Shop Stop

Where to start, then. I'm feeling a bit better. My stomach still isn't functioning properly, but at least I've stopped shivering uncontrollably. I'm currently 'guarding' the truck while everyone else goes off shopping. The policy is that two people stay on the truck at all times. Oh, the safe is referred to as the 'fridge' on this truck (as opposed to 'Jimmy' on the last truck I was on). I'm finding this a tad confusing at the moment.

Travel bores, then. Now, I must emphasise that this is a great group of people. Everyone is of roughly the same mind, and the atmosphere is good. Being ill, though, has meant I've largely been sitting in silence, trying to get as much sleep as possible. While this isn't really what I'd want for the first day or so of a tour, I'm finding that, by sitting back and observing, I'm learning a lot about everyone very quickly. As I say, it's a good group, but being bitchy is always more entertaining, right?

Just about all of the people on the truck have done a lot of travelling, but there's an element of one-upmanship to the conversation. I don't think it's deliberate, but everyone has something to say:

'God, this road is nearly as bad as that one in Thailand.'
'Nah this is smooth as. When I was in Indonesia.'

or another favourite of mine...

'D'ya know, there are no cash machines in Cambodia.'
'Well, actually, there are three in Phenom Phen...'

'You can't get a beer on the moon for love nor money.'
'Yeah, well, on Mars, you can only buy food one day of the week...'

Personally, having just done the Cape-to-Vic-and-Kruger trip, I'm working very hard to avoid saying 'when I was in Namibia...' or 'the truck I was on in Botswana...'

There is one guy who's bugging me very slightly. English, and here with his girlfriend, god he just doesn't shut up. He has something to say about everything. Now, I realise you could probably level that one at me, but my issue is he's often saying things without really listening to what the others are saying. At one point, one of the girls made a clever point about something, then he made the same point in a much more obvious manner, to which she said, 'Well, that was what I meant...'

I have to say something about the small part of Kenya I've seen. I love it. I find it fascinating. Botswana and Namibia were both great in their own unique ways, but for me, the things I've seen in Kenya epitomise what I think of when I think of 'Africa'. The roads are lined with shacks, people going about their business. Old meeting new, where women carry plastic tanks of water on their heads and kids in school uniform stand by the side of the road in bare feet. It's so colourful, so vibrant. I can hear the others, outside, being heckled by the local salesmen – 'Hey mister, postcard, you lookie-lookie'. It's quite funny listening to them – they've worked out that one of our guys is Australian (he's a kiwi, but still), so they're all saying, 'Hey', 'G'day, mate', 'Hey cobber'. It's also slightly surreal to see one of them selling 'Obama '08' t-shirts. Apparently, Barack Obama's grandmother comes from Kenya, so he's very popular over here.