I’ve been warned about the extremely rough and tough

I’ve been warned about the extremely rough and tough Genuine, well-grounded fear of Chifta raids prompt the locals however to traverse the Dida Galgalu by way of weekly convoys of cattle trucks, plying the route between Moyale and the city of Isiolo, located in central Kenya, by the Equator. It’s about safety in numbers, but it’s more than that because a loose police or military escort is guaranteed as well.

I’ve been warned about the extremely rough and tough, no-frills ride; about there being no guarantee against Chifta attacking the convoy; about the near impossibility of securing a seat – the very word “seat” being a gross overstatement – on such a truck. But after a sleepless night spent in a burning-hot dungeon of a hotel room I found myself walking pass the small airfield where a Cessna plane was lying in wait for potential passengers and entering an open, dusty area in the heart of Moyale, where trucks were gearing up and slowly forming a convoy.

I calmed myself: the Chifta seldom attack, and when they do it’s usually after the rainy season, when the heavy-laden trucks get stuck in the hardened ruts and become sitting ducks. As this was before the rainy season, what were the chances? Still, when an attack occurs, it’s merciless. The bandits appear like a mirage out of the desert, armed with automatic guns, machetes and axes.