Discovering the Link between Alaska and Lake Nakuru

One of the unique advantages I had as a cab driver was meeting diverse people from all corners of the globe. It was a forum which afforded me ‘one on one’ discussions with the most unbelievable characters. These ranged from international celebrities traveling incognito, to ordinary people with extra-ordinary stories. Like I have mentioned before, every morning was exciting because I couldn’t tell who I would be meeting.

One morning, I was dispatched by control to go and pick a client at a charitable organization known as Samaritan’s Purse. They used to have an office in the Kileleshwa estate. When I drove into the compound, I didn’t expect much to come out of this assignment because most jobs to the place involved taking someone on some short errands around town. I was however still happy because they had some kind and interesting people. The client that I picked up that morning was not even a staff member of the organization. She was a university student from Alaska on a learning tour. She was accompanied by a friend who was also a student from Uganda.

On that day, I drove the two girls around town in the usual style of the organization. They were however quite lively company and they asked a lot of questions about Kenya. I was pleased to share all I knew about our beautiful country. This also gave me the courage to ask about their respective countries. While the weather and landscape of Uganda does not vary much with Kenya, the culture and traditions do and I listened to the Ugandan with a lot of interest. The Alaskan was happy to learn so much about Africa that having been her first on the continent. The Ugandan and I also demanded that she tell us about Alaska and her descriptions made us realize how different the place was from anything we have ever known in Africa.

The girl’s father operated a transport business in Alaska. She explained to us that Alaska is one place where transport of the kind we are used to cannot be run quite so easily. This is because there is a poor road network. It is not that Alaska is a poor country (It is one of the states of America). It is because the vast majority of the land area is perpetually covered by ice – either above or below the ground. This ice is constantly cracking up and shifting and any road built upon it soon disintegrates. It is for this reason therefore that this girl’s dad operated a fleet of small commuter airplanes to help move Alaskans from one frozen town to another.

After the errands of the first day, the girls wanted to see something interesting outside Nairobi. They settled for Lake Nakuru National park, and they wanted me to take them – in Romeo One! I couldn’t believe what good luck my big mouth had got me. I was excited to be going out of town again but I wished it didn’t have to be in Romeo One. It was then that one of those fortunes (or misfortunes depending on whose point of view you are taking) happened. Someone was fired and I was in line for a promotion to become a class one driver. I was not due for it so soon but I had a good bargaining chip – I had just closed the Lake Nakuru trip deal and I needed a more presentable car.

The car in question was code-named Lima-Lima and it was a dream car for me under my circumstances then. It was a saloon this time and it was fully loaded. I couldn’t get enough of the electric windows, power steering, and air conditioning. I was as excited as a small boy getting his first toy car. I got the car on the day before we were due to depart for Nakuru and I couldn’t wait to show it off to my new clients.

On the appointed day, the car did not disappoint, and neither did the girls. We chatted the whole way and Nakuru appeared to be unbelievably close. We arrived at around 2 p.m. and checked into the Lake Nakuru Lodge. I had been concerned about what I would do about accommodation since this was a tourist class hotel and I knew couldn’t afford it with the small allowance I had been given. However, I needed not to have worried. There were rooms for drivers being offered for only three hundred shillings inclusive of meals served at the main dining room. I checked into my small room and I was quite happy that having been my first time ever to sleep in a hotel (and experience the comforts of an en-suite room, albeit a modest one!)

Late afternoon on the first day, we went for a game drive and it was remarkable to see such a large number of different animals crammed in a park the size of Lake Nakuru. We got to see rhinos, zebras, water bucks, buffaloes, Thompson’s gazelles, and of course, the famous flamingos and pelicans. We even saw lions – on a tree! The Alaskan pointed out that there is no single place in Alaska where you can find so many animals. The most common, she said, were reindeer (I had always thought that they were fairy tale creatures in Santa Claus stories). We had a really good time which culminated in a grand full course dinner (It was my first time to use fork and knife and I had to copy what I saw others doing) and by the time we were through, I was almost blacking out from sleep.

The following day we went for an early morning game drive. We then went back to the hotel, picked up our lunch packs, and headed back to Nairobi. It had been one of the best trips I had ever taken and one which involved many firsts for me. One similarity between Lake Nakuru and Alaska that I came to learn about was the fact that they both contain a lot of water. The main difference is that one has permanently frozen water with almost no life while the other has life giving water in liquid form. One is arctic while the other one is equatorial. One is owned by a rich country while the other belongs to a (slowly) developing country.

P.S. I am currently reading the book “Alaska” by James Michener and was surprised to learn that Alaska was initially controlled by Russia who sold it to America for 7.2 million dollars in 1865. I wonder if it was worth it!