Weekend in Eldoret and Kitale Part III: The Simple Life

Ah . . . the simple life . . . so many people yearn for it.  And I got to see it!  President Kogo, who was traveling with us from Eldoret to Kitale, planned to stop at a farmer's place and pick up some maize meal.  He knew right where the farm was . . . except that the foliage had grown so much that the little trails had changed.  We spent an hour driving in teeny tiny lanes and it was a grand adventure!  So glad we did it!

The people here, in the bush as they call it, live a very simple life.  Yes, the children go to school but no, they don't necessarily learn English.  Every child we passed yelled out excitedly, "Mzungu!" (meaning white foreigner in Swahili).  I felt it was rude to take their pictures without asking so I didn't get many pictures of children.  They are so cute and I wish I had more pictures of them.  I just don't like to point a camera at people without asking.

The simple life . . . a house and a clothes line. 

The houses were made of dried clay.  Click to enlarge to see a man relaxing in a chair in the shade of his house.

The simple life . . . sheep and a garden.  Protein and vitamins.

A child follows his mother to the garden.  Cattle.  Corn.

Don't you love that red soil and green plants and trees?

Not sure what the difference between corn and maize is.  But they grow maize here and it is white and they grind it into flour.  Sometimes they roast it and eat it as a snack.  It's not sweet and soft like the sweet corn we grow at home in Alberta.  Did you know that Taber (Alberta) corn is the BEST?

The trails were very narrow.  We were scrubbing the sides of the truck at times.  The sky was turning dark and cloudy and LeRon said he hoped we would be out of here before the rain came (which it did a little later.  It poured so hard that we could hardly see or hear).

President Kogo had to ask a few people before he found a man who knew where the farmer lived.  Here is President Kogo walking into a farm to ask if this was the right place.  It wasn't.  But we finally found it and guess what -- the farmer wasn't home after all that.  But what a grand adventure we had!

These children were excitedly following our truck.

It looks like the jungle, doesn't it?  President Kogo said that things had definitely grown over since the last time he was here.

This is a "cattle dip" similar to the "sheep dips" that Grandpa Albert Torrie had on his ranch.  The cattle go through here and are treated for lice and other nasties.  Click to see the little girl carrying a smaller child on her back.

The little girls are staring at us.  I wonder if they've ever seen white people.  And again, look at the lovely red soil and the green grass and other plants.  So lovely.

Again, remember that I am taking pictures out the car window as we drive by.  Just about missed this woman visiting with her neighbors.

Cute little kids through a very dirty window.

You can see the newer part that has been added on more recently.

End of the simple life and back into civilization . . .