We walked through Lodwar town, looking for the bus station to book for the long ride to Nairobi the next day. We looked for the Guest House that had been recommended. We looked for food. But we also stopped by a bank where one of Benson’s old friends worked. We greeted him and agreed he would stop by the lodge after work. We then walked to the Bus Station, bought two tickets for the next day and headed for the lodge. It was a nice place, owned by Ethiopians. We got one room for 1300 ksh. That’s about $16.00 which was splurging for us but it was to include breakfast. (Later we found out it included breakfast for only one of us!) But the room had a shower, toilet and a ceiling fan. I bargained with the manager to allow us to stay in the room the next day until 4pm. Our bus was to leave around 7pm (TIA 8pm) and we would have had to find a place to stay/sit with our bags if we couldn't’t stay in our room. It cost us an additional 500 shillings but worth it. We met Ben’s friend for dinner. We had asked the cook to buy chicken and chips for us to eat. You order food and they go and buy and cook. It was a nice visit. The local vendors of Turkana memorabilia also visited us. It was annoying but interesting that this little town was trying to promote Turkana traditions and items. I bought a wooden pot covered with goatskin and I was given as a gift, a large chin “plug” used to adorn Turkana women’s mouths. We slept well under the ceiling fan and net. We slept in late, got our one free breakfast and went back to sleep. Ben prays periodically throughout the day. He just takes ten-twenty minutes of silent time three or four times throughout the day and evening. I ended up doing the same. I asked him what he prays for and how he prays. He says he mainly recounts the day, what he is grateful for and how he could have been more compassionate and kind. He also says some rote prayers at times, makes some up. At night as we lay in bed, he prays out loud, grateful for the day.
Our bus arrived late and we began the long journey home around 8:30pm. It was a slow but non-eventful journey home. I dozed sometimes, although it is difficult to get comfortable. We traveled with Somalis who had unbelievable loud voices. Their conversations sounded as if they were shouting. At times we were stopped for hours at a time for road construction (use term loosely) We arrived in Nairobi at around 4:00pm the next day. We looked for a bank for cash and for some food. We went to my favorite African-style restaurant, Ronalos. You order things like fried meat, ugali, chapatti etc. All eaten without utensils. After eating we looked for a bus to Kibera, the slum where I would spend the night with Benson. There was a transportation problem. There were no buses to Kibera coming so we headed toward Yaya and took a matatu to the slum. It had been dark for an hour or so – not a good thing for this white guy. It was also raining and muddy, making Kibera even worse.
Our bus arrived late and we began the long journey home around 8:30pm. It was a slow but non-eventful journey home. I dozed sometimes, although it is difficult to get comfortable. We traveled with Somalis who had unbelievable loud voices. Their conversations sounded as if they were shouting. At times we were stopped for hours at a time for road construction (use term loosely) We arrived in Nairobi at around 4:00pm the next day. We looked for a bank for cash and for some food. We went to my favorite African-style restaurant, Ronalos. You order things like fried meat, ugali, chapatti etc. All eaten without utensils. After eating we looked for a bus to Kibera, the slum where I would spend the night with Benson. There was a transportation problem. There were no buses to Kibera coming so we headed toward Yaya and took a matatu to the slum. It had been dark for an hour or so – not a good thing for this white guy. It was also raining and muddy, making Kibera even worse.
