I had left Kenya, the bridge had been burnt. There was a settling down time before I could go about building my life up again.

We spent three days in Copenhagen on our way though Europe. I wish I could have enjoyed it, but the emotional trauma that I was going through was like a lead weight, keeping my adventurous spirit hidden.

I got to Canada and spent my first month with my parents in Hillsborough with relatives. It was the most boring month of my life. There was no-one around to whom I could relate. My parents weren't any more excited about the place than I was, so even they couldn't help much. I just stewed for the time. Canada was living down to my expectations, people had no understanding of what I was going through.

Fredericton changed things. On my first trip up to try to find a place to stay for university, we stopped in to see a friend of my Mother's. We found that their church had a large building that was used during the winter as a university residence. I was eventually accepted. When I moved in there were six other guys around my own age, all of whom became immediate friends. I discovered that the university atmosphere was a lot more open than the small town of Hillsborough.

In that first year I made friends and learned what it meant to be "Canadian", but Africa was too big a part of my life to forget. It was easier to live in the past than to adapt myself to the present. I succeeded to some extent, but time was the only thing which could stabilize things.

After three years I decided that I had settled enough in Canada that I could return to Kenya without wanting to stay. I had enough money to get me there and back for a summer, but not enough to do much when I got there. Mom and Dad wanted me to come back, and were willing to keep me going when I was there, so I bought a plane ticket.

Emotions ran high when I thought of going back. When I thought of looking out over the Valley again, and seeing Suswa and Longonot, chills ran down my spine. I longed for the feel of the motorbike again, and the freedom it would give me. I though of Mount Kenya and planned on climbing it. I realized that most of the people I had known had left, but I wanted to see the country in a totally different way.

Full of hopes and ambitions, I left in May 1986 to spend three months in Kenya.