Two out of five posts about journeys represents the proportion of time I spend on the road. I’m on the road now in the same spot I have been for half an hour, waiting for our driver to fetch oil, which should stop out engine from burning out. It’s the third time today we have broken down (puncture and failed ignition being the other problems) and the sixth involuntary stop. The other three were police checks which have left us about 500 shillings poorer on account of the fact that Fred has altered his driving licence, the tyres are all bald, and we have a passenger in the back of the pick-up keeping guard over badly tied down furniture.
As if the car and the police weren’t enough Fred and our passenger have tried to claim that I understated the distance and that I should therefore add more to the 8000 shillings they asked for to cover this return trip to Namanga (bribes included by the way). I nodded vaguely but as soon as we get back to Kibera I will explain that if they actually had a car that worked and a proper driving licence the 300 km round trip really could have taken six hours instead of ten and that they would have had a good deal. If they complain I might pull out the ‘repeat business’ card (‘I’m planning another trip to Namanga next week so if we can agree on 8000 now then I’m more likely to give you a call’). It would be a lie though, this pick-up has seen its last Maasai village.
Update - In the end we had to leave the pick-up in a garage and take a bus home leaving Fred and the owner, George, to watch over our furniture. The next day I had a call from George saying they were in prison and I needed to send them the balance I owed them so that they could use it as bail. Apparently they had been arrested for boarding a matatu at the wrong place - still not sure what they were doing on a matatu (minibus) anyway. From prison George organised the delayed delivery of our furniture so finally we had desks in our office.
ReplyDeleteFour days later I had a call from Fred - he was still in prison and wanted me to come and rescue him. Unfortunately I was extremely busy. Now he is still trying to track me down but I'm escaping to Uganda...