One Night Stop in Nanyuki

"See if you can maybe squeeze your bag just underneath that seat right there, then my bag could somehow go in between those suitcases. The small bags we'll just keep on our lap during the journey." I said to Felix while we try to fit all the luggage into the small van, like in a game of tetris, just with people and suitcases instead of simple blocks.

"Ok, well if Thobi and Lucky sit right there somehow I think we'll fit in on the side there somewhere. Let's stop overthinking this and just get in, that'll be faster." Felix responded and got into the van.

"Leet's go, can't wait to see Mt. Kenya - we are staying at MOOF near Nanyuki for the night and I think Clio mentioned that we might see it tomorrow morning." I said excitedly as the van started moving out of the conference centre, we waved good-bye to the guards and monkeys and the journey began.

"One more pee break and I will crack, people have to learn to pee at the same time - otherwise we'll never get to MOOF in time. We're already going to be there 2h later than expected." I told Felix while peeing into some bush on the side of the road.

"You're such a hypocrite, if you're in such a rush get in the van now, we're all done and waiting for you now." Felix said laughing while half hanging out of the van door.

"Ah man, nevermind. Let's go I am ready." I responded as I sat next to Thobi and started munching on a mini-banana, after some minutes of silence I heard a someone singing in a low tone.

"..waking up in the morning mhmmm ah rise with the smilin sun, three little.." all of a sudden everyone in the bus was singing Bob Marley songs at the top of their lungs, laughing and giggling while trying to figure out which song to sing next. We crossed a little bridge and as we followed the bend of the road we could see a matatu (local transport) lying on it's side.

"Look at how many people are gathering there. That must be like 40 people on the side of the road." Felix said as he pointed out the beaten matatu and the group that huddled around some shapes lying on the ground.

"Oh fu**, look, those 3 people lying on the road." I said in shock while looking at the limp bodies of three men which had been surrounded by spectators. A sudden realization came to mind - this was not an unusual occurrence, this happens all the time and people have numbed to be able experience this pain and suffering. The society that I am growing up in is so reality distant, it puts covers on everything ugly and hides the terrible under white sheets. It will be difficult to understand the behaviour of some people on this journey as their life might have been filled with a kind suffering that I cannot relate to and I need to simply accept that there will be a justification for whatever actions they take.

This changed the atmosphere for the rest of the journey, the group simply viewed the landscape go past and silent tears filled our eyes.

"Everyone get out, we're at MOOF now." I heard Lucky's deep voice say from the dark.

"Follow me." I heard Peter, the founder of MOOF, say as he walked towards some shapes in the dark which I was able to identify as tents. He opened the zipper of the large army tent, turned on a light switch and now we could see two beds made out of dark and uneven wood and a little night desk on the side.

"Put your bags in there and we'll have dinner ready in just a minute. Showers you can have just over there on the far end of the field, they're outdoor showers for now but we're building new structures as we speak. Oh and right next to the showers, can you see that metal barrel? We will have a fire there later." He informed Felix and me, he then went on to show other people their tents and make them feel at home.

"Ok, you can have the right bed if you want. But then we should get going - I think they are starting to serve dinner now and I am starving." Felix told me when coming back from the showers.

"Can you smell that? I think it is going to be goat tonight. I also heard they've got amazing strawberry smoothies." I responded as we headed through a hedge towards the dining room where people had already started queuing up and with the plates in their hands were anticipating their tasty dinner. Following the dinner the fire was lit and we all gathered around the warm flames as the cold of the night started to creep into our tired bodies. Many songs and deep conversations later I said my goodbyes to the people and hello to the soft and warm bed.