Angel Trails in the Great Rift Valley

The adrenalin is now subsiding but it was not a fun trip home! As you may know by now, the Supreme Court upheld the election outcome in which Uhuru Kenyatta was announced president. In spite of the warnings from my embassy, we decided to leave the house and went for a drive to Nakuru to visit an a friend and her parents.

Nakuru, which is about 2 hours from Nairobi, is a beautiful ride and takes you up the escarpment and then down into the Great Rift Valley. The photo you see here was taken as we climbed the escarpment. That is Mt. Longonot. As we took the picture, a group of school kids went climbing that mountain. Two boys disobeyed the leader of the group, walked into the crater, disturbed some bees which promptly stung them and sent them careening down into the crater. A helicopter rescued them but there was much drama.

But not as much drama as what happened after the Supreme Court announced its verdict! Just after taking this picture the verdict was announced and we started to see cars flashing their lights with excitement and people coming to the road to sing and shout and jubilate (yes, I forced this into becoming a verb). It was all funny and cute until we rounded a corner and found a huge mob in the middle of the road. My heart nearly stopped.

Banners, branches, chanting and singing...and all this happening around the few cars that were on the road - one of them being ours. Lord have MERCY! We made it through after giving a huge smile and thumbs up in support of whatever they were supporting and off we went. But this scene was repeated over the next 45 minutes as we drove home. I cannot explain how spooky it was. I got the feeling that the crowds needed very little to set them off and to go from ululation to devastation in less than a minute. In a few of the towns there were police and military guys guiding traffic which made me feel much better.

And all of this was in areas where Uhuru's Kikuyu ethnic group was dominant and all of this was because the ruling was in Uhuru's favor. And had the ruling gone the other way?

I just got an sms from my embassy telling me that, "the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as President. Demonstrations and road closures have been reported in Kisumu and Nairobi. Monitor local media for latest information."

Ya, we shall monitor...and continue to pray for peace!