Tales of Eldoret: Baringo

A bunch of youth planned their mid placement review weekend during their volunteering program. They decided Baringo would be a good place to see. As would be expected, most of them packed a few bags, obtained a little alcohol and brought their guitars and fun along. They were travelling from Eldoret to through Elgeyo Marakwet county to Baringo. At the beginning, the roads meandered across the highlands allowing them a magnificent view of the majestic beauty of the rift valley. They all had different thoughts about the roads such as how good it would be to ride their motorcycles upon it. After driving past the town of Kabarnet however, the temperatures began to rise steadily with the vegetation changing so that they were moving between cacti bushes. The bushes became higher ironically casting no shadows and the air became so hot that they could no longer drive without their windows open. I was obviously among them, if you thought this story was about some strangers. Unfortunately for us, the wind was equally hot and this felt like desert. Baringo county is quite dry and the residents seemed to sell honey and keep livestock. This is the kind of drive you need a safari vehicle for. On arrival, we unpacked into the little tents that were located under trees of the Robert's Camp. The camp was also by the lake, probably the reason why it was less hotter here than during the journey.
 At Robert's Camp, the camping experience is quite real as the food is very expensive and might require one to cook their own meals. Our group had brought cooks and foodstuff and we would only be using the tents and take trips across the lake. The lake had hippos in it that would make noise at night. They would however, not come out at night or any time of the day. One could only see them if they went closer to the lake. There were also crocodiles that looked very similar to the rocks. The trees by the lake shore were also perched with different kinds of birds. Mornings were a great time to go by the lake and watch the birds. The night was a good time to sit by a fire and play the guitar. Some of the us preferred to sit by the couches and play games after dinner. Others would take short walks around the campsite.
On the second day, the team took a boat ride to the other side of the lake. We were able to see the hippos in the deeper regions of the lake. We also came across some fishermen that would sell fish at very low prices moving them across the lake to the awaiting market. We were  able to get to an island where the local people sold different kinds of beaded bracelets and gourds. There were also hot water springs and eagles en route to the second island. On the second island was game, beautiful giraffes, ostriches, impala and warthogs. The impalas were however in hiding from the hot sun whilst the giraffes and ostriches walked in the open. These beautiful animals however were not used to human beings and would only be watched from a distance. After the game walk, on a very sunny day, we rode back to the camp site. Here, we had a wonderful time bird seeing in a sanctuary nearby whilst others opted to go for a swim at a nearby pool. We later went out to a small bar and interacted with the local people before getting back and leaving for Eldoret.