Experience of Mukuyuni II

This is not about me in Kenya, that’s about Kenya in me …

(I was listening to music of Ayub Ogada while writing these lines)

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I woke up early to a new village. Yes, Mukuyuni seemed rather different during the day. Everybody was already awake, the smoke was coming from the kitchen's window, kids were running around, the bright blue sky was welcoming us and the new day. Finally, I got to see where we arrived yesterday. The village is situated on nicely rolling hills covered with relatively dense vegetation with some beautiful views on the neighboring hills and villages. And yes, I finally got to meet the grandmother, we talked a bit before other people appeared, I tried to use my very limited Swahili skills. Mutysia came after few minutes telling me that his grandma only speaks Akamba language,.. ups.
The local fertile soil is utilized mostly for crops; corn and coffee. Coffee can be sold to a local farmer market society that further sells it to Nairobi, or directly to the tradesman. Logically, the earnings are doubled if you sell directly to Nairobi as Mutysia does. Yes, Mutysia also grows coffee. Person, who picked me yesterday at the center of Nairobi, suddenly became an experience farmer. “The problem is that people often grow coffee together with corn, that lowers the coffee quality and they can than hardly sell it to Nairobi”, introduced Mutysia the problem of local farmers.

Mukuyuni lucks running water and electricity as majority of the neighboring villages. The problem is often connected with the distribution of money from the province capital –Machakos. Only limited amount of money makes it here and thus the development is limited. Mutysia is the pioneer with visions and with excellent communication skills. Thanks to his achievements the electricity will be installed in only few weeks. While showing me his house he introduced some of his future plans: “Once the electricity is here, I will establish a small library in this part of the house, here there will be a computer with internet access, here books, here place to relax. I plan to invite more tourists over, they will be staying here inside or camping outside, experiencing the daily Kenyan life in the country.”

Tips for travelers:

Generosity: Mutysia was extremely generous, starting the first days he was offering trips, recommending where to go, what to eat, driving me around to his village, introducing me his friends and local traditions. It’s important to say that Mutysia was not the only person with such a generous behavior who I met in Kenya. "A suspicious.. " , European may think.

A friend of mine helped me to find the right answer. Kenyans are proud on their country, extremely proud and it’s a pleasure for them to introduce it in the most spectacular way. They also know that tourism brings a large proportion of money into Kenyan budget. Last but not least: walking on the streets with mzungu brings person respect among friends.

The financial support for the planned burials was gathered this morning. Also I and a Mutysia came to contribute with something to the common budget that will help the family to prepare a proper burial. A person sitting in front of the hut by a small desk was writing a list of contributors and amount of money they contributed.

A trip to the Thuy rock at the edge of the Yatta Plattao followed with amazing views on the never-ending savanna with small farmer fields. Only in few hours we were driving back Nairobi. It was completely dark when we arrived to Umoja, the Nairobi residential area. In the morning I drove the bus to the business center together with dozen other locals. The daily routine to most in the bus was an amazing experience for me. I spent the day at work and getting ready for my next trip… Mt Kenya.

So, this was my intense village experience, and this all after only 5 days in Kenya. Thanks to Mutysia’s generosity that amazed me, and hospitality club!