So you think your daily commute is tough?

When I began working with Edwin, my new counterpart we hired in November, he told me that I hadn't yet been in the swamp. I was skeptical. Villages like Runyu and Bulwani, which I had previously visited, seemed pretty damn 'in' the swamp to me.

So when Edwin, who lives by the swamp himself, planned to take me to villages in the swamp, I was curious. On Tuesday, we visited the villages of Bubamba and Iyanga. I wouldn't say that the homes were any more 'in' the swamp than homes in other villages I've been to. But we, ourselves, were certainly more 'in' the swamp to get to them.

Below is our journey in pictures:

First thing in the morning at 7AM, I made the hour long trip by bike, including the river crossing at Sigiri by boat, to meet Edwin in his village of Rukala, at the edge of the swamp. Once we met up, we began our journey into the swamp, crossing this footbridge at the village of Khulokhongo.

The chief benefit of living by the swamp: fertile soil. All of the crops we passed during the day were full and healthy. In comparison to Budalang'i, where all the crops have dried out before even bearing grains, the contrast is striking.

We passed women working their fields, as well as carrying firewood and maize back to their homes. From them, we learned that the river had swollen. They suggested that instead of continuing down the path Edwin was leading us down, we backtrack and take a different one which leads directly to the school. The water we'd have to cross would be much more manageable.

As we walked for an hour down the long path through fields and swamp land to the village of Bubamba, we had to trudge through a great deal of mud and water. But I had no idea that things were about to get much, much worse. At this point, Edwin told me we'd have to wade. We removed our shoes, rolled up our pants as high as possible, and set out into the swamp water.

In this part of the trail, people had thrown papyrus stalks across the water surface in order to provide some footing. The mud is like quicksand. If you don't move quickly with a light tread, you sink. The water was mid-thigh deep in most places, and given the weak mud surface, I tottered from side-to-side, ending up deeper.

After wading through a couple more long stretches of swamp water, we arrived at Bubamba Primary School. We stopped in to speak with the administration, as well as students. We didn't really have to ask what their major problem is, as the school was missing many of its students. The problem is access.

This school serves children from Bubamba, Iyanga, and several other nearby villages. But only a handful of households are actually found on this particular island within the swamp. The rest of the children must cross long, deep stretches of water daily just to get to school.

While looking through the rest of my journey, imagine that you are a small elementary school child making this trip twice a day. It is straight up impossible for many of the kids, given that the water reaches my waist, and I am 6'2". Kids either have to be carried here by their parents, or must stay at home until the waters recede to a more manageable depth. The current depth, though, is not abnormal.

One of the households by the school in Bubamba. Again, the major problem faced by these people is transportation: whether accessing healthcare, education, or markets/trade. Any small trip requires significant effort. Because of this, they are also largely marginalized by local government and NGO assistance programs.

Powering us through the rest of our journey: locally grown fresh and boiled bananas!

It wasn't long before we reached water again. Edwin knew that we would be catching a boat at some point, and thought it was here. But as we waited, a woman carrying a bundle of firewood on her head emerged, wading through waist-deep water. We hadn't yet reached the boat - this segment would be by foot.

After wading through water, and a brief reprieve of walking on land, we reached the boat. This boat, however, is a little different. It is unmanned.

The boat remains in this stretch of water permanently, and has a rope tied to either end. Each rope connects the boat to one of the two landing points.

Pictured above, Edwin pulls one of the lines in to propel us forward to the other shoreline. The rope on the other end, meanwhile, releases slack into the river such that if another person comes after us, they can pull the line to retrieve the boat. In about ten minutes, we reached the other end. A pretty cool system, although since the run is not quite a straight shot, the ride isn't completely smooth and sends you into plants along the coast at times.

This journey really began to feel like some kind of designed obstacle course, Tough Mudder Yala Swamp, anyone?

At the other end, we found the trail muddied and slick. But even this was only a brief reprieve.

We soon came to another stretch of water, this one even deeper and longer than the stretch with the boat! So here, we had to wade, in water waist deep, for a good twenty minutes or so. The footing was very difficult with the uneven, sticky surface underneath the water. Even Edwin, who knows the swamp well, got confused when the water spread out in different directions. A man who was cutting papyrus nearby helped guide us the rest of the way.

Climbing back out of the water, we reached the second main segment of Bubamba village. Note again the fertile farmland which the swamp provides.

Edwin told me that he is sure I am the first outsider to come to these places. Even Kenyan MPs and local politicians never come here, they just hire local people to campaign for them in these remote areas. I tend to believe him. Kenya is far from isolated these days, but these areas inside the swamp require an immense amount of effort and fortitude to reach. So these kids were extra excited when they saw me.

Even within this particular 'island' of Bubamba, to get to the first and last homesteads require wading through more water up to knee deep.

A homestead with a copious amount of banana trees, and the first turkeys I had seen in Kenya, within Bubamba village.

A small, improvised wooden bridge across a stream while leaving Bubamba.

A fisherman built this temporary home made of grasses from the swamp, where his family is spending the season to fish.

While leaving Bubamba on our trek to Iyanga, we encountered another boat crossing through the swamp.

This boat again was on a rope system. Edwin, pictured above, pulled us to the other side.

After this crossing, more wading through water.

Pastoralists take advantage of the favorable vegetation in the area to tend livestock. These cattle are much bigger and healthier than those found in my area.

 After a short time on solid ground, we waded through water in open wetlands, this time to reach a boat landing site.

At the small shore, Edwin called a friend of his from Iyanga, who arranged for a boat to take us across the Yala/Bulwani River. This water is too deep to wade through.

This part of the journey is a major hurdle for the residents of Iyanga. Since a boat is required, people, often women and children returning from school or trade, must wait at this beach for a boat to arrive. This can take awhile, often forcing them to sleep overnight, unprotected from mosquitos, in the swamp.

The crossing was fairly brief, only about ten minutes. Our skipper used a bamboo rod to push our boat forward using the ground.

We turned into another small inlet, leading to the village of Iyanga.

Leading to the households of the village is a large field of sweet potatoes.

Because of the high water table within the swamp, as usual, no one actually has constructed their own 'choo' (latrine). I had to go for a 'long call' while there, and was led into the long grasses, the place the locals all use. They didn't have to tell me that - human faeces were everywhere, and safari ants (huge, vicious black ants with visibly threatening teeth and a powerful, stinging bite to match) began attacking my toes. I decided to just wait...

The village of Iyanga is basically a small collection of households situated along a long, narrow, sandy island within the swamp.

These kids should be in school. But their nearest school is Bubamba Primary. In order to get there, they have to make the journey Edwin and I just had, twice daily. With the water level as it is, it just is not possible.

After meeting with the villagers to discuss the problems they face, this woman pointed out to us the proximity of the swamp water to her house. In the background of this picture, where the vegetation begins, is open, stagnant water.

Surprising to me, the villagers all complain that this proximity is a recent phenomenon. Before 2007, the land around Iyanga was actually very dry. And waterways leading to major centers of trade like Port Victoria and Osieko were open and manageable. But after the river's exit into the lake was blocked by sediment in 2007, the swamp has steadily encroached upon their land. They blame most of this on a local American farmer who grabbed a significant amount of land within the swamp to farm commercially. They allege that his farm redirects an unnaturally large amount of water, with biological matter and chemicals, into the swamp.

Reenergized after a woman in Iyanga fed us a hearty lunch of 'kamongo' (lungfish), we set out to return to Rukala. Instead of going back the way we came, Edwin opted to ask our boat to take us to a different shore where we'd use a path leading to Runyu. This time, we crossed the river and turned into a very narrow waterway, snaking around the Yala Swamp.

This waterway is one of the main routes connecting Iyanga to it's neighbors.  It eventually leads to Bulwani, a larger village within the swamp, which is home to the nearest health dispensary, a couple small shops, and trade. We encountered a few boats taking women back from Bulwani and a nearby market in Busagwa. Despite its heavy usage, the waterway has been heavily narrowed by encroaching vegetation. The locals have done their best to cut a proper channel, but its proven to be a losing battle.

The narrow passageway makes encounters with other boats particularly difficult. You must pass the other boat in one of many bends, which provide a slightly wider area to maneuver. The boat ride took a good 45 minutes.

I thought that once we landed this time, we'd be back on dry land for good. I was wrong. Soon, the path on land dipped back into the swamp water, and we waded through waist-deep waters again for good measure.

After the path surfaced onto land again, we arrived at another body of water. This young woman operates her boat throughout the day, ferrying people from one side to the other.

Through land and water combined, it still took about a 45 minute walk through the swamp and the village of Runyu to return to Rukala after our boat ride from Iyanga. It wasn't until 5:30 that we arrived back in Rukala, and I was able to set off by bike back to Budalang'i.