Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Birds! The Hippos! The Doorless Toilets!

Anyembe, Everlin and the kids (Akwanyi, Shute and Hidaya) met me at my hotel for breakfast, and then we headed out to Lake Victoria for the day.

First, negotiate a price with the tuk-tuk while the mzungu (white person) hides, so as not to drive up the price.











Everlin, Akwanyi and Hidaya take off in one, and Anyembe, Shute and I share the other.





We get to Hippo Point and find a boat and guide to take us out on the lake for a few hours. We were lucky enough to get an excellent guide named Duncan, with a driver who happily backed up or went forward to get us the best views.





This guy is actually fishing within an area surrounded by the net you see below. He cordoned off an area with net, and will clear away much of the grass and get the fish inside. He will evidently spend hours up to his shoulders in water.











Weaver bird nests. It's nesting season, and somehow I failed to get even one clear shop of the male weaver bird, but take my word for it he is bright yellow and black and builds the nests. Then the female comes and chooses the mate based on the nest. Or so Duncan tells us! In the lower left quarter above there's a yellow tail hanging out of a green nest which is under construction.





In the upper left quarter of the photo you can just see a male on a branch.





This is papaya, which is critical to the ecosystem. Unfortunately, with the drop off in fishing in the lake, because of the drop off in fish, people are now gathering the papyrus to burn as fuel and to weave.

















A hard life, but so picturesque! Egrets.











Egrets.





A lake cormorant.





Those are nets drying in the background. The fisher-folk, as they are referred to here, will have been out all night. These are nets for tiny fish called omena. Sardines? Anchovies? I've seen them and eaten them and have no idea.





More drying nets in the background.





Whoops! I purposely put my camera down when there were naked people washing - or just hanging around, if you get my drift - but this kid showed up in the foreground of the net photo and since she/he is unidentifiable I decided I could put it in. LOTS of naked adults, mostly men but a few women washing laundry, all along the shore.





The lord of all he surveys.





This is a tilapia fish farm in the lake. The numbers have been so depleted by the nile perch, a non-native invasive species, that some fisherman are trying out in-lake farms to protect them.





Yes, I was really here. That's Shute on the left and Akwanyi on the right.





Anyembe and I with dueling cameras.





These guys have cast a huge net, and are now painstakingly hauling it in.





Hippos! I was more excited at the idea than the reality, since we could only see the tops of their heads.























Who loves her daddy? Look at that adoring face!





Okay, algae bloom. It's one of the several things absolutely devasting Lake Victoria. It comes mostly because of commercial farm run-off of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.






Also, water hyacinth. It's beautiful, and deadly to the lake. It's invasive, and takes oxygen out of the water. The fish population has really suffered. And it can grow hydroponically (is that the word when a plant doesn't need to put roots in the ground?) So you see this one has broken away and is just out in the lake, unanchored, sucking up nutrients and oxygen.












Mangroves.





The trees in this area are full of cow egrets, some with yellow crowns, in mating season, sacred ibises, and hadada ibises. Plenty of weaver birds, too, and some African eagles, which I managed not to photograph here.






Top right is a sacred ibis.






Here's an egret with the yellow crown lying flat, and the other yellow bits you see are actually mangrove tree flowers.





The flash of red under the wings of a sacred ibis.











We're pulling into our destination, lunch! I've been promised fresh, deep-fried Lake Victoria tilapia, my favorite meal in Kisumu and Western Province. I was told that there are two restaurant choices along here, an upscale one, and the one the locals go to. I asked where the best tilapia is to be had, and they said the local spot. So here we are.

















Being told about how to climb out.











The colors are beautiful, but this is algae bloom. Not helped by everyone doing laundry and everything else along here, I'm sure.





On our way to lunch!





These sailboats are coming in from deep water, probably with large nile perch.





A net.

















A hammerhead on the mast.























We're just on shore here, about 20 yards from the lakeshore. Laundry washing and fish cleaning share space with the birds. We're here to look at the yellow-billed storks.





Preparing the fish.






Fish, laundry and storks.











I see a yellow-billed stork, leftish foreground, the tallest bird, one egret to its right standing and several flying, and far right a sacred ibis. In front of a stand of papyrus.


















A hammerhead preening for the camera. Couldn't decide on his best side. Is it just me, or are they positively prehistoric looking?












Everlin took me inside to choose our fish, leaving nothing to chance. They're already fried and kind of smoky, as pre-preparation. But there's no refrigeration here, so once you order your fish they get cooked again, either with "soup" - in a bit of broth with onions and tomatoes - or "dry" - fried again. I chose fried, as I always do. Why ruin crispy fish?

















She carries the fish out in front of us and begins tossing the various pieces into different pans, depending on whether they'll end up dry or soupy.





A few more photos while we wait for lunch to cook.

















We're sitting in a little thatched cabana, looking over to the kitchen, which is in the mabati (corregated iron) room with slats.





A hand-made basket to carry fish.






With no running water, and sometimes even if there is, this is how we wash our hands before and after eating. This is John, our driver. Boat driver? The waiter comes around with a basin (to catch the water), a bar of soap (if you're lucky), a pitcher (to pour water over your hands), and sometimes a towel (don't use it, it's rarely clean, unless you're at a fancy place where everyone gets a small handtowel). Handwashing after, as well, since the tradition is to eat with your hands. Make that hand - some people use both, but most use only the right hand.





I love that the fish tails stick out from the serving plate.





My lunch! I gave the fresh tomato salad to Akwanyi (I'm not that adventuresome, and low on immodium). Fried whole tilapia and sukuma wiki. Delicious!





Eating with my right hand, as you see. An accomplishment, pulling the fish apart and getting the meat off of the bones without both hands, nevermind silverware.






From left one of the tuk-tuk drivers whom we invited to join us (maybe he doesn't like fish??); the other driver; Akwanyi; me; Chute, Hidaya and Everlin hidden; Anyembe; and Duncan, our guide.






A little applause, please. One-handed! I did give the head to Everlin.

After lunch, Duncan grilled me about American politics, asked whether I though Obama would win re-election, and said he thought we were in trouble with the Tea Party trying to wreck Obama's chances. He also works with a group that goes around trying to educate locals to take better care of the environment, plant bamboo rather than cut down papaya, not overfish . . . He's passionate about the environment and his work.






More birds, on my way to the toilet. With no door. The sheet of mabati on the right that looks like it could be a door is actually the back wall of the adjoining, also door-less, stall. Everlin had to ask me whether I just needed to pee, or "what". Turns out that this is the peeing stall, and the other is the pooping stall. Really? This is always predictable? The other stall, which we went to check out, was a bit more private as it wasn't open to the side with the foot traffic, clothes washing, etc, but decidedly grosser, as you might imagine. The floors are just rocks.





This is the view from me squatting, with Everlin and Hidaya keeping other interested parties away. Well, Hidaya was a bit interested, but whatever.











Hammerhead in flight.






Thatch, waiting to be used on the roofs.





We were in the Fabo restaurant.





Next to the Casablanca.











This area is called Dunga Beach. Burudika na Coke - refresh with Coke.





Great idea - get them while they're young, so they can try to salvage some of their environmental and economic future around here.





Sharing the road in our tuk-tuk. This time Akwanyi and I rode together, and her folks and younger sibs were in the other. The road was so bad that we threw water all over ourselves trying to drink from the bottle. And I told her that I was definitely glad I'd availed myself of the doorless facilities given the jolting ride back into Kisumu.





The other tuk-tuk overtook us as we headed back into town for a visit over tea. Tomorrow Everlin and Anyembe and I have a morning meeting with Cadif, the non-profit that works with youth. I'm hoping it will be a good referral source for Everlin, who teaches high school in a very poor government school along the lake.

Another great day!


1 comment:

  1. Sure it was a great day, from birds to water to fish in a cafe. I see you are an expert in ripping off the fish off its bones, maybe except the head. Eyes!!!!
    That hyacinth is deadly. there was a time a young Kenyan came up with a chemical that eradicated it wonderfully, then authorities hired a foreign company to physically eradicate it (all a rat race). The thing grows like wildfire.

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