DOSE:

500 g

buccal

Catha edulis

(fresh)

BODY WEIGHT:

85 kg

While visiting the Rift Valley province of Kenya I decided that I would have to try the local varieties of Khat known locally as Miraa. After sourcing some from local stalls of a grade known as Kisa which is the most widely available and of similar strength and taste to material grown in my home country of Australia but not always very fresh I decided that I needed to try some of the higher quality product preferred by the indigenous miraa chewers- the Meru. After contacting a distribution cooperative it was arranged that they would provide me with one large bundle of Kangeta grade and one of another supposedly known as Allele. I am told that the trees they use are all over 50 years old which is important for quality. The bundles were delivered by public transport in the evening by a friend of the co-op fresh from the farm in the Nyambene hills and then stored in the refrigerator over night to prevent wilting. Each bundle was wrapped in a banana leaf and consisted of twenty or so smaller bundles tied with banana fibre. The smaller of the two bundles contained very long (+35cm) slender twigs with bright red colouring and large glossy red tips where as the larger bundle contained shorter twigs (20cm) with some branching, some green leaves and smaller red tips. I assume that the leafy bundle is unprocessed Kisa and that the long slender bundle is Kangeta and forgive the co-op for not sending me the Allele although I could be mistaken.

My dosing starts at around 8am. I am refreshed from a good nights sleep and feeling happy about being in a strange new country. I’m glad that I didn’t chew the Miraa the preceding night as I now have the whole day to try it out. I start with the tips from the shorter twigs they are slightly bitter and give my mouth the usual tannin type feeling dry but salivating at the same time. I feel some effects initially- increased alertness and energy. After I have chewed through one small bundle of the leafy stuff which takes about an hour, I start on the long red variety. This is much more to my liking and has a sweeter taste but also stronger- as if it perhaps contains more alkaloids and less tannins. The effects continue and I feel very talkative and sociable. I have a few hours until my girlfriend arrives home from work so I decide to send some emails to my family and friends back home. My writing is very verbose and I take great pleasure in it. I continue writing and chewing my way through the bundles of Kangeta. I become absorbed in the task and begin to feel increased confidence, euphoria and a slight tingling sensation through my body. I end up consuming 2 small bundles of the green twigs and 4 or 5 of the red ones and would compare the effects to a low dose of cocaine or ephedrine. I had intended to go for a walk along the neighbouring hillside on this day but I become so caught up in what I am doing that before I know it it’s noon and my girlfriend will be home soon. I am still quite talkative and chat happily with her and with some locals working in the area. I feel a bit wired in the afternoon but not in the flushed and nerve jangling way one would get from amphetamines. As such I would describe the come down as mild even at high doses.

The only difficulty I did have was that purchasing in bulk there was no way I could consume such a large amount before the product became useless. Also I found that the effects decreased with each day whether that be due to tolerance or degradation of the cathinones. I did find a few people in the area who took some off my hands to prevent waste but it is not hugely popular with the Kikuyu. We travelled south the following day and I passed some of the excess off to a Massai man who indicated that although it is not traditionally used by them they do enjoy it recreationally. He also let me know that the varieties I had were seldom seen in his part of the land.

Exp Year: 2011	ExpID: 95747
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 32
Published: Sep 9, 2019	Views: 3,005
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Catha edulis (32) : General (1), First Times (2), Alone (16)