#TwendeUshago: Pit Stop At Archer’s Post

Missed calls are missed opportunities- Magunga Williams

Last Monday at about I received a missed call from the Goon himself, the Magunga. I was in someone’s office somewhere in Karen discussing a feature on sustainable construction. It was one of those semi-formal meetings so I excused myself to go call back. You see, I am not really good with returning missed calls (i need a course on this) but I am trying to change my ways.

“Why do you always lenga my calls?” Came the familiar voice on the other end. After a few seconds of explaining myself, he drove right into his reasons for calling.“Si you’ve heard of #TwendeUshago? A couple of us are going on a road trip up to the North with the Kenya Tourism Board, there’s a slot available. I thought you’d be interested”

“When is the trip?”

“We’re leaving kesho at 8”

It took me 15 minutes to make up mind. I hadn’t gotten permission off work; I had work that needed to go out by Thursday noon; I needed to hand in my research project et al.  All logic pointed me to say no. But driven by that YOLO mentality, and my insatiable wanderlust; the “I’m in!” text flew right out of my fingers. So I spent the entire Monday night racing to finish work for the week I’d be off. Tuesday 7 am found me still wide awake. With work completed and a very long email explaining my absence; it was time to pack. Well, throwing in clothes and toiletries into a bag was more like it.

I was excited. This was going to be epic. Then Magunga called.

“Hi, so there’s been a slight change. We’re going to have different travel arrangements. I hope you don’t mind”

Of course I minded. How was I supposed to travel with  random strangers 😦  I mean, I suck at being in a crowd of strangers, how would I survive with them for 7 whole days? For a few seconds I reconsidered backing out, but oh well! A deal’s a deal!

“No, I don’t mind. It’s cool” I lied. Deep inside I was screaming “betrayer!!”

I got to the meeting point, found everyone waiting and soon we were on the road.  1 hour into the trip, I had even forgotten why I was scared in the first place. The crew I was with were a bunch of very interesting peeps (more about them later).

 Our first pit-stop was in Umoja Camp at Archer’s Point by the Shores of R. Ewaso Nyiro. The camp is run by the Umoja Cultural Women’s Village.  Everyone had to pitch their own tent and it was a  lovely refresher of the old scouting days. Let’s just say I had forgotten the basics and someone had to come to the rescue.

We embarked on a  sunset hunting mission as the Chef prepared our dinner. The Camp’s custodian kept warning us to stay off the shores because of crocodiles; I didn’t see any.  I bet they were just hiding somewhere, staring.

The sunsets and sunrises here are  epic, I lack words to explain just how strikingly beautiful the sunrise was. There are no buildings or obstacles so you can see the moon and stars clearly at night. This is one of those places you need to visit if you want to calm your soul and get re-united with the universe. I felt so much peace, sitting on a rock, staring at the sun coming out of its hiding place.

Did I mention just how cool dining under the open sky; the breeze from the river blowing gentle kisses on all over my face was? Quite the experience.

I have so much to write about the trip to Loiyangalani so I’ve decided to break it down into little chunks. Stay tuned for more.

Meanwhile, thank you @MagicalKenya  and all parties concerned for making this happen. 🙂