Mt. Longonot : Conquered

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There's an inimitable natural high that overcomes you when you overcome a natural high. This is exactly the feeling I got on the rim of Mt. Longonot this past Wednesday. It was not the shortness of breath at this height that took my breath away. It was the magnificent, completely astounding sight that greets you when you reach the top after an hour or so of wading through crumbled tufa-filled ravines. From here, you can see the parasitic cone below looking like a kid trying to keep up with the mum, the stretch of Lake Naivasha glittering in the afternoon sun and the openness of the Rift Valley lay open reminiscent of a treasure map – with all the spots clearly visible for miles on end.

Nothing beats a supercharged hike up 2,776 metres topped up with a superdelicious homemade sandwich. It’s your perfect definition of “Climax”.

Up here, if you close your eyes standing at the edge of the knife-edged rim, feeling the swishing breeze lifting your thoughts, you’re united with the drums and fullness of ancient Africa’s life. Further thoughts drift you to the birth of this wonder; you feel the raw heat of red-hot lava souring upwards trying to find expression on the surface. You’re acquainted with images of seething 340 degrees of activity several thousand metres below the serene green surface. Quiet steam escapes from its side vents whispering songs of enchanting majesty and unexplored possibilities which make me wander in my own whispers of self-reflection and realization.

At this height, you rapidly descend into feelings of overpowering irresistibility to nature’s aphrodisiac and the humbling effect of your relative insignificance in the midst of this colossal chasm.

Then the thought that you overcame it makes you high and takes you higher.

Visual Poetic W'kend II

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I had a premonition it would be good. But it turned out to be extremely great! The 2nd WAPI event at the British Council had so much zing this time around and i basked in the energetic visual-poetic vibe. Ahem, the fotoz: -

This was one of my displays entitled "Blak Cinderella".... got alot of props too!

I did this piece for the event's theme "Dadahood" - for sisterhood. Extra props... i poured my heart and soul into the poetry.... i shall blog it soon.

Art was amazing in this joint, i must say i was inspired by quite alot of the work, headed home and attacked my dormant canvases.

"Floetry" was my broz entry this time around, celebrating Dadahood in graf style.

This jamaa impressed me, he came with a blank canvas and at the end of the event, it looked like this!

Kevo as usual did some outstandin' graf work - check out the spraycan.

NOTICE: ALL ARTWORKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RELEVANT OWNERS, PERMISSION SHOULD BE SORT AND GRANTED BEFORE USE.

Surfacescan

Bart, Wewe Ni Wetu!!

You may not remember (I highly doubt tho – you had 2much passion for Kenya to 4get) but I’ve been thinkin’ I miss those dayz we had chapoz at the 2nd floor wen you used to bring proper mandazis from that lady on your way from home. And the XXL red Ice-hockey tee you wore to “inspire” you. Always had an Ethiopian scarf round your neck and at times adorned the reggae-colours cap, thot u'd end up an ethiopian wifey. People must have thot you work at the radio station next door! Remember Fifi, the little Red Devil Suzuki. Damn, the time we went up the State House hill, I feared it won’t climb and true it started stallin' until u stepped on the gas and she climbed that hill groaning and choking - i still laugh thinkn of the drama wen we got stopped by the Five O. I have never believed you went on an East Africa tour with her after that..... tuff love! Whatever happened to our plan to paint her back with those angelic figures?

I went over my thoughts to the dayz you hang out in Kibera in the ghetto joints with Buddy, Tom and Co; you had truly bekam a local Muzungu! Then the times at the Yaya garage, them good dayz those were. Sometimes in the office am reminded of you by the weirdest things – the Laval flag draped all over Shitote’s wall, the strong coffee from the kitchen etc!

Hope Vancouver is treatin’ you well, Africa’s swell tryin’ to make this ends meet!

Forced to Swallow Our Pride

Tutavuna nini kujivunia?

Don’t be fooled by the title, it’s a pun. The Office of the Government Spokesman in its seemingly unending idiotic stunts of unsurpassed magnitudes decided to go on a campaign blitz to remind us just how proud we should be, being Kenyans. The heart and soul of this here campaign is so serious, it’s laughable. They are selling the phrase “Najivunia kuwa Mkenya” and its equivalent in English “Am proud to be Kenyan”. They have donning adverts, stickers, am sure they are busy with the billboards, tshirts, caps, hell even socks for this freezing season!

I find it ironic that they should be enticing us to blow our own trumpets at a time when we are suffocating under the shaming fumes of nearly six commissions on corruption, plundering of public resources, mismanagement, did I say corruption and God knows what else (read Kiruki). If that’s not enuff, where on earth do you know mere commissioners, under oath of uncovering these vices, earn a cool average of Kshs. 40 million per person within a space of one or two years!!!? If anything this is the one time when I have no shame saying I gladly lie about where am from whenever am out of Kenya. Pikcha saying “Am Kenyan” and yes, won’t you have opened a can of worms when the barrage of negative comments start streaming in like toxic waste from Inda into Nairobi River.

Aki wacheni mchezo – hio pride itanishibisha? Will it put ugali on my table? Am Kenyan. So what? Don’t the rest of the 33 million Kenyans, half of whom are scavenging below the poverty line know they are? Are they proud to be? Do they ever hope to be when the situation is getting’ more cloudy by the day? If the govt wants to gauge how proud pips are to be Kenyans, they should do a survey around bordertowns (Busia, Namanga, Msambweni etc) and count juz how many people prefer the other side of the borderline. I read an article in Nation sometime back on how Msambweni residents believe J. Kikwete is their president. Oh, Msambweni is right inside Kenya. And why shouldn’t they? He has benefited them more in one year of being there than they have from the 40+ years of Kenyan independence! The poor souls haven’t even heard of pin-drop-silent-word-economist Kifaki!

Kama kujivunia tu kuwa Wakenya, sote twaweza. Lakini kujivunia kutanifaidisha vipi katika maisha yangu ya sasa, kibri hii inanisaidiaje? Wouldn’t the Office of the Government Spokesman have come up with more creative and original ways of spending the millions if they were genuine in the first place? You cannot shove ideas of passion and patriotism down one’s throat when they have had nothing to eat for days on end, ala!! You first tend to their basic needs before they can become proud members of the society they are in – enda usome Maslow kabla uje na half-baked medications for our chronic ailments!!! There are many, many much more important, more prioritity, more sane, more impactful projects to pursue other than printing some stickers for our matatus and wishing everyone would by the dawn of the next day be utterly joyous, loyal and proud citizens.

I think the initiative should rather have come from some other quarter in order to get some buy-in from the likes of myself. If it was independently done, people would have bought it hook, line and sinker. Coz hey, what moral authority does this government have to tell us to be proud whilst in their own gluttonous haste are busy ripping the IV right from our ER beds? Stackin’ like they ain’t Kenyans themselves. Don’t they feel the pain of shredding their own motherland to bits? Would any of our current govt officials stand up (after this) in front of an international forum and declare “Am proud to be Kenyan” ? Nani?

Which brings me to the point, maybe they should change that campaign slogan from “Najivunia kuwa Mkenya” to “Najivumilia kuwa Mkenya” because really, it’s a struggle.