13 March 2007

Luggas


This area has numerous seasonal rivers. It seemed we were constantly crossing them. This is a rare one that we saw that actually did have water in it. By far, most were bone dry. This is what Insight Guides says about them -

"... whimsical dry rivers known as 'luggas' (lazy avenues of sand for most of the time, but filled by sudden torrents of rushing water in a flash flood)"



This huge expanse is a dry river bed.
If it rains in the hills off in the distance, it can fill almost immediately with water!
The resultant huge wall of rushing water often catches people and livestock unaware.



Another dry river bed we're about to cross.



This photo shows 2 women "harvesting" water. To do so, they dig a deep hole (theirs was about 5 feet deep) and allow the water slowly seeping in from the sand to fill a small bucket. Then they laboriously pour it into a larger bucket.

Then... they carry it - at times for long distances - on their heads to their home. The whole thing takes hours!

Just imagine! Most of you reading this have water flowing inside your homes... simply at the turn of a knob!



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