Flamingos, Dust and Occasional Leopards by Sarah Knipping

Title: Flamingos, Dust and Occasional Leopards

Author: Sarah Knipping

Genre: Women’s Fiction

After a painful breakup Iris finds herself standing outside her mother’s doorway, her feet six inches deep in the Kenyan dust. A bra-less hippy version of her mum embraces her and so begins Iris’s adventure in Kenya…

Can Iris fix her broken relationship with her mum?

Can she mend her wounded heart?

Will an adventure in Kenya prove to be just what Iris needs, or will it prove to be all too much?

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‘Our ride is here!’ Sylvia beamed, waving manically at the two men

driving towards them. ‘Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before?’

Iris shook her head at her mother. Her mother knew full well that she

had never touched a motorcycle, let alone ridden one.

‘Oh, it’s so fun, you’ll love it!’ Sylvia swung a leg over the back of

one of the bikes and wrapped her arms around driver’s waist. She 

waved her arms around, signalling that Iris should do the same.

Iris took a breath. ‘Oh, why the hell not?’ she muttered to herself.

She was here to experience new things, after all. She climbed onto the

back of the bike, letting the driver guide her feet onto two little

foot pegs below her.

‘What’s your name?’ she shouted.

‘David,’ he called back in a thick Kenyan accent.

‘Hi David, I’m Iris,’ she said, smiling politely even though he

couldn’t see her face.

‘Hold onto me or the back,’ he shouted, it came out muffled through

his helmet. She reached for his waist and then changed her mind as a

strong whiff came off his puffer jacket and assaulted her nostrils.

Instead, she wrapped her fingers around the metallic bar behind her.

Iris let out a small scream as David hit the throttle. The little bike

teetered and bumped along the road, dust flying all up the sides and

into her eyes. She was sure she was going to get bounced off this

thing. They got to the end of the road and the driver turned quickly

at a ninety degree angle onto the next road, which was astoundingly

even more bumpy than the last.

‘Oh Jesus,’ Iris cried, her knuckles white as she clung onto the bike

for dear life.

 As they made their way further and further down the streets towards

town, they began to teem more and more with life. Goats, sheep, and

cows ambled their way along the roads. Women walking with babies

strapped to their backs. Men carrying carts filled with goods.

Motorbikes. Tuktuks. Bicycles. Cars. Buses. Trucks. Iris couldn’t

believe the amount of traffic that was packed onto each road.

They finally merged onto a tarmacked road and Iris saw the houses

disappear behind her and the buildings of the town rise in front of

her. She let out a breath as the ride got smoother on the paved

surface.

Sarah Knipping is a Wellington based author with a passion for reading, travel, and coffee. Having wandered her way across 37 countries, Sarah is now New Zealand based and focused on her writing (when she’s not busy in her wonderful day job, teaching).

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