Mombasa Agricultural Show 2023

By Patrick Fadhili – Class 8 SBM School

I vividly remember this day very well, 9^th of September, 2023. We had been waiting for this day with zeal and zest. I woke up from my bed and had a glimpse through the window on what was outside. The blazing sun was flickering its rays and made the dew on the grass shine brightly like pieces of mirror exposed to direct sunlight. I quickly rushed to the bathroom in a dint of a second. I was as fresh as a daisy. I put on my ironed school uniform and indeed looked like spick and span. I went downstairs and had a light breakfast. My mother gave me some pocket money and left for school. By the time I arrived some learners and cooks were already at school.

When almost everybody had arrived, the teachers assembled us and asked us to line up for breakfast. Then Sara our school cook, with help of teachers served us with porridge, four slices of bread and an egg. This special breakfast is always available whenever we are going for any trip. After taking breakfast, the teachers asked us to visit the rest rooms as the KP Senior School bus would arrive in a few minutes. As we were doing all this, the cooks were packing our lunch. At around half past eight the school bus arrived. Our driver Mugwe had his van ready for the trip as we could not all fit in the school bus. We were called out by our names as we boarded the vehicles. All of us wanted to get into the school bus but I got myself into the school van.

The van was the first to depart as the bus followed from behind. It was a joyous moment for everyone. After arriving in Mtwapa the van stopped next to a chemist as we waited for the bus. No sooner had the bus arrived than the headteacher alighted and went into the chemist. We realised later on that he was buying anti-vomit tablets for those learners who feel nausea while travelling. After five minutes we proceeded with our journey to the show ground with the school bus leading. From Mtwapa we crossed the Mtwapa bridge to get to Mombasa County where the show was being held. After half an hour we were caught in a traffic jam of vehicles heading to the show ground. Our bus and the van snailed into an open parking lot for the school buses.

After alighting we made a queue at the entrance as the headteacher went for entry tickets. Within a short time, he had turned up for head counting as the deputy headteacher was collecting participation certificate. The moment we got in we made it to our first stand which was for agrochemicals. Various crops had been grown ranging from maize, kales, cabbages, tomatoes, spinach, spider weeds, black night shade and pepper. All had a robust growth and one would not have thought we were in Mombasa. The second stand to visit was for the cattle, both beef and dairy. The beef cattle were so big that one would have confused them with hippos. The dairy cattle udders were almost touching the ground. Next to the cattle stand was the goat, pig and sheep stands which were packed with huge animals. Most of us are used to seeing our local breeds which are very small as compared to the exotic breeds.

When we were done with the cattle stands adjacent to them was the ornamental birds stand where we saw peacocks, the polish and the silky chicken breeds. The two chicken breeds are very costly, a pair would go for as much as Ksh. 60,000. From there we headed to the creameries stand where Johnny and Munyao represented us in a dancing competition. They each won themselves a glass of yoghurt. After the dancing competition we visited the parliament stand and though there was no space inside we were able to follow the sessions from outside.

The Kenya Wildlife stand is one that no one like missing and we were not an exception. The big snakes in transparent cages made onlookers fear the stand. It was my first time to be close to such big reptiles. Adjacent to the Kenya Wildlife stand was the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway stand where we learned about the evolvement of the trains from the steam engines, the one-meter gauge railway and currently the standard gauge railway (SGR).

The next stand was the Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation (KBC) stand where Pwani FM was broadcasting live from the showground. It was nice interacting with broadcasters that we were only hearing from home in our radios. After Lawrence informed them that he had an interest in broadcasting, he was awarded a T-Shirt. At this time, it was almost 1.00 pm and our stomachs were rumbling with hunger. We got out to where we had packed our bus and van. The teachers and some girls served us with a sumptuous meal of pilau.

After lunch we headed to the arena. We sat at the highest points of the arena so that we could have a good view of what was happening inside. The activities in the arena were very entertaining ranging from marching of soldiers, folk songs, patriotic songs, comedies, poems, dramas and choirs. All these made our afternoon so relaxing. At around 4.00 pm we left the arena to board our bus and van back to school. A packet of milk was served to each one of us before we left. Our journey back to school was smooth with most of us sleeping due to exhaustion. This is a day I will never forget in my life.