02-2008
For a country of this size, Kenya sure packs a lot in: mountains, deserts, colourful tribal culture, beaches, coral reefs and some of Africa’s best wildlife attractions.
In fact, if I said that Kenya is Africa in a miniature I wouldn’t be exaggerating. There are a million different reasons to go there and picking just one is hard to do. Unfortunately in life things don’t always go smoothly and that’s what happened to us in 2008. It was election time in Kenya so wild riots stopped us from spending time there. We had to rush through the country and spend only one night in the capital Nairobi, stranded at the bus station.
After entering Kenya from Serengeti in the southwest, we crossed Masai Mara. Without being able to stop, we passed a lot of roadblocks. Nobody acted aggressively and we were treated very well. We headed straight to the capital. Although Nikos and I didn’t see any signs of violence, we were told about the unbelievable raw violence between the different tribes that live in this country. At the same bus ride I met a 14-year old boy that had managed to escape and hide in the nearby Tanzania. He was on his way back to find out what had happened to the rest of his family. We were more than glad to help him although we were limited by the authorities. We only gave him some money since we couldn’t follow him to his destination.
That’s how our short adventure ended in this beautiful country before it even got started. So I’m pretty sure that my chapter about Kenya will be continued.