Melting in Lockichoggio

Melting in Lokichoggio

How do you get 18 goats under a truck? First put the truck in Lokichoggio - then add well into the 30's!!!!! weather and they'll just go there on their own! Dumb goats!... I say this while standing in the blazing sun to take the picture. Dumb goats? Hmmmm

It is hot - as Melanie can attest (pictured here smiling as usual) and while not as hot as her work in the northern part of South Sudan, for me it was a shock! By 9am it's "holy crap hot" and by early afternoon moves up to "you gotta be kidding me" sizzling. Melanie is among the nicest people I've met which is saying a great deal given the amazing friends and family I am fortunate to have in my live. Not to mention all the committed and wonderful colleagues met thus far at MSF.

Loki is a dessert after all; lush and barren at the same time. All the while smelling like a combination of new baby, bouquets and blossoms. So sweet.

And so I ventured up to Loki to meet the supply team there and to get an understanding of the work done in this area and the environment in which they work. It's roughly 650 kms north of Nairoba and as you can see from the attached map I was lucky enough to see a large amount of Kenya on my return flight. The area is dotted with these volcanoes - some full of water and we were close enough to see wildlife around them.





 













A herd of Giraffe ran under the plane at one point....it's like a movie. Pictured below is our plane, a caravan, capable of taking 500kg into almost anywhere. The pilot was amazingly skilled at landing the plane on dirt roads in  a very very heart-stoppingly short distance. The pilot told me that he often has to scare off the goats or mules etc with a 10ft. pass and then teardrop back in to "set her down" Love the jargon!

Fueling from a barrel in the back of a Land Cruiser using a hand pump and elbow grease. Necessity really is the mother of invention.

Kaeris International Airport.The pilot actually pulled right up in front of that little building 4-bying through the brush. Yahoo!! Love it!!!



The Country is more vast and sparsely inhabited than I would have thought - below you get a sense of the flash floods from the rainy season (that is now) as the water seeks low ground. That river bed is dry but could be raging hours later....

I stayed in the Tukol pictured here enjoying the unique feature of this modern though traditional structure. It crossed my mind that the Tuco is hotter than the outside temperature at night and cooler than the outside temperature during the day .... Hmmmmmm...... would Steve Jobs agree that this is Exceptional design???

There are no bugs in Loki who chose not to stop into my Tukol for a late night visit. I love mosquito nets.



While drinking cold beer was my second favorite "non-work" activity the evening volleyball game was both hilarious and my clear favorite. Even though many of the players are highly skilled, the spirit of fun and joy of just being together underlies each serve and volley. While I was arguably the worst player ever to grace the official Lockichoggio Volleyball court - I will be forever grateful to the team for including me, encouraging me and making my visit both memorable and enjoyable.

Most interesting for me was the local people of Lockichoggio mostly of the Turkana tribe. They number about 350,000 members making them the 3rd largest tribe in Kenya.

The following pictures are stock borrowed images as you really can't take pictures without offending and likely provoking a security incident but man oh man you sure want to. 

The girls look just like this with their wealth represented by how ornate the bead work.They are stunningly beautiful, joyful and graceful all at the same time. World Supermodel Ajuma Nasenyana comes from this tribe.

I sat on a small bench in front of a store sipping a Sprite and watching life go by in Loki. It was hot - really hot. An elder woman who looked very much like the one pictured above was walking by then stopped and looked at me. I looked back for a minute and then patted the bench beside me and slide over a bit. She sat down right next to me and we just sat there for the next 10 minutes in a comfortable silence. Just when I thought that we had absolutely nothing in common she suddenly spit on the sand in from of her. Not to be outdone, I did the same. We then looked at each other and smiled wide.....just when you think you have absolutely nothing in common.....

 Below: "setting her down in Lockichoggio - thanks for reading again





Landing in Loki - "rumored to be the land of abandoned aircraft and drunken pilots.... I did notice a few abandoned aircraft but can't speak to the other.