I am watching Abdi bring the camels in, he has his stick and herds them in, tapping their front feet, saying “tu tu” and they drop down for the night, chewing their cud all night, burping and farting. The boys tie their front leg together so that they don’t wander overnight. Although, the first night of the trek we had one wandering around at 3am. They sometimes lie on their sides, sometimes with their necks and head on the ground. And they wait patiently until morning, some mornings we are very lazy and don’t untie the camels until 11am when the boys think about letting them go. By then there is a big puddle of piss and shit underneath the camel but they don’t mind, they lope off for something to eat and it all dries up in a few hours.
Today we have walked to Ladala, an easy 3 hour walk following the steamer (electricity) power lines. It was a really nice day, loved it, my last walking day. The weather is lovely and the company so much fun. Mercy and Ester lagged a bit behind, but Ester managed to collect managu, a weed-like green plant, that is a bit bitter but is tasty enough to spice up the ugali.
We arrived at the local school and given permission to camp, later two old muzee (old men) come, probably a bit drunk, looking for money for camping because of the mzungu. We buy a goat! YAH! We are sooo excited. The boys show off drinking the blood and I get to see the whole killing/cutting/cooking process from start to finish. What a first! The things I am getting to experience on this trip!
The school is empty (school holidays) and I am told it has 700 students, and 6 teachers. The plaque says 420 (in 2005), they sure do need family planning services here! The school was built by the Korean government, and there is a very useful water bore/pump provided by the Japanese government, the water is a bit salty but very, very good. There have been lots of plaques from World Vision on our travels; they seem to be doing good stuff.
The goat is roasted, the best bit = ribs on a stick, we pick and lick and enjoy. What a great meal. Then we have cubes of meat, very chewy, and later a soup of some bones because Mercy has teeth problems. The carcass hangs from the verandah, everyone is happy. In the morning with our delicious chai, Koloseg eats the balls of the goat! Burnt to a crisp. OMG!
