Take a Walk

Please. Come take a walk with me. Out the house, down the path. Wave good-bye to baby Natalie and Maggie hanging laundry on the line. Scare the chickens out of the way... watch how they run. Don’t forget to duck at the gate. Many a head have been hit on the metal rusting bar. Turn left down the muddy path, jump over the ditch at the end and wave hello/mirembe to the lazy men hanging out at the small general store to the right. Ignore their leering stares and obvious discussion about us as we walk by. Watch out – a piki-piki driver is zooming past. Listen as the two men aboard shout ‘wazunguuuuuuus’ as they speed on.

Take a whiff of the delicious fresh mandazis sizzling in the deep frying pan across the street. We’ll pick some up to have with tea when we return home. Wave to the shy toddler who simply holds his hand up in greeting. He is getting braver by the day. Turn down the shortcut that leads to Mudete. Salute the banana-lady with ‘habari mirembe?’. She is very good to us and gives us extra bananas. Careful not to slip in the mud. It can be a bit squishy down this path. Don’t be surprised if you have grown two inches in mud on the bottom of your sandals by the end of the journey. Enjoy the shade of the avocado and guava trees looming over the path just out of reach above. I’m waiting for the day when that green avocado there is ripe enough for me to climb up and eat it. Do you see it up there? Just past that branch.

Down that path there to the right, in between the tea fields is where two Fairview children live. This house coming up on the left has two more. If they weren’t in school now, we’d have to make sure to greet them with a ‘Sasa’ or they would be disappointed. Don’t worry about their bull. He’s tied up tight. Down the big hill to the water hole. Careful on the way down – it’s slippery. And watch out for cow-patties. Today is market day so there are lots of cattle passing through here – they usually leave a lot of evidence behind. Knees burning yet?

Step up to the top of the small bridge when we reach the bottom. You can try to scrape some of the mud off of your shoes here. See where other people have done the same along the edge? It’s no wonder people make bricks out of this mud. It is very sticky and stubborn to remove. It’s ok to have a chuckle when you hear the children and ladies speaking about us as they fill up their buckets. They are still getting used to seeing wazungus. Wave to them with a ‘jambo sana’, reply to their inquires of ‘how are you?’, and we’ll move on.

Ready for the climb? Up the other side of the deep valley. Don’t be fooled – the hill doesn’t stop around the corner. You can really feel your quads now can’t you? One step after another, you’ll make it. Plus, the view from the top is breathtaking. Shake hands with the group of women we pass carrying empty buckets down. Isn’t it incredible that they can balance a 20kg water jug on their heads while walking up this steep slope? Doesn’t seem so hard now does it?

Finally – a breather. Soak in the sights of the layered tea fields set across the valley with meandering paths and towering gum trees lining the steep slope. Let’s continue. There’s the path that we’d take up to Fairview, but let’s see the Mudete market first. Around the edge of the valley, past the tall trees, and up one more slight incline. This is my favourite house to pass. The children always come running to greet us with excitement. One little girl is even courageous enough to offer her hand for a shake. I met her father on this path the other day. Apparently they harvest ground nuts – we must make a visit to try them one day.

Don’t be startled by that rustling in the maize field. It’s just a chicken searching for fallen treats. There are the new twin calves saying hello. They are noisy today! This is the last stretch – see the main road ahead? To the left is Mudete. Watch out for piki pikis. The drivers are usually a bit wild on market days as they try to avoid all of these cows. On that note, watch out for the cows too. We’ve been charged a few times, and those horns look like they would hurt. Take a whiff. Smell that? Fingerlings and drying fish. It makes me gag a little, but you may want to give it a try.

The colours. See the beautiful material laid out on the ground there? I want to buy some to have a skirt made by the end of the summer. Need flip flops? There are tons of vendors selling shoes and sandals here. How about random pieces of rope? A plastic wash basin, laundry basket or perhaps a mirror? Football jerseys? Barcelona and Manchester United are the favourites here.

Let’s turn into the food stalls. My favourite – kale for sakuma – is everywhere, with tomatoes, onions, cowpeas and other greens. Once in a while we find fruit stands– mangoes, pineapple, avocadoes, bananas, passion fruit, and sweet limes. Today there are lots but on small-market days the picking is slim. Yes, those are potato wedges being fried. And yes, they are delicious. Only 20 shillings if you want to treat yourself. Lots of tiny shops line this side of the market. A butchers shop, general stores, mini hotels (or restaurants), maize posho mills, printing/photocopying stores, and a small pharmacy. Give a handshake to George, the friendly Rastafarian and first dread-locked Kenyan we ran into. He always hangs out here.

Time to head back. Watch out for the garbage-filled pot holes. You can imagine how treacherous this is when it rains. Sometimes flip-flops get stuck here. It’s a bit dirty in this area, but there are our two favourite hotels, Jambo Hotel and Neema’s. Delicious tea for 5 shillings and yummy mandazis. Back to the main road. We can stop at Fairview on the way home and get our fill of children climbing on us and poking our different skin. You’ll love it.

Thanks for the stroll!