Page 64 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 34

Tourism
Tourism
suspicious. I guess they were illegally
abetting the transport of hijab lady to
Somalia. There was a drama of breaking a
box in my seat, the panic of the hijab lady in
handcuffs, and the negotiating conductor. I
opened my eyes when someone tapped my
back. The bus was moving at speed and the
passengers very quiet. The cool breeze sound
was heard from our windows as Yusufu
focused on steering. “Why look at Afande
(police) face to face?” “Stop your stupidity!”.
The conductor blustered me in Swahili
diction. I knew that those men were anti-
terrorist police officers manning the Garissa
route to Mandera. They were uncomfortable
with my look because they were involved in
mischievous business.
They thought I was a CID police officer
or an anti-corruption man. The conductor
fumed at me so fervently while pushing my
head to head with the hijab lady, but I kept
quiet. We traveled through the hideout of the
Al-Shabaab militia in the thick and dense
Boni Forest. The troops of the Kenya Army
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were constantly moving
in speed back and forth in
their speed vans. We saw
people in civilian clothes
with AK-47 guns lying
dead before army armored
vehicles. In another
instance, we heard the
sound of army helicopters
roaring overhead with
their guns pointed at the
forest. We passed through
the semi-desert of Garsen,
where we saw the end
of the earth and sandy ground. This is a
place where The Hijab lady disappeared in
a speeding translucent pro-box car in the
Somali direction. After a long trip, we passed
through the bushy lands to Lamu mainland.
Mokowe is a small cool town located on
the mainland of Lamu County. Its most
prominent features include a mosque,
vibandas (small shops) that house bus offices,
and old harbor buildings. A few steps away is
Lamu Sea with a parking yard for the cargo
and passengers’ boats known as mashua, race
boats, and fiber boats. The town is populated
with young men running around. Many of
them wore aging Islamic caps, shorts that
reached knee length, and WORLD CUP
T-shirts written in ARGENTINA, FRANCE,
BRAZIL, and English football leagues.
They are engaging in heated arguments in
the Swahili language about ownership of
the passengers. Some are seen grabbing
passengers’ luggage to their favorite boats,
while others are hawking their eyes for the