A LOVE AFFAIR WITH MY HOMELAND - KENYA

And He it is who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers ....  The Holy Quran (Surah Rad. ver.3) 20May2022 The announcement is curt and clear - ' Remember we leave Sabache Camp at 330am' the group leader whom we all referred to as AW announced in a firm but soft voice. She is an avid hiker and arranges trips for friends and also those suffering travel lust - as I do. Today we are in Samburu County in Northern Kenya. And Mt Ololokwe is one of several granite massifs that straddle the expansive County. Other include fold mountains such as the Ndotto Range and Mathews Range further up North - among several other beautiful mountains and mountain ranges. The North of Kenya is a beautiful part of the country that too few of us majority of Kenyans are aware of (wake up compatriots....we are missing out on a very beautiful part of our motherland!). This is partly but also largely because the North has for long been a no-go zone for decades due to the poor infrastruct...

photo: ALK Africa, Africa Oh Africa My beloved homeland Will I survive? What have I done wrong - Oh Africa I cry for you - Oh Africa The more I think about it; the more melancholic I become.  We have seen it happen in our lifetime.  Beautiful African countries falling apart from their once glorious past.  Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and many more - crumbling away ...the list is long and hurtful. We Africans are fun loving, God fearing and hard-working peoples.  I am not just saying it because I am one .... and I am certainly not ashamed of being one.... But it just is a fact.  We are a special breed of humans who have been trampled upon for generations and continue to be subjugated, repressed and oppressed by the colonialists & neocolonialists.  And yet when they interact with us we are not just welcoming but even kowtowing them as though we owe them our lives! It is only in Africa that one will find malnourished children playing away happily in th...

Sunset over the Uasin Gishu plateau (photo by ALK)  Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul - Jaime Lyn Beatty 3April2022 It isn't often one gets the chance to travel to far apart destinations in such a short span of time .... as I have had the pleasure and blessings bestowed upon me in my career. The years of the last decade have been just that ..... a result of my constant prayers to God to bless me in my work! Prayers answered! Today is no different .... Its rained the whole night. It was heavier around 3am   I lost my sleep then. The raindrops pattering onto my bedroom window were incessant but certainly a welcome musical sound full of blessings from above. Alhamdulillah. Ideally I should have by now changed my sleeping gears and slept on to the seventh heaven....but this was not to be. I have to go to Suam today for an inspection and meetings. So I stayed awake .... tossing in bed whiling away time. I prayed silently. At the airport the drizzle is still pe...

  “Doing what you like is freedom, liking what you do is happiness.”  – Frank Tyger. Today I'm off to Northwest Kenya. To the largest county in Kenya - Turkana. I have to go and view a plot in Kakuma for a Children's Centre. We fly off from Wilson Airport via Eldoret. After the routine security checks we sit in the departure lounge - yes the famous-squeezed-one with the fame of children crying. The flight is on time and we arrive safely in Eldoret. Then a 15 minutes stopover to drop and pickup other passengers. We take off for Lodwar in due time having sat in the squeezed seats of the Dash 800 aeroplane. This is a very different and scenic flight over Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties before entering Turkana. Several mountain ranges dot the country here. The skies are clear - not a good sign. There should be rain clouds all over - it is nearing the end of March and the rainy season should have hit by now. Global warming!! We in Kenya and generally all African...