The time is flying by. Kody’s been here almost 3 months already, and that means its time to take a trip out of Uganda to get his visa renewed. Our friend Mikkel has the same issue, so the three of us decided to take a roadtrip over the border to Kenya.

My only other experience crossing a border by land was into Canada, a world away from Uganda. As we approached the Ugandan border, the touts came out to “assist” us with clearing our vehicle through customs. These smooth talkers try to confuse you into thinking that you need to pay something or get special help in order to move across, which of course is not true. We told them we’d manage fine on our own, but to no avail. As we drove towards the Kenyan border entrance, one even followed us by bicycle to try for a tip one more time!

Waiting at the border crossing in Malaba.

So, so many forms! Have your passport stamped for exit, fill out customs forms for the vehicle at the customs office, take them to the police station for authorization to leave, and then repeat again on the other side. In between, dodge the hustlers trying to sell you currency for the other side, and “help” you with your vehicle. What a relief to be through!

Just on the other side of the border, I was surprised at how different Kenya looked from Uganda. It looked far more developed – much better roads, better looking houses (at least at the roadside), and you could even use credit or ATM cards at the gas station!

Our first destination was the Kakamega Forest. This forest used to stretch across Africa, but only a small part of the primary (old) forest is left. We hiked through, checking out the birds, monkeys, and ancient trees.

At the riverside with our guide

Mikkel and Kody.

We moved on to Kisumu, with the plan to cross back into Uganda further south at Busia. The landscape was far more rocky than I’d see of Uganda I’ve traveled through.

Omo washing powder ads painted on the hillside rocks.

Barack Obama’s father is from this region of the country, and everyone wanted to know if we supported him. In the Hillary/Barack debate, our guide in Kakamega Forest told us he was disappointed that it wouldn’t be Hillary. After all, a black president isn’t that exciting to an African (they’ve got plenty), but a female president is truly rare…

In front of the B. Obama hotel in Kisumu.

My Aunt Lewana’s nickname in the family is Biddy, which apparently is a brand of margarine sold in Kenya.

Street ad for Biddy Margarine in Kisumu Town.

Not knowing much about Kisumu, as we walked through the downtown area we wondered how long it had looked like this. A burned out huge grocery store, stores full of rubbish with broken windows, and a lot of non-functioning store fronts. Apparently I haven’t been following the news as well as I thought. Kisumu was one of the hotspots during the post-election crisis, and this destruction was the end result.