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| Maendeleo Riders | Photo courtesy of eliaskang.blogspot.com |
Memories.
Memories are the quicksilver moments of my childhood even though I cannot
remember entirely. Memories are like a shuffled deck of cards, each one coming
up at random. So, Today allow me take you to a blast from the past I reckoned
just a while ago.
As
much as my mind can remember, It was over a decade ago, I had my first ride on
Maendeleo Bus Riders. It was not only the reliable bus service but also “cheap “.
Maendeleo Riders transit between Kabartonjo in Baringo North through
Kabarnet and Iten towns to Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County as destination. It was
the only as to and fro journey each day.
This stretch of journey runs in an all manner of meandering
road for coma-inducing miles through an endless expanse thicket of Tugen
Hills, the bone-dry Kerio Valley and the lush green Uasin Gishu area, from
Kipsaraman - Kabartonjo - Ossen - Seretunin - Seguton - Kabarnet -
Kiboino - Ainomoi - Chebloch Gorge - Cheptebo - Chepsigot -
Biretwo - Tambach - Kessup - Iten and finally Eldoret then a
return journey.
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| A section of Kerio Valley Road |
When the August
holiday approached (over a decade ago), I had a reason to get excited. I was
rightful to pay a visit my dad in Kabarnet town where he worked. On the very
day, I would leave home with my cousin brother before noon to walk about 3
miles down Elgeiyo Escarpment on a hot afternoon and at exactly 2: 00 pm; Maendeleo
Bus Riders would be on Tambach Shopping centre stage picking passengers.
The journey
was fun, at a point because of our inertia we couldn’t resist having thrown left
– right -forward –backwards- centre as the driver cruised negotiates the sharp corners
and meandering and steep Kerio valley road. As children, we were not allowed to
occupy any passengers seat despite having paid your enough fare, other children
who had their parents or guardians around would be held close, but for lone
rangers like us, we had to tower on the “corridor” clutched to the exposed
metallic part of seats.
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| A Corner along Kerio valley road |
When it
was time to come back home, by 7:00 am on that day, I would be standby on stage
ready to board Maendeleo Bus riders which arrived normally by 7:15am. The return
safari for me was an awe-inspiring one. This was the opportunity to have good
time of a thousand views of Kerio Valley landscape. I would wonder who owns all this fascinating
gravelly land. I remember, when we approached
Kerio River, I would panic, then closed my eyes until the bus crossed the
bridge. I had had fairy tales about Chebloch Gorge, talk of deadly crocodiles present,
very deep water, people that had drowned in the river and never came back, I
was damn scared. Kerio River bisects the Kerio Valley, a river about 10
yards wide flows northwards in to Lake Turkana in the heart of Kerio
Valley.
Now let me ask who has any info,
where did Maendeleo Riders bus service go?
