Lake Magadi

Jambo, Dear Followers,

Today I am going to take you to Lake Magadi, no I did not name it. This is a name I find quite often here. One of the Pastors name  is Magaya . So who knows where my husband was from. I am also getting a possible India connection. The pastor is not a Mazoongoo ( white ) so who knows.

We start out on our trip with two other NIV's from Idaho George and Terre and our driver Henry and Oruta who is another one of the drivers and had called to ask if he could go as he has never been there. 

The first picture is the road we were traveling on as you see by the truck coming at us there is room for 2 small cars but not a truck so it is chicken time and you can guess who gives. 


About half way there we see about 5 women standing by the road with very large yellow jugs and Henry asked if we could stop and I said yes. The women were preparing to walk to Magadi to get there water which is about 30 miles from where they live and then walk back with these heavy jugs.
So we said yes we will take the jugs and fill them and bring them back in about 4 hours. This is the group of women.


This picture of the two old ladies is cool especially as the one is breast feeding someones baby. I asked about this and was told that they interchange with mothers and who ever is free takes on that responsibility. Also was taken back by the fact that I didn't think we could breast feed at this age but you can it only takes a couple of weeks to get primed. No thanks!

  As we get closer to the Lake Magadi we are looking at quite a large lake and a desert look which reminded me of the Salt flats in the US.

 You must pass through a gate to enter there city and once through we pulled up along the road and out of no where there appeared a Masai guy about 20 and he said I am a guide and will take you to the hot springs. So after some negotiations we left and started our short trip to the springs. 

The lake is sodium and the plant here owns all the land and the lake. They manufacture bottled soda and it is trucked into Nairobi and other towns. Also they have a railroad that takes the products to Mombasa for shipping around the world. The natives use the dried salt they scrape up from the flats when it is dry season to store there meat in. During the rainy season this is covered by water.

 This is the plant and behind it is a mountain in Tanzania, yes we were that close. That day it was so hazy from the dust blowing around that is why the picture is so fuzzy.

The Sodium Plant

This pink water is part of the lake and there is an algae bloom going on in this section. There is a strange smell but we are not sure if it is the water or the plant emitting chemicals.




So we are on our way and at times there are no roads but just paths then we reach this water and we said this is the end of the road and Patrick our guide said oh no just hug the side of the hill. Reluctantly we did and hit a rock, I started praying as I wouldn't want to be sitting here too long as the temperature is about 90 degrees. So on we go and I am saying Patrick how much further and he said we are here, really? I am expecting bubbling springs but there were only one teeny one.

This was going back, that is water in front.

This was going to the Hot Springs

Get me out of here!

So Patrick says out of the car and go into the hot springs it is
medicinal and will cure your body. Well I got that far and was sure they were boiling me alive.

So I spotted some women sitting there and ask Henry what they were doing and he said selling jewelry. Well that is all I had to hear and I was out of the boiling water and doing something I know best.

Bargaining

 Forgot to tell you the lake is full of flamingos and because the lake is salt the only fish that can survive is Tilapia and they are very small. There must be something else because there are  so many, hundreds.

They are a very light pink but when they fly they are pinker underneath the wings. I said it was the salt or they fade out from the sun ?? Probably wrong on both counts.

Time to head back as it was getting late. So now we must get water and Patrick shows us where to go and even helps fill all the jugs. Nice kid.

I forgot to tell you that another one of our missions that day was to pass out ANU calendars. So we gave out several as we were filling up water, then we gave Patrick one and he said I want to go to college do you think there would be any scholarships for me. So we told him to contact the university and go meet with one of the staff. So it was time to say good bye to a very good and nice guy. I gave him a little extra pay.

That was his scarf, now I am Masai !

 

We head back to deliver our water and everyone said do you remember where the village was? None of us payed any attention as to where they were. So all the way back we are saying does this look like it ? Then all of a sudden we recognized it.

They ask us to pull us to there gate area so they could unload.
So at this point all the kids come running out to see the Mazoongoos . So they start unloading and I try to help.

How much does this weigh?

Not much, heh heh

Our driver Henry asked if we could come into there village and they were very reluctant, but after some talking and I got out the rest of the calendars and was mobbed by the kids also had some left over chips that they devoured and Henry said could you pay them 100 shillings to go into one of the huts which I did. The Masai are very closed people and are not much for outsiders but they were smiling by the time we left. Even the chief was smiling at me.
There was a younger married couple and more in today's world and  the only ones that spoke Swahili . Well Henry was trying to get through to them that we did not get the water just to get into there village but did it because we are Christians and wanted to do this for Jesus and them. Also he told them they should not charge someone
and should invite them into their homes as a friend . So hopefully we made some impact on them and maybe one of those children will end up at ANU and become a leader in his village. 

Inside the hut.

Notice all of them holding a calendar.

Married couple and our drivers.

It was a very long day but filled with such joy in meeting all of these wonderful people. I think we all felt that is was a good mission and the Lord was with us. As we started home it rained and in Africa that is a blessing.




Who knows maybe one of them could be the future president of Africa or America.









Kwahari  & La La Salama

Sharon