Travel Divil: The Only Wedding Guest

Kenya Samburu Woman

First of Many Extraordinary Experiences

I arrived in Kenya in 2007 to spend a month working in a children's home in Mombasa. In my first week I had an extraordinary experience - and one of many of my time in that amazing country.
I arrived in Nairobi alone and had to make a connecting flight to Mombasa. While collecting my luggage I happened to recognise an accent from my home country. Naturally so far from home I was surprised and curious. I asked the couple why they were visiting Mombasa and they replied that they were getting married there the following week. I congratulated them naturally and asked where they were staying. Their hotel was on a strip of fancy hotels some miles outside the city. We exchanged some details and I promised to drop over to see them on their wedding day if possible.

Working at the Children's Home

Monday morning saw me start work with the children at the wonderful 'Tumaini Children's Home' in Bamburi to the north of the city. The children have all been affected by HIV - either family members or are ill themselves. Many have been orphaned and in spite of the difficulties it is a very happy place. Sometimes visitors arrive to see the home and the wonderful work being done by the founder Joan Smith.On this particular Monday a group arrived and lo and behold my wedding couple were among them. I took this as a sign that I really must go to their wedding and made sure that I had all the details to hand. I was really looking forward to it.

The day arrived and I finished work. I set off in the evening and got a Matatu - a small public minibus as far as I could go towards the hotel. As darkness fell and the bus went into the dark African countryside, the only visible signs of life were the campfires around which groups of people huddled for light and heat. It struck me for the first time in my life what it must be like not to have access to electricity. Even in the most impoverished countries I had visited, there was always the occasional street light and TV set but this was very different.

Complete Darkness

The Matatu finally reached the stop where I was told to get off. I stepped out into complete darkness. The driver had pointed me towards a darkened building across the road so I walked towards it. A man appeared, and I found myself at a TukTuk stop - these are motorised 3 wheeled vehicles commonly used in Asia as taxis. The man told me he could take me to the hotel - I was quite relieved. Then I realised that I would have to share the tiny vehicle with 7 men. My heart skipped a beat but had to trust that this would ok so we headed off into the dark.

I guessed I had nothing to lose so I began to talk to the man beside me and it turned out he and the rest were a group of acrobats heading to the hotel to do a show. Ten minutes later we arrived at the luxury hotel where my new friends were staying. The relief was terrific and I vowed not to take public transport alone at night again.

Just the Bride, the Groom and Me!

Inside the hotel the Bridal table was beautifully decorated with ribbons and flowers - for two people! I ordered a bottle of champagne and the waiter found a third chair and I sat with the bride and groom thinking this day is turning into quite a bizarre event! I promised my friends that I wouldn't stay long as it was their wedding day after all - but they would not hear of me leaving and insisted I share the evening with them! I must say we had a terrific evening and share many hilarious stories of our adventures. Later we went to watch the acrobats perform. Needless to say I got the hotel to order me a taxi back to Mombasa!