What is it you find so funny, the man in the car asked, as he stuck his head out the open window by the driver’s seat.

What he wondered about was me and my three friends, busy taking pictures of a dilapidated shed, locked down, closed, with no activities anywhere near it.

The name, we said, and he nodded.

The name was God’s favour cafe, and the shed might have been three times three meters, the front of the building (if it can be called a building? What is the actual definition of a building, I wonder…) painted a lovely turquoise color, and above the sturdy (?) and padlocked door, handpainted: God’s favour cafe.

I’d seen the shed the day before when we arrived at the Ideal Palace Hotel in Mwingi, while visiting tree plantations, partner farmers and a microfinance institute supported by my savings in trees, in the rural areas of Kenya, NorthEast of Nairobi. I’d seen it, and a bunch of other absolutely hilarious and funny and often surprisingly witty and imaginative names, on everything from hardware stores (Paradise Hardware), to hotels about the size of God’s favour cafe, like Glorious Hotel, making me wonder where potential guests stay. Perhaps room only for one guest?

Tipsy Wines & Spirits. Investment City. New Age Electricals. Plan B Bar & Restaurant. Grace of God shop.

So many wonderful names, spotted off the side of the road, as I crisscross the countryside by bus. Too quick for me to manage to snap photos of them all, which somewhat takes away part of the full experience of the combination of these glorious names with the buildings themselves.

So while on foot in Mwingi, me snapping a picture of God’s favour cafe was a given.