Of unfit people and steep hills

Team Amunga’s Day 7 starts in Nyahururu with a trip to the garage. Our car needs to lose its vibrating ways if it’s going to last the whole trip.

After the car is sorted we head to Thomson Falls to look for something interesting to shoot. We encounter a cameraman who has been working in the waterfall for 2 years. He shares that he goes down to the waterfall very many times especially with school kids. Because he is comfortable with going down to the falls, we asked him whether he’d be interested in modelling him for us and he agreed. We ask him to go down and get as close to the water as possible. When gets close to the waterfall it’s a challenge to position him as he keeps looking at the camera. We have to shout and gesture for him to do what we want as there is no network and therefore can’t reach him by phone. The cameraman is struggling to stand still as the water from the waterfall is hitting him hard. He is also having as hard time keeping his balance as the stones he is stepping on are slippery. After a couple of tries we shot for him to get back up. It looks like he is going to get hurt modelling for us and we don’t want that.. We at least have some usable shots and its time to move on. Next stop, Subukia.

On our way to Subukia we see a gentleman cutting oats by the side of the ride just opposite Laikipia University. He lives around and he cuts the oats, which are turned into hay, for his cows. He lives around and just happens to work for the university in security. Amunga thinks that a shot of the gentlemen cutting hay is worth it so we position him. He is quite a jovial gentleman and he is a natural model. We are done in no time at all and we continue to Subukia.

There’s a farm we were meant to go shoot wild horses in Subukia but when we get there the owner changes his mind. We give up on that plan and make a detour to a shrine in Subukia for Catholic faithful. We are not sure whether there’s something interesting but we decide to go and find out for ourselves. When we get there the shrine is deserted save for some workers who are constricting a humongous church. We ask one of them where the shrine is and they show us a path at the end of the compound and they tell us to follow the crosses to the top. We ask him how far it is but he gives us one those si mbali (it’s not far) shrugs. We start climbing and we get to the first cross. Apparently the crosses represent the way of the cross which is what Jesus went through as he was being crucified. They are marked to denote each stage that he passed and they are 14 in total. Nothing could have prepared us for that climb. It was so high up and so steep that when we got to the top everyone was sweating buckets, in cold weather no less, and I swear everyone lost 2Kgs each. We were breathing like trains, our chests were on fire and our eyes had popped out. Climbing it was probably not the best of ideas. After resting for a bit at the top we check out the shrine. It is built on top of a natural spring. On top of the spring water there’s a statue of the Virgin Mary. I learn from Maureen that the water that has been piped from the shrine to nearby taps is holy and people come here to carry it home. It’s an interesting place but there’s nothing we can shoot so we head back down. We meet people climbing up, stopping to pray at each cross. It’s an interesting place to visit but be prepared to climb and if possible carry proper climbing shoes.

Subukia Shrine

We are done with Subukia and so we decide to head to Nakuru. On the way, at a place called Ahero, Amunga sees two blacksmiths on the side of the road working on a red hot metal rod. We ask them if they are game and they agree. Before we can shoot them, it starts raining. It’s a drizzle at first but it starts getting heavier gradually. Amunga decides to shoot anyway and it helps that the blacksmiths don’t seem to mind the rain. It’s a challenge getting good shots with all the rain but Amunga tries his best to get something usable. He gives after the rain becomes too heavy even for the blacksmiths. We resolve to come back tomorrow if the shots Amunga has taken are not good enough. We get back on the road. Tomorrow we are headed to Baringo. Hopefully we’ll get some awesome photos there.