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Water People

Writer's picture: Heather KirkbyHeather Kirkby

Leaving Tuum we headed further north to Loiyangalani on the shores of Lake Turkana, an inland sea. It’s a windy, gorgeous lake that will never be much of a destination because it’s so darn hard to reach and has almost no infrastructure!! Top middle photo is tribal huts where locals live. Bottom middle photo shows some of the netting they use to protect fish they’ve caught.




Someone had the good sense to install wind power. Seeing modern windmills after days in tribal village country was both jarring and delightful.



In the afternoon, after a rest during the peak heat of the day, we drove to an El Molo village. There are only two El Molo villages left in the world. About 100 souls. Their language is gone. They are fishermen. They are also the original sit-on-top kayakers. Their kayaks are made of three palm tree trunks tied together. That’s it. And a paddle carved from wood. They boat and swim between their two villages that dot the shoreline.




Almost everything on our journey was arranged ahead of time by Jean, naturally. But I think a little bit was play it by ear, Africa style. I didn’t know it at the time but the El Molo villagers weren’t even expecting us. When one of the elders saw Jean it was big smiles and warm welcomes. We had a lovely time wandering the village. Jean had been trying to call the leader for weeks but his SIM card had fallen out in the lake!! There is absolutely no evidence of the adoption of any kind of modern technology of any kind in these villages except for phones. Not many, but a few. It’s not the land of infinite data which probably puts the brakes on doom scrolling. In fact I’ve noticed a lot of good posture in Africa. Lifetimes spent walking and not staring at screens will surely do that to you.





My favorite part of the village visits is seeing “life as it is”. Not a tour or show but just people going about their lives that are wildly different than our own. In El Molo I was fascinated by an older man repairing a fishing net. It had been torn by a crocodile. He had a big wooden threading device to do the repair. Lake Turkana has the highest density of crocodiles anywhere in the world.



After the El Molo visit it was time to eat and rest up for a big adventure the next day.

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