"Safi!" is what they say on the Mount Elgon

"Safi! Safi!" was what I surprisingly got to hear as I used my basic Swahili knowledge to greet the locals on the southern area of the Mount Elgon. "Safi" is Swahili, means "clean!" and is exceptionally used by the inhabitants of those areas, the Sabaots.

A Sabaot boy. PICUTRE: PRIVATE.

The Mount Elgon is an extinct volcano located half in Ugandan half in Kenyan territory and its highest point reaches approximately 4300 m. It is the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa, covering a area of arounf 3.500 km² (Wiki.).

The Mount Elgon is located exactly on the border between Kenya and Uganda.

My friends Job Matimbai, from Chwele in Kenya, Travis Elenitsky, from USA, and I took the pikipikes, the motorcycle taxis, in Chwele and headed to the Mount Elgon early in the morning for a one day excursion. We ride up and down through the muddy roads on the mountain for 7 hours covering around 65 km and reaching heights up to 2500 m.

The green meadows on the inhabited areas of the Mount Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE. 

From Chwele, where I live, we reached the didn't needed much time to reach the green hilly landscape inhabited by the Saboats and be able to visit a few caves and walk along the cliffs to get to waterfalls of an extraordinary beauty. 

Exploring caves with the locals, theSabaots, on the Mount Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

Panorama in the caves at the border Kenya / Uganda. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

One of the many waterfalls on the Mount Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

The Sabaots, a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin, are the main inhabitants of the Mount Elgon. Their population stretches over the border to Eastern part of Uganda. For those, who don't know yet, most of the greatest Kenyan marathon runners are actually Kalenjins and they developed their skills running on the hilly areas. I could even see one local in his sport wear jogging at 2000 m height.

Sabaots children. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

A Sabaot women transporting water. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

These guys live adapted to the relatively cold and rainy winter, what is too cold for the inhabitants of the low lands. They dwell the so called "grass houses" built with bamboo and mud and covered with dried grass. The material for the construction is just on their backyard, including the bamboo trees.
Standing in the middle of the green hilly landscape, the grass houses compose one of the most extraordinary scenarios I've seen in Africa so far.

A local, the muddy road and the grass houses, the typical
landscape on the Mount Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

The typical "grass houses". PICTURE: PRIVATE.

The "grass houses" and bamboo fences typical for the Mount Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

I didn't count on seeing similar green and fertile meadows somewhere in Kenya as I saw up on the Mount Elgon. The locals basically live from what grows in the ground, and it's a lot. The cabbages, potatoes and grains cultivated here are distributed almost all over Kenya. The roads to the mountain and between the villages up there are very bad though, and during the rain season, when the mud takes over, it gets practically inaccessible. 

Transport of the local products on the muddy road. PICTURE: PRIVATE. 

View of a village on the Mount  Elgon. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

During the "only" 7 hours motorbike ride I definitely didn't get enough of the extinct volcano. So, soon I will be coming back and next time I'll have a bath on those waterfalls. Besides, I have heard that one can climb up some cliffs on those neighborhoods. Time to go back climbing as well.

With the feet on the road. PICTURE: PRIVATE.

Next post about some African beauties.

Cheers peeps!