Homa Bay     June 22, 2022

I have planned a small trip on the middle of my stay to go visit one of the places I stayed when I first began traveling to Africa. It is a small farming village on the East part of Kenya near the Uganda and Tanzania border. I visited for a couple years and stayed for a  months in this beautiful little town. I haven’t been back for about 10 years but I have stayed in touch with the family that  loved and supported me tremendously. 

I also had this crazy cool thing happened where I heard of a friend from the states coming to Kenya during the same time that I will be passing through to Migori. This friend would be staying in a town on the way called Homa Bay. So, I planned the detour and left a day early. I started at 2a.m. And around 12:30 I was just getting to Homa Bay. I messaged my friends to let them know I was arriving… 

They left. Haha 

They were literally in Nairobi getting ready to go back to the states. I guess their traveling schedule had so many struggles and complications along the way. They only ended up staying for 2-3 days. But they forgot the message me about the changes. So, needless to say, I was pretty disappointed. I decided to stay in Homa Bay anyways and get some rest. I’m still recovering from  my sickness and I needed to rest. 

I woke up feeling so much better and more refreshed. Homa Bay does have some beautiful sights. I can definitely tell I’m back in the rural area with all the pikipiki drivers and the multitude of market shops flooding town. I woke, got ready, and decided to go for a walk in this hotel’s garden. Maybe garden is not the right term. It’s so much more. Wait, let me stop here and tell you about how I found this place. 

I’m staying at Tourist hotel. The reason I picked this one is because the maTATU drove by it, and I thought, “tourist… that’s a friendly word. Maybe it has a higher chance of being safe.”  I’m from Florida, so when I thing of tourists, I think, “let’s be nice to them so they come back.” Killing tourists is probably not good for business. So I walked back to the sign and started following a long dirt road.

Now let me set the scene: I’ve just traveled 10 hours via tuktuk, plane, pikipiki, and matutu rides. I stop in this  town where I don’t know anyone. I can’t understand a word people are saying to me. I’m trying to make the best of this situation. I think to myself, “let’s make this into a mini, one night vacation.” So, I’ve hyped myself that this is going to be great. I’m looking all cute with a face of makeup, a high pony tale, and my sunglasses. I even brought my favorite Starbucks coffee cup. I’ve got my book bag on and I’m rolling my pretty blue mini suitcase. 

Well, as I start down this road and it becomes harder and harder to pull my bag. Halfway through, I am now dragging it  through what used to be a road but has not been replaced by thousands of boulders and pebbles impersonating a road. I start laughing when I realized what an absolute mess I must look like. I am now pouring sweat, my glasses are fogging, and I imagine my eyeliner is dripping off my face. I’m stumbling over myself and yanking my bag as the wheels get stuck between stones. The more I walk, the harder I laugh. I don’t even know where I am going or if the sign really does lead to a hotel. I have to stop because I am crying at this point. 

I compose myself and continue on. I see a gate ahead. Gates are good. Gates mean at least a little more security. I enter through and…oh my gosh, it is beautiful. The place has acres and acres of grass land looking over the bay. Huge trees sprinkle the hillside. A flock of sheep are grazing across the way, and a variety of birds are filling the air with their chatters and bickering. 

I felt like desperate Joseph asking the front manager if they had a room. I did finally make it up to this beautiful little room looking out over the hillside. I went for a walk down to the waterfront where there is a pier leading out to a small blue shack. Their are huge mountains billowing out from the water. Boats with fishermen float across the calm water. Along the shore is a huge market with ladies selling fabric, beans, and fish. I made it. 

There is something exhilarating about being back in west Kenya. It stirs up an old love. You know, this feeling is similar to the one I have for Vernon. Life is different in the rural area. The smells, the land, the people all make me feel like I’m home. I’m in another matutu now. Google says that I am only an hour and a half from Migori. But Google doesn’t have an Africa toggle or it would instead say between 3-12 hours. 

Either way, I am saying goodbye to Homa Bay and on my way to Migori.