…for water that is. Saturday we spent the day at the farm looking for sources of water. The area of the river we were using to water the crops is completely dry now (see photos here) so we had to find another place to get water from. We found 2 areas and decided on the second place because of the ease of getting to and from it with a 1000 liter container on the back of the truck.
this area had a lot of water but very difficult to get to
a bit farther away but easier to get to
One reason for our lack of water...from what I've heard it isn't illegal to build a dam on the river
After scouting out the areas we then took a small road trip and saw:
people put barrels and logs in the trees for bee hives
not sure if this is an ant or termite hill...didn't see any insects in it.
this flower was the only one of this color in the area
Looks like a croc!
Then we met a farmer who told us about his hippo traps…the hippos in this area would get into his farm and wreck havoc! He seems “eco-friendly” though since he can’t stop the hippos he has called in the wildlife people to help humanely. Unfortunately we didn’t see any hippos but we did see a crocodile slip into the water from the bank and a monkey jump out of this tree after eating figs, both were to fast for me and my camera!
Sand harvesting is ruining the river but people continue to do it.
Another reason I believe this farmer is concerned for the environment…he actually called police when he caught people harvesting sand in this area.
walking along a portion of the Athi River that always has water because of a natural dam
water, rock, flower...a little bit of everything!
After walking to the end of the farmer’s farm, Chuck and the guys checked out the well on the property while I rested:
Resting in the shade of this mud hut
Not sure if you can see in the following photo, but there are birds circling over the building:
wonder what they were circling?
I left a sign that I had been in the area!
Then it was time to go home and thankfully we had electricity so I could wash the dry, dusty and hot day off!
On Sunday Chuck was back on the farm transporting water, unfortunately the water pump stopped working so the day ended with only one 1000 ltr container taken and used on the farm. Today he’s back up there getting the water pump fixed then hauling more water.