so normal for my Kenyan friends. It would be like me in North Carolina seeing a deer on the side of the road (although I doubt someone from Kenya would get super excited about seeing a deer with all of their amazing animals).
When we had almost reached Voi we took a right turn on a very dusty orange dirt road and drove another 6km to park our car. Evidently the road up to Wongonyi is impassable if you drive a low small car. We needed a four wheel drive. So- we waited outside a small rectangular building for the matatu shuttle to arrive to take us up the mountain to the village.
They put my luggage up top then I slide in to find a chicken with her feet tied together at my feet. I asked the guys what to do and they told me to just slide it over with my feet. I did and it let out out a squawk. As we headed up the curving eroded steep road the matatu would stop along the way and people would come out to meet us from little pathways off the road. This is when it learned that the shuttle also picked up supplies for the villagers and would do drop offs daily for them. It already was feeling like a close knit community... and it was beautiful!