Into Kenya (Day 46)
By admin. Filed in Kenya |
As with most of our border crossing days, this was a shorter day than usual. After three weeks of persistently annoying Ethiopian children, we were all welcoming change, even though the last couple of days have been fairly unpopulated and pleasant.
The need for the short day became obvious when we got to the border. It was officially a holiday on the Ethiopian side, so the immigrations staff were very anxious to go home. There was a problem with the US passports as well: the optical scanners couldn’t read the latest edition of passports. This led to a long queue while we practically typed our own information in the computer system to get our exit stamps. The border itself is relatively porous—even more so than the Sudan/Ethiopia border. The road connecting the two sides of the town can be freely crossed back and forth. Looking around, you will have no question as to which side of town you are in. The pavement ends immediately on the Kenyan side. Traffic switches from the right side to the left. People smile and say “Hello†or “Jambo†without expecting handouts; calls of “YouYouYouYouYou†come to an abrupt halt.
Moyale is quite a bit more built-up than Yabello, where we spent our last rest day. It’s still not a big town by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s more than a village. This gave us a chance to get some rest-day things done. I got my first taste of [excruciatingly slow] Internet access in a couple of weeks. It wasn’t fast enough to enter a blog entry or view a web page with pictures, but fast enough to send a quick email and update my Facebook status. I also bought a new SIM card for my phone for a ridiculously-cheap 100 schillings. My laundry had a chance to become nearly dry since the rains began during our rest day. There was an outlet in the radio room at the camp, so I had a chance to recharge my stuff as well.