A glimpse into the Great Rift Valley
"Pinch me, I'm in Africa."
Gitane and Brooke pose with one of our two Masai guards (he's the one in the middle), who were hired to ensure that no "simba" (lions) or hyenas came near the huts.
These tin huts were the group's lodging for two nights.
When we were asked by another group of tourists if we had seen this group of elephants (the gray blobs in the right of the photo), Mike was quick to clarify, "We saw them first."
"This sunset really reminds me of Bolivia."*
*This might not be exactly what he said, but it's safe to assume it was something about Bolivia.
Heather teaches a water hygiene class to some of the women of Rabondo
Clockwise from top: Cathy, Mike, Melkesedek, and "Tall" Paul dig out the settling and suction pits used in drilling.
An existing well, built by CARE, is used by some of the residents of Rabondo. These families pay a monthly fee for upkeep of the well.
Mr. Meinert teaches some introductory hydrology to some of the students at the secondary school. He might not have mentioned it, but Mike is a high school chemistry teacher here in Reno.
Yankee ingenuity: Mike spearheads the effort to patch a leaking gas tank with a melted water-bottle handle
Heather and Brooke were all too eager to terrorize another culture with the Hokey-Pokey
A popular water source in Rabondo
At the end of the rainy season, Rabondo is a lush agricultural community. Contamination from a variety of sources, however, renders most of the surface-water unsafe for human consumption.
Mike and Phillip mix water and bentonite to make extra-thick drilling mud...
which Heather then added to the suction pit so that it would immediatedly be pulled through the drill pipe.
Our drilling mud was so thick at times that the cuttings (small pieces of rock and gravel) were clogging the suction hose. In this photo, Heather is removing cuttings from the suction pit while Mike is playing in the mud or something.
Not even thirty-plus stitches could keep Cathy from overseeing the conclusion of the group's efforts (nor from blocking my view of said efforts).
Gitane assists in well-development, a tedious process given that such thick mud had been required during the drilling process.
Gitane is in a lot of these pictures because she is
the only student who did anything.
P.S. Just kidding.
Water at last! The pump was set and water was pumped for the first time just before sunset on the group's final day in Rabondo. It was so beautiful, JB cried like a little girl.
There were signs telling tourists not to leave doors open. We found out why.
The monkey eventually ran away from Brooke.
So did we.
White rhinos, as seen in this picture, are fairly passive creatures. Black rhinos, which can be differentiated by their facial structure, are very aggressive and prone to charging vehicles. The group had and interesting encounter with some black rhinos, but JB failed to take any pictures because he was busy. It wasn't because he was too scared. Really, it wasn't.
Mike told these giraffes, "You are the most beautiful animals on the planet." JB, on the other hand, was dubious of their grasp of the English language.