Down to the Omo River

I’ll start with the good parts of our trip down to the Omo….then I’ll get to the not-so-good part.

Here it is…

Last week we headed down south to the Kenya boarder to visit our friends Caleb and Joanna and their family. We had an incredible time. It really did feel like we were heading for the ends of the earth as we made the 10 hour drive down to their place. Thankfully we didn’t get lost (until the very very end:) because we were out in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Picnic along the road

Breathtaking roadside scenery

Monster ant hill along the way

To get to the Swarts place, you drive to one side of the Omo River, park, and go by boat to their house on the other side of the river. No bridge yet.

We had such a good time fishing, relaxing, chatting, eating delicious food, and sweltering. It is hot hot hot down there. 115-120 degrees is the norm. It took a little while to adjust to that. (Thanks again mom and dad for that battery fan!)

Grown men cooling off in the kiddie pool

You also get to a whole new level of dirtiness out there. Between the dust and the mud it’s pretty incredible.

One day Caleb took Ben and I fishing. Even though we didn’t catch anything (or even get a bite) it was so therapeutic to spend the morning on the river- fishing pole in one hand, banana in the other, reminiscing about the good old days at RVA, and watching the fish eagles fly by.

Caleb in his element

Ben learning the art of fishing with live frogs

Some of the sights along the way…

Fish Eagle

Daasanach in a dugout canoe

Some of the windmill projects the Swarts head up

Their kids seriously have a sweet life down there. Clothes are optional and the fun never stops.

The boys spear fishing in high river

Elsa showing off her spear fishing skills as well

Ezra showing off his sick motorcycle skills.  This kid has no fear.  Kind of like your average american 3 and 4 year olds:)

Joanna, Daisy, and I on the river bank

Saturday night they took us up to this beautiful ridge for a cookout. Along the way we stopped at this fossil bed and hunted for fossils. You didn’t have to hunt very hard to find things that would make scientists all over the world drool.  It was pretty incredible.

Fossil Finding

The view from our cookout perch

Elsa and Ezra goofing off.  Reminded me so much of Kris and I growing up.

All good things must come to an end and Monday morning at 5:30, we were up and ready to head back to Awassa.

Ben loading up the boat to head back to the car

Beautiful morning on the river

Early morning sunrise

Daasanach women collecting water

Unloading our new “tinish mooze” (little banana) trees to plant at home

And then we were back on the road again- hoping for an uneventful trip home. But alas, our trip was anything but uneventful.

Our three day trip home coming up next….