For some reason my burger last night came with a fruit salad and so did my extra portion of chips. I don't think this is typically Kenyan but either way I saved both fruit salads for breakfast this morning.
I had quite a leisurely start as I knew I didn't have far to ride. The weather was perfect with the sun burning away the morning dew but this didn't stop all the taxi drivers on their motorcycles looking like Blazing Squad rejects with their huge puffer jackets.
I had to endure a slight morning rush which included a few close shaves as they always do. The road was good but there wasn't much more tarmac for cyclists and so I had to get used to bailing onto the gravel when I sensed a lorry was going a bit too fast or a bit too close for comfort.
The scenery was amazing, so green and fresh looking. Compared to Ethiopia you could say some fields were overgrown but that's because the Kenyans have installed a bit of order as to where they let their animals graze. The Ethiopians let the animals roam and destroy anything in their path and haven't yet thought about a rotational process. It does get a lot wetter than Ethiopia down here as well though so that is probably more of a valid reason.
I had a lot of shouts from people as I cycled past their shops or fields. "Mazumbu!!" I would turn to see just a set of bright teeth in the shadows if their veranda. To add to the enjoyable scenery, the names of the shops and spelling errors will get you in stitches. I love just ambling through small towns and taking in all the names but can't take my eyes off the road for too long due to rogue potholes and speed bumps.
The ride consisted of 3 and a half hours of pure enjoyment. I loved every minute and was very happy as I entered the centre of Eldoret. As I reached the absolute centre, the cars were pretty much at a stand still and there was a huge crowd of people that were blocking the left lane of road. I jumped off Nigel and tried to wheel past the traffic and through the crowds.
As I got to the epicentre of the crowd I witnessed the most horrific injury I have ever seen not on TV. I don't know the exact story but this man was trying to board a moving mini bus and didn't quite time it right and ended up getting his right leg run over by the lorry behind. When I found him he was face down in a pool of blood on the pavement with a good 30-40 people just standing around him doing absolutely nothing.
I asked what had happened and the guy on the floor (Kennedy) turned over and sat up. As he turned over I saw the whole extent of the injury. The main bone on the top of his foot leading down to his big toe was protruding out of his foot, he had an open gash from halfway down his lower leg to his ankle so deep that I could very easily see both bones and there was no skin at all between his ankle and his Achilles. I could see the whole workings of his ankle and half way up his leg.
"Oh my days!" Probably not the best thing to say to keep Kennedy calm but it was absolutely horrendous and there was absolutely nobody helping. I turned to the crowd, "has anybody called the ambulance and police?" "Where is the nearest hospital?" A lady called Lilyann told me it was a mile away but it was no good, the traffic was ridiculous and it was best not to move Kennedy yet.
I had to step up, I've got my first aid but only for sporting injuries and unless the football was surrounded by barbed wire I don't think this injury would be possible playing any sport. I had common sense and the willingness to help though which was 100% more than the rest of the crowd. I got one guy to be the, "move along, nothing to see here" guy but that seemed to only attract more rubber necker's and opportunist photographers. "Does anybody have any water?" Ofcourse they don't Harding, this is Kenya! I washed out some of the dust and mud from his leg but ran out of water so gave Lilyann my water bottles to fill up at the nearby petrol station.
Someone else was ringing the police and then I just tried to keep Kennedy calm. "Don't leave me Chris, don't leave me!" He kept shouting. I didn't want to put anything over the wounds as I didn't want anything to get stuck so just tried to keep everyone clear so they didn't kick dust into it. During all of this there were motorcycles impatiently beeping their way through the crowd and cars from all the way down the road beeping aswell.
It was mental! The policeman arrived after 20 minutes of me being there but I didn't know how long Kennedy had been lying in pain for previously. The first thing he did was take a statement from the lorry driver! That took nearly 10 minutes which was enough time for more photographers. I secretly wanted to take a picture as well but didn't think it was appropriate. I hope I will never see an injury like it again though.
After over half an hour in total another man arrived and they picked him up and put him in the back of a car. It's so easy to see how a mountain can escalate from a molehill with the lack of action and resources available in Kenya. Nobody had a car to take him to the hospital straight away, taxi's that were beeping their way past wouldn't take him, policemen didn't want to know about it and everybody else just stood and stared. Lilyann knew of the man so I gave her my email so she could tell me how he gets on but what amazed me was the lack of action from his friends that were there. I can forgive the girlfriend, she was just crying at the side of the road.
I walked down the road with Lilyann and she was saying how everybody was talking in Swahili and saying how shocked they were that the "mazumbu" was helping a black man. "We all bleed red" I said and I hate to think how long he would've had to lay there for before something was done. Lilyann then recommended a good hotel for me and walked me all the way there. It was a good hotel and it had working wifi and breakfast included.
I got cleaned up and walked to the shop to grab some lunch. As I walked around the aisles looking for inspiration one of the shelf stackers asked me if I was from Israel, I laughed, Beirdre could work well as a decent prop for an Israeli. I got to the till and the store manager at the door asked me "How is Arial Sharan?" "Who?" I said. "Your prime minister, he is in hospital isn't he?" "Whose prime minister?" I asked, I had an idea what he was getting at but I played along anyway. "Your prime minister, you from Israel right?" I burst into laughter, "I'm afraid not, I'm English" "you're English?!!" He exclaimed and then adding to this a lady by the till piped up with, "you look like Jesus" Yes, thank you, you're not the first to say that and will definitely not be the last. We all had a good laugh and a chat about what I was doing, why I had no wife and why I looked Jesus.
After my funny shopping trip I decided to save my purchases for dinner and had lunch in the Hotel's cafe where Beirdre attracted more attention along with my appetite. As I sat alone with my two main meals of chips and chapattis and fried chicken and rice, a lady stood next to me and helped herself to my "table" water. I sat silently and just looked at her as one normally does. "I can have your water right?" She asked, after downing her first cup. "Yeah no worries, knock yourself out" I said. "Can I have some food as well?" It wasn't like she was begging, I think she just assumed I wouldn't eat it all and would like to share it with her instead. "No sorry, you can have the water but the food is mine" "wow, you eat a lot!" She said and then she sat down on the table next to me and order her own food! Thanks for that! Kenyans, they just don't care! It was funny though and when I finished I made sure i showed her my empty plates.
I returned back to my room for the night. A great day riding followed by a horrific accident that I was glad to help a little with and then ending with a good bit of laughter with the locals. Just another day in Africa I guess!
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