The journey out into Turkana

our bus and the amazing RIFT VALLEY

The Travels to Turkana:

We had about a 10 hour drive ahead of us to a village of Lokichar. We woke at 5:30 am (which was our usual wake up time for the next leg of this trip) and packed a huge bus with all of our totes and luggage and food that our leaders had bought because out there we would have hardly anything to eat! I noticed these chickens with ropes tied around their ankles attached to large rocks and was confused about this at such an early hour….I later learned these chickens were coming on the bus with us because they would be our source of protein for the next leg! So cocka-doodle-dooin for 10 hours we got to endure! 

At first, we loved the chickens, we named them, held them and let them sleep on our luggage…..however after being awoken at around 4 am the next few mornings by them, we were ready to make them our dinner!! On our drive for 10 hours, all I could do was stare out the window….like the ENTIRE time! We drove thru part of the Great Rift Valley which was absolutely stunning … I think the whole 10 hour drive I barely said many words to anyone just peaceful silence, with my brain turned off driving thru the Kamatira Mountains and Marich & Moroto pass overlooking all of Turkana.  

Camels and monkeys crossing the road thru lush tropical rainforest and around tall mountain ranges with the craziest peaceful feeling I think I may have ever felt in my life.  No book, no phone, no nothing….just me staring out the window and taking it all in.  I had never waved to so many people in my lifetime during that 10 hour drive…they loved seeing our bus drive down their dirt roads and some ran after us just waving and smiling.  

I got a photo of this man in a town called Ibit who had the most stunning blue eyes and as he stared up at me, I just thought ‘ the poverty is unfathomable of what I see here…yet it is more unfathomable how happy and prideful these people are.’  Nobody had a sign like we see homeless here in America asking for money…they just smile and live life! We drove thru hundreds of little towns with store fronts made of tin and hand painted signs. I was mesmerized at how little they had, yet to them it was everything. For example, their ‘hardware store’ consisted of tree branches in varying sizes.  They had “car wash” signs on the side of the roads washing the oldest beat up cars I have ever seen. I mean, imagine poverty on the streets with hundreds of people gathered on the side of the road but dressed in their best torn suits and dresses with no jobs and nothing to do all day but to walk around the streets trying to make a living or afford the most basic life necessities if even that. And for about 10 hours I just stared out the window at this prideful, poverty striken, organized chaotic life of Kenya. 

sewing in his little shop 

I learned a lot about the Pokot tribe during the drive and the tribal/political fighting in Turkana.  I learned about the ‘Displaced Person Camp’ that we passed by.  About 7 years ago the Pokot tribe came to Nairobi (which is a very busy and major city ofKenya) and they kicked out any Turkana people and made them go back to Turkana (which is a very nomadic way of life that many may never had even known). Many of them had never even been to Turkana, or left as children—but because they were “Turkana Tribe” they kicked them all out and back to a nomadic way of life.  They were placed in the government housing because to go from busy city life to nomadic life in Turkana, they would not be able to survive.  How sad is that and what a change of life they were forced into. It was a reality check to realize that what I read about long ago in my history books, actually continues to this day.   

We arrived late that evening to our new “home” for the remainder of the trip.  When we entered Lokichar the children began running towards us from all directions.  They were smiling, waving and all of them yelling “How are you!” with this adorable little African accent that I still hear everyday! Everyone wanted to shake our hands off the bus as if we were the most famous celebrities! We arrived at Charles house (our host while in Lokichar) and it had a beautiful gate with wired fence all around us.  The cement rooms were not finished for our arrival which was why we all brought tents for our bedrooms! We set up our “tent home” camp and enjoyed our first dinner…usual just rice and bread with some sort of meat (that I quit eating after day 3) and cabbage!! I never liked cabbage really ever before in my life but I learned to LOVE it there!! When we arrived after 10 hours of staring out the window and drinking as much of my filtered water as possible to ward off dehydration….my vision was all blurred! I was kind of scared because I could only see things in a huge haze unless I held something right up to my nose! I was frightened that I had caught some death defying illness while on that bus and I would never make it out of Africa again! HA HA!! I guess paranoia had set in also!! I told my team leaders about it and they thought it was just from all the dirt/dust blowing in my eyes for 10 hours and too much water may had diluted my blood stream and my electrolytes were a little off! So, I went to bed and the next day my vision was better but still had some troubles—but eventually my sight came back and I did not die!!  My lips were cracked beyond belief from just the heat and blowing dirt and sun on my face.  Morning breakfasts consisted of hard boiled eggs, coffee, water and sometimes a puff pastry that we would cover in nutella that our team members brought! We had some fruit until it all ran out…I would also get into my luggage and eat a ‘fruit leather’ and a package of Costco cookies every morning and every night! I would share my cookies every day with friends I had made from Lokichar and never having had oreos or lemon cookies—they loved them!!

Our new home Turkana for the rest of the trip

where we slept

where they live