Beautiful Kenya

Hi friends,

I hope you are all having a pleasant week. I've been enjoying the warmer, sunny weather but as of today it was back to a bit of gray skies and very light rain.

Spending time with a friend and helping him study for a big exam tomorrow hasn't left me with a lot of free time for blogging. But I have spent a little time to clean up computer files.  I've also been looking for photos I want to share  with you.

These photos are all of Lake Baringo in Kenya.  The island in the middle of the lake is called Ole Kokwe Island.

There is a camp on the island; fittingly called Island Camp. I never spent any time there but I've heard that it is a nice place to stay.

I think the setting here is very beautiful. It was also very hot.

 

I took a tour out on the water with the very personable guide, Sylvester. I didn't intend to take a tour.  But Sylvester was pleasantly persistent, not annoyingly persistent.  I decided at the last moment to go on the tour and I'm glad I did.  It made my time in the area much more interesting and gave me a lot of memories and photo opportunities.

This is my boat tour guide, Sylvester.  He surprised me by speaking several languages including French.

The gentleman in the blue uniform (whose name escapes me) is actually from Ole Kokwe Island. He grew up there in a large family.  He now works on the mainland at Soi Safari Lodge. I  met him again when I made another trip to Kenya and stayed at Soi's sister hotel, The Bontana, in Nakuru City.

The fellow wearing the red cap is my driver. I hired him to take me to several different places in and around Marigat and Lakes Baringo and Baragoi. The reason he is in the boat and not waiting in the vehicle is that we were ready to heat out but the guide Sylvester gave me a great deal on the tour because I had a limited time. I thought why not give my driver a treat since he had a very late night the night before driving me around and then had to make his way home again (hours away) before returning to get me.  Though there are many affluent people in Kenya, there are also many others that cannot afford the things that tourists do. It pays to treat them with kindness and consideration for they toil under difficult circumstances to try and make a living and raise their families. When you hire them for the day, technically you do not need to give them meals and refreshments. However I cannot in good conscience enjoy eating, drinking and sight seeing while my driver takes no refreshment or rest.  It isn't right that I should enjoy myself while they watch me and bake and go thirsty in the heat.

I saw many things while out on the water but I can't share them all in one post.

We made sure we didn't get too close to these hippos.

I relied on my camera's zoom feature to get a close up.

You can see the mountains in the far distance and a boat entering to the top left of the photo.

 

The boat comes closer.

And closer.  I also zoomed in for a close up.

It turns out these men are from the island and they are bringing their cattle to market at Marigat. I would see them the next day in town after they sold their cattle. They have to transport the cattle through the water because there are no roads or ferries to the island.  If you stay on the island you will be transported to the lodge in a boat.

On my trip to the area I stayed on the mainland in a beautiful hotel called Soi Safari Lodge. I enjoyed my stay there. I also stayed in another area hotel at Lake Bogoria called Lake Bogoria Spa. I will write more about these two hotels later and show you some of the scenes around both of them.  So please come back soon.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.