Hot Local Market

                                              A Smothering Market

      In Nairobi, Kenya everyone told us it was a must to visit the local market. After a couple of days we decided to check it out, as it was only a short walk from our hotel. A six-foot high wooden fence surrounded the perimeter of the huge market which covered an entire large city block.

    Inside, hundreds of small booths stood side by side on both sides of narrow aisles extending from  one end of the complex the other. The lack of air circulation made it very hot inside and the odors were absolutely awful—really assaulting! It had been years since I had confronted such strong BO (body odor for the young unfamiliar with his old fashioned term popular before the advent of deodorants)

     Prices were high, but haggling over price was part of the game; a game I’ve never enjoyed, although I know a lot of people embrace the custom in many places/cultures.

     For a short while I just looked around at the merchandise in the booths, much of it the same from booth to booth.  My son was nervous and kept moving as he carried a lot of expensive camera equipment in his backpack. In spite of that, some slasher managed to cut his pack but didn’t get any of his gear.

     It didn’t take me long to become hot, sweaty and claustrophobic.  It seemed all the locals were smoking which added to the air quality and with everyone with a lighted cigarette in his hand all I could think about was the firetrap we were in.

     We both had seen enough of the must see market and had no desire to return. Cutting the visit short, we walked back to the hotel where we discovered a nice long clean cut in the backpack. Whatever instrument was used it was sharp!  With some repair to my sons backpack I was happy we could move on to our safari with all his equipment intact.

Riding a Camel

                                      Not the same as riding a horse

     When we were in Alice Springs in the Australian Outback, to break up the long ride, we stopped at a camel farm where I learned Australia is the largest producer of camels in the world, and they are exported all over the globe.

    My travel  buddy and I are always ready to try anything new, so we decided to take a camel ride. Even if either of was an equestrian, this would be a different experience. The animal handler gave us advice on what to expect when the camel got up or down.

    For easy mounting the camel was lying down. We each took a seat on a double saddle. A camel stands on his hind legs first giving one a slight thrust forward, but nothing to get excited or shout about.

    One does not bounce in the saddle like on a horse. The ride was a rather bumpy one and we agreed that an all-day ride on a camel would seem very long.

    Back in the corral the camel went down on command, The fore-legs go down first creating a sizable jolt that produced a spontaneous, simultaneous whoop from both of us. However, we did manage to survive that forward thrust and stayed in the saddle. The hind legs going down was tame in comparison.

    As  I wandered into the museum I remarked  that it  had been a different kind of ride but a fun experience.

    A couple years later I rode a camel at a local ranch, but that time boarded the camel from a platform which was easier and the camel was a single hump one. That ride reconfirmed that I would not want to ride a camel all day long. They make wonderful pack animals and I’m willing to leave it at that!