Taking the rail
Why hello there!
It’s been a good while since I’ve had time to get to my blog and I have to apologize to most who happen to read it that between finishing up my time at my university and life plans, everything has been a gamble.
The path to figuring out one’s next plans often is a tough road and tends to need a swing of things to swagger into. This is why I will tell you about my inevitable return to my homeland, Africa.
As an African raised American, the perception has been quite daunting and, for the most part, confusing, in which, this comes with the territory of traveling. Now, from the perspective of being here within a week and a half, I can tell you I’m learning about my own culture and have been fascinated by possibilities of living around this area.
FIRST DAY ARRIVAL
How else do I define a 22 hour trip as “heavy as it is exhausting”? From the moment I arrived in Istanbul (or Constantinople for you historical people), the feeling was fleeting considering there aren’t many foreigners who had arrived with my plane and, to blend with different emotions, I can say I was nervous. Nervous is the key term here because I hadn’t gone towards Europe for ages (unless we count the United Kingdom which I am not), so the lonesome wanderer had to cope with what comes next and how to deal with that.
Overall, it wasn’t as serious as I’m making it out to be. It was quite fun as a matter of fact.
By the time our flight was called, I had just been defeated with fatigue overcoming the body and trying to find the terminal to my flight. However, once I hopped onto the plane, the takeoff was immediate and good to go.
Fast-forward to 4:15 AM
The weird tricky part is always entering a new place. Going through the customs and such was odd because I figured I don’t have much of value coming in. Amazing what they’ll consider worthwhile in your luggage, but I digress, once that was over I proceeded to the rising sun…or for my stroke of luck, clouds.
The raining season in Nairobi has been apparent and I’ve seen a good bit of mud versus beautiful green plateau that lingers around.
As an early morning goes, I was shown around and fighting the jet lag monster lingering telling me to rest. It’s not that I was being stubborn. The goal was to get my sights in before I pass out for who knows how long. The trial and error of being young is to grasp straws around you. My first locale ended up being the equivalent of Starbucks called JAVAS, a coffee shop with exquisite service and busy work considering we had arrived around 7 AM in the morning. Whilst playing catch up, we proceeded to make further planning and I was shown the city around. Heading from downtown into a suburban-like area, I saw how the roads, social status class, and vicinity was impactful. It wouldn’t be long with how many people I met where I’d realize the difference in nature.
2nd Day: Arise ‘n’ Shine
To begin a breakfast the way I did here is astonishing because my tastebuds usually deny myself pleasures of food for certain things (i.e., eggs and peanuts). Enter, Moniko’s, a breakfast area that served, for the first time in my life, eggs I actually wanted to eat. The menu was old-stylized and had an omelette I can say has to be one of my personal favorites to have ever tasted. It gave me an extreme amount of energy necessary to continue my running around and visualization of the town around.
Some I’ve had since aren’t on par…except for one of them.
The Junction
Coming to the the third day, there isn’t much to tell except for the early preparations to our next destination: Mombassa. The trip had been planned long before my arrival, but the anticipation was nerve-racking seeing as just arriving in Kenya, alone, was confusing for me to adjust to. In regards to the Junction, the breakfast was ridiculous. By this, I mean delicious enough for me to consume, but one had to wonder when looking at the plate…
WHAT ARE THOSE?!?!?!?!
The dining service felt very casual for some locals around the bend. I could see a few frequented regulars who came through ordering strictly tea, coffee, or a glass of juice to their table. Divided by the set-up, it had a familiar Starbucks feel mixed with a four-star hotel service. At this second, I felt I had to reflect on having money in my pocket.
Speaking of which, I had never seen the currency in front of my eyes until this.
Shillings, the currency based in Africa, originated from the colonization of the English entering and conducting business transactions. There’s no surprise that over time politics and business spread around the continent and, thus, brought about a new form of exchange to the natives. What amazed me the most was the currency had an African present on the piece.
Viewing this from an American perspective, I never knew how much the continent had a strong sense of importance until recently.
Furthermore, to not be as technical and deep, the coast was such a beautiful sight to behold. Riding the railway to Mombassa, the house we stayed at in Kilifi, and the sights we viewed from Mnarni ruins to Gede and seeing a hotel I classified as ‘paradise’ were extraordinary and a slice of heaven that many people need to come visit.
You can find the other photos on Instagram under ezoproquoย andย mundumwiuย (my uncle’s IG) documenting my time here in Africa.
For more, I’ll post up another blog piece about my time here in Africa when I visit Uganda next week.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg1GA_XjU2pzfkcZAKSU5pKPdscQDCohHcNMHc0/?taken-by=mundumwiu
allnightcinema 