Road to Magadi

One fine Saturday morning in late April, Kim, Emily, and I headed out for a day-trip to Magadi town and lake. Both of them had been there in the past, but I had never seen it. We were all excited to spend time together on a mini-adventure.

To reach Magadi from the part of Nairobi where I live (and where we met), you drop 4,000 feet in elevation and descend down into the Great Rift Valley. The slopes are quite steep; both the terrain and climate change drastically! We left the lush green and landscaped compounds of the Karen area and were soon in a hot and  semi-arid land.

All started out well, however... soon our plans changed...

Apparently just a few hours prior, a flash flood had roared across the highway

We passed by several of these signs.

One of two vehicles that adamantly insisted we turn back!

Debris that had been violently deposited along the road.

  

Curious Maasai children, excited with the bag of potato chips we gave them

This was apparently a donkey ranch. First time I've ever seen such a thing.

Everywhere we looked, the scenery was stunning

After the occupants in the second of two cars insisted it was not safe to go any further, we had to face the facts that we would not reach our destination of Magadi town and Magadi lake on that particular day. Flash floods are actually quite dangerous. In fact, many people died in Kenya during this year's long rains... due to flash floods.

So... we disappointedly turned around.

 and stopped at 'plan B', instead - Olorgesalie Prehistoric Site

Pretty neat land shapes, huh?

It was quite hot out under the sun. I made good use of my umbrella!

Our guide pointing out the leg bone of a hippo, that was unearthed at the site

There's always room for one more in Africa, right?

Kim and Emily having a cup of coffee at Whistling Thorns. I had tea.

While enjoying our hot beverages, huge black clouds rolled in and unleashed a downpour. Emily wasn't very excited about driving back to Nairobi in the dark and in the rain! Alas, by the time we got to Kiserian - foiled again - there was another flash flood and the road was again blocked. We waited it out in the parking lot of an overcrowded bar/restaurant for about an hour. Eventually the water subsided and the - quite congested - traffic was able to move again.