This Saturday afternoon Korir and his friends are playing their favorite sport, football. To make his first goal of the day Korir kicks the ball pretty hard and it goes flying way over the goal post.
“Oh no, I kicked the ball too far!” Korir says, putting his hands behind his head.
“Let’s go get it!” Nzioka says as he runs toward the direction of the ball.
“No we can’t, my mother said we should not go past the mango trees,” Korir says sadly.
“Why not?” Nzioka asks.
“There is an abandoned railway track with overgrown grass and old buildings that have snakes living there,” Korir says just as Abdul arrives carrying another ball.
“Sorry I am late but I had to add air to the ball,” Abdul says, throwing the ball from hand to hand.
“Yayyyy! We just lost our ball.” Korir celebrates by jumping up and down.
Abdul offers to help them search for the ball but Nzioka explains about the snake
warning from Korir’s mom.
“Oh, is that part of the Kenya-Uganda railway?” Abdul asks.
“Yes, it is. Turns out when it was built back in my grandfather’s young days it brought a lot of development and visitors to Makueni” Korir says.
“What type of visitors?” Abdul asks.
“One prominent one was the Sultan of Zanzibar Hamoud bin Mohammed who came to inspect the railway construction, and the town was named for him,” Korir says.
“Ahaa! So Sultan Hamoud town is named after him.” Abdul nods in realization.
“Yes.” Korir agrees.
“Then came the Sikhs who were at first railway workers but with time their community grew so much that a small area became their gathering spot. They also had a temple that still exists, it’s the Makindu Sikh Temple.” Bahati said, putting the ball down.
“I have heard of that Temple. They give free food and accommodation for two days at no cost.” Abdul said.
“Korir, your mother said there might be snakes and wild animals in the long grass and abandoned buildings. Does that mean a park is nearby?” Nzioki asked.
“I am not sure about how far the park is, but I know we have Chyulu Hills National park in Makueni.” Korir responded.
“The park may be on those hills over there if those hills are Chyulu hills,” Bahati says, pointing at a line of hills that are not far in the distance.
The boys look at where Bahati points and silently admire the beauty of the horizon.
“I have an idea guys,” Abdul steals the attention of the boys from the hills. “How about we ask our teacher to take us to Chyulu Hills National Park for the annual class tour? It will help us tour our own county.” He adds.
The boys nod as they ponder over it until a loud thud is heard, they all look in the direction of the sound and see that a mango fell from one of the mango trees.
“You know what, we may not have the railway like long ago but we have a lot of mangoes that bring us so much revenue to develop our county 017 with wonderful skyscrapers.” Nzioki says as he plays ‘tap-tap’ with the ball.
“Yes, and the Kalamba Fruit Processing Plant is a good industry for our mangoes,” Bahati adds.
“Nzioki, pass the ball to me,” Abdul asks.
Nzioki passes the ball to Abdul who controls it as Korir says something. “So we agree that on having a county trip, right?”
“Yeah sure!” The boys unanimously agree on the suggestion.
“Alright. The game is on. I am on Nzioki’s team. Abdul, you’re teaming up with Korir.” Bahati, who had been making make-shift goals with their sandals, flags the game on.“Abdul, the railway side is yours.” he adds