Yesterday, Edwin and I finished our trips to the most remote reaches of the Yala Swamp, traveling to the villages of Madua and Buhuma.
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| My counterpart Edwin and I took a boat through the swamp from Madua to Buhuma. George, a native of Buhuma, propels the boat forward using a bamboo rod. Every time I head out into the swamp, I feel like I'm in some Dr. Seuss fantasy world, surrounded by crazy papyrus plants topped with green needles in the shape of balls. |
In my last post, I covered the villages of Bubamba and Iyanga. Those villages were the most physically-taxing villages to get to, requiring long treks on foot, often wading through waist-deep water, in addition to pulling boats by rope permanently positioned in particularly long and deep stretches of water, and taking a boat across the Yala/Bulwani River propelled by bamboo rods.
We later visited the village of Buongo, which although being within the swamp, does not entail anywhere near the effort to access it. There, planks of wood and felled wetlands plants are used to bridge standing water within the swamp along a trail leading to the main road south of the River Nzoia..
Yesterday, we visited the villages of Madua and Buhuma. Buhuma is probably the most remote of all of the villages in the district. Inhabitants of Madua and Buhuma must enter Lake Victoria in order to reach any other village. And the distance required to reach Buhuma by boat is significant.
