The Narok Chronicles: Day 1

Much excitement surrounded our departure to Narok and naturally our targeted time of leaving at 10:30 did not happen. We had to drive through the slums to load up the van with far more cargo than I had anticipated. Instruments, a sound system, bags of clothes and a few extra passengers came aboard at the church. When all was said and done, we were ten strong and had enough cargo to run a large gospel crusade.

Our passengers were the following: Pastor Benard, associate pastor at Calvary in Kibera; Umbeo, a renown church member; Francis and Edward, worship leaders from Calvary; Benjamin, a keyboard player, singer and translator; Soi, a man who knew no English but knew the area we were going as it was his homeland (and was rather savvy with mechanical matters); and we four American folk. All of us joined as one to go minister in Narok. There we were, a merry band of ministers venturing down the road with yours truly at the wheel. I just learned a couple weeks ago how to drive a manual vehicle and now it was up to me to get us from the start to the end. This was going to be an interesting trip!

The drive began well but the van we were taking overheated not thirty minutes outside of Nairobi. We stopped, uncapped the volcanic radiator and added some water, a process we would have to repeat several times during the day. Regardless, we climbed the hill towards Kijabe and then zig-zagged across the rim of the Great Rift Valley into the plains. Driving through the flat expanses of the Rift Valley was a beautiful sight, allowing views of the dormant peaks which once were grand volcanoes. We were even afforded a glimpse of zebras, antelopes and a lone giraffe who looked mostly confused and lost.

It was not until four hours into the trip that I realized we were not going to Narok town but passing through, still in the Narok district. Our destination was two hours yet beyond the town through some of the roughest roads one could ever imagine. Ergo, the last two hours of time on the ‘road’ were some of the worst one could conceive in his mind. It was somewhat like a game, dodging the potholes but then the potholes disappeared, giving way to large gullies. The game was over, the sun had set and the van had been overheating even more.

I have come to learn that the estimations made by Kenyans are grossly low from the actual outcome. We were told that it is ‘not far’ from Narok town but as we wound through the bush of Africa, over roads that would be rough terrain for even the most capable vehicle, we learned that ‘not far’ is a relative term. The time was clicking along until we reached the hill. This was not just a hill; this was THE hill of all hills. As we were driving there we saw a storm in the distance about half an hour earlier but thought nothing of it. However, when we reached the hill, we realized where the storm was.

The paved road had ended a couple of hours back and thus the dirt road had become a large track of mud. About half way up the hill we were unable to go any farther due to the terrain; we had reached an impasse. In true form, we dismounted the vehicle and all pushed to see if we could budge the van up the muddy slide. We pushed and pushed, straining against the metal beast which fought back just as hard. Only by the grace of God and perhaps the assistance from unseen angels, we saw the van make it to the top of the hill.

We had nearly given up all hope and resorted to walking the rest of the way. One who had been there before told us it was only about a forty minute walk (gross exaggeration number two). Since we made it to the top, we drove to our final destination, which was perhaps fifteen to twenty minutes down the road. Walking that distance would clearly have taken twice the estimated time of forty minutes.

Upon arriving we were shown where we would make our berth and unloaded. The small hotel was just that. Ten of us were sharing three rooms that were the size of some closets I have seen in America. However, know that after all our travel, this hotel was the most luxurious place we could have imagined. Ergo, after some tea and a few cheese sandwiches, we made our way to the room to collapse and wake the next morning to discover what the place truly held.