Norfolk Hotel: This is a grand hotel with a long history dating back to British colonial days. We found it to be a very pleasant place although we were there only for one night and morning to sleep and have breakfast. We were to return to this same point on the day we left to spend an afternoon.
The road to Sweetwaters: Early in the morning we loaded up the Land Rovers (awesome vehicles) and drove north for several hours. This drive, regardless of an intermittent light rain, was an attraction in its own right. Roads are paved but were not very good – the difference between dirt roads and paved roads is in the sharpness of there potholes. It was Saturday morning and the roadsides were full of people walking to and from bus stops. Buses are small Toyota vans which are everywhere since few Kenyans have cars. Most of these people work in Nairobi all week and go home into the countryside for the weekends. Checkpoints set up by the police and manned by well-armed officials are common and they serve to control licensing and overloading of buses. Oh, yeah, gas costs about $4.40 per gallon when you do the math from shillings per liter. Mid-morning we made a stop at a large “curio” shop and were welcomed by Francis who attached himself to us. He told us that this shop is actually a cooperative for several thousand Kenyan local craftsmen. It was very tightly packed with teak and ebony carvings and various other art-forms. Make an offer.
