Senses

Upon arriving in Nairobi I was immediately surrounded by familiarity. I am not keen to Nairobi, however our time was well spent. We picked up a phone, navigated a foreign city alone as 2 Mzungus, and jumped on a train to Kisumu. The train ride to Kisumu was amazing to say the least. The Lunatic Express, at it is so lovingly called here, passes through many small villages throughout the ride, one in particular in Kibera. Kibera is a slum in Nairobi, that can only be described by its smells and sounds. The sight of it is too much to explain without seeing it. We rode through the slum on the train and heard the music playing loudly with people milling around. The smell is best described by imagining a "flying toilet". I was told the train was derailed in Kibera 1 week prior to our arrival and was just up and running on 12/30 the day we took it. The train was derailed by "flying toilets" in the slum. There are no toilets or latrines within the slum, thus the people will defecate into bags and "throw" them into the air, which apparently landed onto the tracks and derailed it. This story is difficult to believe, but the smell was not. Regardless, we passed through Kibera uneventfully and made it just outside of Nairobi when the train stopped for several hours because of rains covering the tracks. We eventually made it to Kisumu after a 17hr train ride. Alphonce, our friend and host here in Rusinga, so kindly picked us up and drove us to our new home. Upon arrival to Alphonce's we were welcomed "Kenyan style". The smell here quickly reminded me why western Kenya is so close to my heart. The lake off in the distance fills the air with the freshness of a Lake. The air is clear and clean. Surrounding us are the sounds of Benga music, not to mention goats, donkeys, chickens, and children playing. It is an experience to say the least, to hear complete and utter silence without any machines to bother the silence. Looking out at the lake and watching the fishermen set sail is a sight, again, that can only be seen and not described. I realized how much I missed my second home and how welcome I felt when landing at Alphonce's Shamba.