Kenya and the Equator
15th September 2014
After a very long drive from Tanzania and having successfully navigated our way through the centre of Nairobi (the ring road is still being built) we spent our first night on Kenya at Lake Naivasha. The drive along the edge of the Great Rift Valley was amazing with views south to the Mau escarpment and the Masai Mara. Everywhere was so lush compared to northern Tanzania and the land was actually being cultivated with many small tenant farmers. The roadside was lined with stalls selling secondhand clothes and food.
We crossed the equator and drove a further day almost to the border of Uganda but as road and traffic conditions were deteriorating rapidly we decided that now we had reached our goal, it was the time to turn back south as we still had a lot to see of Africa before returning to South Africa. Ahead of us lies the very bumpy and long journey back through Tanzania and the unknown challenges of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
We stopped at a large tourist shop selling lots of carved wooden items. The carpark was huge and empty apart from us. We were the only customers.
The salesman had an unusual selling technique. None of the items were priced and when asked he replied with a ludicrous price in US dollars. I liked the look of a wooden bowl which he wanted $100 for, which I told him was ridiculous. His response was to ask how much we would pay. I replied $10. He then said he must consult his boss and disappeared into the rear office for 5 minutes. He came back and agreed to $10. We purchased several items which proved very time consuming.
John bought a postcard for our friend Jeff - he lived in Kenya as a teenager when his father was in the RAF.
We returned to the campsite at Lake Naivasha. Whilst filling up with diesel a man came over trying to sell notelets. They were rather nice but I just couldn't be bothered. However, he wasn't going to give in. Eventually he said perhaps tomorrow so I told him we would be back in the morning at 8am. He was there waiting next morning so I bought some cards from him.
After a very long drive from Tanzania and having successfully navigated our way through the centre of Nairobi (the ring road is still being built) we spent our first night on Kenya at Lake Naivasha. The drive along the edge of the Great Rift Valley was amazing with views south to the Mau escarpment and the Masai Mara. Everywhere was so lush compared to northern Tanzania and the land was actually being cultivated with many small tenant farmers. The roadside was lined with stalls selling secondhand clothes and food.
We crossed the equator and drove a further day almost to the border of Uganda but as road and traffic conditions were deteriorating rapidly we decided that now we had reached our goal, it was the time to turn back south as we still had a lot to see of Africa before returning to South Africa. Ahead of us lies the very bumpy and long journey back through Tanzania and the unknown challenges of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
We stopped at a large tourist shop selling lots of carved wooden items. The carpark was huge and empty apart from us. We were the only customers.
The salesman had an unusual selling technique. None of the items were priced and when asked he replied with a ludicrous price in US dollars. I liked the look of a wooden bowl which he wanted $100 for, which I told him was ridiculous. His response was to ask how much we would pay. I replied $10. He then said he must consult his boss and disappeared into the rear office for 5 minutes. He came back and agreed to $10. We purchased several items which proved very time consuming.
John bought a postcard for our friend Jeff - he lived in Kenya as a teenager when his father was in the RAF.
We returned to the campsite at Lake Naivasha. Whilst filling up with diesel a man came over trying to sell notelets. They were rather nice but I just couldn't be bothered. However, he wasn't going to give in. Eventually he said perhaps tomorrow so I told him we would be back in the morning at 8am. He was there waiting next morning so I bought some cards from him.
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