Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I went skiing the weekend before I left for Kenya (actually off the slopes 18 hours before my flight departed). I thought it would be a good idea, and it was a great one: fantastic company, and two good days of skiing. Only problem was my second day did not end well. I was trucking down Timbuktu at Jay and went past the usual turn-off in search of fresh power—no problem, I’ll just take one of those trails that helps you cut back. Problem is, that area always looks different to me no matter how many times I ski it and I never know where I am, I just have a feeling for it and know when I need to cut to the left to avoid ending up either on Rt. 242 or hiking out.

This time I turned back a little early and didn’t hit either of the traditional returns. I thought I had gone too far and got worried. I have hiked out and it sucks. And I have waited for someone to hike out, and that sucks and I didn’t want to put anyone through that. So I figured, keep your speed and head towards the left. I did exactly that and the tracks that I was following went between two trees about four feet apart, and a little staggered—no problem, except I hit one, with my leading knee and it hurt. Long story short, I recovered (thanks Dr. Geer) but am still a little hobbly over here, and the walking portion of my morning commute sorta sucks.

The walk I had been taking is on a quasi-main road with very uneven paths on either side and I was occasionally walking in a ditch to avoid the “boda-bodas” (motorbike taxis) and “dala-dalas” (over-stuffed, under-repaired minivans). This terrain was not good for my knee as every step that I laid was uneven. Now I am doing fine (that’s for my mom), but it was just irritating and obnoxious to take this path (~20min) both in the morning and afternoon. I had begun dreading my walk in the morning, dodging traffic and tenderly protecting my knee and I had actually taken to grabbing a “bicycle boda-boda” to get to my van in the morning. Now I don’t have any complex about my fitness or health, but there is nothing like a young man riding out of his saddle and struggling to pedal his bike simply because you hopped on, to remind you of your weight. They definitely earn their 20 shillings for the 2K.

The new path

But today, I took a different path. And that path was by the Kisumu Impala Sanctuary. Now this isn’t the Serengetti. It’s closer to a zoo than anything sublime, but I did get to see impala this morning, as well as a pacing lioness. Again, the lioness was pacing probably because she is caged in a large fenced in area and the impala are running around her in their own fenced in area. Still, this beats the hell out of any morning walk I’ve had in awhile, plus it gets me off the main road and that improves my own personal chances of survival.

The lion's area is in the fence behind the impala--and yes, I hear her roar every night when I am falling asleep

I think the best part was I wouldn’t have looked, except one of my neighbors was standing on a cement tank near the road and when I asked what he was doing; he signaled me over and shared the sight.