We said our goodbyes to Phil, Clare and the girls this morning and had them quickly sign Foxy before they rushed off to school/work. We had breakfast and packed our bags. We had to press on, and anyway, it's not a good idea to get too attached to a comfy bed and sofa and TV, etc.
Before leaving Kampala, we took a quick tour of Hope Clinic Lukuli. It was HIV treatment day and there were many people waiting to get their antiviral treatment.
Just before crossing into Kenya, we used up our cell phone credit by calling home. It's actually pretty impressive how long you can talk for nowadays on just a few Ugandan Shillings worth of credit. We made one call to France and 3 to Canada and we ran out of reception before running out of credit.
We entered Kenya at the Malaba border post, probably the busiest border crossing we've been to yet. This is where a lot of cargo (fuel and other goods) cross after arriving in Mombassa, Kenya. Being a landlocked country, Uganda relies heavily on this major highway for their goods to be delivered. Upheaval during the Kenyan elections a few months ago sparked a shortage in almost everything in Uganda. The railway is also under repair and so fuel prices have soared considerably. We've also heard that an oil tanker on the coast has spilled which doesn't help our fuel costs either.
We paid the $50 per person visa fee, plus the obligatory $30 road tax, and were on our way. I'm no longer surprised how easy it is to cross African borders. Sure, you get the guys who harass you to change money, sell cell phone SIM cards or "look after your car", but the customs and immigration officials are, for the most part, very competent and efficient.
Arriving in Eldoret just before dusk, we came upon Green Acres Hotel by chance. Only having been open for 5 months, they certainly have put a lot of effort into publicizing their place. We spotted their big, shiny signs from the town's outskirts, which is a welcome change from most other hotels that don't seem to bother with any advertising or signage, making navigation a nightmare.
Tonight was the Champions League Final, Chelsea vs. Manchester United. Even if Liverpool (Matt's favourite team) wasn't playing we figured it would be an exciting game to see. Luckily, there was a place just a few hundred metres away showing the match. Douglas, one of the hotel staff and a keen football fan, said he would take us there, and in fact he had already booked three seats!
After a long's day drive, you can really work up a hearty appetite and we were absolutely famished. Douglas showed us to a nearby 'restaurant' serving local food at local prices. Sitting on plastic chairs at a plastic table with a plastic tablecloth, we ate beef stew, some type of spinach-like vegetable, rice and posho (local word for the common starch, ground up maize or ugali), all for the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars.
We then went back to our hotel room and read in comfort until Douglas came to get us at 20:15 to go and see the game. Kickoff wasn't until 21:45 local time but we wanted to go early to make sure our 'reserved seats' weren't taken.
In the dark, we carefully plodded through puddles, rubbish and goat faeces to arrive at the venue. Douglas said this part of Eldoret was "the ghetto" and not many people got to experience this side of town so we "were very fortunate." Carefully trying to feet my way around the roads, I was reminded how sharp African eyes were compared to my Western ones, having grown up in neighbourhoods with bright streetlights and a reliable electricity system.
The game was being shown in a hut no larger than a small barn, constructed of wooden panels and a corrugated roof. Inside there were about ten long benches squeezed closely together and a smallish TV (my guess would be about a 20 inch screen) propped up in front. The place was already packed with a couple hundred guys, both sitting and standing, but we managed to squeeze into the last row. So much for our reserved seats!
While waiting for the match to begin, I noticed how quiet and well-behaved everybody was. We were the only foreigners in the crowd and I was the only female. How bizarre it was to see so many boys and men seated so obediently, so quietly, eyes glued to the screen. But of course that moment did not last long; the second the players ran onto the field, everyone was standing and cheering and screaming. It's quite astonishing how loud it can get when you put rowdy men in a small contained area.
The whole experience was surreal, watching football with probably the most devoted football fans in Eldoret's ghetto, not being able to hear a word the commentators were saying because there was so much talking and cheering (all in Kiswahili unfortunately), and at some points not being able to see the screen because someone had bolted upright from all his pent-up excitement and was blocking the small screen.
The day was already a long one and I was quite tired. As much as I desperately tried to keep my eyes open, I floated in between feeling like this was a surreal dream to actually falling asleep sitting up. The game eventually went into overtime and then penalty shots, but I still managed to doze in and out of sleep despite all the ruckus. Luckily the entire room was dark and nobody could see my eyes were closed, except for Matt who poked me every so often so that my head wouldn't droop onto Douglas' shoulder.
When the final whistle blew and Manchester United won, the crowd burst into applause and cheers and with that, everyone rushed outside where cars were honking and people singing. We returned the empty bottles at the nearby bar, got our deposit and walked back to the hotel where we collapsed into bed. What a night!
Start: Phil and Clare's home, Kampala, UG. 09:30
End: Green Pastures Hotel, Eldoret, KENYA. 17:40
Distance Traveled: 355 km
Road Conditions: lots of detours on rough dirt track, heavy traffic making passing very difficult.
Temperature: pleasant
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