Advertisement
Published: July 15th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Photo 1
Mmm beans rice and potatoes for lunch whilst writing the blog last week. Jambo,
We spent most of last week waiting for various results and people to get back to us before we could move on with either project.
On our days off we spent a couple of nights on the shore of Lake Naivasha. We foolishly hired a tent that doubled as a wind tunnel and only had half an outer layer. On our first evening there we saw flocks of pelicans cruising around the lake as the sun went down, with the occasional hippo’s head bobbing in the water. As darkness came the birds were replaced with hippos coming ashore to munch on the grass like giant cow-pig hybrids. Thankfully we were separated by an electric fence, we just hoped it was strong as we learnt that their skin is 4 cm thick and bullet proof. We heard them chatting away to each other all night, snorting and growling into the early hours when we got up.
We were on our bikes by 6:15am as the sun was rising and the rose farmers were on their way to work and headed for Hells Gate National Park on our unforgiving solid saddles. Arriving at the park before 7 we were
Photo 2
Hippo emerging from the depths of the lake the first people in, only sharing it with the animals. It was amazing how close we could get without the sound of an engine. We had a break half way through the park having realized that we had got up exceptionally early and thought about what everyone else would be doing at home on a Wednesday morning and felt a bit smug. Having sailed through entranced by the wildlife a ginormous hill towered over us, having been assured that it was flat all the way home we were sure this little blip must have slipped our advisor’s memory so powered on. To our utter dismay we were faced with hill after hill all the way home. The afternoon was spent recovering with a book and a bowl of chips and chutney.
We had the most uncomfortable journey back to Narok the following day, on a cramped and slow bus that took 5 and a half hours to do what we had done in under 3 hours on the way to Naivasha.
On Friday we were back to work visiting the Water Authority and meeting with World Concern to ensure that we could finally order the wind pumps this
Photo 3
Flying free week.
The weekend was surreal. We were invited to an expat extravaganza; “Cricket in the Mara”. This was through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, which made it all the more confusing when it came to explaining who we were and why we were there. Having borrowed a tent from the rescue centre that only had mosquito nets and no outer cover we used our initiative and bought a length of thick black plastic to wrap over it giving ourselves a bit of a hobo image. The event took place on a couple of huge farms on the Mara River and just outside the national park. The cricket was played on an airstrip, the boundary was surrounded by zebras at the far end, a small fleet of private planes, a food and drinks tent and a beauty clinic in the hanger. It was a different world. The food was provided from a western restaurant in Nairobi and we loved it, and gorged ourselves at every opportunity.
Today we had an important meeting in Endonyo Narasha with World Concern. After receiving the water analysis back last week we learnt that the water has high
Photo 4
Hippo head levels of fluoride and iron in it. This is a problem found in virtually every borehole in the rift valley. We therefore had to advise the community that it is not fit for regular human consumption. There is currently a shallow hand pump that along with the spring provides enough water for people during and immediately following the rainy seasons. The borehole will only be used for human consumption when these sources run out during droughts. The water can be used for washing and hygiene all year round helping to prevent a variety of diseases that affect the community at the moment. The water will also be used by their livestock, which is a integral to their lifestyle. If the cows have enough water then their milk production increases helping to sustain the Maasai’s staple diet. They have requested that we also provide two troughs for their livestock to prevent diseases being spread in the water pan.
Everyone is very excited to be only the second Maasai community in the Narok district to be using a wind pump. The idea is catching and the head of the water authority is now hoping to use wind pumps on some of
Photo 5
Hells Gate the boreholes he is responsible for in the region.
We’re off to Nairobi tomorrow to order the wind pumps and keep on pushing everything forward. Both projects are now at the same stage and will soon be preparing for the arrival of the pumps. We’ll let you all know when they are ordered and when we are able to finally give a more definite project completion date.
Finally Happy 80th Birthday to my ( Peter’s) Grandad.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0454s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Phebe
non-member comment
Well done!
Well done guys - I am so proud of what you two have achieved so far, and I know there is plenty more to come. I love reading what you have been up to and you are in my thoughts. Look after yourselves! Phebe xxx