Boat Tour on Lake Baringo

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An unforgettable experience during my stay at Soi Safari Lodge was my boat tour on Lake Baringo. I hesitated to go on the tour due to limited time but the irrepressible tour guide, Sylvester (pictured above) was so charming and so persistent. He ultimately convinced me to go on the tour and tailored the everything to my needs.  Sylvester surprised me when he started speaking French to me because he knew I am from Canada. Alas, my French is too rudimentary to carry a conversation, even a simple one.

I took many photos and  I've decided to combine a number of them into collages so I can share as many as possible in this post.

First up is a collage of the hippos. There were a number of them in the lake and we were able to get quite close. In the reeds there was also a crocodile and though I did see it skimming just below the surface, it was difficult to get a photograph.  The house in the mosaic is privately owned by foreigners.  There is also at least one campground nearby but I didn't have time to check it out.

 

Bird life is abundant in the area. In the space of a few minutes I found several species of birds.

I was hoping to see the African Fish Eagle such as in our guide's bird book, but no such luck. My boat tour took place later in the day.  Several tours had already gone out and the eagle was not hungry.

The guides will purchase a small fish from fishermen right on the water.  They then throw the fish up in the air and the eagle, if hungry, will swoop down and catch it.

I was very intrigued by the fisherman's boat.  The boat is made from wood that is extremely light and buoyant. It feel and looks like cork but I've learned that it is "ambatch" or balsa wood.  The people of the Njemps tribe are the ones that make the boats with this wood.

There were a number of different boats on the water that day.

The scenery in the area is spectacular, whether you are viewing from the water or from the shore.

These men really got my attention. They were taking cows to market in Marigat. I've never seen cows transported this way before but there are no roads to where they live.

One of the 6 or so cows that was being transported was having a very difficult time of it.

As you can imagine, cows are precious cargo so there is no way these men were going to let anything happen to the cows before they got to market.  I saw the men next day in the town of Marigat a few days after market day.  They no longer had cows with them and they seemed to be enjoying a break in town.

You can make out the rooftop of the distinctive Soi Safari Lodge.

Here is a close up of the main building of the Soi Safari Lodge as the boat nears the shore.

More tourists are eager to get in the boat and go on tour.

This concludes my tour of Lake Baringo.  If you missed my post on the Soi Safari Lodge you might want to read it here.  I hope you've enjoyed the tour of this area.  Please join me again soon as I will be stopping at another beautiful place not too far away.  Please also check in at other Scenic Sunday submissions for more fabulous stories and scenes from around the world. Simply click below.  I hope to see you again.

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