People involve me in their group adventures, and I always decline, all the time. Perhaps by the end of this piece of story, you will understand why..
When I started writing for hivisasa back in 2019 pesa kidogo ikaanza kuingia, I knew I wanted to try this traveling thing, but I was clueless about HOW. It is while in such a confusion that a facebook friend did a poster on her fb stories, about an adventure in Kijabe, Rift valley. Mimi huyo nikaslide dm with enquiries concerning the adventure. She fed me with requirements i.e the cost, kind of clothes to wear, what to carry, meet up point etc. And it was a deal. We would later exchange contacts for follow up. (Sips water)
THE D DAY; A very cold Sunday morning I am headed to town, we are meeting at Jevanjee gardens @8am. Mistake 1. 
. For anyone who knows me on personal basis, I rarely participate in fun related events or travel on weekends, especially Sunday, unless it concerns the church. Most group adventures happen on Sundays. Because I craved for adventure, I decided why not sacrifice this one? Okay …
Nimefika Jevanjee around 15 mins to 8am. The girl we met on Facebook texts to inform me that she is wearing t-shirt color blabla and seated on a bench (I will not mention names so, let us call her “L”). A quick eye search around the garden, I immediately spot her, seated with another girl. Beside them is a group of other young people who are also part of today’s adventure. She hugs me, introduces me to her friend, then to the rest of the group. Mistake 2.. As I greet each one of them, I start absorbing the energy and anxiety starts to build up because these are new people, and I’m introverted!
After the greetings, the three of us; L, her friend (let us call her “M”) and I, isolate back to the bench then start catching up. As we talk and get familiar, a dude comes and joins us. It would occur later, that the dude is L’s boyfriend, no wonder they are too touchy, but now L seems to love my vibe, since I am (as she would describe me later), ‘cool and mysterious’. M is quiet, so I decide to start a conversation with her, because L’s attention has been stolen by the boyfriend. Weuh!
Gari ilifika past 8:15am, M and I sat together somewhere in the middle and we left for Kijabe. Sasa hapa kuna shinda. M and I are incompatible, she is quiet, naive, clueless and her opinion on the things I tried bringing up in the conversation is shallow 
. Mistake 3.. I don’t do petty talking. It is either we are engaged in a meaningful conversation about important things, or we are not talking at all. So, you see, I stop talking to M and get glued to my phone. “Sam umeboeka? Ama nikuje nikae na wewe?” L comes over and says, after realizing that I’m not talking with her friend..
I insist that niko poa, (I’m more at peace when silent, than when I’m talking). But L ni nani, 
They exchange. M agrees to go and sit with L’s boyfriend, and L comes to sit with me.”I thought that was your boyfriend” I ask. “Yes he is, but this is not a couple’s retreat. We are here for fun”. Hizi relationships za Nairobi zinakaaga sijui aje . L is lively, very detailed yet sarcastic. She is the kind of people who can get along with anyone. We talked all the way to Kijabe. After tumeshuka gari ready for the hike, L’s boyfriend comes and takes her away, that gives me space to talk with other people as we assemble for further directions.
Tumefika Kijabe around noon, before we get into serious hiking, lunch is served (not real food though, ni soda na mikate 
). L amepotea na boy wake kukula (ni kama hawapendi soda na mikate hao). I’ve got all the time to make some other friends. Being a fan of cameras, I get to know our camera person here, which camera he is using, what he does with the photos, how he learned photography etc. He turns out to be a very intelligent fellow (all photographers are sharp bytheway, very smart people).
We are done with lunch, L and her boyfriend are back with liquor 
(yes!) and we are all ready to walk through a dense forest, past rails up to a waterfall (I can’t remember the name kindly). As we ascent a small incline, a girl walks beside me, using me as her support. She is not used to getting tired 
. The ascending is over and now we get to walk through thickets and grass, as we get close to the forest. L, her boyfriend and M are walking separately, I don’t want to join them because they are taking sips of alcohol in turns (I don’t drink alcohol).
This girl I helped climb the inclination, I need to know her. Starting the conversation, she catches up pretty well, and I am immediately impressed. I ask whether this is her first hiking and all that. It turns out that she is from a well to do family. Hii Kenya kuna watu wako na pesa 
, nyinyi hamjui. Spitting fine English without mincing words, she explains how their family driver always takes her around everywhere, so she has never gotten a chance to do these kind of hiking. She (let us call her G) goes ahead to explain that her parents upcountry is Nairobi! Ah! Yaani mnaishi Nairobi, na ushago kwenu ni Nairobi .
G turns out to be a good person, she is expressive, talkative and curious. Tour guides (two of them) lead us through a dense forest, they said that no one should be left behind sana coz huku kuna fisi and other similar animals. G is timid, holds my hand tightly accompanied with “naogopa”. Before I say anything, L appears from behind and removes G’s hand from mine. “Are you enjoying the hike Sam?” L says, getting in between G and me. I immediately get G’s hand back, before telling L that this is the most enjoyable hike I’ve ever been L was not happy that I was holding hands with G, yet her boyfriend was right behind us. Alaa! So the moment I get G’s hand back, L seems discontented and retrieves back to the company of her boyfriend and M.
We walked for around 2hrs before getting to the waterfall. There, we did team building, photoshoot and the tour guides explained all about the forest and the waterfall. When it was time to get back, I had absorbed enough energy and noise, I wanted to be quiet and not disturbed. But G and L were on my neck . What surprised me is that L’s boyfriend seemed to have a questionable bond with M. Especially during photoshoot, the two were pulling very provoking poses, and L didn’t seem to bother. On our way back, L joined us (G and I). I was afraid they were not going to get along, but how wrong could I be, because G understood L, and the three of us talked all the way back to the bus.
Everyone gets back to their seats, L whispers “I missed you” before the bus roars back to life and manoeuvres it’s way to the main road…L and I don’t talk much because music was on full blast with genge tone songs (that time gengetone was an item). After a while L goes to her boyfriend, comes back with a bottle of beer. She tries to get me drink it, but I politely decline. Later on, there is smoke everywhere inside the bus, some people are smoking not just cigarettes .. I open the window to catch fresh air while L is busy emptying the beer in her stomach! By the time tunafika Nairobi she is drunk and misbehaving, M comes to replace her. I realize that she is drunk too, because she is not the quiet girl anymore. This time round, she is even touchy and laughing uncontrollably. Weuh!
Smoke in the car is becoming too much, so I look back to see who be those people without manners. And just on time, I see G blowing smoke into the air like a cowboy 
. I’m like, ‘no way, you too?’ by the time tumefika Nairobi I am supper pissed off with everyone and everything. I step out of the bus without talking to no one. That was the start, and the end of it; group adventures 
. Never again.
Since then, I enjoy doing adventure alone, it is more peaceful and thrilling. I have travelled to 25 counties in Kenya, and I’m looking forward to crossing the borders, because adventure is like medicine 
, it heals me. Catch some of my adventure escapes on my YouTube channel here
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