KENYA: Lake Magadi - June 1, 2009

Today we got up early, packed a picnic lunch and headed off to Lake Magadi as soon as Hubert arrived from Mt. Kenya. Evangeline's friend Lindsey invited us to go there with her family. It was a long (about 2 1/2 hours) drive up very crazy roads filled with potholes. I am trying to learn to focus on other things instead of watching the road ahead - It's pretty scary!

We arrived at Lake Magadi. Here's a little information about the area:

Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenya Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north east of Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos. It is one of the hottest places on earth and lies in what is called the "Cradle of Mankind". The lake is recharged mainly by saline hot springs (temperatures up to 86°C) that discharge into alkaline "lagoons" around the lake margins, there being little surface runoff in this arid region.

Hubert made the comment "thanks for bringing me to the hottest place on earth on my day off!".
The scenery was beautiful. We saw a lot Masai and more goats then I have ever seen in my whole life. After walking around the lake for a while we drove on to the Hot Springs. Supposedly you can take a little dip in them but all we could manage was to walk around in the surface areas a little bit. It was Scalding Hot!!! 40 degreesC. Little Luke put on his swimsuit and tried to take a dip but just couldn't do it.
The best part of the trip was arriving at the springs - We were guided into a parking place (we were the only 2 cars there) like we were at Disney World. We were parked in the Dumbo Lot. LOL!!! Of course the guy wanted a 100 shillings for this service. There was a group of beautiful little Masai women selling their wares and they were really neat little ladies. The Masai fascinate me. They have retained all their traditions and cultural values. The are very friendly and always say Jambo! (hello) when they see you. We bought a few trinkets from them and took a great group photo with them.
After we left the springs we drove back to a little covered area for lunch. Lindsey had prepared a huge feast for her family all the way down to a homemade chocolate cake. Hubert and Xan were pretty put out with me and Evangeline when all we had was vegetable hummus sandwiches, chips and water. No beer or sodas - Hubert was giving us a lot of flack for that!!! When we drove up there were 2 teenage Masai boys. They were VERY shy! More of their friends showed up and I kept waving and smiling so they gradually moved in close to us. They loved having their picture taken! Lindsey gave them the leftover chocolate cake and at first they wouldn't take it. I don't think they had a clue what it was but as soon as one took a bite they all swooped in and devoured it all. I wish I had brought more food to give them.
We headed home (had to stop and buy Hubert a cold one first) and got back around 5pm and made a stop at the Nakumatt. This is a huge store kind like our Super Walmarts but even bigger. They are all over Nairobi. We ran home and showered off the mud and went to dinner. Had a great dinner at a sushi restaurant then came home and crashed. The day was quite an adventure!! Here's some pictures of our day:

PICTURES - 06-01-09