Saturday, November 12, 2011

Sukari takes a bow

Here she is--what a cutie!  She looks just like Mama dog with her white paws and splash of white on her tail.  Not totally mine yet as she still needs Mama but at least I get to play with her every day.  She is bashful but thankfully doesn't wheedle when I touch her.  I have her rabies and distemper vaccine in my fridge all waiting.  Here you go to a chemist (like a pharmacy) to buy your drugs, for humans too.  I got enough for Mama and all the pups and already gave Mama hers.  Did have to close my eyes with the needle stick cause I don't like shots either.  Such a wuss!

Mama has become my new best friend--I think the doggie treats help.  Good thing since I will be taking one of her babies.  She is now my askari (policeman) and lays outside my door day and night.  She has figured out how to scooch between the metal bars and come inside to get a neck scratch.  This is posing a problem for her though as she is supposed to be a watchdog.  She's watching all right.  Only me.  The night watchman is getting perturbed with her because she is neglecting her work.  Only when I turn off all my lights at night does she leave my door and proceed on her night rounds looking for potential intruders.  Once she deems it all clear she is back on my door stoop.

So I recently returned from my second trip to the bush where I had really hoped to milk a camel.  Didn't happen.  It ended up being a rescue mission of sorts as we were tasked to test the roads to determine if they were passable by lorries (big trucks) after the current rains.  The lorries were hauling 10,000 bales of hay for livestock that were near death from the recent drought.

The trip up began relatively uneventfully, no flat tires this time, until we passed thru a small town on market day.  Once through we were hailed down by a piki-piki (motorcycle) driver.  He said there were bandits on the road and he had just been robbed.  This actually happens a lot here especially on market days when they know people have money in their pockets for buying or having sold items.  As any type of vehicle traffic is slim, it is easy to lay in wait to accost someone.   He said the bandits were "warriors" (young men in local attire scheduled to celebrate their circumcision in December) with rifles.  So what do we do?  We turned around and went back into town to find the askari.  Couldn't be found.  So we waited around a bit until a local councilman showed up to ride with us to the next town.  He hopped in and we proceeded without any encounters.

We arrived at Loogoloogo around noon and proceeded to the old airstrip that is owned by the African Inland Church.  The plane hangar there is where the hay was to have been dropped by the lorries from Nairobi and then we would arrange local lorries to deliver to areas in need.

This is the first drop of hay in the hangar.  It was being guarded by a local who slept on a paper sheet in the right foreground.  As there is no communication in the bush, we called on the satellite phone to find out when the rest of the hay would be coming.  We were told "soon" and that means whenever.  We unpacked our sandwiches, ate our lunch and waited. Our phone message had stated we deemed the roads passable with only a couple of iffy areas.  Four hours later nothing and we needed to hit the road to get to our bush house before dark.  Another text message sent and the response was they would be there in 30 minutes.  We decided to head out and meet them along the road.  About 5km outside of town we met the convoy of lead car and two lorries.  We gave them directions to the hangar and then headed off into the literally setting sun for the bush house in Ngurunit.  Arriving after dark and totally whupped from the heat, dust and long day, we fixed some rice and decided it was bedtime.

Now I know you remember I told you I had bats in my bush house and that issue still hadn't been resolved.  We did bring with us chicken wire and window screening to solve that problem but that would happen the next day.  So, where to sleep?  Laura said I should sleep in her house because the bats seemed to favor her room and not the guest room.  I shook the dust and dirt from the sheets on the bed, tucked in the net after tying up some big holes, washed my face and crawled inside.  I wanted to read a bit so opened up my kindle and pulled out the light.  Whoosh!  Whoosh!  Bats everywhere!!!  They were hanging on the net staring at me!  I put away the kindle thinking they were attracted to the light and maybe would move into Laura's room.  Splat!  Right on my face.  Not poop but spit.  Yep, they spit.  I laid in wait with my flashlight thinking I would hear where they landed and then blind them with the light.  Only made them madder when I did that.  There must have been 10 bats hanging around my net.  I don't remember how many times I was spit on during the night, I quit counting, but just cowered with the sheets over my head.  A very restless night.

The next morning we put out the word to have the local fundi (specialist) come by to do the bat proofing.  He showed up an hour later with a hammer and wire cutters and we gave him instructions.  He needed to enclose the gap between the roof and walls with the screening and rescreen the windows.

So now we were off to resolve the hay issue.  The lorries had off loaded in Loogologoo but we needed to get the hay to the surrounding areas and still had another section of road to survey.

On the drive into town I was taken by how different it all looked from my previous visit.  Rain really makes a difference.  This now looked like the Kenya I envisioned before coming here.  The trees and bushes were green and blooming even if the road areas were now muddy gulleys.

This is the view from my house of the Ndoto Mountains.  The center acacia trees didn't survive the drought but everywhere else is beginning to reawaken.  With the rains, livestock and families are beginning to return to the area.

This herd of camels is returning to their home base. A local camel trader told me a great story.  He had arranged the sale of 60 camels to Laura a couple of years ago.  The camels are purchased in Somalia and it takes 2-3 weeks for the herders to WALK them to Ngurunit.  By the time they arrived, the herdsmen were so famished they went into a local hoteli for food and water.  When they went outside after eating 10 camels were missing.  They found them the next day (20km away) heading for home--Somalia!  Apparently camels have to have a readjustment period to know their new surroundings and not having this they just went back to what they knew.  Old habits die hard, huh.

In town we located a resident lorrie owner and arranged for him to go for some of the hay and also determined he would store it at the local butcher warehouse.  The warehouse had been empty a long time due to the drought.  He was tasked with finding two other lorries and locations for storage.

Now we were off to drive the road the lorries would use to get the hay up here.  After a 4 hour round trip we reported it was passable with one area of concern.  One section of the road had washed out and you needed to detour through the woods.  Okay.  But the detour might not be wide enough for a lorrie to pass through the trees.  Hmmm.  We texted this info to the lead car driver.

Back at the bush house it was time to see how the fundi was doing.

My bush house from the front.


The "terrace" or back of my bush house where I spend alot of time having my coffee and viewing the Ndoto Mountain range, watching the local children graze their animals and occasionally see a family of elephants.  That actually happened my last morning in the bush and created quite a stir locally.  It had been 5 years since elephants had come into town. Missed the pic cause they were too far off for my camera.

So the fundi was still at work and I knew if the job was going to get done in one day I needed to help.  I spotted some areas that needed extra mesh and filled them in and then we were running out of mesh.  We made do by blocking the most important areas and filled in the rest with old foam from a discarded mattress.  Done!  Now I can test it out tonight.

As there is no food in the bush, we bring everything we need including diesel. We asked Nankaya, Laura's housegirl to spread the word we wanted a goat the next night. I fixed some spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce and we pulled our chairs outside into the night to eat.  We also drug out Laura's computer and popped in the dvd "Chocolat" for viewing.  It was almost over when a car pulls up--the lead car driver.  He had the lorrie driver with him who refused to drive the hay into town until he had seen the road.  Guess I would think twice about getting my truck stuck too.  He said he would not drive the road.  We would need to arrange for smaller trucks to deliver the hay.  We had Nankaya put out the word for drivers and to also alert the local women's basket weaving group that we wanted to have a meeting in the morning.

This is where Nankaya lives.  It's called a manyatta (family compound) surrounded by thorny acacia branches for security.  It is a snail-shell shaped home made of twigs covered in discarded aid relief bags to provide waterproofing.  The floor is dirt and it is only about 4 feet high.  You definitely duck your head to enter the steaming sauna and a campfire is always burning inside.  Jeez it's hot and smoky in here!

Time for bed and to determine if the bats have moved on.  Im all tucked inside my net and whoosh.  F#***ers are back.  But only one.  I listen and watch in the dark to determine the entrance spot.  Will fix that tomorrow.  At least this one hangs from the ceiling away from my bed, so good night bat.  I'm too tired to care tonight.

In the morning this guy was having breakfast from the acacia tree on my terrace while I had my coffee.  Notice the half delta on his thigh--local family brand.  His camel bell is made of leather and has gentle breezy tinkle as he strolls.

We head over to the basket house for our meeting and stop at the local campground to borrow any wire mesh they may have.  We're in luck and will pick it up on the way home.  The women's basket group, including Nankaya, have been weaving traditional baskets for income.  Nankaya and three others even went to the Smithsonian Folk Festival this year to exhibit their wares.
The basket weavers.  They each have a designated day of the week to come to the basket house to weave and of course they bring their children in tow or tied on their backs with a blanket.  Our meeting was to distribute payment for the baskets sold at the DC festival and discuss a second order for a company in CA due to be shipped in January.  We meet under the acacia trees surrounding the basket house while families of monkeys chase their young to the delight of the mamas' children.
Weaving while we wait for others to arrive.
Mama and baby, sans diapers as is customary.

With the meeting concluded we collect our wire and head back to finish the bat job.  We spot the suspicious holes, plug them up and go fix lunch.  Then its off to a nearby town to have a meeting about the school bursary fund.  Locals solicit money for school fees to send kids to school.  This group decides how the money is to be distributed.  As we are driving we are hailed by a local councilman that asks us to pick up some medicine at the clinic for his wife in the same town.

Upon arriving in the town, we put out the word the meeting will be under some local trees in an hour and go to the clinic to get the medicine.  The clinic is staffed by the Methodist Mission with a nurse from the US.  She has been here five years and will return to the states in December.  No replacement.
The town is very proud of the new clinic.  Always walk-in and they even have a delivery ward.
Some guiding health principles.
Samburu Maternity Ward.  You can have your baby here!
This room has a sink and metal bed inside.  It has a mirror room called the "delivery ward" which is down the hall.

We collect the drugs from the nurse and go back to the trees for our meeting.  Four hours later we are back at the bush house.  Nankaya says we need to go to a local manyatta to choose our goat for dinner.
We stroll across the ravine out back and peruse the flock enclosed.  I choose a younger one, all white with black feet.  Sorry fella.  I need some protein.  I have no interest in watching the kill so the tribesman agrees to bring it over shortly ready for choma (grilling).
Nankaya roasting the goat leg.  The rest of the goat is hanging from a hook in the doorway of Laura"s kitchen.  I fixed some sides of sliced tomatoes and rice and we chowed down.  Boy did I need that protein.  I was actually feeling woozy all day for some hardy sustenance.

The next morning we pack up to head home.  A couple of locals drop by to tell us about the roads.  Very important info here with the rains coming in sporadically.  The road conditions are not the issue this time.  It seems there was an incident last night in a town we traverse.  A group of five warriors decided they were going to retrieve their cows recently stolen by a Turkana tribe.  They loaded their rifles and headed into the bush where they were ambushed and 4 were killed.  We won't go that way home!

All in all this was a pleasant bush trip.  We had some successful missions, nice weather, but mainly I enjoyed myself.  This is primarily because I gave myself an attitude adjustment.  I have no magic power to change people who do not want to change.  So, I will just let go of that thought, quit pushing and go with the flow.  Certainly relieved a lot of my stress.  Will try to milk a camel next trip.