Sunday, April 3, 2011

Visting a Village

I would like to welcome my newest follower CrystalMary.  So glad to have you on board CM!

When I last left you on my Kenyan safari we were in the town of Marigat. As we left Marigat we proceeded east for about 3 or 4 hours along dirt roads that had huge ruts in them. The earth was parched and in many places we drove through fields where there were no roads at all.  We were "bump bumping" along the road for hours and hours.  We thought it might be a shortcut to where we were going to take this route but in the end, I think it might have taken longer.  I didn't mind. I took it all in stride as an adventure since I've been to Kenya on these "roads" before.

I took many lovely photos but unfortunately most of these are not yet recovered. My regular readers will know that I had problems with the memory card and lost a lot of my photos. I have yet to recover them all.

On this journey there were lots of cacti.

You can see that it is still fairly green where these huts are located.

In my post on Marigat, I mentioned that the town has a Perkerra Irrigation Project. You can see beyond the tree that the fields are lush and green. This is a result of the irrigation project.

I made a special point of capturing this bike parked by the tree in the the middle of seemingly no where.  The irrigated lands are just beyond.

We passed so many cattle and goats along the way though you can't really see water here there is supposed to be the Perkerra River. That is where the water is coming from for the irrigation project.

I love the trees in Kenya.
You can see how dry the earth looks.

We're taking a "shortcut" to the village. Before we can get there we must cross this river.
I decide to cross the river on foot.  It's part of the adventure and will make interesting memories.


I took a lot of photos from the passenger's window as we drove by. Some turned out better than others. Some huts were close together like these while others were much farther apart.
There were several ostriches around the area and they provided a lot of entertainment for me. I  love watching them move across the dusty savannah. One kick from their long legs would certainly knock a person out.
I'm not sure of the name of the place we were headed though I have in fact been there before. It is a village of very far flung huts and not much else. Though there is a church, perhaps more than one.

You can see that the area is rather mountainous and rocky but the flat land is very dry. 

We were on our way to a small place that I had visited approximately 4 years earlier. I had visited the missionary in the area and we were discussing the need for a community borehole. A year after I left this place some contacts I made visited this community with my friend Jonah and committed to raising funds for a borehole. 
This part of our journey was in the main part of the village. We had to drive through the fields to get to our final destination.

I had to take photos of this man because he was walking in a far away village and he was carrying a briefcase. I was fascinated that he had a briefcase. I couldn't fathom what kind of work he might be doing and where he might be going. I imagine he was going home but what office was he leaving?

I zoomed in to get a better look at the briefcase.
Where ever I go I love to see the children.
I also love to see girls and young women being girls and sharing their confidences with one another.
The final leg of our long journey was on roads like this and the field below. These were good roads and easy to travel compared to the first several hours of our trip off the highway.

My next post on the Kenyan safari will take you to the actual village borehole. I hope you will come again soon.

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16 comments:

OneStonedCrow said...

Thanks for the trip Penny - some parts of Namibia look similar ...

It's so sad about the passing of Marlene - very apt quotations from Ecclesiastes.

Joyful said...

You're welcome, Graham for your condolences.

I guess the dry parts of Kenya look more like where you are from. It is quite pretty in it's own way.

Gator said...

Amazing photos of a part of the world I've never seen. I can't wait to see the village!

Pearl Maple said...

Fantastic collection of photos
An amazing experience to travel to that part of the world

Joyful said...

Hi Gator, thanks for the compliments. I actually chuckled when I saw your comment about waiting to see the village. You've seen the village. It's the huts in the photos at this post. There aren't that many huts in the main part of the village but you're only seeing the huts on one side. Where I will go next there are fewer huts and unfortunately a good many of my photos of the area are not yet recovered.

Joyful said...

Pearl Maple, thanks so much for your visit and your kind words. It is people like you who make the blogging adventure worth while. I loved my travels to Kenya.

Rajesh said...

Wonderful shots of the country side.

Joyful said...

Glad you enjoyed the photos, Rajesh. Please feel free to visit again soon ;-)

Gattina said...

That's how I imagine Africa ! very interesting pictures !

Wren said...

Fascinating trip, Joyful. I particularly like the photo of the huts, perhaps because it is do different from what I've seen elsewhere. I, too, enjoy getting into the back country and seeing "real life" and not just the cities, thought when you talk about driving across fields, I think you are farther off the track than I've ever been.

snowwhite said...

Hi, Joyful,
Rivers are dry and sallow. I'm worrying if the people can get clean drinking water everyday. I wish more and more boreholes for them.
The man with suitcase is mystrerious very much, maybe mirage??
Thank you for sharing.

Mama Zen said...

Amazing pictures!

Georgene Girouard said...

What an interesting life. Is there a post where you shared why you are in Africa? Is this where you were born? I feel as if I'm coming in at the middle of a story. :-)

Joyful said...

Hi Snowwhite, it is very dry here indeed and scarcity of water is a big issue. They do need more boreholes. I don't think the man with the briefcase was a mirage but that was a funny thought. Thanks for dropping by.

Joyful said...

Thank you, Mama Zen!

Joyful said...

Hello Georgene, thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment. I wasn't born in Kenya but I do travel there from time to time to do some small humanitarian projects. I was on a holiday in Kenya recently and have been sharing about my journey through a series of posts. If interested, you can follow the rest of my journey by looking at post archives or doing a search ;-)

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