Tours Down The Memory Lane

(Image content in this blog is of low quality as back then we did not own quality cameras or smart phones with good cameras for that matter. Otherwise, enjoy the read )

Nothing feeds my soul like travelling. The slight idea of seeing a new place makes my blood boil. From a tender age I always bugged my parents about school trips. Looking back this was really the root cause to me loving tours.

Our school teachers would organize a trip and we would pay a reasonable amount to cater for fuel and meals. Although I would have loved to roam around every day, the trips would only be planned once a year due to budget constraint. Each year it would be to a different destination. But what I can never get over is the feelings and thoughts that would swarm me a month before the trip. All the daydreaming and imagination. You can’t imagine how wild my mind would run. This got worse a day before the trip. Most of the morning classes our minds would be totally off. All we could talk about was what we anticipated for the trip.

We would be released early at about 1 pm just after having lunch. First a parade would be held so the teachers could give us a brief on such things as the time we would arrive in school and board the bus. A list of the students who had fully paid for the trip and earned a seat at the bus would be read out. I had two more siblings in the same school and mostly we would make it to the list. Also a few teachers and parents were selected to accompany the students for the trip. My mother being a well known, respected figure among the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and mostly a travel enthusiast would be selected to come along for most of the trips. I guess I know where the spirit of adventure was passed down from. The whole of that afternoon would be spent on washing our favorite uniforms, polishing our shoes and ironing. If you were lucky enough, you would have a bag pack full of different snacks.

We would go to bed early to get enough rest since we would wake up at 4 am in the morning to ensure early departure from school grounds. Being very young, waking up at 6.30 am was such a strain. But on tour days, rest assured waking up at 4 am was no bother. The day would start off with a quick hot shower and dressing up while our breakfast was being prepared. We would grab just but a little bite because we couldn’t wait to reach school and meet our friends.

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At school, we would all assemble in one classroom as we await everyone’s arrival. Teachers and parents would ensure that there was order in the room to avoid unnecessary chaos due to our untamed excitement. By 5am everyone would have arrived and the travelling list would be called just to make sure we were all present. After that we would proceed in an orderly manner to the bus to take our seats. The trick was to seat next to a friend who has different snacks from yours so you could share. I mean as a child, part of snacks that you could afford to bring along carried a heavy weight in a conversation.

Praying before and after our trips was a tradition. Mostly the accompanying parents and teachers would be the ones to lead in prayers. After that we would all be seated and the trip would begin. I am a sucker for window seats since my curious eyes would be wondering at every passing site. I can’t remember a single trip that I ever missed a chance of taking a window seat. As we made our way out of town and took different routes we have never seen before, the excitement continued to intensify in the bus. Everyone would be shouting at something and making jokes and there would be hearty laughters.

Parents and teachers had the hardest job of keeping us in our seats. I guess that is the reason why they all used to take the front seats and have grown up conversations together with the driver. At times we would be kneeling at the back seat so we can stare at the cars behind, coming towards us. It would turn into a racing challenge as we would witness some cars try to overtake us. Mostly the light cars would pass by but the heavy commercial vehicles would trail behind. This was one of the most thrilling parts of the trip. When we were worn out and all the scenes seemed just the same and the trip too long we would just sleep and there would be a sudden silence in the bus. Making fun of the ones who were awkwardly sleeping in the bus made the journey more fun and memorable.

During the tours we would have various stop overs. Most of the times it was so we could be able to hit the toilet quickly and stretch our legs. What enchanted me the most was reaching our destination. Each time it was everything and more than I could have imagined. The fact that my siblings and mother would also be on the same trip made it more fun for me, because together as a family we shared this moments. Our trips had been organized in a manner that various places we were visiting are in close proximity. This would enable us to visit at least two or three locations in a day and still we would be able to make it back home on the same day. This really exposed us to thee unimaginable landscapes, animals and nature at large.

Most of these tours had lessons in it. Apart from it being a break in the normal school routine, it also had an educational value to it. Most of the places we would visit were the places that we learned about in class. We would visit places like, Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo, Lake Kisumu. Most of these places have very different animals, different landscapes and different weather and climatic change. There were various parks we would visit in each destination and observe it’s artifacts. There would be different types of animals in the parks and viewing them would be easy and fascinating.

The most memorable place I visited as a child was Maasai Mara. This was a three day trip. Being in a Catholic school, we were able to get rooms to sleep in at Maasai Mara convent. When we arrived, we were warned not to go outside at night since wild animals tend to roam around. I actually heard elephants in the dead of night. I had my first encounter with a gecko in the room I was sleeping in and I can’t believe how much I had jumped. I had never seen one before but that was just the beginning of what I was yet to view. I met two monkeys that had been domesticated and had names which they amazingly responded to which was quite impressive. The following day we made our way to the national park and this was the mind blowing experience of all. This was the first time I saw wild animals in its natural habitat unlike the park animals I am accustomed to. I got to experience the wonders of the world as we had just made it on time to catch the wild beast migration. Experiencing every golden opportunity in the heart of Kenya’s finest was more than I could have ever asked for in my childhood. Seeing and experiencing various destinations first hand had a way of sticking in your mind that you would be able to answer any questions about them with ease.

Other trips would be to a near destination such as the industrial part of town. We would visit places such as ken-knit where they specialized with knitting various school uniforms and we would witness the processing of raw cotton into actual clothes. Coca-Cola companies where we would witness packaging of our favorite sodas and hope to drink them all. Tea factories never had the most appealing smell but the work going on in there is a total shocker. All the grinders and chains processing leaves to nothing but granules we can cook to make tea is a total work of art. Airports would be the most intriguing part. Seeing a plane fly into the air was like watching an actual miracle unfold before your eyes. To this age it still amazes me how they just up and fly in the air. Truly a showstopper.

Show grounds and all the exhibitions taking place was another part of the intriguing trips. We would be so excited about all types of fun we would have. Swinging in the biggest merry go round, having your face painted and eating all the candy you can afford surely made for thee most awesome list. We would be able to see various crops and animals. There would be all kinds of shows going on in different sets that would make for the perfect entertainment.

Tours made a huge positive impact in my life. Learning and realizing how big the world is and so different in very many ways enabled me to be creative and think outside the box both in school and in my life outside. Every new place we visited was always so fascinating. This very much contributed to my sense of adventure and personality. For such a beautiful childhood life and experiences that has shaped me into the person I am today, my uttermost gratitude and love goes to my parents Mr. & Mrs Charles Mutai and Real Cherop. Whom, despite not having all the money in the world ensured that they gave us the world. And for that I will always be grateful.