Rain, Mud, and Tires

We've had rain almost every day of this trip! Along with caking everyone's shoes with massive amounts of mud each day and turning some areas of the medical tent into marshland, we've also had a few adventures with the bus! On our second day of medical clinic, the bus got stuck less than 1/4 mile from the medical camp. We rounded a turn past a maize field, and slid to a halt. After much rocking, backing up and tire spinning, everyone got off to make the bus lighter. Kids from Kampi Teso, who were running alongside our bus as we left, thought it was pretty funny to see all us Mzungu's huddle in the maize field! Somehow, while pushing the bus and setting rocks under the tires, a small mud fight started between Open Arms staff. (I don't have pictures, I was laughing too hard.) Eventually, the bus broke free. A few miles later, we discovered that one of the rocks used to get the tires free had actually lodged between the tires. We found this out when the tire exploded and a rock shot out of it. Everyone piled out again, but we soon discovered the bus didn't have a jack strong enough to replace the tire. Since the bus had dual tires everyone sat on the other side of the bus, away from that

axle, and kept heading toward home. The second tire blew when we were just 5 miles from home. By now, everyone was having too much fun. We all stood on the side of the road, eating coconut biscuits and laughing about how cold and wet we were! The best part is, now we can say we rode in a real Kenyan Mutatu (public transport van)! I wish I had a picture, but my battery was dead. The Mutatu picked us up just as it started raining again! And we thought THAT would be our best bus adventure.....not so!

The last day of medical clinic, everyone was scrambling to finish up pharmacy, tear down the tents and load the bus up as quickly as possible. Black clouds were rolling in, and this time we had TWO buses to get out of Kampi Teso - one full of medical camp equipment, and one full of people.

Tearing down the tents....

All the Kenyans kept saying "Faster, faster! The rain is coming!"

But we were going as fast as we could!

We got on the bus just as giant raindrops started falling. We made it past our previous "stuck" section of road, and everyone cheered! Down the hill into Kampi Teso, both buses slid on the mud, but we made it through. It was amazing how quickly the roads were changing into rivers!

Even though it was pouring down rain, kids were still running alongside the bus to wave at us as we drove out.

As the roads filled with water, they ran alongside the bus all the way to the hill leading out of Kampi Teso!

The bus reached the hill and immediately lurched to a halt. We slid backwards a few feet, tried to go forward, and then we were obviously stuck. Everyone out! Luckily, we were stuck beside a small shelter used to thresh grain, so we had a somewhat dry place to stand. Everyone was in great spirits! We huddled together with some Kenyans who were also trying to get out of the rain. And the sun is still shining!

This little boy was standing right next to me, and as the tires spun while the men tried to push the bus, he grabbed my arm and said "Pray to Jesus! Pray that the bus will move!" He was so adorable! We all prayed that the bus would move, but it didn't. It just dug a deeper hole in the mud, and slid further toward our little shelter until it was solidly stuck in a water filled trench between us and the edge of the road.

The equipment bus actually made it to the top of the hill before this one got stuck. When it became clear that this one wasn't going anywhere

without gills or a tow truck, they radioed down to us and said they had room for 6 people.

So six of us got chosen to go on that bus. (No one wanted to leave, we were having too much fun!)

There were only two seats in the first class section (see left!) so the rest of us stood in the doorway or sat on the divider between us and the front cab. If we fell into a particularly large hole, the door would break loose and fly open, just to make things more exciting! I was standing in front of a pile of poles, between a stack of boxes and the doorway.

At the top of this hill, you can see the back of the equipment bus. That's our ride!

This is a little waterfall forming beside the road as we walked to the bus. The rain, combined with the sound from this river and the one running down the middle of the road really did make it sound like we were walking beside a waterfall.

Our fearless driver Dave! You can see the road from this picture is a mud slick highway full of holes, with two ditches filled with water on either side. Driving on it reminded me of driving on snow, we actually slid sideways twice!

Luckily, the rain didn't seem to affect traffic at all, once we reached town.

And.....

We only ran into one traffic jam!!

Turns out, I should have been more grateful to go on the first bus. The rest of the team were stuck in Kampi Teso for another 35-40 minutes before they started walking. They hiked through mud for a few miles, and then were picked up by a truck and a mutatu. My poor roommate Julianne was one of the 10 girls huddled in the back of the open truck bed. They cruised along pretty well until they hit downtown Eldoret, where they came to an intersection that had transformed into four one-way streets, all pointing to the center. They were trapped here for about 45 minutes until one of the Open Arms staff directed traffic and cleared them a way out. When they finally arrived back at the village more than an hour and a half after us, they were all completely soaked. Julianne said she's not sure she's ever been that cold in her life! Just when we thought the adventure was over, Julianne and Jenny decided to try and take hot showers. Julianne got a few minutes of warm water before Jenny turned the tap on her shower and the entire tap came out of the wall, shooting a geyser of cold water straight toward her! The rest of us were interrupted in the dinner line by shouts of "Help! Help!" With a few phone calls, we got the main water to the house shut off. The fact that no one could take a warm shower was lessened by the fact that our wonderful guest house staff had picked the perfect thing to serve for dinner: hot soup!