16-February-2017
It is raining It is raining It is raining!!! Yeah! I am in Ngurunit and it is such a lovely
evening after showers and rain storms all day long. It has been so so dry. On the way to Maralal from Nairobi last week
I came up through Nanyuki and on the bush road between Loisaba and Subuk
ranches. Everything was so barren, dry
and trampled looking. No pasture
anywhere. I saw a small herd of 4
elephants sheltering under a few tattered and broken trees. They looked so thin and harassed. I felt so bad for them. It only got worse as I headed North. Thin cows and desperate goats picking at
twigs and branches. To arrive in
Ngurunit, at least there is sagaram ripening.
These are the pods of one kind of Acacia tree. That meant the goats weren’t so bad off. But no cows are around. They are all up in grazing camps in the
mountains looking for any pasture that might be found. Mostly being fed leaves cut from trees or the
root I have mentioned before in other entries.
I arrived from Baragoi with my friends Sue and Colin (still waiting for
what went on in Baragoi??...patience…I will get to it) yesterday evening,
Wednesday. It was hot. So hot.
This morning we woke to clouds and to our great surprise, it started to
rain around 9:30 am. February is not a
normal time for rain. On the usual
schedule we wouldn’t expect it until mid-March at least. Thus the surprise. A wonderful surprise. It was heavy enough to make the dry run-off river
bed below my house start to flow. We
could see the water coming down so ran out to watch it come. The dogs had so much fun jumping at the
headwater and trying to stop it. Of
course, it flowed on relentlessly and Bruin resorted to running back and forth
across it splashing and having a great time.
Mouse, who is a lot shorter, got stuck on the other side from me and
after a bit of nervous thought, made some bounding jumps across and made it
through with a wet belly. Such a joyous
rain. It has continued raining on and
off all day in fits and starts. It will
probably stop by tonight and is not anywhere near enough, but just a bit has
made everything fresh and clean. And oh
the wonderful smells that come with it.
The smell of rain is the best fragrance I know.
Back to fill in my travel gaps. Between Nairobi and the elephants on the way
to Maralal I spent several nights in Nanyuki with various friends. The purpose was to put my car in for repair
in Nanyuki. The side result was some
really good social time with so many good and interesting people. Evenings with friends at their houses.
Hanging out with Mouse at a coffee shop all day. Meeting friends for milkshakes at Java
House. I had sundowners one night at a
place called OneStop across form the Nanyuki airport. I met some interesting American women who are
running a rescue school for teen mothers.
The young mothers live at the school with their kids and commit to
graduating and not getting pregnant again.
I’ll remember that for any future need from my community. Mount Kenya was hanging on the horizon clear
as a bell and so beautiful. After
climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in December 2015, I have said I have no desire to climb
Mt Kenya. Seeing it like that, I can
easily change my mind. It was drawing me
in and calling to me. I toasted it with
my glass of wine and said “wait and see”.
Someday, I might just get a closer look.
Back in July 2016, I did get quite close with my son Loiweti as we took
my brother Craig and nephew James up to the highest accommodation on the slopes
of Mt Kenya, Rutundu. That was at 10,000
feet and what an amazing sight the peak is from there. We walked up to Lake Alice at a bit over
11,000 feet and then down again to the cabin.
So beautiful. Seeing the mountain
again last week so clear and inviting, I may go for the top one day. Anyone who wants to is welcome to join me….
Finally back in Maralal on the 8th Feb, I
prepared for friends to come stay with me.
I had Sissa and her furry boys back again for the nights of 9th
and 10th. The dogs had quite the party before Sissa headed up the
hill to her farm. Then Sue and Colin
came in their Land Rover on Saturday the 11th and my epic journey
continued. This almost brings me to
Baragoi and why I was stuck there.
Mainly the story is all about cars and the trials and challenges that they
bring when travelling on the bad roads of Northern Kenya. It is an amazing and rather startling sight
when one is driving along and sees one of your car wheels suddenly passing you
by. Then the bang as the car hits down
hard and comes to a dead stop. That has
happened to both me and my husband in the past.
It happened to Sue and Colin as they traveled up to Maralal. That malfunction led to other malfunctions. While they did arrive at my house safely
Saturday afternoon, a bit later than planned, Colin had to spend Sunday fixing
a U-joint that had gotten messed up too.
Monday morning the 13th Feb arrived and we took off for
Baragoi on our way to Loiyangilani by Lake Turkana. Planned to camp somewhere half way and arrive
at the lake on Tuesday. I have always
said that the only firm plan that I make is that the plan will change. And change it did. We passed through Baragoi okay. Stopped just outside for a nice picnic lunch under
an Acacia tree then carried on North. I
was traveling in my car behind Sue and Colin’s Land Rover. The road before and after Baragoi was
horrible corrugation. Like driving on a
huge washboard. Bumping like mad and
shaking the car to bits. I heard
something bang on my car and suddenly it sounded like a tractor. Oops, I thought. A bit of exhaust has given way. Oh well, carry on. Car is still moving. Then I noticed a trail of something wet on
the road where the Land Rover had gone ahead.
Not a good sign. So I gunned it
and finally was able to catch up and get Colin to stop, hoping it just a water
can fallen over in the back. Nope. The fuel tank was leaking like a sieve. We were 15 km past Baragoi and still 35 km
from the next town that had no reliable mechanic. Return to Baragoi it was. So that is why I was stuck in Baragoi on the
13th Feb. 14th Feb
also. It was a big job so we stayed two
nights there camping in a family friend’s plot.
Letoli and family were so welcoming.
I knew the Baragoi mechanics from many a time being stranded there with
various car issues. They are brilliant
bush mechanics able to do miracles with very little resources and few tools. They also fixed my exhaust which had lost a
couple of bolts on the silencer.
Wednesday morning, with both cars patched up and moving, we decided to
bypass the corrugated road and skip Loiyangilani. We took another road I know through Lesirikan
and go via the Keleswa pass on the edge of the Ndotos. It was an old forestry road that had been
recently fixed and it was so beautiful.
With that road, it connected us to the main Ngurunit road after all the
bad bits and we reached Ngurunit early afternoon yesterday. It is so peaceful here. The rain so refreshing. I have another night to rest before another
friend is flying into Korr tomorrow, Friday.
Then my epic journey will continue….until then.
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