Dustbins, Matatus, the Environment!

There is this one time that I travelled alongside other students while in high school and since the journey was a long one, we had carried snacks with us. Just for thought, what do you think of when you see someone throw trash out of a vehicle window? Or even under their seat?

The inside of a vehicle is too small a space compared to the outside and yet while one is within the confines of the vehicle, the outside becomes like a thing of the past. Less is cared about it.

Often fruit peels are discarded through windows in moving vehicles, snack wrappers as well and if you happen to use roads where maize is roasted along the road, maize cobs also follow the same route.

The impact: I stay in a place where Maasai cattle cross the road more often than not and the nature of cattle is to walk as they eat or better still eat as they walk. This means chances of picking a polythene wrapper that was disposed irresponsibly are quite high and the aftermath, loss of a once healthy cow due to indigestion.

Pedestrians have their right of passage and to pass on roads that have not been used as garbage sites. A banana peel on the side of the road is more than enough to dangerously bring down a 90kg person.

Now to the environment in general; a single polythene bag or any other sort of wrapper in the midst of vegetation already makes that place unattractive. Undisturbed natural/artificial vegetation is good ‘food’ for the eye and should be taken good care of; what amount of cost is associated with it? Almost none.

Back to Matatus now, public service vehicles can be quite uncomfortable to travel in especially when those operating them care less about the cleanliness of the vehicle. Quite often will you board a mat and just as you try to make yourself comfortable your feet are greeted by some rubbish, more especially snack wrappers, thrown at the leg space. Irritating, isn’t it?

So recently I have made this observation which to some extend has really caught my attention. At least a dustbin in the several matatus that I have boarded. It has happened after a directive from National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) in February to have all PSVs fitted with such. This means that whatever rubbish a passenger wants to dispose, it should be into the dustbin and not through the window. Kudos to these people whom we will ever need since we can’t all own personal vehicles.

It is quite ideal for people like me, yes me! Who carry with them used juice, water, or snack containers until they have found a dustbin long after alighting. Now that will be finding way into these strategically located dustbins in PSVs. (Send me a shout out if you have spotted them).

But there is another issue, there are some people who are so resistant to change and even with the presence of these dustbins they will still be pushing open vehicle windows and off goes the rubbish. It’s even worse if one is discarding a used chewing gum. What if it lands into another motorist’s vehicle that had the windows open? What if a pedestrian steps onto it and it sticks on to their shoe? What if? What if? ….

So about the journey we made while still in high school and several others, we ended up collecting all the trash that had been thrown all over the floor of the bus just to leave it clean. Then it crosses my mind that if we had a dustbin in the bus during our day long tour, we would have had it easier just carrying the dustbin and emptying it into the rubbish pit.

Enjoy trashless travel!

Dusk, yet path tracking

The beauty of an expedition is discovering new places, things, ideas, et al. and this particular one was no exception. With a group of similar minded pals, we set off to a ‘town’ in the other side of the physical divide at around 6.00 pm. After around 30 minutes of walking, the destination started being defined by spots of light from the institution where we were to spent the night, it came to my realization that dusk sets early in this part of the country. 

Since the majority of us were new to this place, we were taking time admiring sites that we came along, enquiring about others and occasionally stopping to laugh at a joke that would be cracked by some of our ice breaking fond companions. Our hosts to this place were some friendly chaps who happened to be our age mates though from different campuses, we being from the same campus.

The area MP here is a popular man and we happen to spot his home across the road, a beautiful homestead. Generally this place is beautiful and on enquiry I’m told that the village goes by the name mutunduni.

Soon it was dark and having opted to follow a path rather than the road that would have been a longer route, our senses had to concentrate on where we stepped to avoid sliding or even falling on the path that was characterized by granulated stones. Once you slide on such a ground the next step is nursing a bruised elbow, arm, knee or leg. 

Though we were assured by the residents that the vegetated land surrounding the path was safe and free from dangerous wild animals, our ears were also keen incase of any noise that came from the somehow forested land. This particular place is known as Kithekani; I must have laughed at the name, well it literally means ‘in the forest’ and Nicoh, who is more at home with this place, tells us that it is well known for the local brew; kaluvu.

Hills and valleys is a correct description of the place, Makueni for that matter, once we followed a path only to hit a dead end. The land in front of us covered with sugarcane and veggies in addition to being swampy, and the aftermath; backtracking thus avoiding jumping over fences where we would encounter hostile owners or more often ‘mbwa kali’. At another incident we walked down the hill and at the bottom was a gulley, with running water. It was dark then and our ‘mulika mwizis’ weren’t strong enough to light the bottom of the gulley just to establish its depth. 

Thank goodness for our daring friend Lennie; he set down the gulley and soon he got to the bottom. “You need to have your shoes off to cross over” is what he told us.  The thought of stepping on cold water was not that welcome but we had to do it because the alternative was going back to the option we left out; the road. Shoes and socks off and for some ladies it was much easier as they just waded through the water with their much embraced sandals; they come in handy on such occasions.

There is a common saying that when you ask a Kamba for direction and they tell you; ‘no vaa’-‘ni hapa tu’-‘its almost here’, get ready for an unexpectedly long distance. Of course we never considered this when we asked how far it was before starting the journey. The land was now moonlit and the open land before us gave us some bit of encouragement, this was however short lived; two paths leading to different directions and we had to use our instincts and sense of direction to decide which one to follow. 

Apparently our colleagues from this part never use this path yet we opted to use it, so we braced ourselves for another adventurous encounter. This entailed walking with bended backs through thicket that formed a canopy over our heads. You made it easily if you had someone following you to push you up.

8.00 pm. We occasionally stop to ensure each one of us is present. Soon after, another shock; it dawns on us that this path stopped being used long time ago after the land owner decided to fence it all round. The idea of going back was not an option; we sat. Some Nicoh and Pato try to survey the fence to see if there could be any indication of an opening or even a weak portion of the fence through which we could jump over, all in vain. 

At a distance is another path that a villager, whom I didn’t make out wherever he emerged from, indicates to us. He has some dogs following him and must have heard us in the thicket and decided to find out what was happening. Thank goodness for such caring people. But following this route would mean a whole hour of walking.

Some dogs were at this time barking bitterly from the homestead of this land’s owner. Of course something unusual to them was happening. Just before we embark on the 1 hour walk, there is the noise of something like a gate being opened and to our relief; there was a gate on one side of the fence that we hadn’t noticed. The owner might have heard us and too came to find out. This land was used for grazing his animals and had been secured with the fence to prevent trespassers ‘like us’ from trampling on the vegetation. He saved us from a one hour walk and we got to our destination in the next 10 minutes.

And that was a 30 minute walk turned a 3 hour path finding session.

I have realized that most places we traversed in this area are named after trees/plants, for instance mukuyuni, Nguyu, Itoo, nzuuni, all these are names of indeginous trees here and I just don’t know them by any other name. Well, Nzuu means pegion peas.

And for the whole journey, thanks to Nicoh, who hails from Nzuuni. And Kudos to this group back in campus fondly known as MAKDSA.

I was scared throughout the journey that I didn’t remember I had a camera in my bag. So no photos from that night's experience. The one above is from another day out.

Have an adventurous outing!

Wonders of a silent land

There is a common saying in my language that translates to “whoever does not leave his/her home always says that their mother cooks the best”. True you must concur with me, well I have had Eldoret as my home for quite some time and I have loved it. 

It is a place where you will wake up and sigh at the expansive pieces of land which are quite beautiful especially when covered by green wheat or maize. The Eldoret South is in context here. Some hills are notable from a distance and I once heard from a friend that when wind blows towards them (Nandi hills), expect no rain and this statement put me into task to find out. Whether the assertion is true, the residents know better.

To give me a chance to taste what other ‘pots’ brew and avoid being a victim of the saying above, I love  going places and courtesy of likeminded persons, I have visited a few places one of them being Kitale. One thing that I am cautious to look at is the nature of homesteads that people in different parts of the country put up. I don’t compare, just to appreciate diversity. And from the observation over time, I have noticed that it’s very likely to find a person living in a mud house or a grass thatched house yet own a very powerful car. Well, my lecturer in first year taught us about culture shock and as a result I could manage this one. Enough of that for now.

Kitale is a land well known for growing maize, a bit of similarity with Eldoret. But there are other sites which I doubt whether are much visited by locals/Kenyans, The Kapenguria Museum being one of them. From the knowledge of history that I have, I know Kapenguria is an administrative town and was more vibrant during the colonial era. Located near Makutano  town, it has no much activity as makutano serves as the commercial town. 

Kapenguria museum tells the history of the well known fighters for the Kenyan independence and what characterizes the small piece of land that houses the museum are the cells in which the freedom fighters were locked in, six in number for each one of them (the Kapenguria six). The cells are quite small but enough to allow one to sit at whichever corner but could only allow them to lie down/ sleep lengthwise; the room width is just too small.

There is also a gallery that being in Pokot land, holds artifacts that were used and some of them are still being used by the locals. A typical setting of a Pokot homestead (Agricultural Pokot homestead) is also at home here; four huts; one for the Man of the home, one for the first wife, one for the second wife, one for the boys’ and oops! I didn’t find out where the girls slept. Will found out the next time I visit, I hope to.

There is more to learn in this museum that if put down here would amount to a history class which I’m less interested in. Another part of this wonderful land is a setting that gives you a type of treat you would call ‘three in one’. The Kitale Nature Conservancy (KNC) is a home for disabled or if I could use another word physically challenged animals. I had not heard of such before I visited this place but I must appreciate whoever came up with the idea. 


Here you will find cows, sheep, donkeys, goats and the like walking in three legs; some of them can’t walk at all so they feed from the ground; shorter forelegs than the hind legs or the vice versa; deformed mouth or eye. It’s like an orphanage for such. The deformities are quite a number and though they are not people, I couldn’t help sympathizing with the animals. Would you eat meat you know is from a deformed animal?

Deformed calf

The second part of the ‘three in one’ is the beautifully laid down ground where you can have a walk or picnic admiring the artificially set up tourist attraction site. With winding paths through overhead hanging vegetation the site is an example of brains put into use. On one side are mounded sculptures that altogether tell biblical stories from both the New and the Old Testament. 

Stories with a mountainous setting are put up as so, as well as those told from plains and rivers. There is this sculpture of the transfiguration that caught my attention; three disciples shocked and the transfigured Christ somewhere higher above them, of course with Moses and Elijah at his sides…

And finally, the tourists to this place got a stomach. It’s not common to tour and not to eat and the restaurant here is strategically located such that you ought to think of food whenever you are entering or leaving. Having noted it during our entry, we had decided we would too have a share of the nyamchom they offer. Several other people were also treating themselves to the same.

And oh! If it were not for darkness setting in, there was more to enjoy from this area!