Tea Estates and Laziness

Sitting right now in Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, sweating buckets, and wondering if it really indeed is December right now. I see Christmas advertisements in some of the local stores as well, which makes this feeling all the stranger.

Whirlwind move through Nairobi after bidding goodbye to Tanzania (for perhaps a very long time) on the 6th, a brief jaunt back into the incredibly western Nairobi, staying at the dinky and run down, but accommodating, "New Kenyan Lodge", listening to beats from a Pub down the road from our hostel (with old 90s classics like "Smooth" that, even though you never listen to them in the states, still trigger off nostalgia) and eating good food, staying up most of the night even though you had no desire to because: a) aforementioned Pub turned volume up even more and had clients until late in the night, b) matatu drivers shouted at each other below our windows to try and take pub's drunken clients home, and c) hostel guests watched movies until late in night as well, and TV happened to be right next to our wall. Add to the fact that we had a resident kitty that liked to sneak into our rooms until we found it and chased it off with a stick, and the circumstances we nothing but laughable.

Booked a matatu ticket from Nairobi to Kisumu (a matatu is essentially a decked out van, lined with 10-14 seats inside of it), and headed out from Nairobbery at 10 AM for an adrenaline filled 5 hours of 120kph driving on Kenya's paved roads through some of the most beautiful country I have been through. Greenness, tea fields, pine trees(!), huge mountains in every direction, and sweet modernity in the cities (something that was conspicuously lacking in most of Tanzania).

Met up with Lila, Peggy, Lisa and Lydia for some drinks and dinner last night, and are planning on doing the same tonight. Peggy is heading back for Nairobi tomorrow, and the others will be short to follow. Soaking in the last ten days of travel in this country.

Also, as a funny side note, we're staying in the "Sooper" Guest House here in Kisumu. The names generated for places here never cease to amaze.

Hopefully headed up to Kampala tomorrow or the day after, and looking forward to some high quality Class Five rapids, some high quality dancing, and some high quality time with dearest Anton, Claire, and Betto. (We had a nice sit down family meal today of guacamole, chips, and mangoes with yogurt. Great success)

I'll keep you posted!

And stop telling me that it snowed in Maryland! It hurts my soul to not be there....

Soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon.