The Passenger

It was one of those times a picture is worth a thousand words and I didn't get the picture.  We are travelling down a dusty Kenyan road.  I am sitting comfortably in the back seat of our van, windows firmly closed with the air conditioning up full.  Only small amounts of the red powdery dust filters into the car and give a small annoyance as the dusty smell reaches my nose.  

We have been staying in a forest for the last three days. Many international visitors come to experience this very special place. The forest air was dust free and fresh except when we had to walk along the dusty road following our guide to get to the next walking track.  If motor bikes or push bikes passed not much dust was raised however cars and fast moving buses filled the air with choking dust causing our eyes to water and leaving a fine film of red powder over everything.   

Here I am gazing out the window of the van bumping along the dirt road when I get a glimpse of a white person’s face, head bare, clinging on for dear life behind the Kenyan driver of a motor bike.  The expression on his face said it all to me. This one glimpse tells me life in Kenya is very different from what he is used to back home. Riding a motor bike without a helmet would have been unheard of and you wouldn't get far anyway before you would be pulled over by the police and fined.  That is not the case in Kenya.  Motor bikes are a cheap way to get around and to carry all sorts of goods from 300 eggs stacked on the back of the bike separated by cardboard egg trays to furniture, drums, bags of maize, wood and reinforcing wire attached on the bike and trailing out the back scraping along the road.  Also one passenger is just a waste.  Two adult passengers plus a baby wrapped totally in a shawl is more common.  

This white person’s face may have been coated with lots of red dust however I think it was just a bit whiter than normal as he awkwardly sat on the bike peering over the driver's shoulder, hoping and praying that this motor bike driver is not abducting him but is in fact taking him to the world famous Kakamega Forest for a refreshing retreat.  

At this moment, as we are about to pass and shower him yet again in red dust, he looks just a bit like he is thinking he should have paid the extra money and caught a taxi. “ The joys of experiencing the real Africa.”  It is rare to see a white person in the area we are staying and every time I do I have the urge to find out where they are from and what are they doing in Kenya.  As I looked helplessly out the window at this frightened figure I wished I could have given him some comfort and told him it is OK, he is headed in the right direction, the forest is definitely worth it and there are hot showers to wash off that dust.

Des.

Just a file photo - but this really happens!