A LOVE AFFAIR WITH MY HOMELAND - KENYA

  I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy  Ernest Hemingway THE DIVINE NILE AT JUBA South Sudan (SSD) is the youngest independent Country in Africa. Years of domination by the  largely Arabic speaking  North part of this largest of countries in Africa has left the South steeped in desolate ignorance and deliberate neglect - making it one of the least developed nations in the world with one of the highest levels of illiteracy anywhere. Politics aside, this largely untouched land mass is one of the most endowed countries in Africa with huge deposits of oil, natural gas and other minerals. SSD is larger than Kenya and Uganda combined with large swathes of forest, savannah and the Sud - the famous swamp into which the Nile disappears and reappears several hundred kilometers later....an ecological miracle in itself! Both South Sudan and the North Sudan (referred to as The Sudan) are dominated by the one miraculous feature - THE NILE; more precisely The Divine

TRAVEL MAKES ONE MODEST. YOU SEE WHAT A TINY PLACE YOU OCCUPY IN THE WORLD. - Gustav Flaubert 3rd October 2021 Today I'm off to Masai Mara with James ( not his real name ). We are going to our site where I have planned and designed a luxury lodge on the edge of Talek River (a tributary of Mara River). Its a day trip so we leave Nairobi early in the morning at 6am and reach Narok at 830am just in time for breakfast which consists of chapati, eggs and tea. Caleb and Ben join us in Narok. They are to view the plot with us so as to familiarise themselves for purposes of making a quotation. We drive off towards Sekenani (the main gate) from where we shall head North through one of the many conservancies which surround the actual Game Reserve. As we drive across the plains of Mara; two Masai Giraffe watch us curiously. This tall herbivore is endangered and increasingly rare to spot even in animal infested areas such as the plains of Mara - largely due to habitat loss, poaching, fencing a

"There are few people so stubborn in their atheism who, when danger is pressing in, will not acknowledge the Divine Power." ~ Plato Many years have lapsed. My memory is not too clear. But some of the salient points of the events are very clear. I was enroute a flight to Mogadishu. It must have been a Friday because I recited the Surah Al Kahf as we took off from JKIA. I remember sitting next to a Ugandan Soldier. He was in his army fatigues. He was big and muscular. All soldiers are, but this one was a little more hunky and thats why I noticed. We didn't talk much as the plane took off cos I was busy reciting the Quran. Soon I finished my recitations and struck up a conversation with the hunk of the Soldier. He is Ugandan from the uniform and the Ug flag on his lapel. UNISOM is clearly stated on the uniform. He is proud and maintaining an aloof stature - lest us lesser human beings strike up a conversation which might just reduce his superior status ...  H

WHICH THEN OF THE BOUNTIES OF YOUR LORD WILL YOU DENY Al Quran Majid: Surah Rahman. V.13 It's  been long since I was beyond Archers Post along the scenic Great North Road (this is what I'd rather call it).... Not much has changed since I worked on the Moyale Border Post design & construction supervision from 2014 to 2017.  The constant landscape and lifestyles of the peoples are a pleasant surprise and a welcome feeling of familiarity .... because most of Kenya is in a state of fast morphosis and most of it for the worse (a story for another day!). Our journey from Nairobi started early in the morning even before the morning prayer which is normally at 515am.  Eng Farah, Imran and I are headed to Moyale to follow up on a prospective project in the region. Economic times are hard, and any and all jobs however small are worth following up. And Eng Farah is a seasoned traveler, so we are in good company.   Dawn at the Mosque at Sagana The plan is to pray our morning prayer at