Another trip to the Iten area for a waterfall hike. For those of you keeping track at home, this is the third time we have traveled to the Iten area. This was, again, a short day trip about 45 minutes away from our home-base in Eldoret.
Usually, the waterfall is a slow trickle in January. However, climate change has really affected the dry season here in Kenya. Typically, the "wet" season runs from April-May and the dry season is from December-February. However, Western Kenya has been getting much more offseason rain than they are used to. This leads to several issues for the area, including poor crop yields, difficult travel conditions, flooding, and even increased incidences of deadly malaria.
Due to the increased rains this "dry" season, the waterfall was at full force during our hike. During our climb, the roar of the water drowned the sounds usual sound of birds, insects and monkeys. The sound was beautifully deafening. Our guide reminded us that most of the homes near the waterfall get their relatively clean water supply from the falls and also uses it to irrigate their small family farms.
Of course we had to take endless pictures at the top of the falls (classic Mzungus). We played in the flowing water, terrifying our guides when we traveled a little too far to the edge. All in good fun!
Below is the groups album cover pic. Don't we look intimidating?! Also featured is one example of the pipes that brings clean water down to the families in the valley below.
After our fun at the top of the waterfall, we continued upwards to an overlook point. Our guides said it was prettier than the waterfall and boy, they were not wrong.
^Mom/dad, that cliff is not as scary as it looks.
Thanks for reading and playing along with me in Kenya!
Rebecca
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