mauritsh's VirtualTourist Home Page

This Turkana warrior was shot in the head, when he was sleeping in the early morning. This happened near Kokuro by bandits from Ethiopia, the Merille, when they came to steal cattle and shoot people. It seems to be a local habit there. Here his friends ask him to empty his bladder before boarding, because our on board toilets were out of order and the stewardesses were busy.
The large amount of guns, specially the AK-47,that can be obtained for the price of 2-3 goats, makes life less easy as it is already.
I brought him to our local hospital in Lodwar. He was later transferred to Eldoret. He will survive, less pretty.

When a Turkana goes to the hospital, he should bring relatives with him, so they can take care of him/her. Hospital staff don't really do that. At first I was amazed that their uniforms were spotless, later on I found out they only hand out the tablets!!!
Here you see the concerned look on her face, not knowing what will happed to her son. On the way she didn't even ask for tax free goods!!!!

The plane does not only bring medicine and food, but also shade, due to the lack of airport terminals here. Temperatures go up to 45 Deg. C. during the day easily!

Here people are treated by local nurses and sometimes doctors. Here we finished with Mother and Child care.
These huts are built by the locals next to the airstrip to give them some shade and shelter.

This nice lady came to me for a chat and to see if I had tobacco or stuff like that. Sitting below the wing in the shade she stayed there for at least one hour. Later she went to the clinic to get her tablets.
If you want to know how old she is mail me. I do not know if she is still available.

This 8 year old girl was evacuated by me after she was attacked by a snake. This snakebite was not treated well for some 12 to 14 days.
Local medicine did not work. When they see no improvement, the real doctors are called.
After she was treated in hospital, her hand and part of her arm had to be amputated. Not a very nice future for this girl. Being handicapped there is like put away forever.

In Oropoi near the Ugandese boarder, I sat on a hill near the policepost to overlook the settlement when we found this amazing insect. When it lifts its wings it is bright orange coloured underneath. They are hard to spot, here near the mountains there are lots of exotic flowers and plants, the surrounding is very green compared to the rest of Turkana.

Coming back from a Safari where we had to find new locations for possible new airstrips, we stopped to look at this building. It is at least 6 meters high and at least the same lenght goes underground. These animals can regulate the temperature inside their building exactly to 1 or 2 degr.C precise. Day and night the same conditions, so they have their own bush-airco. Smart creatures don't you think?