Matunda

I arrived in Matunda last night, a small town in Western Kenya in the rolling hills of the Rift Valley. It was quite an adventure getting here, taking one matatu to another, and the person I’m staying with I’d only met once before. His name is Wycliffe, and he is wonderful guy. He, his friend Kengede and I went to a Revival last night. A Ugandan preacher spoke very powerfully and many people were called up to the front and “smat down” by the Spirit in various cleansing acts. I’m still not sure what to make of all of it, but I can say it was interesting.


Today we went hiking. We went up to the top of one hill to find an old quarry filled with water. Apparently the lake never dries up, but the water is too salty or basic to use for drinking. Later on we trucked through some fields and climbed a few rocks to get a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside.


We had been walking along dirt paths that wove in and around various small plots of farmland. Many people were in the midst of harvesting their crops (mainly corn), although nearly all stopped to look at me as we passed. No one could quite figure out what a white person was doing out here in rural Africa, especially without a car. The three boys in the photo followed us up the rocks and hung out with us for a few hours as we lounged around… even fetching us extremely sour fruit (guavas?) for a mid-afternoon snack.


Being outdoors and with friends, I felt very at home even in an unfamiliar place.