To Voi by transit truck

Travelling to Voi to spent a few days learning coastal dishes recipes and ice making business. I’ll be staying with a family that we stayed with in August during a convention (11 of us) from my aunts,  uncles to cousins and nephews, and my son too, they are a generous lot.

Left home at 9am walked to the stage waved down a truck but it passed along so some guy at the stage helped me and a few minutes later I was climbing up a truck. Never have I travelled in a truck before because for one I never trusted truck drivers. Its only when I moved to this town that I found out everyone including my aunts’ families preffered travelling by trucks to buses.

As soon as I sat down on the seat I discovered I had worn the wrong dress. It was well above the knees and I felt like I was giving a wrong impression. As it so happens along this highway ladies “in business” get onto trucks and if the driver is up for “the business” they get on with it at the next available stop, once done he continues with his journey as she waves another truck to a stop hoping to get another customer. Should have worn my recently acquired dera for it covers me down to my feet.

I think he noticed my discomfort and asked me to level the seat well thinking it was due to that. I took out my phone to start writing or continue reading Harry Potter e-books but then he started engaging me in small talk. Shortly after he asked me to send a friend of his money from his M-pesa account and went ahead to give me his pin number, I still remember it! I was really tempted to check his account balance but I resisted, I am that good!

I have travelled this road several times but being up the truck gave me a totally different kind of view. Watching everything from a few feet above gave a better view many meters ahead and all around. And some kind of pride like I was well above them all, looking down upon them. Even when vehicles like Prado’s and V8s passed along I only saw them as small cars for I was riding in the king of the road.

He happens to be full of stories, having been in the business since the late 70s and witnessed the towns along the road grow from singles shops to shopping malls. He talked about his family and even his latest girlfriend whom he met on the road and how it started and ended. I was all ears and no comments other than the usually ummm, really, how is that even possible to keep the stories flowing, especially when he touched on politics a topic I know very little about or just decide to be neutral and non partisan. 

I actually just smilled when he called my tribes men stupid because they do no rally behind his political leader as a group but make individual decision on who to support and hence look divided as a region.

We touched on religion too, and when he asked which religion I thought was the true religion I told him as the Bible says that the true religion can only be known by the action of its believers. It doesn’t matter if one raises people from the dead or does great deeds all that matters is their conduct, godly conduct. 

Am a story teller myself but I did not have a chance to tell any stories about myself, even why I was visiting Voi except that I’ll be staying till Thursday. He wonderd how and why I live in a small town in a region plagued by frequent drought when I come from western Kenya a land flowing with milk and honey. 

We arrived at noon just as the new SGR train was trailing over the town, it takes just over an hour from Kibwezi to Voi that’s pretty fast,  will definitely be the mode of transport in future when the kibwezi station starts operating.

All along I had not even given him my name which I did before climbing down his truck as I took his phone number so that I could send him his 300 Bob the cost of my journey. He trusted me to do so.

Looking forward to a great time in Voi.