Across Africa

September 2006 - Posts

• Retreads

  One day I was walking down the street in Nanuyki and just as I passed Settler's Store I happened to look down and see what looked like a tire tread on the ground. This was not a whole tread like you might see on the side of the highway when a retreaded Read More... Posted Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:17 PM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments

• Wachira's Funeral

  Wachira was well known in town because he was a tout and a Rasta. A tout is a person who works at the bus 'stage' and makes sure that the matatus go out as packed with humanity as they can be. Since anyone who traveled from Nanyuki to Nairobi Read More... Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:32 AM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments

• Got a light or an arc?

  One day while I was walking down the street I happened to pass an outdoor welding 'shop'. As I watched, a welder without a helmet, put a cigarette in his mouth, leaned over to his work, shut his eyes, and lit his cigarette off an arc that he sparked Read More... Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:29 AM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments

• McDonald's in the Rift Valley

  During my first week of living in the Rift Valley I went hiking with my a member of my host family and some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers to the edge of the Abedare Plains. I was amazed when I reached the top and saw that the Rift Valley literally stopped Read More... Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:28 AM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments

• The Law of the Touts

  Here is the definition of tout from thefreedictionary.com: "To solicit customers, votes, or patronage, especially in a brazen way." One day my friend Wachira who was a tout of a Speed Taxi , handed me an agreement that he had come up with and Read More... Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:12 AM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments

• Suicide in Nanyuki

  Here is an article that appeared in "The Laikipia Focus" in July 1997: "Suicide - A British couple and their pet dog committed suicide early this year at their Nanuki home. The man, Peter, is said to have injected himself with a poisonous Read More... Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 4:02 AM by Ron Rioux | 0 Comments