I travelled to to Meruland for Christmas. Here are some pics from the trip.
Thika road on a wet morning.
The roads are good (by Kenyan standards) apart for Thika Road and some stretch before and after Nanyuki.
White Cap. Come to think of it, I’ve never tasted this particular brand. I’m a cold tusker person BTW.
Dad’s old high school.
Mt. Kenya hidden by clouds
In Meru, they grow tea
Maize (duh)
Beans (interplanted with maize)
Mangoes
Trees (timber fetches top dollar apparently)
Mushroom growing in the forest pictured above
and coffee, veve/miraa/khat, bananas, potatoes … heck the land is fertile and the rains are usually good.
A well about 20ft deep dug manually. The rains were bad last year so this well was dry. This year round, there’s lots of water. There is a water supply in the area now so its redundant.
Gourd
Mud. I’ve never driven in mud. Its a whole new experience. The car just gets a mind of its own and goes in completely random directions. The trick is to counter steer. If the car swings to the right then steer to the left. Also try and keep away from the sides of the road, that’s where there is more mud and its wetter than the middle; you get stuck in there and its game over. Initially its nerve wrecking but eventually one gets the hang of this counter intuitive way of driving. My experience was nothing compared to those my mum tells me about where she used to drive in the muddy hilly roads of Mbooni (somewhere in Ukambani) where one slip up could send you down a cliff!
The Lewa conservatory begins at the hills in the background.
Isiolo road.
2006 was a great year for wheat.
Marina Grill and Restaurant. The only decent eating place I know of in Nanyuki. If you’re in a hurry, just order chips-sausage (for lunch) or tea-samosa/ndazi (tea break), anything else will take 45 minutes at least.
Tana river looking healthy. Kengen should have a good year.
On the way back, it started to rain heavily so there were quite a number of accidents on Thika road. This led to a jam that started a kilometre or so from JKUAT all the way to the Kasarani roundabout! Now I understand the rationale behind those bypasses they’re trying to build. There was just no way out of the jam and everyone coming in from a north easterly direction from Nairobi has to use Thika Road.
Kenchick Inn at the Caltex on Ngong Road. Now that’s the way to end a journey. Just FYI, they’ll be remaining open 24/7 till New Years.

