Sunday, March 25

Be aware of hippos


Another weekend in Naivasha, another weekend without seeing hippos.

My last couple of weeks at work have been busy, with such intellectual tasks as going downtown to buy eight megaphones and calling all the supermarkets to see how many C batteries they have in stock. So I welcomed the opportunity to get out of town. I headed up with Wilson, who works at the gym in my apartment, and several of his friends, a group 100 percent more African than my companions for the last trip to Naivasha.

After stopping for beers at Maxland restaurant/car wash/barber (a popular combination here) we were on our way, until we stopped a few miles out of town when the car following us ran out of gas. We stopped on the side of the road, I well aware that this was the same road where some Americans had been shot a few weeks ago when they pulled over to the side of the road. But we successfully refueled and were soon on our way again.

Naivasha was pleasant as usual. This time we stayed at the hopping Crayfish camp. Beers, billiards, barbecued beef. The occasional meat I've been having has posed no problems for my stomach, but it has for my jaw, which is not used to chewing so hard. At midnight we headed over to the disco. When we got there, the DJ was blasting Akon's "AK Gunshot", and it was all downhill from there.

I gained some interesting views on Kenyan perceptions of the US (at least of educated Kenyan youth). Apparently they see the Tupac-Biggie rivalry as the main reference point when comparing East Coast and West Coast. They may claim that they know the difference between Washington, DC and Washington state, but they don't really. They know Hillary and Obama (they guess Hillary will win), but they don't know who John Edwards is. McCain's the only one they've heard of on the other side. (Actually, this probably isn't much different from Americans).

When I asked who was going to win the Kenyan elections this year, the reply was swift: "Man, I motherfucking hate the politicians", etc. etc. I did find out that Raila Odinga, one of the main contenders for the nomination from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement coalition recently acquired the first Hummer in Kenya.

Mwangi, Wilson, and myself, overlooking the Rift Valley...

Lake Naivasha...

A horse visits us...

The group...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Tupac-Biggie rivalry really is the main point of difference between the two coasts. That, and the notable absence of Trader Joe's and good burritos in the East.

Tim said...

Is that a bottle of Popov (c) Vodka I see in that photo with the horse? Only the highest quality of plastic bottles, my friend.

Number 1 Billy Joel Fan said...

Derek why are you not wearing white pants?