This room was our home for 6 days. There were so many spiders in the room that Helen insisted on sleeping in the tent inside the room. Although she looks a bit grumpy in this picture, but she's usually a happy little soul.
My first stop in Kenya was in Nairobi, where I'd arranged to meet Helen (an English girl who I had met in Kampala). Our plan was to head for Lake Turkana (the Jade Sea) in Northern Kenya and do a donkey trek there. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we only got as far as the village of Baragoi and then waited 6 days for a truck or jeep, or anything to take us on the last leg to Loyangolani on the shores of Lake Turkana. Unfortunately after 6 days of waiting we had to head back to Nairobi. But we did have fun while we were there.
This room was our home for 6 days. There were so many spiders in the room that Helen insisted on sleeping in the tent inside the room. Although she looks a bit grumpy in this picture, but she's usually a happy little soul.
Every morning I got up before sunrise (woken by the call to prayer from the nearby mosque) to see if any trucks were leaving for the lake. None ever did, but I did get to see some lovely sunrises.
Baragoi's bustling main street.
There are 2 tribes in Baragoi; The Samburu (related to the Masai) and the Turkana. During one of our long hot days waiting for the truck that never came, a local guy took us to see some of the traditional Samburu settlements on the edge of Baragoi. Each family has a small compound enclosed by thorn bushes (to keep livestock in and predators out). The houses themselves are mud huts with thatched roofs.
Inside the hut are quite cosy, but a bit smoky and small. The Samburu people adorn themselves in lots of beads which have all sorts of cultural meanings.
After 6 days of waiting in Baragoi we accepted our failure and headed back to Nairobi in a water truck.
A pleasant surprise on the way back was when we stopped in Nyahururu to see a waterfall which turned out to be super nice. It may not have been as nice as lake Turkana, but it lessened our feeling of failure.