There is a drought here in Kenya and it was very evident as we drove to the Chyulu area. It rained a little in March, just enough to start the plants growing, then nothing so the plants withered and died. Driving past the fields where green plants should have been in abundance, it was bare or withered plants sticking up in the ground. The people are suffering. The church is providing food to the members in the Chyulu and Kilunga Hills areas. There is some government help. We're hoping for a good rain in October. There is also a water shortage here in Nairobi. Some of our missionaries don't have water in their flats--so they buy bottled water and bathe in a bucket. We are doing fine here at the mission home. But north of Nairobi it's so green and beautiful. It's higher in elevation, but has received rain and the crops are green and growing. While in Eldoret over the weekend we had a couple of cloud bursts--raining hard for 3 hours or so at a time.
The animals in the Game park are finding it hard to find food to eat or water to drink. Several places in the park were closed because animals were and had died and so the areas were off limits to tourists. Particularly the hippos are affected. They stay in the water during the day and then go out and forage during the night. They aren't finding plants to eat, so are dying. At one camp they are feeding them cabbages to keep them alive.


Not much to chew on these trees for the giraffes.

We could see the ribs of the impalas.

The elephants probably fared the best because they could uproot shrubs and trees and find green roots. But they were very slow moving--looking very weak.

Notice how dry the ground and how dry the plants are.