10 Reasons Why I Love Kenya...

So, I've been to Kenya three times now and had three VERY different experiences there. Here are just a few of the reasons I love this wonderful country...

Can't I just say one reason and hit the beach?

1. The Kenyan Olympic runner Ezekiel Kemboi stabbed a man in Kenya and was on trial for this crime, but they still allowed him to compete in the Olympics. I love Kenya.

2. Nyoma choma is a meal where you order meat in kilograms, wash it all down with beer and eat it with your hands. Carnivore heaven, veggie hell. Meat and beer, you can't beat it.

3. When I was following a truck load of men all wearing the same clothes sitting in the back of a pickup truck, I asked if they were the local football team... the reply? 'No, they're prisoners'. They were riding in the back of the open pick up truck. Oh, ok then *locks car door*

4. Public transport? You have a choice of a boda-boda (get on the back of a motorbike and cling on) tuk-tuk (3 wheeled rickshaw thing which I think runs on AA batteries) or a matatu (a 9 seater minivan which normally has a minimum of 15 passengers at any time PLUS at night time, they turn in to mobile disco vans pumping out vintage Britney Spears and Ace of Base) Your guidebook will tell you avoid them all at all costs, but don't you dare avoid them! Otherwise you're paying well over the odds for a private taxi, and that's no fun. What the hell does the Rough Guide know about anything anyway...

5. Talking of tuk-tuks, it's so easy to flag one down and being a tourist, what I find the funniest is that even if they already have a passenger AND they're going in the other direction, they'll pull a u-turn and chuck out their passenger so that they can charge me over the odds for a ride.

6. Mazungu means 'whites' in Swahili. So, 'white person'. You'll be walking along and hear 'hey, Mazungu, how are you?' or 'Hey Mazungu, you give me fifty bob' which just has me in stitches every time, I don't get mad at that. Unless it's said in a derogatory way in which case I act in typical Brit fashion and curse under my breath and walk away.

7. The music. I just love it, it gets under my skin and everyone that I've met just seems to love music and dancing and dance without shame. I don't have natural rhythm, plus I have hips, so that doesn't make for a great sight on the dance floor all the time but I don't care.

8. I'd move to Kenya just for the beer, NO! Sorry, not for the beer, for the Tusker brand of beer. I'm not a beer drinker at home, but it's cheap and cold and sooooo refreshing. I can just picture it now with the condensation running down the neck. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, when is the next flight to Kenya?

9. I'm teaching myself Swahili and it's not going so bad. I managed to have an argument with a tuk-tuk driver in Swahili, so I must be learning it... It's a great language and I loved it EVEN MORE ONCE I REALISED THAT THE LION KING IS BASED ON SWAHILI! Simba is ACTUALLY lion in Swahili... woah. This changed EVERYTHING.

10. They sell Top Deck chocolate bars in the supermarkets. Remember Top Deck? It was from Cadburys and was milk chocolate with white chocolate on top. Good Lord that stuff is magic.

Hmmm, so it seems that most of these points are around food and drink. Ooops. I'll be back with more food and drink political and religion based points next time. (I won't.)

Asante sana and kwaheri x