We are beginning our second full day of winding down at the beach. It
was a bit odd yesterday not to be packing up and running for a van,
but we all managed, spending much of our day at poolside or walking
the beach.
Today's blog is retrospective. It has been interesting to note that we
are having conversations that begin, "Remember when ...", and then
proceeding to recount events that, while recent according to the
calendar, seem like eons ago. So, I am going to share some of those.
Perhaps you would be interested in knowing a bit about our group. My
info is sketchy, but here is what I have gleaned from conversations
throughout the trip.
The entire St. Louis group departed after Tsavo. There were three
families (and I will only use first names because I either can't
remember or can't spell last):
Larry and Susie are parents of Buddy, Patrick and Courtney (we
celebrated Larry's birthday along the way)
Greg and Catherine are parents of Thomas (who had to leave even a bit
earlier) and Jessica
Dan and Marlene are parents of Katie and Paul
There are two sister groups:
Teddy and husband Lonny from Virginia
Kathy and husband Fred from Wisconsin
JoEllen and husband Jim from Minnesota and their sons Lucas and Justin
who joined the group in the midst of their world travels -- between
Cambodia and Cairo.
The other sisters are Pete (Maureen) and Liz from Kansas City
There is a brother/Brother pairing -- Phil and Br. Raymond from Kansas
City
Three married couples:
Don and Karen from Memphis (we celebrated Don's birthday last night)
Jim and Kathy from Cincinnati (newly weds as of April -- what a
honeymoon!)
Darrel and Kathy from Kansas
Married but traveling single is Lois from Minnesota
And, of course, Brother Chuck from Kansas City.
Other Brothers joining us along the way have been Br. Francis and Br.
Michael. They will be here with us again tomorrow.
(Hope I did not miss anybody!)
Among the common topics of conversation within our group is the
poverty and disrepair of this country. We are at a loss as to how this
came to be and what can be done about it. Spoiled and arrogant as we
Americans are, we expect the same comforts that we have wherever we go
-- that is certainly not the case here.
We have mentioned the roads, which are not much of a priority here,
evidently. Unfortunately, the Minister of Roads and his assistant were
killed two weeks ago in a plane crash. No doubt, this will be a major
setback in road construction. We understand the Japanese are building
a highway here, most likely to accommodate all the Japanese-made
vehicles we are seeing on the roadways.
Mombasa is a port city so our entrance to the city was through a jam-
packed roadway full of semis headed to the docks. The diesel fumes
were overwhelming. This area also contained homes and shops for people
who were walking in the area, carrying their supplies and going about
their daily business.
We are also amazed at the children who roam about, seemingly without
supervision. While dealing with our third flat tire on Edwin's van on
the way here, two little boys ran across 4 lanes of the highway to
investigate the incident (and probably to ask for treats or money.)
They stopped short of us, however.
The resort that is our home for several more days is like an oasis in
the poverty desert. We have palm trees, a few monkeys, beautiful
rooms, two pools, casual and formal dining. This is German-owned,
although all the workers are Kenyan. So it does provide livings for
many citizens.
We have heard that the lifespan for Kenyans is 48 years. Infant
mortality and AIDS probably account for that. The women are certainly
hard workers. Men and young boys are herders and protectors. The women
do pretty much everything else. Education is compulsory, but we have
seen many VERY young children herding goats and cattle during what
should be school time.
There are many signs for schools. Apparently primary and elementary
grades are coed and then high school is single sex. There are lots of
church-run schools and lots of churches of many denominations.
We have also heard that the average yearly income for Kenyans is $300.
Imagine! The clothing, luggage and camera gear that we have brought
could support a Kenyan family for a lifetime!
And here we are, having the experience of a lifetime. We like to think
that our tourist shillings and dollars are helping a bit. This resort
is only about half full, and we are about half of that. Since the
weekend is over, we will probably be the majority of guests. The
people selling things along the beach and along the streets in the
cities are desperate for tourists to buy their trinkets.
Oh, yes. The Kenyans are eager for U.S. elections when they expect to
see Obama elected President. Even in the Maasai village where we had
warriors helping us fix our first flat tire, they know about Obama.
I am going to wrap this up now. It is time to head for the beach where
several of us will be mounting up for a camel ride along the
shoreline. I have to do this -- another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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